The road back to Valdris took less time than the road there.
Not because Kai had found a different exploit — but because Serah, who had spent two days with her markings at their warmest intensity, was walking faster than normal without either of them mentioning it.
Kai was dragging Jameson.
Not with cruelty — he simply wasn't going to waste any effort carrying him.
Jameson was tied with rope from the quest inventory, unconscious, arms crossed over his chest like someone sleeping comfortably if you ignored the bumps he took every time his head found a rock on the road.
Every time Jameson showed signs of waking — a flicker, a sound, the movement of someone coming out of unconsciousness — he found another rock.
Kai wasn't doing it on purpose.
The road just had a lot of rocks.
And not because they had chosen the road with the most rocks.
---
Serah put her hand on Kai's chest two kilometers before the north entrance.
Kai stopped.
Looked ahead.
