Ileus looked at Kaizan who was staring at him with concern etched in his eyes. 

"This is extremely worrisome," said Kaizan. "We need to leave this place as soon as possible." 

"Did this all actually happen?" Anastasia asked again not believing that it all actually happened. She was sure it was definitely a nightmare. "If it happened why can't I remember? Am I going insane?" A frown settled on her.

Ileus smoothened the frown with his thumb and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "I saw you inside the ring of—" his voice choked. He pushed the lump down his throat and took a deep breath. He continued, "But you managed well Anastasia. You destroyed the portal." 

At first she looked at him with wide eyes and a raised brow as if trying to absorb his words. Then her hand flung to her mouth. "I destroyed the portal?" Her skin lined with goose bumps. 

"Yes, princess and that is some really powerful magic," he said softly as he stroked her hair with his finger trying to relax her and at the same time seeing the wonder she had in her.

"Let's get out of here!" Kaizan said and got up. "It is already pretty sunny today and we can take advantage. We can travel as far as possible."

"That would be better!" Ileus agreed immediately. Wake up others," Ileus said. "Let's not delay this at all." 

Kaizan nodded and jumped to his feet. As soon as he left, Ileus helped Anastasia up. The girl looked weak and pale. It was as if the magic had drained her powers. 

"Thank you for helping me Ileus," she said with appreciation in her voice. "The whole situation is so messy that I am unable to wrap my head around it." On the inside her stomach was corded with so much tension that she felt nauseated. A headache was beginning to form.

Straightening her sweater, he curled his hands around her waist and rested them on her hips in that possessive way. "I am glad that you fought it out princess. It is not easy to break a portal and I can see it that you struggled, even though you were entranced by it." A shudder passed through his body. 

Smiling faintly, she looked down and suddenly her gaze settled at what she was wearing—grey breeches and spice beige sweater. "Who changed my dress?" 

Ileus raised a brow. He removed one hand, coughed into and said, "I had to." 

Anastasia was… speechless. He could have asked Darla or Nyles. "You could have asked Nyles! She is my personal maid." 

"Nyles was found unconscious in the same cavern where you were handling the portal. We saw her slumped against the wall as if she had been thrown. Don't you remember?" 

Anastasia jerked her head back with a fresh frown. A grimace built on her face. "I… I don't recall anything of the sort." 

"I know." Ileus peered at Kaizan who was now waking up the others as hurriedly as possible. He was barking orders at them to get up and get moving, like yesterday. "I will let you know about it later, Anastasia. Right now we don't have time and we need to move. Okay?"

Her head turned in the direction of his gaze and she couldn't agree more. "Okay," she said and pursed her lips. 

Ileus left her to help Kaizan wind up. She was left wondering about things and in order to divert her mind, she started helping others. 

Ileus was stashing bedrolls in a saddlebag which had collapsible tents when Aidan came over to him and in a low voice said, "The next stop is going to come not before evening, which means we have to ride the whole day." 

Ileus got up. "Can't we simply ride through the night as well? Three more days and we are going to reach Óraid at that speed." 

Kaizan, who was standing next to them and putting utensils in the saddlebag, tied the knot. He hauled the bag on his shoulder and said, "If it was for you and me, we would have done that Ileus. Or even if our powers weren't so limited…" his voice trailed off. He looked towards Anastasia. "She is not that well and honestly I don't want to risk tiring our horses."

Though Anastasia had walked to where Nyles was, she was listening to what the men were talking about. 

"Don't you forget the enchanted realms of Ivorpool Forests. We are going to encounter them after Óraid," said Aidan huffing as he too hauled a bag on his shoulder and walked out of the cave.

Kaizan grunted and murmured a curse.

Ileus shook his head. Ivorpool was a notorious place. If only he could find a bend around it… As he tied the knot of his saddlebag and pulled it over his shoulder, he found Anastasia staring at Nyles. He said to Kaizan, "We will think about Ivorpool later. Right now we need to reach Oraid. And now that she has broken a portal, I hope she hasn't created any anomaly." 

"Fuck!" Kaizan blurted. He stabbed fingers through his hair. "I hope she hasn't." He rubbed his palm over his face. "Let us just hurry up!" 

"Look, we are going at a great pace," said Ileus to calm his nervousness. "Let's just maintain it. Today it is a sunny day. I highly doubt there would be blizzards. If this continues we won't have to stop." 

Kaizan looked at Ileus intently. "You should also think about what you are going to do next, Ileus." His eyes went to Anastasia for a brief moment and then he walked away. 

Anastasia was baffled at Kaizan's countenance, but then who was she to interfere in their plans. They were helping her out and she needed to get out of Sgiath Biò as soon as possible. She looked at Nyles who was so pale that she would give competition to a ghost. She bent down and shook her shoulders. "Nyles, wake up!" 

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