Ze's eyes widen, and with his characteristic swiftness, he catches me before I hit the ground.

"What happened?" he barks out, scooping me up in his arms.

"I'm fine." I muster a smile. "My legs hurt a little. I'm not accustomed to walking this much," I admit, although I don't say the entire truth—the fact that I've been pushing myself far above my limits. That I've made it this far is a wonder, but because of that I'm not going to give up when we're so close to our goal.

"Your legs hurt?" He frowns, a panicked expression appearing on his face. "Do you need me to heal you?"

"No, no," I hurry to say. "I'm only tired from walking. I am human after all," I try to joke lightly.

He doesn't seem to see the humor in my statement. Placing me on the tree trunk, he gets to his knees in front of me, extending my legs to have a look at them. He examines them on one side, then the other, not finding anything wrong with them. Still, he isn't satisfied.

"We are not far from the location. It should take us a few more hours to get there. I shall carry you so we can reach it before nightfall," he simply states.

Turning with his back to me, he motions for me to climb on him.

I may be a little reluctant to keep taking advantage of him and his kindness, but he is right. We do need to get the plant as fast as we can.

"Thank you," I murmur, wrapping my arms around his neck and hopping on his back. "You're very nice to me today," I praise him gently, knowing he loves being called that.

He tightens his hold under my knees as he starts walking. I'll never fail to be amazed at the easiness with which he's able to carry me. Somehow, I have no doubt he'd carry a cow just as easily. My lips crack in a smile as I get the mental picture of Ze giving a cow a piggyback. That would certainly be something to behold.

"Remember to add another extra point," he suddenly mentions.

"What?"

"You said you would give me extra points. Remember to add this, too." His voice is brighter than usual; his countenance, too.

I frown.

Oh, God! Of course he wouldn't realize I was speaking metaphorically. I open my mouth to explain what I meant but end up closing it and swallowing my words. He seems so excited about the potential of earning more extra points that I can't ruin it for him.

"Yes, it's added," I end up saying.

"Will you give me a boon if I accrue a certain number of points?" he asks sheepishly after a moment's thought.

"How many points are we talking about?"