Serena's POV:

I admired the forest scenery. The waterfall in front of us split into dozens of rivulets as it cascaded down a hill in an almost magical fashion. They all managed to regroup into a small river as it continued on its journey.

Saphira spoke to Darien, "We usually travel through the trees, so we have never had the need to build a bridge. No tree near here had fallen over to make an impromptu crossing either. If you wish to jump her over it, we can continue on to an even larger waterfall, or we can walk along the river."

Darien glanced at the small river, "I can jump it." He looked down at me, "Feel like continuing?"

"Sure." I was thoroughly enjoying myself and, thankfully, Darien didn't seem bored either. I did notice that he was more interested in the waterfalls than in the plants, so I had asked Saphira if she knew of other nearby waterfalls. I admired the plants on our way between the surprisingly numerous waterfalls.

The land was actually slightly sloped and the almost nonstop rainfall in the distant mountains meant a never-ending flow to the rivers. Darien picked me up before taking a run towards the river. The river was at least the length of a tennis court and I wasn't sure how Darien would manage to jump it.

There were no trees close by, so I kept my eyes open. Wind rushed by as Darien picked up speed before launching himself powerfully into the air. It was almost like we were flying and I laughed aloud in delight.

His feet hit the grass without too hard of a landing. He put me on my feet as I gazed around at the new terrain. Saphira was already on my other side and the five other guards had also crossed, having used the tree branches. I was pretty sure that more Dranek were around, but I didn't see them.

Saphira gestured towards the trail and we started walking once more. The forest looked better and the plants were thriving, much to my relief. That left me free to enjoy the sights and sounds of the forest.

I yawned as I ate breakfast. As much as I was enjoying all of the hiking, sightseeing, and meeting the local Dranek over the last three days, I was not used to the constant activity. Darien contentedly twirled a loose strand of my hair.

He seemed to be relaxed and enjoying himself. I looked up at him, but his eyes were closed. I silently grinned as I recalled how he had looked the other day when I had made a flower crown and put it on his head. I pushed that image to the front of my mind.

"You never did make one for yourself," his eyes opened as he looked at me in amusement.

"I was too distracted by the rather dashing and handsome man beside me." I figured I was getting better at using words in my light flirting attempts.

His responding smile took my breath away and I shared that image as well. He wrapped his arms around me, "You are getting far too good at that, but you best be careful about flattering me so, or the Dranek are going to think that we usually sleep until close to lunch."

I blushed and hid my face against his chest, as much as I enjoyed it, it still embarrassed me slightly. I did a mental tally, but we had a couple of days until I would need those feminine products that Saphira had left in the bathroom for me.

I changed the subject, "We are going to see that mine this afternoon and then visit that Dranek with the cataracts, right?"

"Yes, although I suspect that the Dranek will come here later this evening to meet us."

Darien had wanted to see the mine where they dug out a rather beautiful blue stone, so that was today's event. We were pretty much at loose ends with no real work to do, but we had helped out here and there.

Darien had used his strength to help the Dranek as they teamed up to move several huge rocks, and today I was going to see if I could remove the cataracts that had nearly blinded one of the Dranek.

I had taken a few more cracks at trying to determine what had caused the problems in the forest, but came up empty-handed. My humming, whistling, and even soft and carefully controlled song all told me that the cause was still there, but I couldn't figure out what the cause was, nor could I correct it. I planned to keep trying, and hopefully, one day I would discover it.

We headed outside and, as per usual, it took less than a minute for Saphira to show up. We followed the now-familiar trails through the village until we walked along trails that were unfamiliar to me.

It took us almost until lunch to get to the jewel mine. If Saphira hadn't pointed it out, I would have missed the opening. Another Dranek appeared out of the trees and I assumed he was the one who was going to give us the tour. He met us near the entrance. There were several lanterns outside the entry and we went inside once we lit them.

The walls were fairly smooth with small side tunnels branching off. Saphira didn't have to point out what they were mining for, the blue veins shone brightly in the lantern light. The stones vaguely reminded me of cat's eye or opal in how they shimmered with lighter and darker ripples of blue.

