“It’s not that hard.” The Maiden took the babies off Solus’ and Kamila’s arms and put them on Lith’s chest.
Dragon scales reassured Elisya and Valeron that their father was also fine and the three of them fell asleep like one.
“Thank the gods.” Solus sighed in relief.
“You are welcome.” The Guardians said in unison.
“Now, unless anyone minds, my daughter and I would like to take a stroll. Is there anything I should know before picking a direction?” Baba Yaga asked.
“That way is my turf.” Leegaain pointed north. “East you find Fenagar and west a crazy Lich who lives with an Eldritch. The south belongs to Lith.”
“North it is, then.” Baba Yaga nodded and walked toward the lake near Lith’s lab.
***
It took Valtak over eight hours to wake up and when he did, he believed to be dead.
“The afterlife sucks! Why does my body hurt so much and why am I starving?” He had lost consciousness in the Valley of Life and when he opened his eyes, he was staring at Mogar from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
Being dead made much more sense than the truth.
“You are not dead and this will take a while.” Lith sighed, offering the Father of Fire a chair and lots of food straight off Leegaain’s kitchens.
The Guardian loved eating well and everyone could use a hearty meal after enduring so many emotions.
“I knew it there was something weird between you two!” The Elder Wyrm said while pointing at Lith and Solus. “You smell too much of each other and the whole ‘she’s my lost cousin’ story was just too convenient.
“I suspected she was Elina’s illegitimate child but I would have never thought you were the daughter of the legendary Rapa Menadion, Solus.”
“Valtak!” Lith said in outrage. “My mother would never do something like that. How could you even think that?”
“Solus smells like Dragon and Elina carries my blood, not Raaz.” The Father of Fire shrugged. “If your parents’ bloodlines were reversed, I would have questioned your father’s faithfulness.”
“This doesn’t make it any better.” Lith grumbled.
“And my mother’s name is Ripha, not Rapa.” Solus said. “What’s wrong with you Dragons and remembering names? What are you? A bunch of Liches?”
“No, hatchling.” Valtak shook his head. “I can’t speak for Lith or any other Dragon you have met but I’m old. I’ve lived for over ten thousand years and met so many people I can’t remember all their names.
“Especially those I’ve just heard of or read about, like your mother. I meant no offense, Solus. I’m sure Ripha was a great woman and I would have loved to meet her but sadly fate chose differently.”
Between his sad smile, the dull color of his scales, and his brush with death, Solus felt like a jerk.
“No, I’m sorry.” She gave him a deep bow. “I overreacted because I’m still worked up about what almost happened to Lith. I guess you badmouthing one of my mothers and calling the other with the wrong name was the final straw on my nerves.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize.” The Elder Wyrm laughed. “Another bad habit you pick up while growing old is that you don’t care much about other people’s feelings. I should have worded my suspicions more politely.
“Back in the day, if someone said something like that about my mother, I would have decked him without a second thought.” He thought about Tharma for a second and then moved on.
Everything that had happened in the Mindscape was akin to a dream. It had already blurred into a jumbled mess by the time Valtak had woken up and with every second that passed, his memory of those events became vaguer and vaguer.
“What’s my condition, Grandfather?” The Fire Dragon asked.
“The good news is that your body and mana core will recover. You just need time and rest.” Leegaain replied. “The bad news is that your life force reached the point your core started to fade.
“Your lifespan has been reduced. Not by much but…”
“There wasn’t much left anyway, I know.” Valtak finished the phrase for Leegaain, seeing the pain on his forefather’s face. “Do I need to stay on the moon to recover?”
“No.” Leegaain replied. “Unless you spend the rest of your life buried in the ground like a worm, it won’t do you any good. Quite the contrary, it’s better not to put your body under any more strain than necessary until you make a full recovery.
“No lessons, no Origin Flames, and no magic until your mana core shines bright violet again.”
“And until that moment, you’ll be my honored guest.” Lith said. “The Mansion has a geyser and with the tower, I can treat you with the Immortal Body array or bring you to Grandma in a second if your health worsens.”
“Thank you, but-”
“Ba! Badaba! Baba!” Elysia rebuked him.
After seeing Lith and Valtak almost die and after sharing the Fire Dragon’s sense of loss for Tharma, the babies were on a strict rotation schedule. From Lith to Kamila, then to Solus, and lastly to Valtak.
“Me? I’m deeply offended, young lady. That’s a rude thing to say.” The Elder Wyrm gasped in playful outrage.
“Farm you.” Valeron pouted.
“What?” Everyone said in unison. “Who taught him to say that?”
The Father of Fire could feel through the Dragon scales that even though the word was harmless, the feelings behind it were not. The baby boy was angry and was expressing it like the adults.
“Fine, I’ll stay at your home but don’t say that to me ever again, hatchling, okay?”
Valeron offered his hand to Valtak, flabbergasting everyone again.
“You are in for some real trouble.” Valtak laughed heartily while shaking it. “These hatchlings are as smart as Dragon whelps. Your house won’t be baby-proofed for long.”
Once he was done laughing and the babies needed to check on Lith, the Elder Wyrm said:
“Thank you for your offer, Lith. I gladly accept your hospitality and hope that you’ll enjoy the small present I gave you.”
“What do you mean?” Lith had noticed that since he had woken up, he felt stronger and more relaxed, but had no idea why.
“Check on your life force, hatchling.” Valtak replied.
Lith did as instructed, noticing that the cracks on his life force were still cauterized. There was nothing oozing out of them, their edges so close that the wounds were almost invisible.
Almost.
“Did you fix my life force?” Lith asked.
“I wish.” The Fire Dragon sighed. “I consumed part of my life force to plug yours and make sure that nothing would hinder your recovery. Until it lasts, Death Vision won’t bother you and you can use your full strength.
“Yet it comes at a price. Most of the abilities that derive from your Abomination side might be weakened if not completely sealed. Give it a go but without pushing yourself too much.”
Lith tried and failed to conjure new Demons of the Darkness. Only those in his Void Sigils answered his call. The black chains, instead, came out, but they were sluggish and moved awkwardly.
