Chapter 155 – Family Connections

Aki

‘Well… fuck,’ Lilyth remarked.

‘Why is this bad exactly?’ Caei asked. ‘This seems to be a good development.’

‘This will not go unnoticed by the people we don't want to notice us, like, I don’t know… Varyag. Or Zekuthran.’

Oh… oh no.

‘Well… fuck,’ Caei finally agreed with Lilyth's initial assessment.

All that being said, there was nothing left for us to do there, so we started making our way back outside. We decided to leave the exploration of the tunnel Kisamzo came through for another day, preferably with Savri. We needed a dedicated healer.

As I suspected, Taros wasn't waiting for us outside; however, vae did leave us a tear-stained note under a small rock, saying that vae wouldn't be able to face us again if we got out. Vae needed some time alone and hoped we would take vaem in should we ever meet again.

Since things were getting messy, I reached out to Irmen and asked her point-blank what was going on and did she knew of my possible connection to these Daughters.

‘I didn't suspect anything until I saw the ring yesterday,’ she explained. ‘We did track descendants of the Daughters for a while after what happened happened, but we decided there was no point centuries ago, long before you were born. By then, almost all the living memory of the events had faded, and there wasn't much reason to, since the surviving groups of followers of the Daughters were no longer active. Of course, we knew that some secret cabals likely remained, but we couldn't act against them directly and sending people to root them out was getting less and less feasible. And as Lilyth pointed out: the blood of the Daughters was diluted to the point of meaninglessness.’

So how do I factor into that?

‘I cannot say. Not because of secrecy, but I just don’t know. Maybe Ere has some information, but she tends to be very stingy with revealing secrets of the dead, assuming she discovers them to begin with. She does not like to pry and has good reasons for it. There is also a good chance you don’t factor into this at all. There were many such rings made, as the followers also wore them, and so much time has passed that the one you own could have changed hands many times. It could have been battlefield loot, sold as a curiosity; there are many possibilities.’

I see. And what about Taros?

‘As for vaem… I cannot get involved in this. You are my client and vae is my son, so this is between the two of you to resolve. All I can ask for is that you keep an open mind.’

We will try.

‘Thank you.’

When I relayed the information from Irmen to my companions, they didn't seem happy.

‘She didn't tell you much,’ Ren said.

‘Yeah,’ Lilyth agreed. ‘I think the only new things she told you were confirming that they did track the descendants of the Daughters, but stopped, and that the rings were fairly common among their supporters, which eliminates the possibility of them belonging to people who defeated them. I think only the latter counts as something we wouldn't be able to deduce or make a reasonable assumption about. And she didn't address the elephant… or the Akiphant in the room. If anything, the ring part obfuscated it.’

‘She did say that Ereshkigal might have answers about that one,’ Caei pointed out,’ but even if she does, she likely won’t reveal that.’

‘Yeah,’ I conceded. ‘It is likely that any answers died with my mom.’

‘Not necessarily,’ Lilyth mused. ‘There could be something in your family tree that may give us answers, but it is a long shot and I won't pursue it without your permission.’

I thought it over.

‘No,’ I finally decided. ‘If I am related to one of these Daughters, it does not define me. I am Aki, daughter of Veenaya and wife to Lilyth and Caeileera. That is enough for me.’

I did briefly wonder whether my birth wasn’t part of some sort of ancient plan, and the old me could have believed that. The new me, the one who interacted a lot with Lilyth, thought that such a plan would be ridiculous.

Too many ways for it to go wrong.

Anyway, my connection to the Viscount and Zekuthran seemed far more significant and likely would cause us more problems in the future.

One nice thing we discovered as we walked was the immediate change to the area. While it was still pretty quiet, it would take a while for life to return to the forest, the silence was just that. Silence. Nothing magical about it.

‘The trees,’ Lilyth muttered. ‘They are at peace again.’

Weirdly, I was happy to hear that, because that meant my foxy cutie wasn't suffering either.

It was late evening by the time we dragged ourselves back to Dan-Hem. With both me and Ren needing assistance walking, the other three had to rotate helping us. It became easier once Caei regained enough mana to heal up Rennie’s knee a bit more, but it was a drop in the bucket of problems, as the ever increasing fatigue, minor wounds that were making themselves more and more known with each step and the difficult terrain were making the journey a living hell, so it came as a relief when some villagers, one of whom was Dhelmir, saw us coming and called a few others to help us. By then, we fully expected not to make it into Dan-Hem that day, so being basically carried to Bergia’s was a godssend. As my second mom looked in terror at the state we were in, one of the men went to fetch the village herbalist.

‘By the gods, what happened to you?’ Bergia asked. ‘Where is the lizard fellow?

‘It’s a very long story,’ I sighed. ‘The short version is - we found the heart of the Murdergrove, dealt with what was inside, and the area should return to normal. As for Taros… Vae just left.’

