“All the while he was torturing me just to send you a fucking message!” Raaz went from screaming, to crying, to roaring in an endless cycle as different emotions overpowered his rationality.
“A message I couldn’t listen to because you got to him too soon. All of my sufferings was for nothing!”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Lith stared at the crazed eyes of his father, without trying to make physical contact or belie his delirium. “Do you have any idea what his final goal might be?”
“Of course I do! Orpal wants to make you suffer. He’s going to take apart the members of our family one by one. Starting from my little girls.” The mental and physical breakdown brought Raaz to his knees, bawling his eyes out in desperation.
“Why am I so weak? I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t protect anyone. I could only stay there and listen while he ate me alive!” He clawed at Lith in anger who had the care to make the Voidwalker as soft as silk and his skin no tougher than a human’s.
Lith kneeled to keep his face at his father’s level, letting him grab, punch, and cry as much as he wanted. After a few minutes of venting his despair, Raaz found the strength to speak again.
“You have to stop him, son.” His voice was hoarse from the strain of the constant yelling, but it was still clear. “You have to kill Orpal.”
“I will, Dad.” At those words, Raaz held his son in a bear hug.
“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault for being a weak and useless father.”
Lith returned the embrace, making Raaz yelp and quiver like a terrified puppy at the memory of the cruel touch he had had to endure. Yet he kept his eyes open and when he recognized his son, he calmed down.
Elina saw everything and cried while shutting her own mouth with her hands. She just wanted to embrace her husband and tell him that everything would be well, but she was afraid of making everything worse.
‘Trion was right.’ She thought. ‘He needs time and space to heal. I can’t burden him with my suffering. Raaz’s is barely holding on.’
Elina finally understood why Kamila had always kept Lith away from his family during his darkest hours, even at the cost of causing them great worry. She prayed to the gods to watch over such a wise woman and wished for the umpteenth time for Kamila to be with them again.
“Gods.” Raaz said amid pants, trying to catch his breath. “Help me to stand up, son. I need to check on your mother.”
He was oblivious of where and when he was and of who was there with him.
“We can’t let her see me or she’ll die of anguish at the sight of the horrible wounds that Orpal-” Only after Lith returned his father’s grab did Raaz notice his own hands.
His eyes ran up and down his upper limbs, looking at them like a miracle of nature. Then, he felt the tower’s carpet tickling his feet and lowered his gaze, discovering that his legs were back as well.
Raaz started to cry again, but this time with joy.
“You rescued me. You healed me.” He said while taking Lith’s face between his hands and appreciating every sting that the stubble inflicted on his fingers.
“We rescued you and she healed you.” Lith pointed at Tista and Salaark who had kept their distance the entire time. “It was a family effort, mister Dark Phoenix.”
“I’m so proud of you.” Raaz let him go, staggering toward Tista to hug her as well.
“And of you. Gods, I don’t know what I’d do without my children.” Tista returned his embrace, her words drowned in hiccups at the sight of the man who had seemed so big when she was little and now looked as frail as paper.
“Thank you.” Raaz moved from his daughter to the Guardian, burying his face in her chest. “Thank you for giving me back my limbs. Thank you for returning me to my family. I missed you so much, Mom.”
In his delusion and under the lingering effects of the Blood Imprint, the image of his long-dead mother overlapped with Salaark, making them both cry.
“Welcome back, son.” She gently caressed his hair and back, wrapping him into her maternal warmth.
After a while, the aura of might of the Guardian eased his trauma enough for Raaz to regain his senses.
He felt a little embarrassed hugging a woman that looked more like his daughter than his mother and let her go gently. Then he looked around the room, recognizing the tower.
His embarrassment grew as he noticed in front of how many people had he made a fool out of himself. When Raaz’s and Elina’s eyes finally met, time seemed to stop. The joy from seeing her after so much suffering brought peace to his troubled mind.
“Elina, thank the gods you are alright!” He ran to her, checking the small details of her face and the warmth of her skin to make sure that she wasn’t just another hallucination induced by the tortures.
“Please, talk to me, my love. I need to know that this is real.”
“I’m so sorry.” She said amid sobs. “I shouldn’t have let you go on that damn business trip. I should have forced you to come to the restaurant with us or at least come with you. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“Don’t you even dare say that.” Raaz held her tight, and when she returned the embrace, her touch didn’t make him quiver. “Every second of that nightmare, I thanked the gods for you being far away and safe with Lith.
“It’s the only reason I managed to endure everything Orpal did to me without losing myself in desperation or madness. I kept fighting because I knew that you were waiting for me. I refused to die because I had to return to you, my love.”
“You’re the bravest warrior I’ve ever known, Raaz Verhen. I love you so much.” Elina said, burying her face in his shoulder. “I don’t know if I would have had the strength to keep living without you.”
While his parents exchanged tender caresses and sweet words, Lith’s mind went over all the bad things that had happened to him during the past few years.
“Meln was behind everything, always messing with my life.” He thought out loud. “He gave Deirus the means to keep Phloria’s trial going and sent the assassin to kill Quylla. He killed Trequill, Mirim, and Manohar.
“Now, he has kidnapped Dad and Kami, almost torturing him to death.” Lith clenched his fists as fury grew like wildfire inside his chest. “I don’t care about the Kingdom’s laws or what the Royals say.
“As soon as I regain my strength, I’m going to tower Warp back to the Kingdom, hunt Meln down, and kill him like the rabid monster he is!”
“Please, Lith. We barely escaped death multiple times today.” Elina said. “You are powerful, but just one man. Meln, instead, has the Undead Courts behind him and he’s probably creating more undead as we speak.
“You’d need an army to fight him.”
