Chapter 179 – Reunion in Ror-Bhyk

Ren

We were the first to arrive in Ror-Bhyk. My mom, having arrived with Malika and Bergia a few days before, was ecstatic to see me.

‘What about the others?’ the portly village elder asked, likely just meaning Aki.

‘Not with us,’ I answered truthfully. ‘She’s alive, though, from what I have been told.’

The “by Nyx” part was left unsaid, but we weren't alone so it was best not to bring it up.

‘That’s a relief,’ she sighed. ‘We were so worried when all of you just disappeared. What happened?’

‘We were attacked,’ I answered carefully. ‘By… umm… a mage.’

‘But why?’

‘It is tied to the Murdergrove,’ Caei supplied. ‘And what we had found there.’

Bergia paled, but Malika placed her hand on the village elder’s shoulder and said:

‘Don’t worry, Bergia. Your daughter is in good care. I doubt this slime of hers and other… lovers will let her come to harm.’

She looked at me with a smile that said "I know".

My mom was still in the dark about my relationship with the other girls so I was grateful for her discretion.

Still, Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan was nothing if not perceptive and looked at me with a frown. She looked as if she had wanted to say something, but just shook her head and looked away.

‘Mom…’ I began.

‘Ren,’ she said. ‘You are an adult, have your preferences and make your own choices. I don't have to like them, but so long as you're happy I will be happy. Are you happy?’

‘Yes,’ I replied without hesitation.

‘Then that's good enough for me. Just give me some time. Though frankly, it is easier for me to accept you fucking three women than you running around dungeons.’

‘Three women?’ Grandpa Harkan, silent so far, laughed. ‘Damn, Rennie. I wish I were this lucky when I was your age.’

Grandma Vaeelia elbowed him in the side.

‘Are you saying I wasn't enough for you, Harkie?’

‘The day I met you was the best one of my life, Vee,’ he defended himself with raised hands. ‘Just admiring Rennie’s spunk.’

Judging by the heat I felt coming from my cheeks, my face was probably redder than Kirsee’s hair.

‘Dirty old man,’ Grandma laughed. ‘Still… Now that I think of it, I wish I had taken the Dervhul twins up on their invitation before we met.’

It was my mom’s time to lose her cool and she shouted:

‘ENOUGH!’

‘Oh, c’mon, sweetie,’ Grandma teased her. ‘Don’t be such a prude. I know you weren't a saint yourself before you met Kenji. Don’t think we never noticed.’

‘I do recall you hanging around with a pair of twins of your own,’ Grandpa added.

I assumed my face was the same shade as my mom’s was.

‘We were drunk, okay?!’ she blurted out, realised what she had just said and covered her mouth with her hands.

I was learning things about my mom I wished I had never learned. But it did make me feel better about my relationship with Caei and the girls.

I was fully expecting Nyx to make some sort of a comment, but she was very worried about Lilyth with whom there still was no contact, and wasn't in that much of a humorous mood.

‘How about we go and check if our daughters have arrived?’ Malika, seeming at the edge of laughter, whispered to the completely mortified Bergia.

‘G-good idea,’ the village elder nodded in thanks.

‘We’ll join you with Deirdee,’ Caei quickly added and soon I was left at the mercy of my crazy relatives.

Aki

It turned out we arrived in Ror-Bhyk a few hours after the other group did. Seeing Caei, Ren and Deirdee safe was the highlight of the week. It was only marred by the fact that nobody had any word on Lilyth other than Nyx’s reassurances that she was still alive.

After we handled the hellos, Savri immediately set off to work on still-mildly-limping Deirdee’s leg, but after a moment just shook her head.

‘Sorry. Can’t do much for you here. I’ll show you some exercises you can do to help with the recovery, but you should return to full health eventually. Just don’t overstress that leg.’

Following an insider catch-up session. We ended up deciding to expand the number of people in the know. If Savri’s suspicion about Lilyth ending up in a place with a lot of Zalikh was right, we needed help finding her. That meant asking Yachiro and Malika for their assistance since they would also have ideas on how to deal with Persephone. Rennie also suggested adding her other grandpa - Harkan, to the mix.

We started with recounting in detail our trip to Kirsee’s. The moment Persephone’s name came up, Malika paled and immediately cast several spells around the room. A number of glowing circles appeared on the floor.

‘There. Now she shouldn't be able to spy on us.’

‘I gather you are familiar with her then,’ Phosi rasped.

‘I’ve heard of her,’ Malika nodded carefully. ‘Old stories from my younger days.’

‘And yet she has heard of you, Malika Adzhenair. Why else would she call Savri “Daughter of Malika”?

Now that I think of it… that was odd.

‘Sh-she did?’

‘Most perplexing, don’t you think?’

‘I have no idea what you are talking about,’ Malika answered with a smile. ‘Maybe when she was spying on you, she caught my name? And calling people by their parents’ names isn’t that uncommon. Maybe it was a custom when she was active?’

Yeah. Sure.