The other Dranek explained how they tunneled and mined the stone, as well as how the storm season flooded the tunnels for several months. We left the mine after our tour and we decided to eat our lunch before continuing on.

I sat on Darien's lap while I took a long drink from my water bottle. Darien dug through his backpack for the lunch we had packed. I covered a yawn as I took the container of fruit that Darien passed to me.

Saphira walked over and crouched down in front of us as she stared intently at me with her head slightly tilted to the side. I blinked at her in confusion; she had never stared at me like this before. Darien turned his attention to Saphira with a slight frown as he ignored his backpack.

Her yellowish eyes seemed to catch the light in odd ways, like a glass marble. "You are still breathing heavily."

I wasn't breathing that hard... "I am not exactly in the best of shape, even when compared to most humans."

Saphira was still watching me closely, although I could see traces of concern on her face, "That wasn't exactly what I meant. You caught your breath easily with rest before, but the last few days your breathing has been heavier. It isn't right."

She thought for a moment before looking at Darien, "Is her heartbeat faster? My hearing is not keen enough to pick it up."

The bond rippled from Darien's side and he spoke slowly, "I didn't pay much attention to it before, but, yes, her heart is beating faster, and now that I think about it, it has for several days." He looked down at me in concern, "How are you feeling?"

In truth, I wasn't feeling quite 100%, but it wasn't anything that concerned me. I had been more tired after waiting on tables for a day. I shrugged slightly as I responded, "I feel mostly normal, just a bit tired."

Saphira looked deep in thought, "I think the air on this planet is too thin for her to remain long-term."

With the towering trees and ample greenery around us, I failed to understand why she would think that. Darien was also confused with her logic, "The air?"

Saphira sighed heavily, "We have seen this with two other races in the distant past. Different planets have different air, some are so close that there is no noticeable difference, but others are so different that some races simply cannot travel to certain planets. Dranek and Tarulk are stronger and more adaptable, so we rarely notice slight differences, but like a human trying to climb a high mountain, small effects can build up."

Saphira stood up as she turned her gaze towards the trees, "I am fairly certain it is the air. I can feel it, just like when I consider Serena and I can tell that she should not eat certain foods unless they are purified." She exhaled as she shook herself lightly, clearly having a hard time putting her reasonings into words.

Darien watched the slightly worked up Dranek, "In other words, the sooner we go through the waygate, the better."

Saphira flattened her ears against her head in dislike, but agreed, "As much as I wish her to remain on this planet, yes."

Darien nodded as he picked me up and got to his feet, our lunch plans forgotten. I realized that they planned to leave immediately. I shook my head, "At least let me see if I can heal that Dranek. I have lasted this long, another hour won't harm me."

Darien was reluctant to remain, "I am sure she will have no problem passing through the waygate to visit." The bond was starting to stir from his worry and I knew logic would only go so far in this situation.

Saphira said, "She is probably already in the village, so she is on our way. She can come with us as we pass through the waygate."

This recent discovery had both of them on edge, and I clearly was not about to win this fight. I leaned my head back against Darien's chest as he started jogging back the way we had come.

Saphira looked up into the trees and whistled several loud notes before telling Darien, "I have sent someone ahead to start preparing the waygate. Pick up whatever you want from the house, including food. I have to grab some supplies, but it should only take me ten minutes."

Darien nodded before speeding up slightly. I was beginning to think they were being a bit paranoid, but if this was the cause of my constant yawning, then it was probably wise to return to the Tarulk planet sooner rather than later.

I knew we would be returning to the Tarulk's planet. With the Dranek protecting an area, hostile Tarulk were less of a threat. Darien also had a grudge against guns and those weapons didn't work on his planet.

To be honest, I didn't really care where we went as long as Darien was with me. I did enjoy Saphira's friendship, so I hoped she would continue to hang around. Although the more I thought about it, the more I suspected that it would be far harder to get her to completely leave as opposed to convincing her to come with us.