Chapter 495: Self Doubt

"Irene!" He called out again

Her eyelids slowly moved, then opened up.

She looked toward the sound of Nathan's voice, her gaze dazed and unfocused.

But when she recognized him, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Nathan rushed to her side and dropped onto one knee.

He carefully lifted Irene from the ground, pulling her to himself and cradling her head against his chest.

"What is it?" Nathan asked frantically. "What's going on, Irene? What's happening to you?"

This was different.

Nathan had seen Irene's physical suffering affect her Mind Island before.

Whenever the strain being inflicted upon her body became too great for her mind to suppress, that suffering would spill into this place as sensory feedback.

The garden would react, and anyone inside it could experience a portion of what Irene's mind was processing.

But this wasn't the same.

The garden itself looked sick.

There had been no sudden manifestation of pain that had caused it to become this way.

It was simply withering. As though Irene's own mind had become so exhausted that she no longer possessed the strength to maintain the peaceful world it had once created.

"It's nothing, my love," Irene whispered.

Nathan's expression hardened. "No. This is not nothing."

He held her closer.

"Talk to me. What's going on over there? Did they do something to you?"

Irene stayed silent for several seconds.

Then her lips trembled. "It's too much, Nathan."

Her eyes filled with tears. "It's too much."

The first tears rolled down her cheeks.

Then—

"AAAGH!"

Irene suddenly screamed.

The Mind Island reacted violently.

An overwhelming weight crashed down upon them as the suffering Irene's physical body was experiencing suddenly spilled into her consciousness.

Nathan grunted as the pressure struck him as well.

Blood began running from Irene's nose.

A moment later, blood trickled from Nathan's.

But he refused to let go.

He tightened his arms around his wife, holding her against himself as the crushing sensation continued.

"Just hold on a little longer, my love," Nathan said, his voice trembling. "Please."

His eyes were already turning red.

"We're coming to get you. I promise you, we're coming."

He pressed his face against her hair. "We'll get you out of there. I promise. Just hold on a little longer."

The crushing sensation gradually subsided as Irene managed to suppress the sensory feedback once more.

Her breathing was weak. But after a moment, she raised one trembling hand and gently placed it against Nathan's cheek.

She smiled at him. "My love… if this is the last time we ever see—"

"No!" Nathan's voice cut in, filling the garden.

Irene stopped.

Nathan shook his head repeatedly, his eyes now glistening with tears. "No, Irene. Don't say that."

He pressed his hand over hers, holding it firmly against his cheek. "Don't you fucking say that."

His voice cracked. "We are coming for you. Soon."

He stared directly into her tired eyes.

"So don't talk to me like this is goodbye. It isn't."

Irene looked at him for several seconds. Then, slowly, she nodded.

"Here, here.. I'll make it better" Nathan said, before turning his gaze away from her while quickly sweeping his right arm through the air.

Immediately, the Mind Island began to change.

The withering garden slowly regained its beauty.

Wilted flowers rose from the ground, their petals filling with color as they blossomed once again. The dying trees regained their leaves, spreading their branches across the garden as life returned to them.

The darkness hanging over the garden disappeared.

What had felt like nighttime suddenly gave way to daylight as warm sunlight poured across the landscape.

The stream began flowing more freely through its carved channels. Grass regained its vibrant color, and within moments, butterflies appeared among the flowers, fluttering peacefully through the restored garden.

Nathan turned his attention back toward Irene. He watched her carefully, hoping that seeing her garden restored to what it once was might lift her spirits, even slightly.

And it did.

A little smile gradually appeared on Irene's face as she watched the garden come back to life around them.

Her eyes followed a pair of butterflies as they fluttered past before she eventually turned toward Nathan.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Those two words broke something inside him.

Nathan immediately pulled Irene into his arms and held her even more tightly.

In truth, he was terrified. He understood what the state of her Mind Island meant.

Irene's mind was exhausted.

For more than a decade, she had endured the crushing agony being inflicted upon her body. Day after day, year after year, she had been forced to live under that unbearable weight.

She was a dragon, and her body possessed an extraordinary capacity for survival.

But surviving something for that long did not mean it wasn't destroying her.

And now, Nathan was beginning to see just how close she might be to reaching her limit.

The time they had believed they possessed to prepare for her rescue had suddenly become much shorter.

They could not even afford to spend a few more weeks on strengthening themselves anymore.

Nathan was afraid she would die before they reached her.

But there was something else frightening him just as much.

Their chances of actually succeeding.

Even before today, Nathan had harbored doubts about whether the strength they had gathered would truly be enough to confront the Dragon Emperor.

After Morgana's demonstration, those doubts had only grown worse.

He had seen how much the others struggled against Kylarod.

And then there was his own battle.

For all the power Nathan possessed, he had failed to defeat Lucius. Morgana had ended their fight by telling him something he desperately wanted to reject, but couldn't.

If the battle had continued, he would have lost.

So Nathan wasn't only questioning the strength of the team he had brought to rescue his wife anymore.

He had begun seriously questioning his own.

——

A/N: Hey guys! Its been a while.

I'll be honest, moving countries is a gritty task. It genuinely feels like you're starting life afresh and there's so much to adjust to.

For one England has too many rules; I gotta pay tax to have and use a tv… bruh…

Well, see y'all with more chapters soon