In the memory, Lith was surrounded by his little brother, nieces, and nephews that were born because of him. There was Solus, free to keep her human body and enjoy the food and the company of their family.
There was Kamila, holding his hand and nurturing the life they had created.
It was a picture of the present that stood as firm as a mountain range against the tidal wave of suffering caused by hunger, the loss of his friends, and all the hardships he had gone through.
The memory of Nalear breaking their bond, the sense of loss from when the Odi had apparently killed Solus didn’t stand a chance against her smiling figure.
The trouble of the past was crushed by the certainty of the present.
Lith gritted his teeth, searching for the familiar light of his bond with Solus to guide him through the darkness. When he was able to see again, Lith was standing on his own legs while everyone else was still either curled up or unsteady.
“Let’s see what we have here.” It was his first time witnessing Soul Projections so he started by taking a good look at those of the others before focusing on his own.
Solus’ Soul Projection was as unexpected as it was fascinating, making him stare at it until she reassured him that she had already memorized every detail she could notice.
‘I tried using the Eyes, but they sense nothing.’ Solus said. ‘The Soul Projection isn’t a hologram but something that exists solely on a psychic level.’
“Damn, I knew I should have come here the first time.” Lith clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Friya’s Projection was fully clothed this time and the chains were gone as well. Her skin was covered in scales and her teeth turned into long, poisoned fangs from time to time. She was fighting hard to reject the transformation, but she was failing.
“That’s not funny! I’m going to tell Kamila.” Friya punched his arm, blushing violently at the memory.
“Do it.” Lith shrugged. “She knows I’m not dead.”
“It seems someone isn’t much happy to become a Harbinger, huh?” Faluel clicked her tongue as well.
Quylla’s Soul Projection was now in control of her powers and seemed prideful of her violet Magus robe. Yet she was also covered in blood that she did her best to ignore.
Nalrond’s hadn’t changed as the Rezar of his Soul Projection still trashed around, trying to get free.
Faluel’s showed her in a Seven Headed Dragon form, each of her mouths holding a different element while the seventh cast Origin Flames in the shape of Mogar.
“Ego much?” Ajatar said, making her blush and everyone else laugh.
“Said the pot to the kettle.” Faluel pointed above his head, where a majestic Sapphire Dragon rested above a pile of gold and books, surrounded by countless supplicants begging for a chance to learn from him.
“A Drake can dream.”
Aalejah’s Projection showed her lonely in a dark corner. She wept as sprouts and saplings burst out of her skin and invaded her body until she was turned into a human-shaped tree.
Its meaning was clear.
Despite her apparent sunny disposition, being the only one of her kind on Garlen was hard to bear, making her feel out of place wherever she went. On top of that, she had lived most of her life with the World Tree in her head and she desperately longed to be once again part of something great.
“Yeah, I’m that messed up.” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Morok was once again without a Soul Projection and so was Lith.
“Dang, man. So you really reached inner peace?” Morok was sincerely impressed. “I was expecting something along the lines of a harem, maybe you beating your ex-brother to a pulp over and over, but not this.”
“Me neither.” Said everyone else, Lith included.
“Could this be a glitch in the matrix or something? I’ve never been a chill guy even in my sleep.” Lith said while thinking about one of the many things that troubled him.
“What’s a glitch- Great Mother almighty!” Faluel jumped back in surprise as a black sea waved over his head.
From it emerged the Voidfeather Dragon who was rocking a spark of light in his arms.
“Is that Elysia?” Solus asked.
“Maybe, but-” The waters roiled over the Voidfeather in a black tide, dragging him under.
For a moment, the figure of the Void was visible, clawing at the Dragon with unbridled hatred.
“That makes much more sense.” Lith nodded. “It seems that my mind is as fractured as my life force. I have no Soul Projection simply because it cannot manifest due to my multiple natures canceling each other.”
“That’s fucked up big time!” Morok said.
“Fucked up is my legal middle name.” Lith shrugged as this time he focused on the issue of his longevity.
The space over his head became black again and the Abomination form of the Void came out, spreading his wings along with a thin dark fog. The Soul Projection was about to roar when something pulled it down, making the Void disappear.
“Well, that’s convenient. This way no one can understand what I am and what I can do. What’s our next move?”
“We rest.” Nalrond was deathly pale, the strain from carrying over so many people had greatly depleted his physical and mental strength.
On top of that, withstanding the charge of the souls had taken a further toll on him. He had never experienced something like that and sharing the pain of the dead had almost made him lose his mind while they were stuck in-between dimensions.
“I don’t feel too well.”
Faluel examined him with her breathing technique, Lifestream, and discovered that the experience had aggravated the imbalance in the Rezar’s life forces. They were both hazy and weary and so was the barrier separating them.
“He’s right. Any strain right now might kill him and there’s nothing we can do. I don’t dare heal Nalrond. The risk of one of life forces regaining its strength faster than the barrier is too high.
“The balance holds only because everything is weakened in the same way. Also, he’s our only way out if something goes wrong. Without him, only Morok can leave the Fringe while the rest of us would be trapped here.”
‘Solus?’ Lith had come close to both helping her to stand up and hiding the mind link.
‘I can mark the Fringe and use its power to conjure the tower, that’s for sure.’ She replied. ‘The issue is that I don’t know if we can Warp outside until we try and if we can, I have no idea how to pick a specific arrival point on re-entry.
‘This entire place is a mana geyser and we can’t risk appearing in the middle of the Dewan village or the elves’ territory.’
Everybody sat down, trying to shrug off the side effects of piercing through the veil that isolated the Fringe from the outside world.
“Bummer, this isn’t the same place from which we entered the last time. I wanted more of those weird fruits and their seeds. Our gardener failed to grow them and I wanted to bring back some more.”
