And of course, Nakia was half immortal too, like all shifters. She'd last for a long, long time, and Rowan would still be alive for it. "Thank you, thank you for accepting me. Please stay with me, don't leave me alone. Not like mama." She didn't mean it in a bad way, she knew mama hadn't meant to leave her behind, but she had. Nakia didn't want to be alone for another second.

"I willing be right here..." Rowan felt hot tears run down her cheeks. She felt ashamed to be so weak right there, so vulnerable. Nakia did not need that. Nakia needed her to be strong. So, Rowan blinked back her tears and rubbed the stains away on her face with her other hand. She began to hum again, hoping Nakia would fall asleep so she could work on the border. There was no time to waste.

The humming quieted the child and she burrowed close to Rowan. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am thankful." Nakia rested her head against Rowan and fell asleep in around 8 minutes time. Meanwhile, Alvaro watched as the manticores drifted away and Nakia fell asleep. When he realized the child was falling asleep, he sent his soft aura towards her, it would grant her dreamless sleep. When he spoke, his voice was tiny, "we should get back now. She needs rest and I have to talk to you." Alvaro looked insanely worried now. Pacing to and fro.

Rowan nodded, "You can tell me while we see if the border is accepting of my magic. Also, where should I put her? In a tent?" Rowan uncurled her legs and stood up, her bones popping slightly. It seemed even immortals had old bones, which Rowan had been told she had multiple times.

Alvaro nodded, his wings fluttering in the breeze. They were more visible with the dark backdrop of the forest behind him. "Yes, we will go to the border of course. And she can have a tent, or you can share one with her, whatever you prefer. We have enough to go around." Alvaro gave her a grim smile, though he looked rather anxious at the same time. Of course, he could kill one of these tainted manticores if needed, but he doubted his ability to defend them from multiple at the same time.

Rowan put little Nakia in a tent, and came out to see Alvaro still to be deep in thought. She playfully punched his shoulder, and flashed a smile with more confidence than she actually felt. "Hey! You forget you are acompanied by an accomplished and seasoned knight! I can hold my own - don't worry about me."

Alvaro smiled, his mark pulsing with a soft green light. The punch surprised him, in the Faerie culture, touching wasn't taken too lightly. You only touched someone if you were angry at them, comforting them, giving a greeting hug, or close to the person. He didn't think Rowan was really doing any of those things so he just assumed it was a human thing. Humans were weird. "That puts my worries to rest. I see now that you are very capable of taking on those high-class manticores and will easily blast them to smithereens." He smiled, the sarcasm thick in his voice.

Rowan either didn't pick up on he sarcasm, or ignored it, saying, "Yep! Now - lets go look at the border." She walked on ahead, hand resting on the hilt of her sword. She may sound confident, but her luck tended to, well, not be there.

Alvaro's luck was just as bad as Rowan's. He was just a really big mess most of the time. That being said, he was still really good with his powers and okay with a sword. Having wings have him an edge over humans but not anything else that could fly, like the particularly powerful manticores that killed Nakia's mother. Realizing he has yet to explain to Rowan about the mutated manticores. He jogged over to keep up with her. "Would you like me to explain the way to deadly manticores now?" Alvaro's wings twitched. His mark giving off a brighter glow as they approached the border.

"Sure," Rowan agreed, deciding it would be best to have a dagger ready. She pulled one out of her boot, testing the blade against her finger. She decided it was sharp enough, and slipped it into her sleeve, the ease of which she did so now second nature.