THEY HAD ARRIVED IN AZZEN SOONER THAN EXPECTED - ONLY BY A WEEK. Sure enough, Avery had ended up catching a cold about two days’ travel away from the capital of the desert country, and didn’t seem to be doing very well. She was almost constantly swaying in the saddle, fever-ridden, but refused to go see the medic tent. She’d fall asleep on Arach-teine, but somehow managed to stay in the saddle as she rode along. Almost the entire group had started to worry that she was going to hurt herself for going without asking for something to help her cold. “Avery,” Noah warned, spotting Avery sway tiredly in the saddle. “You should go see the medics. Now, or I’m taking you there. And you won’t enjoy it if I take you down there.” Avery blinked at Noah, a bit confused for a moment. “Koros is down with them. He’s going to kick my rear if he finds out I’m not making sure to go down there to him. And I don’t want to bother him. He’s probably getting busy with sorting remedial stuff. I don’t want him to go worrying about me now…” Her blue eyes were dull and glassy and she seemed to droop in the saddle. “Would you rather I go see if he has something to help your cold, then?” Noah asked. “So you don’t have to bother him yourself.” “If you want to. He’s prolly gonna ask you to slap some sense into me, too. Don’t hit me too hard if he asks, though. I probably deserve it, too.” She sighed and straightened in the saddle, trying to make herself more alert. Her hands were shaking as she pulled her cloak tighter. “Guess I just want to be in the sunlight, rather than in the shade of the wagons. It feels good out here.” “I guess it would. You were always outside back at home, huh.” “Yep. During the winter, I’d stay outside as long as I could before my fingers could start getting numb from the cold. Everyone else stays inside until they absolutely have to go out. Not me. As long as I can stand up while I’m sick, I’m good being outside when it’s warm.” Avery grinned stupidly. “I get in trouble for it, though…” she trailed off, staring out at the horizon. For a long minute, the two of them rode in relative silence. “Are you-?” Avery didn’t stir, so Noah took that moment to gallop back through the military caravan, towards the medic wagon. Almost immediately, Noah spotted Koros, who seemed to have been waiting patiently for the him to come. “Avery?” Koros asked knowingly. Noah nodded. “She - he’s messing with a cold or fever, right?” “Yeah.” Noah knew Koros was still used to calling Avery a girl, since that was what she really was. Beside the fact that she was genderswapped, there was really not a lot of difference to her. “Not falling out of the saddle yet, is he?” “Nope.” “But he fell asleep on you, I assume.” Koros held out a small blue pouch of dried herbs. “This is what we usually give him when he’s sick. It works fairly well on Mister Stubborn.” He tossed it to Noah, who caught it. “Put it in boiled water and make sure he drinks it while it’s still hot. It’s a sort of tea.” “Will do. Do you want me to do anything else?” Noah pulled up even with the wagon. “Slap him on the back as hard as you can. Or boot in the small of his back to knock him over. Just be careful of…” “I know. Will do.” “Wait, you’ve seen…?” “Yeah. I have. They’re pretty cool.” “Deities…” Koros rubbed his temples. “Well, get going.” Noah saluted Koros and sent his horse back to the group at a gallop. He quickly caught up with them, and held up the small blue pouch. “I’ve got something for Avery. Courtesy of his brother, Koros.” “Please tell me that we’re stopping soon. My nerves are frayed because of him,” Gedric groaned icily. “I’m so going to kick his rear when we stop.” He was staying close to Avery so that he could catch her if she fell from Arach-teine.
