Lith and Solus had gone back to their silent routine while his eyes flashed, making him into a matching set with Nyka.
The group decided to stay in the Verhen mansion along with the rest of the family. Solus didn't come out of her ring until lunch, using her need to fix her life force as an excuse.
The presence of the mana geyser and the tower allowed everyone to quickly recover their strength. By the end of the meal, Tista's back had stopped bleeding but she felt so tired that she went to bed immediately after.
Once Solus reformed her human body, she spent the rest of the day helping Elina and Kamila to choose the furniture for the mansion while Lith worked. He was also in charge of keeping contact with the Council and the Kingdom, letting the others relax.
Luckily, between their mothers reassuring them and the aura of power of their relatives, the kids quickly got over the bad news.
Rena and Elina had to doctor the events a bit, claiming that the army had arrived in time to rescue most of the citizens, but they found it pointless to make them worry again while the embers of the War of the Griffons had yet to die out.
Abominus and Onyx nudged them to go out and play which made wonders for the mood. The Queen's gardeners had already planted flower bushes and arranged topiary beasts nearby the mansion.
With their respective sweet scent and fantastic forms, they gave the noble household a fairy tale allure that soon made the children forget about everything.
"What is that?" Nyka pointed through a window at the creature Aran used as his steed.
It looked like a saber-toothed tiger, but it had eight legs and its dark fur was similar to that of a black panther. A set of purple membranous wings came out of its back that had bony spikes coming out of the five finger-like tips.
"It's the form Onyx achieved upon becoming an Emperor Beast." Elina said. "She has no bloodline abilities like Life Maelstrom or Origin Flames, which both she and Aran regret. Also Lith." She chuckled while her son grunted.
"Aran has named her species Utgard, like the shadow fairy who's supposed to protect children from bad dreams."
"Because she's black?" Nyka asked.
"No, because of that." Elina pointed at Onyx who after shaking off Abominus behind a tall bush became translucent at first and then disappeared. Aran quickly followed with about a second of delay.
"What the heck?" Even using her enhanced senses and Life Vision, the Vampire couldn't spot any trace of the Utgard.
"Felines are predators." Lith replied. "My guess is that Onyx's species is specialized in stealth and deception. She secretes a substance that covers her and anyone of her choosing, bending the light to perfection."
"Doesn't she get blinded as well?" Nyka asked.
"Yes, but she still has her nose, ears, and Earth Vision." Lith nodded. "Shyfs are naturally attuned to earth and air and Utgards bring it to the next level. As long as her prey walks on the ground, she sees better than you and me."
"Does she have more bloodline abilities?" She stared at Onyx's last know position, noticing that when the Utgard moved, she also created a distortion that exposed her presence as long as one paid attention.
"Yes, but I'm keeping them a secret." Lith shrugged. "They are combat-related and if no one knows, no one can expect them."
"Do you really trust me so little? Even after we know each other for so long?" Nyka felt hurt by his words.
"As long as you are with Dawn, yes, I don't trust you much. You are young and naïve. You might run your mouth without even noticing."
The Vampire lowered her gaze and said nothing. She knew that Lith was right but his words didn't hurt any less for that.
'Jerk.' Solus chided him.
'Thanks.' Lith replied with a wide smile.
'For what?'
'I missed even your reproaches.' He was so happy that Solus deemed further scolding to be a reward instead of a punishment.
After a few hours, Solus got tired of drapes and bedstands. She found Lith's newest design for the Tablets to be much more interesting. Solus hadn't entered a magic lab since the beginning of her trip and she had an itch that only Forgemastering could scratch.
'What do you say if we excuse ourselves and sneak into the tower's Workshop to perform a few experiments away from prying eyes?' She asked.
'That it sounds dirty.' Lith replied.
'I meant to check if this version of the Tablets is superior to the one we developed before I left!' Solus blushed up to her ears.
'I know, but it sounds dirty anyway.' Lith nodded. 'I'm stealing that.'
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the Workshop, tinkering with the Tablets until dinnertime. The Workshop worked similarly to Creation Magic, conjuring materials identical to the original that could be endlessly recycled.
Lith was happy to have someone capable of understanding his work and thanks to Solus' input, he managed to sort out a few unexpected issues and to further improve the blueprints thanks to her creativity.
Solus was even happier thanks to her life force and mana core thriving by the second and the pleasure of losing herself in her work. There was joy in traveling through Mogar and seeing new things but there was even more back home.
Both of them were happy because their lives seemed to have gone back on track and their minds to have found their balance again.
'Too bad that this just proves how co-dependent we are.' They thought and sighed in unison, reverting from "I" to "we" in the space of a few minutes. 'Getting over this will be even harder than we thought, and we considered it arduous.'
Kamila went to visit them a few times and brought them a snack to force them to take a break.
'Not only is Lith much more patient and relaxed than usual, but it's also much easier to get him off work when Solus is busy stuffing her face.' Kamila thought. 'I don't like this one bit, but I knew what was I getting myself into when I proposed to him.'
Tista woke up for the dinner, checking her wings as soon as she stood up. She had gone to sleep in her room in the tower, hoping that the influx of world energy would help her to recover.
"Dammit! My wounds have closed up but there's no trace of new feathers in the bald spots." She checked her exposed skin with her Demon Eyes but saw no sign of growth.
pàпdá-ňᴏνêι.сóМ Touching her wings now caused her no pain but their surface was smooth, with no small bumps indicating that her body was accumulating nutrients to replace the missing plumes.
"You are back only from a few hours, little sis." Rena caressed Tista's head. "Don't be a Lith and be patient."
"Hey!" Lith grumbled. "Since when is my name an insult?"
"Not an insult, dear." Elina caressed his face. "Just a reminder that one shouldn't rush in life and grumble as little as they can."
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