Page 166 of Resurgent

“Again?”

"Yes. I can’t help it; my bladder is so much smaller than yours."

“You’re right. Your human failures aren’t your fault,” he teases as I slide down, stretching as I disappear behind a cluster of long-dead trees.

When I come back, Tyr is staring at me. “You’re phone won’t stop vibrating against my shoulder.”

Positioning myself back on Tyr, I’m disappointed to find I wasn’t even off long enough for where I’ve been sitting to go cold.

Pulling out my phone, I smile when I see it’s Hunter.

Hunter: You alive?

Hunter: I miss you already.

I smile despite myself.

Me: Unfortunately.

Three dots appear.

Hunter: Good. Ghost Walking mock mission going well?

My thumb hesitates.

Me: Very.

It's not technically a lie…well, not exactly.

This is a Ghost Walking mission, it's just not mock like I let him believe…also the person I have to kill is very much NOT an illusion…though that would make my life much less difficult.

Hunter: Where are you now?

I glance at Tyr.

Me: On Tyr’s back.

Hunter: Smartass.

Hunter: Don’t text and fly! Message me when you stop for the night. I love you

Me: I love you more!

That night, we camp beneath the open sky. Tyr had found us a shallow cave, but my anxiety spiked the second I tried to step into it, and that was that. Tyr was demanding I get on and we flew until he found a spot hidden away enough we wouldn’t immediately draw the attention of anyone flying over.

After we’ve both eaten our dinner for the night when Tyr curls around me after I've settled into my blanket, his enormous body blocking the wind completely.

“Better?”

"Much."

“Good.”

For a while, neither of us speaks as I try and fail to fall asleep, recounting everything I’ve packed and everything I need to do.

Then I hear it.

A voice.