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She turned again, this time because her thigh was pressed against something hard, probably a small stone. This night was going to be long and uncomfortable.
Eventually, she must have fallen asleep because waking up was a long and painful process, despite the little claws tapping her cheeks.
"Luch, stop it," she groaned, tempted to pull her non-existent blanket over her face.
"Rise and shine," the mouse said cheerily, continuing to pat Macey's face with her paws. "Come on, we need to leave and get some distance between us and him."
That woke Macey up. The Voice. Yes, they needed to leave and get away. And hopefully find her men in the process.
She sat up and saw a very human Amber crouching in a bush not far away. Macey averted her gaze, not wanting to intrude into the other woman's privacy. Her own bladder was telling her it was time for a potty break as well. At the same time,
she was thirsty. They needed to find themselves some water and food soon.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. Last night, it had been dark and hard to see where exactly they'd landed. Now, she was glad they hadn't. It was too depressing.
They were in a barren, brown landscape full of mud, low hills and thorny shrubs. No houses, no signs of life. Not even a single tree. And no colours, either. A hundred shades of brown and grey, but nothing living. She looked at the ground. No grass, either. Just mud and fallen leaves.
Wait, leaves? How could there be leaves without trees?
Please, don't let this be another of the Voice's mind games.
The better option was that this was some kind of magical place. Like the Staran, but more depressing. Purgatory. Something like that. A place so hopeless and desolate that her heart sank with every minute she had to look at the dead landscape.
How were they going to find food here? And water?
The mud was wet, so maybe it rained here occasionally, but for now, she was more interested in a stream or loch.
She got up and patted down her clothes, glad she'd been lying on leaves rather than mud. Amber returned from behind the bush and gave Macey a small smile.
"Good morning. Not the nicest place we've ended up in."
Macey grimaced. "You could say that. Any idea what direction we came from?"
Amber pointed to her left. "That way. And I'd be tempted to just fly into the other direction. All I want is to get away from him."
"So, we're going to fly again? Are you feeling strong enough?"
Amber smiled. "I'm feeling like a new beithir. Let's see if we can find a way out of this place. Ready?"
She sounded excited. After being in captivity for so long, even being in this dreich place had to be exhilarating for the redhead.
"Yes, I'm ready. Stop ignoring me," Luch peeped and stamped her tiny paw.
Macey suppressed a snort. The mouse was hilarious, no matter how serious she was trying to be. Luckily, she hadn't changed back to a woman though. Macey had found that a little unnerving. Somehow, she didn't believe Luch was just a simple mouse shifter.
Amber shifted in one fluid motion and beckoned them to get on her back. Macey picked up Luch and put her back into her cleavage. Luch moved around a little until she found the perfect position: her front paws hanging onto the rim of Macey's shirt and her head sticking out so she could see what was going on.
Lucky Luch, she was probably going to feel nice and cosy in there. Macey shivered. It was cold in this place, and steam was beginning to rise from the muddy ground. Yes, it was time to leave.
She sat down on Amber's back, now more aware of the most comfortable and safe position.
"Ready!" she called and Amber began to fly.
They gained height quickly, giving them a better view of where they were. Except that there was nothing to see. Endless desolate plains with no signs of life. Not even a ruin that would show that people once lived here.
They flew for hours until Macey was shivering uncontrollably from the harsh cold wind they were exposed to this high in the air.
"Can we take a break?" she finally asked when she was beginning to have trouble holding on to the beithir. Amber's scales were warm, but it wasn't enough to stop Macey from feeling terribly cold.
