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It’s been four nights since he’s slept.

Ingram had not stopped walking since that first night, ferrying Emerie almost the entire way. She asked to be let down a few times to stretch and shake out her aching legs. It was tiring work doing absolutely fuck-all.

She wouldn’t have been so worried about his state of rest if he wasn’t slowing down little by little. The big guy, for some reason, didn’t want to stop. Even now, when she could tell his steps were languid, and a little wobbly.

After their long cuddle the previous day, one that had been just as therapeutic for her as it seemed to be for him, she’d decided she would make him rest once she’d done so herself. One of them needed to keep watch. Since he’d been able to hold out a little longer, she’d made him wait so she could be fully alert.

When he was walking through a decently sized gap in the trees, she patted his neck. “Hey, can you let me down?”

Without saying a word, he lowered himself so she could safely slip off.

“We should stop here and let you rest for a few hours,” she told him, hoping her firm tone would make it definitive.

“I do not wish to stop,”he argued.

Why did I have a feeling he’d say something like that?It was like he wanted to walk himself to death.

Rolling her eyes, she made her way over to a log that had conveniently fallen most of the way through the clearing. She sat down with her legs crossed, leaned her back against it, and folded her arms.

“You will sleep, Ingram. I’m not getting up until you do.”

With an annoyed huff, he stomped over to her. Just as he reached out to pick her up himself, likely so he could toss her over his shoulder, she lightly backhanded his hand away. She sternly pointed at him with her index finger.

His orbs flashed white momentarily as he darted his arm back. Then he gave her a light growl with red flaring.

“No growling or grabbing. Lay down, close your... eyes? And go, the fuck, to sleep.”

“Why must I? I am not tired,”he grumbled, turning his raven beak away.

“Do not lie to me, Duskwalker! I can see your arms shaking as we speak.” She pointed to her left to gesture to the clearing. “Lie down!”

With a snarl, he spun away and plopped down two metres away from her. Giving her his back, he curled into a ball on his side.

However, after a few moments, his tail tip tapped against the ground. She squinted her eyes into a glare at it.

“You better be sleeping, Ingram.”

A huff snorted out of him before he got up and crossed to the other side of the clearing. He was a little further away now, giving her his back once more. The second his tail started tapping, he was back on all fours. He spun in a circle and kneaded the ground with his hands, like he was trying to make himself comfortable, then plopped down again.

This time, he faced her, and she had a funny feeling his purple orbs were focused on her. She stared back and raised one of her brows, so he knew she was watching him.

Minutes passed, and she thought he’d finally given in. It was odd to watch the glow in his orbs grow smaller, like that was a Duskwalker’s version of their eyelids becoming heavy.

Just before the glow disappeared completely, they flashed brightly like a spark of white fire, and he was on his damn feet again!

Why is he so restless?If she’d been walking for four days straight, she would have fallen asleep as soon as her head clonked on a pillow.

As he crossed the clearing once more, it was obvious now that he was sulking. He did lay down, much closer to her than before.

His orbs were quicker to grow smaller before they eventually disappeared. When his head tipped to the side to reveal the underside of his beak, she knew he’d passed out.

Fucking hell, finally.

Listening to her surroundings, she inspected the forest.

All was quiet, although that didn’t necessarily mean it was safe.I’ll likely hear a Demon coming.That she knew for certain.But if a snake or a predator comes along, they’ll be harder to spot.

Then again, she was with a Duskwalker. Hopefully just his presence kept everything dangerous from approaching.