A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 478 - We'll have to renegotiate~

At the same time, in Djibouti's palace, a pale, bandaged woman's red eyes suddenly snapped open and she shot up from the bed she was lying in.

Several healers gathered around her blinked in surprise. "M— Mistress Lilith?" one of them asked hesitantly, obsequiously. "Is something wrong?" Just now, they thought she'd finally taken their advice of getting some rest, so they were surprised to see her already awake again.

Yet, something seemed wrong. Lilith's eyes were bloodshot and wide open, face twisted into something ugly.

Then, mayhem.

Without warning, Lilith grabbed her head and began to scream. "Aaaaaaaah!" she cried out in pain. "Thaaaat biiiitch!"

She slammed her head back down in the pillows but continued to thrash and wail like a banshee, her movements restless, relentless. Her screeching filled the room with a haunting sound that made even the shadows seem to recoil.

Bandages tore, and wounds reopened. The healers by her bedside looked on in horror, and were unsure what to do. At least, until the previously recoiling shadows suddenly started catching fire.

The pain was causing Lilith's powers to rage out of control. Third rank pressure was flooding the room as shadowflame began to cover the walls and floors. The healers stood frozen due to a combination of sheer terror and Lilith's pressure.

In mere moments, the shadowflame would have devoured them, but then it suddenly halted. "No!" Lilith screeched in fury. "I— I am in control! Me! MY POWER OBEYS ONLY ME!"

When her final word fell, a wave of power spread around her body, and the shadowflames instantly disappeared.

"Out! Now!" she roared at the healers, her face still twisted in pain and suffering, blood streaming from her many reopened wounds.

Her terrified subordinates didn't need to be told twice, and instantly made a beeline for the door. Behind them, Lilith continued writhing in agony, her bloodshot eyes wide open, but her lips remained stubbornly pressed together, unwilling to make another sound.

* * *

Back in Enkare Nkai, Runa had once again fallen unconscious, and Elora kept her hand pressed against the woman's chest with her emerald eyes closed.

But at the same time as Lilith regained control of her powers, Elora ripped her hand off with a painful hiss. "Hmpf," she grumbled with a hateful stare while waving her hand from pain. "Credit where credit is do, that wretch is talented."

But then she grinned viciously again, "But the worst is already done, there's no way for you to escape now!"

For a moment she continued to stare at Runa with a face twisted in sadistic delight. But then she remembered the direct connection had already been severed, and she was only staring hatefully at her mother-in-law right now.

So, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to calm down.

'Calm down, Elora,' she muttered to herself. 'You succeeded at the most important part, and you even discovered something interesting…' She opened her eyes again and turned a thoughtful expression towards Erik's room, 'Now I just need to decide when to tell him…'

Suddenly, she was pulled away from her thoughts by a voice she'd almost forgotten was even there. "What— What the hell just happened?" Ankhur demanded, his weak voice still showing some strength, and his eyes went from looking at Runa with concern, to looking at Elora with a hint of hostility. It was much the same for Naeku.

Elora turned to them with her usual indifference, and shrugged, "I took a little revenge on Lilith while I ripped control of Runa away from her." She didn't care about his hostility much. Why would she care about a fly, buzzing around her ears?

Ankhur quickly lost his hostility, but continued looing at Runa with concern. "So… is she alright?"

"Perhaps…" Elora muttered, before suddenly narrowing her eyes. "But before we get into that, why don't you tell me why you care about her so much? Exactly how much happened between you?"

"I…" he muttered, while suddenly looking surprisingly embarrassed, and unable to find the right words. Beside him, Naeku was trying to sink into the floor so that she wouldn't have to hear about this.

But before he found the words to say, Elora began to giggle mischievously. "Hehehe, don't break your brain, alright? I'm just asking if I have a new father-in-law."

Naturally, such a relationship would change things a little for Elora.

"N— No!" Ankhur exclaimed in denial while glancing apologetically at his daughter. "She was… far too preoccupied to think about such things. I think she realized my interest in her, on some level, but she never engaged me. I didn't even know she had a son… who likely has a father as well?"

He voiced the last part almost like a question. Unfortunately for him, the fairy shook her head with an almost mocking grin, "Not my place to talk about, Ankhur."

Then she turned her gaze to the peacefully sleeping Runa, "Fortunately, you'll have the chance to ask her about it later. She'll wake up in a few weeks, though she won't be back to her natural state for a few months, at least."

"Fortunately," she finished while turning back to Ankhur. "Lilith will now be incapacitated for the exact same time, so you have some time to regroup and recover."

Clearly not intending to explain Runa's situation in more details, Elora turned to walk out of the room. Behind her, several protection sigils flared up around Runa, so that even Enkai, who was in perfectly good shape, couldn't easily get to her.

Yet, before she could walk out, Naeku called out after her. "W— Wait! Elora, please…"

Elora raised an eyebrow and turned around. Personally, she was conflicted about whether or not she desired for Naeku to become one of Erik's wives. She was powerful and talented, sure, but her personality didn't match with Erik and Elora's more selfish mindset.

Still, she knew Erik liked her, so she wasn't going to ignore the young werepanther.

"Yes?" she asked, a little indifferently, but not coldly.

Feeling relieved that Elora didn't just ignore her, Naeku looked at her ailing father, who was lost in thought as he stared at Runa. "You… said you could help him?"

"I did, and I can," Elora nodded calmly. "But it will have to wait."

"Why?!" Naeku exclaimed indignantly while turning back to look at the fairy, anger burning in her eyes.

Elora grinned at Naeku's impotent anger, and shrugged, "Because our family's are even now. In fact, if anything, you still owe us. Fortunately, because of your relation to mother-in-law, we're willing to wipe the slate clean if you let us stay here, undisturbed, and indefinitely."

"But if you want more from us…" she continued, with a sinister grin and twinkling eyes. "We'll have to renegotiate~"