“He’s-” Valtak hawked to clear his airways and cut Lith short.
Then, the Father of Fire started to snore with the grace of a jet turbine.
“The farm?” Lith checked again.
Valtak’s heartbeat was indeed weak but stable. The Elder Wyrm’s mana core had degraded to cyan, but after that its mana flow steadied. Demon Grasp perceived that even though it was a very slow process, the world energy was nurturing the Fire Dragon’s body.
It would take time, but Valtak’s physical and magical strength would return.
“How is this possible?” Lith asked.
“If you are asking me what just happened, I have no clue.” Salaark shrugged. “If you are asking me how Valtak could survive, instead, I can answer that.”
“Anything is better than nothing.” He replied.
“Origin Flames, all kinds of Flames, don’t actually burn your life force, Featherling, or every time you breathe them, they would shorten your life span. If that were true, Dragons and Phoenixes would never sell their Origin Flames and use them only for themselves.
“To give you a better idea, imagine that your life force is like a candle, and it’s length represents your lifespan.” She said and Lith nodded for her to continue. “As you age, the wax evaporates and it’s lost forever.
“When you use Origin Flames, instead, the wick burns stronger for a second. Part of the wax melts and drips down the candle but it’s not lost. With time and rest, the wax turns solid again at the bottom of the candle and raises it to its previous height.
“It’s the reason you suffer no permanent damage from using Origin Flames, but if you melt too much wax at the same time, you can still die. Your life span is temporarily cut short and your flame easier to snuff out.”
“I see.” Lith nodded. “That’s why Invigoration can’t help me recover my strength after I use Origin Flames too much. Because it has nothing to do with mana and physical strength.”
“Exactly.” Salaark continued. “Earlier Valtak reached the point all the wax was melted. There was nothing left to burn while the liquid wax turned solid again and once the flame goes out is out.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s because of an illness, a sword, or Origin Flames. Death is always the final destination. Valtak avoided it by turning those sparks of life force into wax and using them to hasten the solidification process.”
“Can we afford to move him?” Tista asked.
“We better not.” Tyris shook her head while checking on the Father of Fire. “Here there is more world energy than on any part of Mogar and the Life Maelstrom in the soil is helping Valtak assimilate the nutrients at a steady pace.
“I would keep him here until he wakes up on his own, just to be safe. Also, you too need to rest, child.” She took a chair out of her pocket dimension and the moment Lith sat down, all the stress and fatigue that the adrenaline rush had neutralized until that moment hit him like a sack of bricks.
It took Salaark a few minutes to reassure Kamila and Solus that Lith too was alright. They knew of the matter of the Void Demon Dragon from the mind link and now that Valtak was fine, their worries about Lith moved to the front burner.
“Thank the gods, which is you guys, Valtak will make it.” Kamila said, referring to the six original Guardians. “Because once he’s back on his feet, I’ll make him shrink enough to kick his alps! He made me almost die of fright twice in a single day.”
She put the babies on the Fire Dragon’s long neck. It was big enough to carry dozens of people and Elysia and Valeron were finally reassured of Valtak’s well-being via their Dragon scales.
They could feel that he was very tired but happy. There was a bright memory of a brownish-red scaled Dragon on the surface of his mind that brought him great peace and made the babies cry for their mother.
“I don’t get it.” Solus said while trying to pacify Valeron. “One second ago, Valeron fought like a Dragon to go to Valtak and now he’s glued to me like he hasn’t seen me for days.”
“Same here.” Kamila had no idea why Elysia used air magic to wrap herself in Kamila’s black hair but let the baby girl do it.
“So, this is the moon, uh?” Dawn cleared her throat once the situation was resolved and everyone seemed to have completely forgotten about her. “This place is amazing. Do you mind if I share this experience with Acala?”
Lith looked at her and groaned in frustration. Her assumption wasn’t off the mark. Lith had actually forgotten about her in the rush to save Valtak’s life.
“I’m too tired to think or even get angry.” He said. “Someone makes this decision for me, please.”
“Depends.” Solus felt responsible and embarrassed for her blunder. “Does Baba Yaga’s seal apply to him as well or can he speak about me freely?”
“No, it doesn’t.” Dawn shook her head. “I would never take his free will away. Not again.”
“Then no. I’m sorry.”
“No problem, miss Menadion.” The Horseman was annoyed but if there was something she had learned from her relationship with Acala was that trust had to be earned, not demanded. “Can we at least bring my mother here? She would love it.”
“That I can do. Be back in a jiffy.” Solus entered the tower which disappeared and reappeared in the time to find two suitable alignments with Mogar’s mana geysers.
“By the Great Mother, is this really Mogar’s moon?” Baba Yaga walked through the tower’s door in her Maiden form, looking like a girl 1.6 (5’3″) meters tall with waist-long golden hair and clear blue eyes.
“Respectively, you are welcome and yes, Yaga.” Tyris nodded to the Red Mother who didn’t know where to turn.
She stood on the surface of the moon, staring into the starry vault of space while Mogar spread its blue light everywhere. On top of that, standing in the presence of three Guardians and realizing the gap between Menadion’s tower and her own didn’t help.
“Thanks for saving my child, Lith.” Leegaain had rushed there right after composing himself. “For a moment I thought I had lost him.”
“Valtak did everything by himself.” Lith panted. “I just brought him here. If you want to thank someone, thank Grandma and Valeron. She kept Valtak alive and Valeron showed him whatever the golden flames are.
“To me, they are just a problem for another day.”
The Father of All Dragons thanked them both profusely, making Valeron happy and Salaark blush.
“It’s no big deal.” She said while playing with the necklace he had gifted her during her first visit to his moon lab.
“I know that it sounds stupid, but is there something I can do for you guys? Anything?” Baba Yaga wanted to repay Solus and Lith for the marvellous gift but she knew that compared to the Guardians and away from her tower, she wasn’t much.
“Depends. Do you know how to make them stop cry?” Kamila asked while rocking a desperate Elysia.
