The Father of Fire placed his hands on the golden barrier sealing the Void Demon Dragon and activated his breathing technique, Firestarter. Valtak examined Lith’s life force until he was certain not to have missed any detail.
“We are screwed.” Was his final diagnosis. “Lith is not trying to close the door and if he doesn’t, there’s nothing I can do. I can cut off the blue flames, but if the door stays open, they will just ignite again. I would end up on my deathbed and you back at square one.”
“So what?” Quylla asked. “Baba Yaga can use her healing magic to force Lith’s life forces back together. At that point, he’ll regain his memories and everything will be fine.”
“If I do that, Lith will die before Valtak can do anything.” The Red Mother shook her head. “The moment we bring out the human life force, the souls will prey on it and the blue flames will burn it to cinders. On top of that, how do you expect me to do anything?
“Sure, the blue flames can’t kill me but I would never handle something as delicate as a cracked life force while fighting a raving mad beast in a cage of fire.” She pointed at Derek hitting the golden construct in search of an opening.
He was clearly in pain, but he released blue flames non-stop. If not for Baba Yaga’s white core and her tower giving her nigh infinite mana, he would have already broken free of her spell.
“I’m sorry to say this, but our only option is to bring Lith to Lutia. If Kamila, Elysia, or his family can snap him out of his frenzy we’ll have a chance of saving him. Otherwise, we’ll have to put him down.”
***
Distar Marquisate, Verhen Mansion, a few minutes later.
Baba Yaga’s hut could Warp for long distances but lacked Solus’ Tower Warp.
The travel took a while because she had to recharge the tower reserves while ensuring that Lith couldn’t escape or cause himself permanent damage.
During the trip, the Maiden shared with him the world energy collected by her tower to feed the Void Demon Dragon’s regenerative abilities and keep the destructive power of the blue flames under control.
They moved only once they had accumulated enough power to ensure his survival until the next mana geyser.
“What do you mean, put Lith down?” Kamila clenched her hands so hard that they bled. “He’s not a rabid beast and even if he were, you are the best healers on Mogar!”
She waved at Quylla, Baba Yaga, and Silverwing.
“We are but that doesn’t make us omnipotent.” The Maiden sighed.
She then explained Lith’s current condition to Kamila and the reason any attempt at fixing his life force would result in his death. By the end of the speech, Kamila was seconds away from bursting into tears.
“Look, I’m not saying we have given up on him.” Baba Yaga said. “We’ve brought Lith here because even though there’s nothing we can do, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing you and his family can do.”
“Please, I can tell from your face that this is supposed to give me hope but I can’t see how.” Kamila plopped on a chair, hiding her face behind her hands.
“It’s actually simple.” Valtak sat beside her, patting her back gently. “We can’t do anything until the flow of souls stops but if Lith closes the door, then we can help him. The problem is that he doesn’t remember any of us and has no reason to trust us.
“For all he knows, we appeared out of nowhere, attacked, and imprisoned him. To make matters worse, Lith is in constant pain due to the blue flames and the souls that infect his mind are eating at his sanity with every passing moment.
“The longer we wait, the more likely he is to lose himself to madness. Our only hope is that by meeting you and the rest of his family, maybe something inside of him will snap back into the right place and he’ll let us help him.”
“I understand.” Kamila sniffled. “Can I see him?”
“Not now, Kami.” Zoreth shook her head. “First you need to calm down and compose yourself. Call everyone but the children here, please. Lith’s condition is beyond what words can express and I don’t want you to suffer more than necessary.”
Kamila didn’t understand what the Shadow Dragon meant until she noticed the glances between the members of the rescue team. When she noticed Dawn’s compassionate expression, Kamila realized that her worst fears paled in comparison with reality.
“Let me do the talking, please.” Quylla knew the Verhens for years and with her experience as a Healer she knew how to deliver bad news with tact.
She gave everyone a strong camomile tea before explaining the situation to the rest of Lith’s family.
“We need Lith to remember who you are and you to gain his trust. You can’t afford to break down or have a violent reaction in front of him.” Quylla said. “I’m going to show you a real-time hologram of Lith’s current state to give you an idea of what you can expect from him.
“Just tell me when you are ready. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Elina was already holding Raaz’s hand but at those words, she moved her chair close to him. Raaz gave her a side hug, rubbing her shoulder and giving her a calm smile. Under his closed lips, however, Raaz was gritting his teeth as if waiting for a punch to the gut.
Senton stood up and moved behind Rena to embrace her and be ready to support her whatever happened. Tista was alone. Bodya knew nothing about Solus and the many family secrets so she hadn’t invited him.
She sat near Valtak, the Elder Wyrm was the closest thing to a grandfather she had.
“Ready.” They said after gulping down their tea at the cost of a slight tongue burn.
Quylla conjured a projection of the battle, depicting Lith’s Void Demon Dragon form, his capture, and lastly, their failed attempts to reason with him.
Whenever Derek was left alone in Baba Yaga’s tower, he alternated between angry roars as he tried to free himself and senseless ramblings. In both instances, more than one voice came out of his mouth.
Sometimes they were like a choir, saying the same thing with minimal delay, like an echo. Other times, it was a cacophony of overlapping voices. The only constant was his screams of pain as the blue flames seeped out of his body, burning him alive.
If not for the Abomination’s regenerative abilities and the steady flow of world energy provided by Baba Yaga’s tower, he would not have lasted more than a few minutes.
Elina, Kamila, and Rena cried the whole time and needed several minutes to calm down enough to talk. Tista went pale and squeezed Valtak’s hand as hard as she could but didn’t make a sound.
She looked like a statue, her eyes never blinked as she watched the hologram. Quylla replayed Lith’s capture in a loop until everyone managed to speak with a normal voice despite the crude images.
