2995 Scorched Earth (Part 1)
Maergron used the Ears to guide their attack and the world energy sifted by the throne to regain what he had lost. Then, the Flames reached him through the Garden and struck him with boundless hate.
"Even if you kill me, I won't die." The Void laughed as the arrays tore it into pieces. "I'm not even here, you moron. I won't die and I won't forget you. We will meet again soon and then I won't be a fragment. I will be whole!"
The Fae ignored the threat, jumping off the throne just in time to save his head. The rest of his body was reduced to a pile of ashes, but the battle was won.
With the disappearance of the Void, the connection between Lith and the Ears had been severed. He had no more access to the knowledge he needed to operate the Garden or conjure so many kinds of Flames at the same time.
"f.u.c.k." Maergron regrew an arm and destroyed every drop of the Tiamat's blood left in the bronze basin. "This was a total disaster. I almost lost the throne, the Ears, and my life.
"The only silver lining is that I still have plenty of blood of the other- Why am I talking to myself?" The brush with death and physical pain had broken the grip of madness caused by the guilt of killing Pharek.
"s.h.i.+t, I need to… G.o.ds, I can't stop talking!"
***
The pillar of fire surrounding Lith reverted to its original violet and then faded away.
All his enemies were dead and his allies were too shocked to say a single word. The fight had ended more abruptly than it had started and in a way no one could explain.
The section of the corridor where they stood was still white-hot but, for some reason, the air was fresh and the stone was cool to the touch. Lith still held the sobbing curled form of Solus in his arms.
Her armor was cracked at several points, either due to the wounds opened by the undead or because the Flames had little care for what she wore and had focused solely on healing her.
"I can help her." Ryka the t.i.tania stepped forward, willing to share the effects of her breathing technique and the regenerating properties of the plant folk.
"Don't touch her!" The Tiamat's maw snapped like a bear trap at the extended tendrils, forcing the Fae to step back.
Even in his current state, Lith hadn't forgotten that no one was allowed to notice that Solus actually had his same energy signature or take a good look at her life force. His membranous wings were wrapped around her like a cradle, hiding everything but her head.
It wasn't just to cover her exposed skin but also the s.h.i.+ning golden cracks still opened on Solus' body.
She was still scared from the crumbling of her life force and crying from the pain that the Flames had inflicted upon her while cleansing the parasites. Solus hid her face in Lith's chest, sniffling while holding her arms tight around his chest.
"Is she alright?" Bytra asked after failing to get an answer from Solus.
"No, but she will be." The different kinds of Flames had purged the infestation and cauterized the wounds on both her life force and mana.
Between the physical contact with Lith and the energy the tower drew from the Garden, the wounds and burns Solus had suffered were already healing.
'Go back inside the ring. It should make things faster and ensure there are no long-term consequences.' He said via the mind link and Solus was too tired to argue.
Lith's wings covered her head as well, to hide the moment when her body turned into light. Solus left the Voidwalker armor behind so that the membranous wings retained her shape.
'You were right.' Solus said. 'Now that I'm back to being pure energy and the tower doesn't need to keep my physical form anymore, I can feel my wounds being st.i.tched close.'
'Are you okay?' Lith asked.
'No, but know that I know I'll heal, I feel better.' Then, her consciousness drifted into a dreamless sleep.
"What did you do? How did you do it?" Strider wasn't the kind of man to look at the gifted horse in the mouth, but he needed to know what had happened.
"Sit down, because we all need to rest and this is going to be a long story." Lith replied.
"What if another army of undead comes our way? We should establish a perimeter and organize a watch duty." Rutha said.
"Nah, there won't be another attack for a while." Lith's mouth opened in a savage grin, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence and malice at the idea of the damage the Void had inflicted upon the Fae. "Believe me."
After everything they had witnessed during the last few minutes, it was hard not to. Bytra and Zoreth established a few surveillance arrays with the Maw, just to be safe.
Then, once they all sat on the ground and took out some food to eat, Lith explained to them what had happened and what he had seen. The idea that even his blood had a life of its own made everyone stare at the still-healing wounds on his body.
'I wonder if we're going to be able to do the same once our life forces merge.' Xenagrosh wondered, looking at her blood sizzling on the ground until it disappeared.
"This is what our mark looks like." He projected a hologram of Maergron.
"That's a Redcap!" Ryka said after studying the image of the handsome man and the bundle of crimson hair on his head that was actually comprised of blood-soaked brambles. "It explains a few things, but not all."
She pointed at the red streaks all over the Fae's hologram.
"Redcaps can indeed borrow the abilities of their prey, but pa.s.sing them upon undead is unheard of, let alone combining them together in a stable form as he did."
"Maybe those stories about the Garden aren't all hogwash." Azhom pondered. "Maybe this guy has found a way to further his evolution thanks to the Garden like the legends say."
"I don't care." Lith replied. "But I'd greatly appreciate it if you let me have the death blow."
"We need to take him alive to interrogate him and bring him to justice." Strider said.
"Or we can just kill him on the spot." The murderous light in Lith's eyes showed the Zouwu an already dug grave with his name written on the tombstone.
And the date was today.
"Sure." Strider felt his fur stand up in fear when he opened his mouth to argue so he changed the topic. "Still, I think we shouldn't underestimate the potential of the Garden. How does this Redcap control it?"
"He doesn't." Lith would have liked to avoid disclosing what he had learned during his brief connection with the Ears, but killing Maergron took priority.
Not only had he injured Solus, but his imprint prevented Lith from retrieving the final piece of Menadion's Set. Even worse, if left alive the Redcap might have revealed the artifact's existence to bargain for his life and the Council might accept his offer.