Nalrond’s chest was healed enough for him to breathe again. He wanted to yell, to curse at the Horseman and deny everything she said. Yet he lay down on the floor, his spirit as broken as his body.
He knew that she was telling the truth because the methods for dealing with Dawn had been passed down in his tribe for generations. He had learned them as a child and put them into practice as an adult.
He had never doubted those teachings or questioned his actions.
From the Rezars’ point of view, they were doing Mogar a favor. Taking her knowledge was no act of malice, just their rightful compensation for the horrors they had suffered from the same Forbidden Magic that had spawned her.
From Dawn’s point of view, however, the Rezars were a bunch of cruel monsters and she was their victim.
‘How could I believe that a single Rezar would succeed where an entire village failed?” Nalrond thought. ‘My quest has never been about revenge. My purpose never changed even after meeting Lith.
‘I just wanted to be put off my misery and be reunited with my people.’
“Now, since I doubt that your friend would like being indebted to me even more than he already is, Solus, it’s better if one of you guys heals him. I’m going to check if Zepho is alright.” Dawn walked out of the room, to let both her host and Nalrond express their grief without witnesses.
Friya bolted to the Rezar’s side as soon as Lith let go of her arm. She used Invigoration on him to assess the severity of his condition, discovering that the wounds Dawn had inflicted upon him were painful but not life-threatening.
She had avoided vital spots on purpose. Even the remaining rib fragments were nowhere near his heart and lungs.
“Why did you stop me?” Friya asked, her tone filled with resentment and disbelief. “We could have helped Nalrond. Together we could win.”
“And then what?” Lith shrugged. “We have no way to destroy her mana crystal and even if we did, making an enemy of Baba Yaga while inside her mage tower is beyond idiotic.
“On top of that, I made myself clear when I said that I’d do anything in my power to help Nalrond and that he wouldn’t like it. We came here to ask Dawn a second opinion and if Nalrond needs to be beaten to a pulp to get a reality check, I’m fine with it.”
“How can you say that?” Quylla pulled Lith’s arm, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “I doubt that in his shoes you’d act any different. You are a huge hypocrite!”
“No, I’m not.” He replied. “I had plenty of enemies stronger than me in the past. Deirus, Night, Thrud, and I could go on. Yet I’ve never charged blindly ahead. I always bid my time and wait for the moment when I can win.
“I don’t fight losing battles unless my life of that of someone I love is on the line. What Nalrond did here was reckless and stupid. Had Dawn not made peace with Solus, now we would be all involved in his mess and we would have another immortal enemy.”
“But-” Friya tried to say but Nalrond gently squeezed her hand after shapeshifting back into his human form.
“He’s right.” He said while coughing out the blood still stuck in his throat. “Dawn’s right. I think that even someone as kind as Solus would have slaughtered us after being treated like that for centuries.
“We used the term cursed object and the crimes we assumed Dawn perpetrated to excuse what we did to her. After meeting Solus, I understood that not all cursed objects are bloodthirsty monsters.
“We did things to Dawn. Horrible things. She was just a murderous piece of crystal to us, not a person. We didn’t waste one second worrying about her suffering. We only cared about getting our hands on the legendary Light Mastery.”
“Are you telling me that you’ve forgiven her?” Friya asked in disbelief.
“No. I’ll never forgive her.” Nalrond said with a snarl, finding his strength back. “I’m just too tired. I need time to think.”
After an awkward silence lingered in the lab for a few minutes, Lith sent Solus to call Dawn back.
‘Do you want to confront the Rezar?’ The Hoseman asked Acala.
‘No. Everything he said about me is right. Nothing I say will make Nalrond feel better. My presence would only make things for him harder to bear. Besides, he needs your help, not mine.
‘If he’s your disciple, I’m just your apprentice. Yet.’
“What can I do for you?” Dawn asked Lith without looking down at Nalrond once.
“My friend here thinks he’s found a way to undo the effects of Forbidden Magic on his life forces. Since you have spent centuries in the Fringe with his people, I assume you know a Rezar’s physiology inside out.
“I want your opinion about the procedure he has devised and any advice you can give us to improve on it.”
“Do you really expect me to know a cure for the condition of the Werepeople?” The Horseman asked with a scoff.
“A cure, no.” Lith replied. “However, I bet that during your imprisonment you devoted a lot of time and energy to circumvent the Rezars’ condition and use one of them as your host. It’s what I would have done.”
“Consider the bet won.” She nodded. “Useless to say, I failed. After a while, I realized that their life forces were so strongly intertwined that in my sealed state I couldn’t fix them without a host.
“Yet unless I fixed their life forces, I couldn’t get a host. It was an impossible conundrum. That’s why I had to wait for an outsider like Zepho.”
Dawn was impressed by Lith’s cold logic as much as Acala was appalled by Lith’s willingness to put Nalrond through so much emotional pain just to achieve his goal.
‘I can see now how he beat us.’ Acala thought.
‘I can see now why Solus likes him.’ Dawn thought.
“Nalrond?” Lith asked.
“What?” The Rezar sighed, gulping down potions to make up for the lost nutrients.
“It’s your research. My understanding of it is limited.” Lith replied. “I can act as a middleman if you don’t want to talk directly to Dawn but I still need your input.”
Lith put his hand on Nalrond’s shoulder, establishing a mind link.
‘Your choice.’
‘Isn’t it a bit late for your concerns after setting me up for a beating?’ The Rezar asked.
‘I did no such thing. I warned you multiple times. It’s you who acted out. You picked a fight with Dawn and got your ass kicked. I’m your healer, not your nanny.’
Nalrond gritted his teeth, those words spread salt on his already wounded pride.
‘Thanks. I think I can do it.’ He took a few slow breaths to relax and then explained everything to Dawn.
“I think you are on to something.” She replied after pondering Nalrond’s theory and brainstorming it with Acala. “Your procedure should work, but in my opinion your odds of survival are barely 50%. At least as it is.”