Bergia's eyes got wide.

‘You mean… You have actually… I don’t even know what the word is… dispelled a pocket of quiet?’

‘It wasn’t easy,’ Lilyth sighed.

‘I can see that. Given that this concerns my daughter, I think the less I know the better. Still, I imagine you kids must be starving. Once Jaeilar is here I will make some supper for you.’

The herbalist was a plump silver-haired woman in her late fifties. I wasn’t fond of her due to how she treated me previously, but this time, all I found on her face was sadness and concern.

She tut-tutted seeing us and immediately started to clean and dress our wounds. She wanted to start with Lilyth due to the hole in her chest, but my wife waved her off.

‘It’s not life threatening. Don’t worry.’

Jaeliar looked at her with narrowed eyes and moved on to Ren.

‘I remember hearing you kids have access to magic,’ she mused. ‘No potions or healing spells?’

‘I can cast healing spells,’ Caei admitted. ‘But I ran out of mana and we used all the potions that we had.’

‘I dread to think what state you were in before that happened then,’ she sighed. ‘At least you made it back safe.’

I was surprised by her massive shift in attitude. She must have noticed that.

‘You are my patient now,’ she explained. ‘Once I became a herbalist, I swore never to turn away anyone in need. No matter who they are. And…’

‘And… the way I have treated you, Aki was… shameful.’

To her credit, she didn't look away from me as she said it.

‘First… you helped save Mer-Cas, and now you shed blood to render this village a service we will never be able to repay. And that is despite all the hurt we have caused you.’

We looked at her, not understanding. The only person who knew about the success of our mission was Bergia. Jaeilar smiled warmly.

‘One does not live this long in the forest and not learn its rhythms,’ she explained. ‘And it changed today. An absence that I didn't even notice before was… no more. So, as I was supposed to check on some herb patches anyway, I went and checked, and the pocket was gone. And then the five of you dragged yourself to Dan-Hem looking as if run over by a carriage. It doesn't take a learned man to figure out what happened.’

‘Just be careful when wandering around there,’ Lilyth nodded. ‘There are parts of that place we haven't explored yet.’

‘Yet?’ the herbalist asked.

‘We have discovered that there may be answers to some of our questions there,’ Ren answered. ‘We were just in no shape to pursue them today, so we plan to return there at some point in the future.’

‘Deliciously vague,’ Jaeliar chuckled. ‘But I guess that is fair.’

The herbalist continued to dress our wounds, mostly having small talk with us. Finally, after she was done with us four fleshbags she turned to Lilyth after giving her another careful scan.

‘You are not… like us, are you?’

‘No. Not anymore.’

‘I am honestly not sure if my remedies will help you. They are mostly meant to accelerate the natural healing process of the body and prevent infections.’

‘Is patient-doctor privilege something you practice?’

‘I never discuss the secrets of my patients with outsiders. That is part of my oath.’

Lilyth nodded and said:

‘I’m a slimeling, so I imagine most herbal medicines would have no effect on me. The only two times they did it were because they were magical. On the upside, infections are not something that worries me.’

‘I think I should still dress your wounds. Even if it is just for show. It was fairly dark when you returned, so many people likely didn't notice your wounds or the fact that they were blue, but you can't be certain that it will last. I can also try giving you something for the pain.’

‘We can try I guess.’

‘I am surprised you can feel pain, Lilyth was it?’

‘It does make sense. Ultimately, pain is a survival mechanism.’

‘You would be surprised how many people don’t think so.’

‘“Pain is weakness leaving the body?”’

‘Something like that, yes,’ the herbalist smiled sourly.

Soon, Jaeliar was finished and moments later Bergia returned and started setting out bowls of stew on the table. I hurried off to help her, and soon we were all seated down and eating Mom’s best dish. We asked Jaeilar to join us, but she begged off and said she never ate that late. The herbalist then said she would ask someone to bring us some extra bedding to Bergia's house, as perhaps it would be best if we weren't pestered all night by the villagers.

Before she left, the herbalist turned to me again.

‘Aki, if you are still interested… I am willing to teach you my art.’

My heart leapt in joy.

‘Really?’ I squealed. ‘Thankyouthankyouthankyou!’

That brought a genuine smile to Jaeliar’s face.

‘I understand you will be travelling, but whenever you are here for a few days, drop by my house and I will teach you what I can.’

And with that, she left. I turned towards Lilyth with a smile.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘For what?’ she asked, confused.

‘For… making this possible. If it wasn't for you back then in the Tower of Trials… this would have never happened. You changed my life for the better, Lilyth of Terra. The same applies to all of you, my friends. I wouldn't have made it here if it wasn't for you, Caei and Ren and Deirdee.’

‘Together till the end,’ the three of my loved ones intoned.

Only Deirdee remained silent. Then she nodded to herself and said:

‘Together till the end.’