Draggah by Toby Neighbors

having cast the spell to find water, he was even more aware of the magic moving, almost coaxing him forward.  He quickly saddled the horses.
    “ What are you doing? ” croaked a familiar voice.
    Tiberius turned and found Lexi sitting up on the blanket they had slept on.  Her short hair was disheveled and her eyes were puffy, but he thought she looked beautiful.
    “ We have to find water or we ’ re going to lose the horses. ”
    “ I ’ ll help, ” Lexi said, getting to her feet and stretching.
    “ Does that mean you ’ ve forgiven me? ” Tiberius asked hopefully.
    The look she shot him was fierce. It said that she wasn ’ t taking what happened lightly.  He realized her feelings weren ’ t a joking matter.
    “ Sorry, ” he said.  “ That was careless of me.  Let ’ s go. ”
    They walked the horses.  Tiberius flexed his hand, but the soreness lingered.  He could move it, but it still felt weak.  Lexi sipped water from the skin and they both ate some of the mealy bread that the Hoskali had made. 
    “ How do you know where you ’ re going? ” she asked.
    “ Magic, ” Tiberius told her.  “ I cast a spell to help us find water. ”
    “ So, the magic told you where to go? ” she inquired skeptically.
    “ It ’ s pulling me, almost the same way we ’ re leading the horses. ”
    Lexi didn ’ t respond to that.  He could tell she was still angry with him, but he was determined to make it up to her.  He ’ d courted girls in the past and even had secret romances in the palace where he had lived all his life in Avondale.  They were more like games compared to his feelings for Lexi.  She was almost all he could think about.  He wanted to be with her all the time, to see her smile and make her laugh.  He didn ’ t like that she was angry with him, even though he could understand why she was.
    “ So, ” she said, finally breaking the silence, “ do you know how far from the water we are? ”
    “ No, ” Tiberius said.
    “ That ’ s too bad.  We could walk for days and never know if your magic is leading us any closer to water. ”
    “ It ’ s working, that ’ s all I can say, ” Tiberius said.
    “ And when we find water, then what? ” Lexi said.  “ Do you have another spell to help you find friends? ”
    “ No, ” Tiberius said, refusing to rise to the bait that Lexi was dangling in front of him.  “ I ’ m not sure what we ’ ll do next. ”
    Casting the spell to find water had been easy enough, but the trek to find the water was long and tiresome.  It was hot and Tiberius felt sluggish.  The horses walked with their heads down.  It was late in the day when they finally saw what looked like a clump of bush scrub ahead of them.
    “ Do you think that ’ s the water? ” Lexi asked hopefully.
    She had sipped water from the water skin throughout the day and was in better shape than even Tiberius by that point.  Her main concern was for the horses.  She had developed a fondness for them and Tiberius thought it was another part of her that he loved.
    “ I hope so, ” he said.
    It took almost an hour to reach the small oasis.  At one point, the horses smelled the water and moved more quickly.  They even raised their heads and neighed a little.
    “ That ’ s a good sign, right? ” Tiberius said.
    “ At least there ’ s hope, ” Lexi agreed.
    The oasis was little more than a small spring that fed what looked like little more than a large puddle of water.  A rock had been set on top of the spring, which trickled down a slight incline and into the puddle.  The horses immediately dropped their muzzles into the water and slurped eagerly.
    Tiberius went around to the other side of the oasis, which was only about four feet across, and knelt down.  He cupped his hands together and scooped up some of the water.  It was warm, but clean.  He drank it down, then splashed water on his face.
    Lexi was gathering some of the sticks from the bush scrub.  There was plenty