'What the heck did you just do?' The consequences of Solus using her own essence to strengthen the Origin Flames terrified Lith. 'Even inside our tower, you don't even have a real body yet, let alone a stable life force. Taking physical form here is madness!'
'Semi-immortal here, remember?' Even her thoughts were reduced to whispers. 'As long as my body is intact, as long as my life force is bonded to yours, I can't die.'
'That's bullshit! What if you burn your personality or your memories? What if you lose yourself and become nothing more than a tool?' Lith asked.
'Even then, I'd still be part of you.' She replied.
"Ready for round two?" Dawn only needed to create another prism spawn to replace her lost crystal blade.
For the second time in a single day, a roar of pure rage made the entirety of the Snake Tongue mountain range tremble while dust and debris fell from the ceiling on Dawn's head.
Lith refused to lose Solus just as strongly as she was willing to push herself to keep him alive. After almost five years from their first and last quarrel, the most powerful mana crystal and the mightiest of metals became one.
Solus's and Lith's mana cores aligned along with the tower's pseudo core that was able to manifest itself thanks to the partial link with the mana geyser. All three of them grew in size and power reaching new heights.
His body changed as well, growing a second set of membranous wings that unlike the one already on his back, the second set wasn't upside down and it was gold-colored. Lith's chin split, forming a second maw below his own and both growled with fury.
He now stood over 3 meters (10') tall, covered in scales the size of a brick. Usually Lith's body couldn't grow past a certain point because no matter the form anyone shapeshifted into, their mass wouldn't change.
This time, however, the tower could provide him with everything he needed. He was now too big for the Skinwalker armor to contain him anymore. The silver of the metal couldn't hide the pitch-black scales mixed with new golden ones, both with their edges blood-red from the heat sealed within Lith's body.
All seven eyes were opened and none was yellow. The red, black, blue, white, and emerald green eyes stared at Dawn with such hatred that if looks could kill not even the power of Mogar's sun could save her.
The remaining two emitted a dimmer light and were golden colored. The moment the fusion restored her life force, Solus's eyes shone as bright as Lith's, staring at the Bright Day in cold fury.
"This doesn't bode well." Dawn clicked her tongue, quickly reassessing her situation.
Even though she had no vitals, her energy wasn't infinite, otherwise she would have never been defeated by Sinmara the Phoenix, nor the Rezar clan would have been able to detain her for so long.
Casting so many powerful spells, generating spawns to shape her equipment, and regenerating her body several times had taken a heavy toll on her.
Until a moment ago, Dawn had been sure of her victory because whatever the Wyrmling was doing, not only was he still weaker than her, but she could also see with Life Vision that his might dwindled over time.
Now, however, the thing in front of her was brimming with power and seemed royally pissed off with her.
'Fuck my luck.' Dawn thought. 'Seven eyes and the white one is already open. If this guy can exert Dominance over my spells this is going to be…'
A left black-clawed hand came down on her with the speed of a lightning bolt. There was no wasted movement nor any tell preceding the attack, yet Dawn managed to predict its course thanks to her rich battle experience.
She sidestepped the attack and struck at the wrist with her blade. Lith changed the course of his hand with a flick of his shoulder, catching both the crystal sword and the arm wielding it in mid-air before crushing them under the raw strength of his grip.
At the same time, both right hands grabbed Dawn's left leg and arm while she was still recovering from the surprise, slamming her against the ground until all her remaining limbs shattered.
"That's enough!" Even without a head, she could still talk thanks to air magic, just like Solus did.
Dawn cursed the array preventing her from Warping away and used what energy she had left to produce a light pillar that shot upwards, digging through tons of rock until the night sky was visible.
Then, she bolted through the opening she had dug and run toward safety.
Lith's maws opened. The first emitted a near violet flame while the other released a deep cyan fire. The two flames met halfway, fusing into a jet burst of white fire that chased after Dawn that further widened the hole in the mountain.
Yet it wasn't fast nor strong enough. Dawn's words about having survived against elder Dragons weren't just for banter, but hard facts. Her crystal was slightly cracked and only bits of Acala's body remained, but they were both alive and kicking.
Her light pillar had damaged the already patched up remains of the Odi arrays and Lith's burst of flames had done the rest. High in the night sky, Dawn disappeared into a Warp Steps that led her thousands of kilometers away, back to Baba Yaga's hut.
Back home.
The link between the three Horsemen and their creator had never been severed, allowing them to always know where to find her. The hut was temporarily located in an open field in the Jiera continent, where the sun was still setting.
From the outside, it looked like a hunting cabin. The small wooden house had a pitched roof, only one door, and one window on each side. A clothesline filled with fresh laundry was located in front of the hut, giving the impression that a couple of newlyweds had started their new life there.
Dawn knew better and took her time to deactivate the multiple layers of deadly arrays that surrounded the cozy cabin. By the time she was done, the remaining sunlight had sealed the cracks in her crystal and returned her part of her strength.
"Welcome home, Dawnie." Said a soft voice as she crossed the threshold.
Baba Yaga, the first Awakened to have ever achieved the white core of immortality, was sitting on a simple wooden chair, mending a pair of short pants belonging to a kid.
A small pile of damaged clothes rested on a nearby chair while another pile of those she had already repaired was placed on the table beside her. Baba Yaga looked up at her daughter, yet her hands never stopped moving.
"What are you doing in this dump, Mom?" Dawn was referring to the Jiera continent, not to her ancestral home.
"My children have failed me as it happens so very often, but I'm still their mother. I'm here to see if the damage can be undone or if I can at least give birth to a new species capable of thriving in this new world."
Baba Yaga looked like a young maiden barely sixteen years old, with waist-long golden hair and clear blue eyes. Her voice was silvery and her body had the never-ending energy of youth.
It was the incarnation of those who had little past and a long future ahead of them. The form of Dawn.
