"Oh! Isn't that good then. We are safe here," Anastasia said sagging with relief. She looked at the hearth and felt it's fire warming her chilled skin.

"No love. I need to find a way to get out of here as soon as possible," Ileus replied as he took bones out of the fish and handed her a piece.

"Why Al?" she asked with a frown as she took the piece from him. The salmon tasted good.

"Because now all the rogues are going to come after us, and Ivorpool is the place where Maple can send them easily... She can just form a portal and send them in hordes." He became silent for a long time, as he started thinking about something. "They all saw me running here with you." Ileus had held her tightly against his chest when he was running away from a bunch of vampires in the jungle. As soon as he reached Ivorpool's periphery, he could feel the pulse of magic. He threw his hands forward and chanted a spell. The magical wall tore in the form of purple lights, allowing him to enter. When he stepped inside, the wall closed, and the vampires who were chasing them couldn't penetrate. However, he was sure that the news must have traveled to Maple faster than air.

She became anxious and shifted in her place. "Will we leave for Yelgra tomorrow?" she asked, feeling sad that her mission would be unaccomplished now.

He gave her another piece and said, "I think we should. This place isn't safe anymore. Tonight I am going to check out a few things."

"What do you mean?" She stopped eating, feeling restless.

"I don't know where our team is in Yelgra, so I have to go and locate them. But I am not going to take you with me."

"What?" she almost shouted.

"Ana, I don't want to risk you in Yelgra. That place is near Ixoviya and those are the lands of Sedora, the sorceress. It is dangerous."

"Isn't it dangerous here?" she countered with panic in her voice. What if he got attacked again? He would be alone.

"Don't worry, I will put up an invisibility spell on this cave. Just don't go out and you will be good," he said to reassure her. "But I have to go an find the location of my group to take you to Yelgra."

Her heart plummeted. "What about the clue that Theodir was talking about?"

He gave her another piece and said, "We can come here next time. Please darling. I am pretty unsure about Ivorpool right now."

For the remaining time both of them stayed silent. Only the crackle of fire was making noise. When he finished feeding her, he threw the plate in the fire and washed his hands. It was pretty late in the night and he was tired, so he slid beside her, made her turn and pulled her close to his chest with her back towards his chest. He covered them with the blanket. He wanted her to face the hearth so that she got the required warmth from the front while he warmed her from the back. Burying his face in her hair, he inhaled her scent deeply. "Gods Ana, when this is over, I am taking you on a long honeymoon!"

She chuckled. "Our honeymoon is over, husband."

He removed her hair from her neck and kissed his mark, which had healed. "No darling, if and when this gets resolved, my parents are going to have gala celebrations of our wedding." Though at this point of time this was just wishful thinking.

She laughed softly. "I wonder what we are going to achieve in our long honeymoon that we haven't over here."

"We are going to make a lot of babies," he replied as he licked the mark and then nibbled her earlobe.

"Lots of babies? Are you mad?"

"Nope! I am going to have at least five to six babies with you, and I am certain."

"Do you wish to spend the rest of your life outside your bedroom?"

"Nah!" he said brazenly. "I wish to spend it on you, under you, beside you, but in all the above cases... in you."

She slapped his forearm that was wrapped around her waist, blushing crimson.

"In fact I am going to make you read that book while I spend my time inside you. I know you like it a lot." He rubbed his erection in her back.

"Oh. My. God!" she breathed. "You won't forget it, will you?" The heat from his cock was branding her back.

"Never." He wanted to continue thrusting his erection on her back, but she wasn't well. So he willed himself to settle. "Sleep darling," he said in a lilting voice. "I will go tonight to Yelgra while you are asleep."

"When will you come back?" she asked.

"I will return in an hour maximum. Although it is the dead of the night, please don't venture out of this cave, okay?" Why was he having a bad feeling about it?

She softly laughed. "I won't Al. Besides, why don't you cast a spell on me? I will sleep until you come back."

"Not a bad idea, love," he replied. He would cast a spell for an hour and then cloak this cave. It was well hidden from the danger and when he had come here, he had made sure that every damn thing that inhabited it was thrown out. He realized that the cave stretched further inside, but they remained near the mouth.

While gently brushing her hair, he cast the spell on her and her eyes became heavy lidded. She smiled and turned on her back. "I know you are using your magic. It is touching me like a caress."

He smiled. "Then sleep, love."

Anastasia slept soon after and Ileus rose to his feet. He couldn't wait even a single minute. He dressed and with one last look at her, he snapped his fingers. "Ghayr O moyra!" The invisibility spell was cast. Dark shadows erupted around him and enveloped him. When they dissipated, he wasn't there.

She had slid into a beautiful sleep. Her body was feeling so weak that although she had woken up, she felt shaky. She dreamt of birds, the color of daffodils, chirruping and circling her. She laughed as they dived down to touch her. Their feathers tickled her. Why was the sound coming from so near? It was as if they were right over her. Anastasia flared open her eyes. Her heart pounded. The noise of their chirping was coming from the outside.

She gulped. Could dreams be a reality? With a shaky breath, she wrapped herself with the blanket and got up. She walked to the entrance of the cave but didn't step out because Ileus had asked her not to. Her breath was caught in her throat when she saw the same golden birds flying some twenty meters away from her and the birds were transparent. Her hand pressed her mouth as goose bumps pricked her. The birds trilled and suddenly she saw a reindeer with a mesh of long antlers walking towards her. He was as transparent as the birds and as tall as her. "Who are you?"