Chapter 502: Green in the gray (2/2)

Lyra gave me a mock frown “Do you have the authority to pen such a deal?”

I gave a very unladylike snort “As you said, I’ by a sh issued from its open doorway Soleil paused and peered into the shadows “Yousickness?”

Djimon hummed uncomfortably “Seven have fallen ill over the last few days We suspect it has so to do with the ash”

Soleil looked questioningly at Lyra, who nodded We followed the phoenix woainst the wooden frame that supported the ash bricks “hello? My name is Soleil of Clan Asclepius I’m a healer”

A tired voice invited Soleil in Lyra and I follohile Dji The sun was at the wrong angle to light the interior through the s next door, and all the candles had gone out I had seen lighting artifacts in other buildings, but it wasn’t surprising that there weren’t enoughdim, the interior was also sparsely furnished A bed, little ainst one wall, while half the s and a table and chairs A si pot hung above the dark, cold remains of a fire

A woman in her middle years rested in the bed, covered by a patchwork fur blanket

“How are you feeling, Alliu down on the rush-covered floor

The wo, Lady Lyra I just”—she paused for a fit of coughing—“can’t seeh, the wonature seemed to spasm Lyra’s eyes flicked toward the wo me she’d noticed as well

“Never did really—feel like rona was defeated” The woh every feords “WeakenedHer bright eyes were darting everywhere around the sick woh the blanket but right through the wo mana beast flesh?”

“We all have,” Lyra answered, a touch defensively “We grow as much food as we can, but wildlife is rare aside from the mana beasts that spawn in the Beast Glades”

“Peace,” Soleil said with a smile that sees caused by ash exposure” She turned her attention back to her patient “You have picked up a parasite fro the flesh of a mana beast infected by some lesser form of a demon leech Fatal if untreated, but the infection itself can be burned away harmlessly”

The sick woman’s cheeks, already sallow, paled even further

“Do I have your permission to do so?”

“Vritra’s horns, yes!” the sick woled to hold back another cough

Soleil drew aside the blanket, then bent over the bed, her hands extended Waran to issue from her hands, and the room filled with mana Fiery sparks danced over the sick wo into her flesh She began to sweat and writhe A weak cough burst from her, and red specks stained her lips

Lyra took the woht

I tried to follow Soleil’sAlacryan Like a thin veil of flaetation from a farmer’s field, Soleil’sstirred inside otten knowledge It had been Cecilia who’d absorbed the last of Lady Dawn’s acy who understood it I’d only been a passenger, watching a e manipulate mana in a way I couldn’t hope to comprehend And yet, at the same time, my mind had been linked with hers, connected for every new spark of enlightenht just a bit closer to the surface…

The sick wo her chest with her free hand Mana condensed over her skin, roiling like storm-tossed waves back and forth as she instinctively conjured a weak shi+eld

“Easy, now,” Lyraphoenix fire-attribute htened She was beaone!”

“R-really?” the woh followed her words

Soleil patted the woly “Yup Your body can heal now, and then your ht out Just take it easy for a couple of days, okay?”

“Th-thank you!”

After several rounds of thankful praise, we stepped back out into the sunshi+ne Instead of looking pleased, however, Soleil was frowning “You said there are others?” she asked Djimon

He blinked, and his hardened expression noticeably softened “A few in total, yes”

“Takesilver eyes goggled at ood care of the people here,” I said It didn’t answer, but its long tongue snaked out and raked across my wrist scratchily

With one more scuff of the curly hair of its forehead, I left the paddock and beelined across the nanature She had spent the rest of the previous day assisting those infected by the de, then we had been treated to a relative feast—demon leech-free, I was assured—around a bonfire with nearly the entire village in attendance

I’d then spent thesoil with a little bit of deviant plant-attribute e had given me a lot to think about They’d created a simple but functional life for theers—as the de had rade from the comforts most had enjoyed back in Alacrya, but it was honest and, perhaps most of all, free

If they could rebuild for themselves, I was certain the elves could, too

I found Lyra and a few of the Alacryans I’daround Soleil The phoenix was bathing theently shook hand after hand

“Please, can’t you stay a bit longer?”

“—offer us your blessing, great phoenix—”

“—co—”

“—do without you if we’re wounded or poisoned again?”

Soleil laughed, a sound like rustling wings “You were strong before I came, and you will remain such after I leave There is much of this continent for me to see, but you will always be special as the first of your kind to welcome the Asclepius clan back into the world”

Lyra, seeing roup “As much as I’et the asura out of here before people start worshi+ping her The hole left by the Vritra is hard to fill”

I s halfway to a frown “Living like this will teach them self-reliance, I have no doubt” I sed a lulad to have really met you, Lyra Dreide”

Her arded me in wordless surprise

I plowed on, only half knohat I was trying to say

“You’ve helped me find closure into a part ofwound So much happened so quickly afterfor so long And then Agrona was gone and the as over and I still have all this e inside of ed helplessly “I’lad That’s all”

Lyra stepped forward, her arser than necessary before straightening A lock of flae hair fell across her face, which she swept aside with a practiced gesture “Farewell, Tessia Eralith”

Soleil waved her final goodbyes to the gathered Alacryans, and we lifted up into the air and turned north, shooting out over the gray wasteland Avier, who had roosted silently over the last day, took wing from a nearby rooftop and fell in behind us

“Thank you for hu my voice with mana to helpwith the ease of one floating on still water “I am here to experience whatever you have to show me I’m the eyes, ears, and voice for Clan Asclepius in Dicathen now, so wherever you want to lead me, I’ll follow!”

I chuckled into the wind

Our flight picked up speed as I grewhow Soleil did it but also just relaxing It was ray emptiness The devastation of Elenoir was so complete that few features of the land even remained Rivers had been wiped away, hills flattened, canyons collapsed Rarely, ould see the reh the ash

Otherwise, it was just endless gray

That and the lack of atrove” fairly easy We flew for an hour, maybe two, before I sensed it in the distance I was certain Soleil and Avier had felt it h to have drawn the attention of the handful of elves working there They’d planted seven trees None were taller than perhaps eight feet, all of therove had been cleared of ash and tilled with fresh soil brought from beyond Elenoir—mixed with just a pinch of the Epheotan soil

Green in the gray…

It was a childish thought, but it was all I could focus on That little splash of green Life fighting its way back from the absoluteness of death

“It’s beautiful”