We moved on to explain my exact lineage, except the bit about me being related to the Viscount, what we found under the Murdergrove, what we thought happened to Lilyth, and, finally, Rennie brought up her potential godhood and the effect it had on the family bow.

‘That’s a lot to take in,’ Harkan said. ‘You have really been busy, haven't you, Rennie? But… Thank you for including me in this. It was wise to skip Iree here. She has enough on her mind as it is. May I see the bow?’

Rennie summoned it and handed it over to him.

‘Marvellous thing,’ he said while examining it. ‘I couldn't imagine a better wielder of it than you, Rennie. You did right by it and it did right by you, it seems. Worry not about what had happened to it, weapons are meant to be used and not passed on like relics. As for our clan… You can't control what others will think of you. The Bloody Perch already honours great warriors, something you objectively are, so you would be held in high regard regardless. But I will speak with the other Elders to ensure your secret doesn't come out.’

‘Thank you.’

Malika and Yachiro also promised their lips would be sealed about that issue. The latter seemed very proud of his granddaughter.

‘Your situation definitely complicates things,’ Malika continued, ‘but it also offers some opportunities. Dealing with the Daughters will require all the firepower we can get. I assure you, Persephone is nothing compared to her mother. In fact…’

She turned to me.

‘...Aki, you may want to consider enlisting the aid of your grandfather. Zekuthran and I have our differences, AND you have very good reasons to distrust him, but if there is anything to be said about him, it is that the man cares about his legacy, and I can't imagine he will be happy to learn about being turned into a breeder. Especially for them.’

No. Definitely not. Not him.

‘I’ll speak with our Keeper of Records,’ Harkan added. ‘While I doubt there will be anything about the Daughters there still may be some clues there. You know… dungeons, Y-Ramite ruins, creepyass statues.

‘The biggest problem is your slimy friend, Lilyth,’ Yachiro admitted. ‘As far as I know, there are no “natural” sources of Zalikh anywhere on the continent. The old Empire was very thorough in its eradication campaign, and then the Church picked up where it left off. Last I checked, there were around three actual plantations of Zalikh on Andermon, all of them small, so I doubt Persephone dumped your friend there.’

‘But why?’ I cried. ’Why would she do that to Lilyth specifically? Why not Ren? Why not all of us?’

If Ren was mad about being singled out she didn't show it.

‘Those are all excellent questions, dearie,’ Malika said. ‘With no clear answer. Who knows the mind of a madman?’

‘You are wrong, Mal,’ Yachiro said. ‘There is an easy answer. She did say she wants to delay you. By placing Lilyth in a remote location where she is helpless, she removed someone she views as a greater threat. I believe the phrase used was “Avatar of Ereshkigal”?’

I nodded.

‘Anybody that can summon the powers of the Dread Queen is likely number one on anyone's threat list. In comparison, Rennie just has a fancy bow.’

‘Why not just kill her then?’

‘Potential asset maybe?’ Harkan mused. ‘She did say you can advance her goals even by accident.’

Then Yachiro delivered the final crushing statement.

‘This also presents you… us… with a choice. You see… finding Lilyth will take considerable time and effort. Time, that in her mind, we won't be able to dedicate to finding ways to stop her. So… there is only one logical decision: leave Lilyth to her fate.’

Lilyth

I managed to narrow Zalikh down to maybe three plants that happened to grow in the two spots I found where the nutty smell was the strongest. One was a brown beet-like thingie and the other two were flowers, one white and one pink.

It did strike me that, given their proximity, those could have been different lifecycle stages and/or “sexes” of the same plant, but I wasn't a herbalist and there was no fucking way I would ever touch one of these. Even being near them made me feel as if I was about to have an asthma attack.

Not being terribly concerned with other toxins I gathered some roots, branches and berries that looked okay enough to eat and went to find a stream to wash them, as I had a suspicion they were covered in Zalikh residue.

I need a watersource anyway.

It was probably Persephone’s doing, but as luck had it there was a stream nearby. She probably didn't want me to die.

Not just yet anyway.

I wolfed down the berries, but ended up having to push the rest of my “meal” into my abdomen, as the roots were tasteless and the branches were so bitter I spat them out.

What was even worse was that they were nowhere near being able to satiate me and it took me so much time to get enough food that I fell asleep almost immediately afterwards.

And such were the next few days: waking up, looking for food and going back to sleep as my body slowly healed.

This came to an end after my fifth night on that beach. I was woken up by a large bird pecking at my body, likely thinking I was a great snack. Unfortunately for it, it decided to fuck with an apex predator. My body, likely unsatisfied with its terrible diet, unfurled like a venus fly trap and, acting on its own, lunged at the bird “swallowing it” whole in a single bite. The poor creature didn't even have enough time to react. I could feel it struggle inside of me, but the lack of air and my digestive juices soon robbed it of its will to fight.

By the next morning, my arm, a few centimetres of which had regenerated so far, had regrown up to the elbow.