Chapter 415:Meeting.

Chapter 415: 415:Meeting.

The first thing Atheline properly registered after opening his eyes was the sky.

It was blue, painfully ordinary and almost offensively peaceful after everything he had just witnessed.

Thin clouds drifted above him while the afternoon sun warmed one side of his face, and somewhere nearby he could hear the distant cry of a dragon moving through the mountains.

For several long seconds he remained exactly where he was, lying against cold stone and staring upward while his mind struggled to accept that he was back on Dragonic Island.

His hand slowly moved to his chest. His heart was beating.

There was no poison burning through his veins, no broken body lying on a road in another world, and no battlefield filled with the corpses of everyone he’d known.

There was only the steady rhythm beneath his palm and the familiar circulation of Aether through his body, yet something else was there.

Atheline frowned.

He could feel it somewhere deeper than his Aether core, but the moment he tried concentrating on it, the sensation became vague.

Whatever had entered his body at the end of the ruin remained inside him. It wasn’t attacking him, and his instincts didn’t perceive it as dangerous, but that hardly made him comfortable.

"What did you give me?"

The sky obviously didn’t answer.

He closed his eyes again but that proved to be a mistake. He saw everything that had happened again. He opened his eyes immediately and sat up.

His breathing became uneven.

"Enough."

He pressed both hands against his face and remained that way for several moments.

He needed time. Unfortunately, time was apparently the one thing the ruin had decided not to give him.

Footsteps approached rapidly from somewhere beyond the plateau.

He lowered his hands.

A draconic attendant appeared first, nearly running toward him. The man visibly relaxed when he saw Atheline sitting upright.

"Your Majesty."

Atheline stared at him.

The attendant stopped several steps away.

"Are you injured?"

"I don’t think so."

The answer clearly wasn’t reassuring.

"How long was I inside?"

The attendant hesitated, which he noticed.

"How long?"

"Seven days."

Atheline stared.

"Days?"

Before the attendant could explain further, another set of footsteps sounded from behind him, much faster.

The attendant turned.

Atheline didn’t need to. He felt her Aether, or perhaps calling it Aether alone wasn’t accurate anymore; darkness moved with her. He looked toward the path.

Lilith appeared.

She stopped the instant she saw him and just looked at him, neither speaking.

Atheline had imagined dozens of things he might say to her after what he’d witnessed. He’d imagined warning her about Klaith immediately, explaining Nirvana, asking about the Protector and perhaps even questioning her about details from the original world.

Every one of those thoughts disappeared when he saw her. She was alive; not kneeling on the verge of her death.

"Lilith."

She crossed the remaining distance almost instantly. Atheline barely managed to stand before she reached him.

Her arms wrapped around him tightly. He stumbled from the force and then immediately embraced her back, one hand sliding up between her shoulder blades, the other pressing firmly against the small of her back as if to make certain she was solid and real.

She said nothing at first, but neither did he. He buried his face against her hair and closed his eyes, breathing her in.

She’d been waiting for a week without knowing where he was. And from what he’d seen inside, he suddenly understood exactly why the possibility of losing one another frightened him so much.

Lilith pulled back just enough to look at him. Her hands came up to frame his face, thumbs brushing along his cheekbones. Then she kissed him; slow, deep, and lingering, the kind of kiss that said more than words could after days of silence and fear.

It wasn’t hurried or desperate in a carnal way; it was steady, grounding, filled with the quiet relief of finding him whole.

When she finally drew back, her forehead rested against his for a moment longer.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you certain?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly isn’t an answer."

"I’m not injured."

Her eyes searched his face. Atheline gave her a tired smile.

"I’m just... very confused."

Lilith touched his cheek again, softer this time.

"That makes two of us."

Atheline frowned.

"What happened?"

"The ruin you were in suddenly disappeared."

He stared at her.

"What?"

"The moment you entered, the entrance eventually vanished."

Atheline looked behind himself. For the first time, he properly examined where he’d awakened.

