Chapter 1922.2: Peace Offers (Part 2)
"Will it give me back the 700 years I lost? Will it?" Black flames erupted from Lith's mouth while silvery ones erupted from his wings.
His seven eyes burst with power and pain as Solus vented her pent-up rage.
Lith was amazed by how strong the hold she had on him was. He even wondered if she was capable of overtaking his body if she wanted. If the only difference between Solus and Night lay in their character.
Yet he didn't oppose any resistance. Lith let her use him as his proxy to face the monster that had stolen her life.
"No, it won't." Bytra's voice was steady, but tears streamed from her eyes. "Nothing I say can change the past. I've wronged you with my actions and words are cheap. That's why I wanted to meet you again.
"My life is yours. My legacy is yours. Do what you must."
"I want nothing from you! Killing you would solve nothing, it would only make me feel worse." Solus stood up on the Tiamat's palm, her hair whipping around due to the mana storm that her fury had unleashed, making her look like an angry goddess.
"What about my legacy?" The Fourth Ruler of the Flames lay several thick books and Bytra's Absolution in front of her.
"Wait, were you serious back at the wedding? Wasn't it just a ruse to lure me away from Lith?" Solus knew that for a Forgemaster their legacy was even more important than their life.
It represented who they were and was the embodiment of their dreams for the future.
"Yes, it was a ruse, but only because I never expected to walk out of that room alive." Bytra nodded. "I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to teach you. I had left instructions to give you everything in the aftermath, but much to my surprise, you spared my life.
"So here I am, renewing my offer. I can't give you anything of what you have lost but I can teach you everything you have forgotten and so much more."
Seeing that the Raiju still offered her neck and that Zoreth wasn't shielding her this time made Solus' rage fade.
Her breath was ragged from the yelling and the intense emotions, her hair still dancing in the storm she had conjured. Yet her hold on Lith was gone.
He slowly reverted to his human size, gently putting her down on the sand where she started to puke her guts out.
It took Solus several minutes to stop crying and regain her cool. Then, she destroyed the breakfast she had just regurgitated with a pulse of darkness magic and washed her face with conjured water.
Lith offered her his hand, but she refused it.
"This is something I must do alone, but thanks." She said while moving toward Bytra despite her weak knees.
Solus looked down on the Raiju who kept her eyes close in submission. She took one of the books, opening it on a random page and discovering that it really contained the secrets of a ground-breaking Forgemastery technique.
There was no code and every step was described in detail so that even a complete amateur would be capable of performing the spell with practice. Solus devoured the page and the next, becoming so engrossed that she almost turned the page.
Almost.
"At least you are sincere." Her voice oozed spite as she dropped the book on the ground like trash. "As I said, I want nothing from you."
Bytra was torn between the happiness of being still alive and the sadness from her precious research being treated like that. She had done all she could to make up for the mistakes of her previous incarnation.
Words were cheap but even her actions had fallen on deaf ears. Even if Solus claimed to have forgiven her, Bytra could see how deep-seated her hatred was and knew that Elphyn had every right to treat her like that.
The Raiju needed closure with her past as much as Elphyn, yet now she had only one card left to play.
Solus looked at the Absolution with curiosity, noticing the resemblance with the Fury.
"What's this?" She asked.
"I've held your Fury for years." Bytra replied. "It was a powerful tool, but still a relic of the past. During that time, my father, my siblings, and I studied it thoroughly and searched for a way to recreate the Fury with modern techniques.
"Bytra's Absolution is the fruit of our efforts."
"Bytra's Absolution? Seriously? What a pretentious name." Solus' voice was filled with spite, yet she picked up the hammer.
She studied it with her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, and the Eyes of Menadion, making an amazing discovery.
"By my Mom, Lith. This thing is as good as our Fury, if not even better."
"Not to be rude, but the Fury is a Forgemastering fossil." Bytra said. "That's why I'm offering the Absolution to you if you decide to kill me."
"No, it's not. Not anymore. See it for yourself." Solus couldn't bear her mother's legacy being badmouthed so she handed Bytra both Solus' Fury and the Absolution.
Lith's eyes went wide, but he held still.
'Dammit, I know that she needs to face her fears, but was a measurement contest really necessary?' He thought.
"By the gods, Zoreth, Elphyn is right." Bytra couldn't see past Salaark's cloaking but her spells could still gauge the power of the artifact. "Ripha was an amazing genius. She left a way for her heir to upgrade the Fury and even replace its runes with modern magic."
"Mom was good, but not that good. She had left the plans for my hammer to Salaark, and once you gave me back the Fury, she did the rest." Solus shook her head.
"I see." The Raiju nodded, yet her admiration for the First Ruler of the Flames didn't lessen. "Even if it's just the design, your Fury is a piece of art. Ripha managed to devise something that was generations ahead of her time."
Now that she had established the pecking order, Solus recalled the Fury back. She hated the thought of the Raiju touching it or even speaking her mother's name.
Yet the more she stood her ground, the more the image of the present Bytra replaced that of the invincible monster from her nightmares. She wasn't the shadow of a god of death anymore, just another Emperor Beast.
"If there isn't anything else, we are done." Solus said.
Lith could see her knees quaking and her hands bleeding from the strength with which she clenched them, yet he didn't embrace her nor sent a single word of encouragement via the mind link.
The only way for Solus to overcome her trauma was to face it alone. She knew that Lith was there with her and he had her back. Any other form of help would have made her fall back into her old scared self, using him as a crutch.
"We are not done talking yet." Bytra dusted the sand off her clothes as she stood up. "We are going to Verendi to rescue a member of our brethren and I wanted to invite the two of you."
"Why should we care about another Abomination?" Solus raised an eyebrow in suspicion.