A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Night rolled along, and Tarhuinn didn't wake her up yet. He would give her a little more time to sleep. Besides, he enjoyed watching her sleep even though he was exhausted himself. There was also the issue of this third kelremm. It would make sense if a kelremm mated with a human mage for a mage kelremm to exist, but there were complexities with such a pairing. There were warnings in some of the books that a kelremm should avoid mating with a mage, and so no one to his knowledge had ever attempted such a pairing. No books had accounts of it either.

Still, evidence was pointing to the five authors already being questionable with regards to that missing phrase in their texts. So if anyone had gone through with a pairing like that, it would probably be them. Perhaps, the warning had been created as a lie so that no other mage kelremm would be born, but it would be a gamble to make.

Should a kelremm mate with a human mage, there was a high chance that the child would be killed after birth due to the mage's magic counteracting the child's need for human life energy. The magic would protect its owner regardless of the owner's wishes. In the books, there was no measure written to take against the magic's protectiveness.

Thankfully, it was easy to tell a mage child from a regular child. The books told that a mage child would bear the mark of magic on a portion of their face until they reached the age of ten. This fact he knew to be at least partially true as he had seen such a child during his wait for his chosen. It had been on the child's left cheek, and he had seen the light blue mark when the child had turned to glance his way.

A shift on his lap, though, caused his focus to turn back to (f/n). She had more of her torso on him now, and both of her hands gripped at his pants' legs. There was a frown on her lips before she mumbled something in her sleep. Was she having a nightmare? To try and soothe her, he combed his right fingers through her locks and leaned down to her some. He placed a chaste kiss on top of her head, which caused her to shift again.

She moved her head up some. Her eyes blinked open tiredly. "Tarhuinn? Is ..." She let out a small yawn, and he couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. "Is it time for me to wake up?"

"No, you can rest a little longer. I just thought that you were having a nightmare."

"I was," she muttered, glancing away from him now. She could still picture the beginning of it, but, luckily, he had awakened her before it had really started. "To be honest, I'd rather get up now. I don't want to go back to it."

"May I ask what it was about?"

(F/n) shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Let's switch places for now. You need your rest to." She went to sit up but got pulled back down by him. He was lying on his right side and held her back to his chest. His warm breath hit the back of her neck, sending a chill up her spine and heat to her cheeks.

"In that case, I'll take my turn, but wake me if you need me or if you hear something moving about nearby." He relaxed against her and nuzzled his face into the left crook of her neck. Her cheeks heated up more. Despite this, she hoped that she wouldn't fall back asleep. It would be easy to given how she was, but she doubted that Tarhuinn would let her go.

For the moment, though, she would probably be safe from the arms of sleep. Her nightmare's beginning played back in her mind. She could clearly see the fallen bodies as Tarhuinn stood in the middle of them. Crimson decorated the blades of his daggers while his back faced away from her. Even in her dream, she understood that he was protecting her, but the sight before her was terrifying.

When he had turned to face her, she noted the blood running down the corners of his mouth. A smile crossed his lips while his sharper teeth glistened with bits of red. His dark blue eyes held an overly pleased look before he began to advance towards her. She had been awoken by that point, but the image of his face was burned into her mind.

By that look alone, she had known that he had lost control of himself. Even if he was protecting her, she was worried about what he would do after the attackers had been disposed of. Her left fingers trailed up to her right shoulder. She moved them under her shirts and winced upon hitting the marks. Moving them more gently, she trailed over them.

His teeth had touched her skin there. A mental picture of his smile from the nightmare flashed in her mind. Quickly, she pulled his arms from her and rolled herself away. Getting to her feet, she darted over to the nearest tree and collapsed onto her knees. Her arms wrapped around her stomach as she hunched over. She parted her lips and relieved the nausea.

Hands rested on the sides of her head. She practically jumped until she heard Tarhuinn saying that it was only him. His hands pulled back her hair for her before she ridded herself of another wave. It was humiliating to have him see her like this, but the image plagued her. The nausea continued a few more times before she was just sitting there and catching her breath.

"Come, let's go clean you up," he voiced gently before helping her to her feet. She remained hunched a little bit as he walked her over to the water. Seating her down, he told her to rinse her mouth and drink some. He swiftly grabbed his pack and brought it over.

Kneeling beside her, he rummaged through his pack until he pulled out a small container. When he saw her sitting motionless, he set the container aside and grabbed a spare cloth from the pack. He dipped it into the water before he rested his free fingers under her chin. After he turned her to face him, he dabbed at her mouth. During this, he didn't speak; he allowed her to recompose herself.

Setting down the cloth, he asked, "Are you able to drink?" He received a light nod from her before she turned to the water and brought some of it to her lips. Only when she was finished drinking, did he rinse the cloth off. Once he placed the cloth aside, he opened the container and pulled out a mint leaf. "Here, chew on this. It will help your stomach." She complied and took it. "Now, let us return to our bed, and you can tell me about your nightmare. I won't take no for answer as I'm assuming it was the cause of this. Or, is it something else that caused your sickness?"

"You're right. It was the nightmare," she admitted quietly, not meeting his gaze.

He got to his feet and pulled her up with him. Picking up the pack after putting the container back in, he brought her over to their bed. Once he placed the items down, he seated himself and placed her between his legs. Her back rested against his chest while his right arm wrapped gently around her waist. His left fingers intertwined with her left ones. "Tell me about this nightmare."

Hesitant, she remained quiet. How would he react to her nightmare? Would he grow angry at her for imagining him in such a light? She wanted to curl up into a ball and be alone for a bit. Tarhuinn wouldn't permit that, however, especially since they were in unknown territory.

"(F/n), please tell me. I wish to know what troubles you."

"It was ... about you." She brought her knees closer to her chest and wished that his arm wasn't around her waist. "You had killed many kelremm and had this terrifying smile on your lips." His hand tightened around hers for a brief second, but she could feel him tense against her back.

"And, this caused you to be sick?" His voice was calm, but there was an underlying tone present. She couldn't tell if it was hurt or anger. It might've been both.

"No. I looked at the ... marks that you had given me. An image of the contents on your teeth flashed through my mind, and I recalled your teeth gliding against my skin." She heard him sigh before his grip on her was released. Within moments, however, she was facing him. His hands rested on her cheeks while his eyes held clear pain in them.

"You wound me by thinking that I would sully your beautiful skin with the blood and flesh of others. I would make sure that I was clean before I touched you. Those marks upon your skin are my signs of affection for you, and no one will defile them. As for this nightmare, understand that I would never let my rage consume me to the point where I would come after you to harm you. I imagine that was your real fear for my smile. That fury will only be unleashed on others if they try to take you from me."

Giving him a weak nod, she pushed against his hands and rested her forehead on his chest. She heard the steady beat of his heart. It soothed her some, but his words were only somewhat comforting. No matter what he told her, he didn't have to see that smile upon his own face. He didn't know what he truly looked like when he became controlled by rage. (F/n) hoped that the oncoming day would draw her focus elsewhere. "You should get back to sleep, Tarhuinn. I'll be fine now."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, thank you for your help earlier. I'll wake you when the sun rises." She received a disinclined nod from him, but he let her go. As she seated herself beside him, he laid down and went back to sleep. (F/n) brought her knees to her chest, allowing the gentle sound of the water to keep her mind at ease.