Valtak collapsed in Lith’s arms as the light of consciousness faded from his eyes. Lith shrunk the Fire Dragon to human size with Body Sculpting and checked on him with Invigoration, discovering that Valtak was in perfect physical health.
Between the Life Maelstrom still empowering the Fire Dragon and the healing effect of the golden flames, most of his wounds were already gone.
Yet Valtak was still dying. The Elder Wyrm had consumed most of his remaining life force to conjure the Immortal Flames and what was left wasn’t enough to keep his heart beating.
Not with the strain that suffering so many injuries had inflicted upon his old body. Not with the exhaustion from withstanding the effects of Valeron’s abilities. Not with the blue flames consuming more of the Father of Fire’s life force every time they hit.
“Solus, where is the tower?” Lith used his best healing spells, Invigoration, and also gave Valtak some of his vitality, but the condition of the Fire Dragon kept deteriorating.
“On the geyser!” She pointed in the direction they had come from and opened a Warp Steps.
She and Lith alternated opening dimensional doors, entering the range of the Warp Mirror in seconds.
“Aren’t you worried about what Valtak is going to say when he wakes up in the tower?” Solus asked.
“I’ll worry about that if he wakes up.” Lith replied. “Valtak almost died for me and Elysia when he could have just turned around and left. I’m not letting him die without a fight!”
Lith called upon the enchantments of the tower, activating the Immortal Body array and adding Valtak to the list of apprentices. The magical formation would fix every imperfection in his body while the mana geyser nurtured the Elder Wyrm by infusing him with world energy.
Lith dripped highly concentrated nutrient potions in Valtak’s mouth, ensuring that his body wouldn’t weaken further due to the healing process.
While they waited for the treatments to take effect, Lith used a mind fusion to share what had just happened with Solus and she used a mind link to share it with Kamila to not distract Lith. With his bright violet core, he was the best healer of the two.
Tista was doing her best to calm the babies but they could read the tension in the room and kept crying.
“It’s not working. Plan S!” Lith used the energy accumulated in the tower to Warp inside Salaark’s palace in the Desert where the Guardian was waiting for them
“Grandma…”
“Yes, I know what’s happened.” She cut him short and took the Father of Fire from Lith’s arms. “Also, my promise still stands. I won’t let one of your friends die under my roof.”
Salaark activated her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to study Valtak’s condition while she stabilized him with Rebirth Magic. It took her a few seconds to perform a full diagnostic check-up.
It was the longest time Lith had ever seen her need with the least visible effects.
“I’m really sorry, Featherling.” Salaark said while never letting go of the Father of Fire. “There’s nothing I can do for him. Your Immortal Body array fixed him almost as well as I could. You have nothing to blame yourself for.
“Valtak is just spent. He used the last embers of his life force to save you and what’s left is not enough to sustain his fire. The best I can do is let him regain consciousness long enough to say his goodbyes.”
“Is there anything that anyone can do?” Lith clenched his fists until they bled while the babies kept crying.
“Maybe Tyris’ Life Maelstrom-”
“I know you are here!” It was Lith’s turn to cut her short. “It’s your turn to look after Elysia. Please, Tyris, show yourself.”
The Great Mother appeared out of nowhere, her head down and her eyes misted with tears.
“Can you help Grandma? Can the two of you save him?”
“I can boost Salaark, but healing a single Dragon is hardly a feat for her even away from her turf and after she suffers grievous injuries. She’s like a god here.” Tyris replied. “I can give Valtak more power, but the moment it runs out, he’ll die.
“His body can’t take any more strain. Even the effort of making a sneeze would end him.”
“That’s not my question.” Lith refused to give up and shoved the crying Valeron in front of her face.
The baby boy felt guilty, thinking that his lightning and fire had hurt the nice Dragon. Valeron the Second had known the Father of Fire briefly, but the Elder Wyrm had fought for him and saved his father.
It was more than enough to earn a special place in the baby boy’s heart.
“There might be something.” Tyris sighed, incapable of saying no to her bloodline. “Bring us to the moon.”
“Do you really expect me to wait for Mogar to align…”
A snap of Salaark fingers and they all moved to Lith’s lab on the moon, tower included.
“…with the moon.”
“She was talking to me, Featherling.” Salaark sighed. “What’s next?”
Tyris guided them outside, having care to never let go of Valtak to keep his fire burning. A wave of her hand opened a hole the size of a bathtub for Dragons in the ground.
The two Guardians lay the Elder Wyrm gently and then Tyris had him revert to his full size. She buried Valtak, leaving only the final part of his neck and his head exposed. The rest was covered by soft soil and a sea of silvery plants that grew from it.
The Fire Dragon’s head looked like a giant fiery tree standing tall amid a silver grassland.
“Now we wait.” Tyris replied.
“What’s the difference between Mogar and here?” Solus sat near the Father of Fire to check his pulse, noticing that without the Immortal Body array his breath was becoming shallower and faster.
“Mogar’s power is spread evenly. Mostly.” The Guardian said. “Here it is focused to the extreme, with a flow of world energy beyond what any mana geyser or even mystical mine on Mogar can have.
“On top of that, this land is imbued with Life Maelstrom. Not the violent and temporary kind I conjure but a gentle, permanent stream of energy that nurtures all life. Dragons are incredibly sturdy.
“Their life force is so tenacious that even permanent injuries can recover with time. Valtak’s problem is that he has no time left. That’s why I’ve brought him here. Maybe, he can draw upon the energy of the moon just like this grass can.”
“Shouldn’t you keep him alive with your breathing technique?” Lith asked. “Buy him some time until he adapts to the new environment?”
“No, that would be useless.” Salaark shook her head. “As I told you, we can’t save him. Only Valtak can save himself. If we help him, he will just fall asleep. Valtak needs to feel his death and fight it if he wants to stand a chance.”
Lith clenched his fists, not knowing what to do. His instinct as a Healer screamed at him to help the Father of Fire but Lith knew he had already done everything he could.
Yet his conscience gave him no respite and so did the babies.