The doorway was there. A dark stone entrance stood behind him exactly where he remembered entering days earlier.

"Then it’s back."

Lilith followed his gaze, then her expression changed. The attendant also turned.

For several seconds, all three watched the ruin as a crack appeared across the doorway.

Atheline frowned.

"That’s probably not..."

The entire structure suddenly vanished. Atheline stared at the empty space. Lilith stared as well.

The attendant’s mouth opened slightly.

He eventually sighed.

"Of course."

Lilith looked at him.

"Do you know why it did that?"

"Unfortunately, I know significantly more than I did when I went inside and somehow understand significantly less."

"That sounds concerning."

"It is."

Lilith took his hand, fingers intertwining with his in a firm, reassuring grip.

"Come."

Atheline didn’t resist.

He was led back toward the palace while the attendant hurried away to inform Draco that the missing guest had reappeared and the Unaspected Ruin had apparently disappeared permanently.

Atheline barely paid attention to the journey. His thoughts kept slipping backward, jumping between memories that shouldn’t have belonged together.

By the time they reached their quarters, exhaustion had finally caught him. Lilith closed the door behind them.

Atheline sat on the edge of the bed.

"I need to tell you something."

"You need to sleep."

"This is important."

"It’ll still be important when you wake up."

"Lilith..."

She walked over and placed a hand against his forehead, then let her palm slide down to cup his cheek.

"You disappeared for a week."

"And you seem to have changed, apparently."

His eyes narrowed as he finally noticed something different about her. The darkness surrounding Lilith felt deeper.

He stared at her, slightly intrigued.

"What happened to you?"

She smiled faintly.

"I’ll tell you after you sleep."

"You definitely did something."

"And you look like you’re about to collapse."

"I’m perfectly..."

He yawned. She raised an eyebrow.

He looked away.

"That proved nothing."

"Sleep."

He lay back reluctantly. Lilith sat beside him. He reached for her hand and she allowed him to take it. His thumb moved slowly over her fingers.

"Don’t go anywhere."

Lilith’s expression softened. She leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, then another softer one to the corner of his mouth.

"I won’t."

Atheline closed his eyes.

This time when the memories tried returning, Lilith’s hand in his grounded him. Sleep came almost immediately.

When Atheline woke again, several hours had passed.

The room was darker, illuminated by magical lamps and the faint evening light entering through the windows. He remained still for a moment before realizing his head was resting against Lilith.

She had changed completely.

Her travel clothing was gone, replaced by comfortable dark clothing, her hair had been cleaned and brushed, and she looked considerably more refreshed than she had when she’d found him.

He blinked sleepily.

"You changed."

She looked down from the book she’d been reading.

"A brilliant observation."

"Thank you."

"I was beginning to worry the ruin damaged your intelligence."

"Impossible. There wasn’t enough to damage."

Lilith stared at him, but he smiled. He missed seeing the expression she had when she got tired of his antics. He shifted closer and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her gently against him.

She put the book aside. Instead of answering immediately, she leaned down and kissed him; soft and unhurried, one hand sliding into his white hair as her lips lingered against his for a few quiet seconds.

When she pulled back, she stayed close, forehead nearly touching his, her fingers still threading lightly through the strands at the nape of his neck.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes."

"Still confused?"

"Extremely."

"Then you’ve returned to normal."

He laughed quietly. She ran her fingers through his hair again, and he closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation, his arm tightening just a little around her waist.

For several minutes, neither mentioned the ruin. Atheline simply enjoyed being beside her—the quiet rise and fall of her breathing, the warmth of her body against his, the familiar comfort of her touch.

Eventually he opened his eyes.

"You know, I watched you declare war on almost the entire world."

Lilith’s hand stopped.

"What?"

"That probably wasn’t the best way to begin."

"No, it wasn’t."

Atheline sat up a little, though he kept one arm loosely around her. Lilith immediately became serious.

"What did you see?"

He looked at her for several seconds.

"Before I explain mine, what happened to you?"

Lilith straightened and started to explain her experience.