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She had better not be pacifying him, though. She’d been doing that all evening.

I can return Aleron to this world.He didn’t know how, he didn’t know when, but he refused to believe anything else regarding it.

He didn’t like that she’d tried to convince him otherwise.

In his mind, he could not exist without his kindred. So, if he was still here, then a part of Aleron was as well. They were one, and that would cross time and space. It was the only reason why the ball of ice in his chest hadn’t frozen his heart and stopped it from beating.

It was the only reason he was still moving, and wasn’t a crying heap in the forest, waiting to be eaten by Demons.

“Come on, bird brain,” Emerie cooed, patting the spot next to her. “You know you want to.”

“Bird brain?” he rasped, rearing his head back. “You insult me and expect me to come closer?”

Her lips curled in humour. “It wasn’t an insult, Ingram.”

He unfolded his arms and pointed a claw at her. “Only Merikh calls me this. I did not understand it before, but I think he meant I was stupid.”

Now that he looked back on those times, Merikh, the red-orbed Mavka, only said this to him when he did something silly. Actually, he said it to both him and his kindred.

She propped her elbow on her bent knee and rested her cheek against her enclosed fist. Her humour brightened, making her blue eyes glow.

“Did you know that birds are a highly intelligent species?”

“No? They do nothing but peck at the ground and squawk.”

“That’s not true. They can scavenge and puzzle food from humans even if we have preventative measures in place. They set up traps to lure prey like small rodents. They even remember faces, and tell each other who to avoid and who to befriend. We teach them to carry messages for us. Ravens, in particular, are very wise creatures.”

Ingram reached up to stroke down his beak. “I have that bird’s skull.”

“I know,” she answered warmly, her eyes glinting mischievously.

Wise? This is the word she thinks of when she looks upon my face?Once more, his tail curled in delight.

She was trying to please him, and to his dismay, it was working.

When he took too long to move, she gave him a sigh and laid back. Turning on her side, she brought her knees up and tucked her hands under her marred cheek. She curled up on top of her sleep bag, as if she preferred it to cushion her rather than warm her.

He’d noted a while ago that she always began her sleep by lying with her scarred side face down.

Ingram shifted his position until he was on his hands and feet, and crouch-walked until he was near her. With an oomph, he laid down behind her with his back touching hers, unwilling to face her when he was still upset.

Emerie turned, causing him to stiffen. She stroked his side.

“I really am sorry for upsetting you.” He huffed in response, selfishly refusing to answer in hopes she would keep stroking him. “Fine, I’ll leave it be. Just don’t fall asleep, okay? I’ll take the early watch so you can get a few hours in before we set off again.”

Ingram didn’t see the point in her watching over him while he slept. Her protection felt very mediocre, considering she was such a little human who wouldn’t be able to fend off anything dangerous. If Ingram wanted to, he could easily pick her up by the back of her shirt and toss her.

After a little while, her hand languidly slipped down his back and her breaths evened out into light huffs. He rotated his head so he could look over his shoulder, inspecting whether she was truly unconscious.

Slowly, as to not disturb her, Ingram rolled over.

He gingerly slipped his arm underneath her head to cushion it before wrapping both around her torso. He drew Emerie closer until she was firmly pressed against him.

I like this new body.

Having a similar shape to a human allowed him to lay flush with her, rather than having to curl his much larger body around her smaller one.

Staring down at her, all his earlier irritation bled out of him – assisted by the fact she’d insinuated he was wise and called him something pleasant.