Lith’s life forces started to stir together and all of his memories returned at once. Derek McCoy was still there, but he was just a part of the whole.
A part of Lith Verhen.
“My baby girl! Daddy has missed you so much. I was afraid I would never see you again.” The screams in Lith’s head disappeared and even though he was still in the form of the Void Demon Dragon, his voice was human again.
“Dya!” Elysia recognized her father’s voice and started to cry, this time out of joy.
She emitted Dread Flames of her own that seeped inside Derek’s body and washed the parasitic souls away.
“Dread Flames can do that?” Without wasting a single second, Lith flared his seven eyes with mana and took control of Elysia’s flames, merging them with his own.
He brought the Dread Flames to his human life force, enveloping it in silvery fire.
The raging river of death force and blue flames found its match. The human side came closer and closer to the Abomination and Dragon sides and this time nothing could stop it.
The blue flames burned while the souls were devoured and purified, their power assimilated by the Dread Flames and fed to the three life forces.
Then, they merged back into one, destroying the Void Demon Dragon.
‘We are not done yet. I am not done yet.’ Derek, Lith, and the Voidfeather Dragon fused into the Tiamat form both in the Mindscape and the physical world. ‘I’m sick and tired of your shenanigans.’
He growled at the gate and the unruly souls who used it to access the physical world.
‘This is my mind. My body. My soul.’ The Tiamat roared, sending a tidal wave of Dread Flames against the invading army.
‘Get!’ The first blast cut the connection between the death force and the world energy, snuffing the blue flames out.
‘The fuck!’ The second blast of Dread Flames cleansed the souls already inside Lith’s body, throwing them back into the gate after devouring their energy.
‘Out!’ The third blast flooded the gate and burned the souls on the other side.
A choir of infinite voices screeched in agony as the door closed shut.
‘And stay there!’ A fourth blast and final blast cauterized the gate itself, sealing it so that the Void wouldn’t have to stand guard against it anymore.
The cracks were still there but the door to the other side was now locked and couldn’t be opened without the key. A key made of Dread Flames.
‘Fuck me sideways!’ As Lith moved from the Mindscape to the outside world all the memories of the different sides of his life force combined together.
The human side had not much to tell so that finished quickly. The Voidfeather Dragon’s inner thoughts and struggles made Lith chuckle more than once at his ingenuity.
The Void, however, was another story entirely.
Lith relived it all from the backseat, incapable of doing anything like in front of a spectacular car crash. From threatening the family of travelers to killing the innocent Ry, he had a lot to be ashamed of.
‘What have I done to that poor kid?’ Lith thought, remembering how cruelly he had disciplined those disgusting parents in front of their child. ‘I can’t believe I was so heartless. Thanks Maxwell when I was reborn here, I was powerless.
‘I don’t want even think about-‘ Then it hit him.
His encounter with the Chroniclers, with Orpal.
The various fights were mixed and scrambled into one. Yet no matter how much Lith hated his lost brother and how dangerous Meln was now that he had partially fused Night’s crystal with Dusk’s.
All Lith could think about was Strider’s betrayal and Solus’ kidnapping at the hands of the World Tree.
“Fuck me sideways, Solus! Where is Solus?” He looked at Kamila who gave him a warm smile before glaring at him.
‘Oh, shit! If stares could kill I would be cadaverific right now.’ He thought as the memories of the last hour came back to him.
“I’m glad to see you too, darling.” Kamila’s voice was as cold as an ice age and even though her feet were planted in the ground, Lith could taste her desire to kick him in the gonads over and over again. “I’ve been worried sick about you for days.
“I’m glad that after I’ve risked my life to bring you back, you’ve chosen such romantic words to express your love and concern for me.”
“Dya! Dya!” Elysia had no grasp on sarcasm so she nodded enthusiastically, taking Kamila’s words at face value.
“Oh gods, what have I done?” His eyes moved from Kamila to the baby girl like a metronome. “Are you alright, baby? Did I hurt you?”
“A bit too little and too late.” Kamila clicked her tongue. “Now turn off the light, candle boy, and give me my daughter back.”
“What do you- What’s going on?” Silvery flames engulfed the Tiamats and that wasn’t the only change that had occurred after his life forces had rearranged themselves.
The Void Sigils on his wings were still of seven different colors but now the flames bursting out of both Elysia’s and Lith’s feathers were Dread Flames, just like the crown of fire above his head.
“You tell me.” Kamila replied with a scoff. “Give me Elysia and I’ll leave you to figure it out.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I really am.” Lith just had to think about it and the silvery flames faded away, leaving only those on his feathers, wings, head, and spine. “Please, give me a chance to explain.”
He offered her his hand and a tendril of Spirit Magic for the mind link.
“Drrr!” Elysia shapeshifted back into her human form and played with the sparkly flames without getting burned.
“First, turn back into a human. I miss your face.” Kamila’s glare softened a bit and Lith complied. “Second, I forgive you only because you two are too cute.”
Elysia cried at the disappearance of the wings, forcing Lith to pull them out again for her.
“Dya!” She pulled at the feathers for a while before bringing them to her mouth and sucking them.
“What about the link?” Lith asked.
“Fine, but if you think-” A quick trip down his memory lane made Kamila choke on her words. “Good gods! You got decapitated right when Solus was kidnapped? I- You-”
There was so much to unpack that she stuttered for a while without saying anything.
“Drrr.” Elysia said.
“She’s offering you to suck on one of my feathers.” Lith sighed. “Apparently it’s a soothing experience.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll pass but thank you, sweetie.” Kamila caressed Elysia’s head, making her giggle.
Now that the world was fine again, the baby girl yawned and fell asleep.
“Did you really regain your memories in that order?” Kamila asked.
“Yes.” Lith nodded.
“Did you really had no idea how you got here when you asked me about Solus?”
“Yes.” Lith nodded. “I’m so sorry, Kami. I will never thank you enough for what you’ve done for me today. I really don’t know what I’ve done to deserve someone like you.”
He tried to kiss her, but Kamila grabbed his jaw with one hand and turned his head to the side
“One last question. Is this normal?”
