Haven watched as Beloved laid on the ground.
"This will be scary, but all will be fine, just a moment out, then back inside." Beloved promised blowing her big snake a kiss as Nix knelt, cupping her head in his hands.
Haven watched as the fire consumed both birds, Ashton, set aside for Nix to exert his control. Silver irises shining over the red. Haven watched as a tiny, miniscule white flame was drawn from Beloved's body. It was so small, he'd seen larger grains of sand.
Sweat dripped from Nix's chin. The effort to not burn away Ashton's body while drawing out his Beloved's soul was barely within his current abilities. If he'd needed to hide as well, something would have had to give.
Haven didn't blink as the body convulsed. Talons, wings, claws, a spiraled horn, scales, erupted from the now soulless body. Haven moved his attention to the tiny flame that was carefully surrounded by a sphere of silver flame.
Nix sent the small sphere into Haven's hands. With a breath to release his tension he pulled out the large feather, laying it over his Beloved's body.
"Wait." Haven ordered seeing the parts of several beasts now exposed. Unicorn horn, siren wings, eagle talons… dragon scales, that's what he could identify at a glance.
Nix looked up as sweat continued to roll down his cheek, then fall to the ground. "You have concerns?"
"Would… blood, or bone not be better?" Haven asked seeing one of Nix's own rib bones protecting the thumb sized white core. A piece of Nix's own core.
Nix blinked, "Wouldn't that hurt? Cause you great pain?"
"You should not hurt, we should never bring you pain, our love should be a blessing, you should only gain!" Beloved agreed as her tiny flame bounced in her big snake's hand.
Haven gave a small nod as Nix started… melting his feather. Layering it over the exposed organs. After a breaths time, the colors faded to white. Then the pieces started to convulse, shift, merge back into the human form he was familiar with. There was no… visible difference.
Nix accepted the tiny flame back from Haven, resting it on his Beloved's forehead. The body easily accepted Beloved's soul, she sat up as Nix leaned to the side. Ashton's body was starting to break down, he may not even have until winter.
Seeing Beloved's raised arms, Haven didn't hesitate to pick up her up. Haven looked over the struggling Nix, no longer red, black was bleeding into his eyes. It would appear; the dragon taint was almost too much for even a beast of pride to endure.
Beloved buried her face in Haven's neck, she could feel Nix's pain, his struggle to keep the human body alive. "Big Snake… help us."
Haven's eyes constricted as he released his human legs for his snake tail. He felt the difference. Beloved's mana, her beast core had been altered. He met Nix's eyes. So, this had been their plan all along. Haven eyed the collapsed Nix, now coughing up the sludgy taint.
Haven wanted to laugh, they truly didn't need him. Bonding to a human would have been enough. He pet her hair, what scheming birds. What delightfully deceitful birds. She hadn't walked into his cage, he had slithered into hers.
Haven buried his face into her hair, dropping a light peck along her neck. "All you desire, all I can give, take as you like, Goddess of wind." Haven saw his mana swirl behind her eyes. More than just his mana, his essences. She was now indistinguishable from a true god. Though… only so long as he lived.
Beloved peered at Haven out of the corner of her eye, he didn't seem… upset. "I did tell you, when you first arrived, that I would conquer, a true god of wind."
Haven only smiled, "What smart birds, now, how do I help?" What a wondrous surprise, no wonder all who even suspected had been killed.
Nix was wheezing, taint now trailing down his cheeks like black tears. He needed to purge the worst of it. A pity he could not cleanse himself. He had to expel the taint, then he could burn it away.
Beloved whispered in Haven's ear. When he nodded she hopped down, sitting on Nix's stomach as she placed both hands over his heart.
Something was wrong, Neolani could feel pulses of… something. Not pain, but… whatever it was made her stomach lurch. "Alexei, the mages." She didn't know what was happening behind the walls of light, wind, and fire… but something was happening to Alphonse… Ashton… Nix.
"Mother…" Melia whispered as the rotating sphere of light shattered, then the black fire went out… lastly the tornado dissipated.
Neolani wanted to scream, stab the female through the heart! Claw her eyes out!
Randal didn't know what was going on, but it clearly wasn't anything good. Ashton, Nix. Nix was laying on his back, black blood pouring from his eyes, nose, mouth… straddled by the female who was digging her hands into his chest. Her hands were covered in white flames as she yanked something out of him.
The Priest gave a silent prayer, "Tis no what it looks like… that be… dragon blessings."
The mage nodded, "Even more foul than that rotting dragon…"
Randal took a deep breath seeing the female dig out handful after handful of taint, throwing it to the side even as it continued to burn.
Beloved continued to use her claws to remove the packed taint… it must hurt so much. Beloved choked down the sob threatening to escape. If Nix didn't want to keep her safe… none of this would have happened. Even now, his heart was calling out…
Haven narrowed his eyes as he condensed his mana around the fragment that was Beloved's beast core. Nix wasn't exactly calling the fragment back… but the two broken pieces longed to be whole.
They needed someone to either fill the hole in Nix's heart so Beloved's fragment wouldn't fit, or for Beloved's fragment to be different enough to not answer Nix's call. Haven coiled his tail as he kept flooding his Beloved with his essence. More than just his mana was needed. It may take… millennia for her fragment to grow into a truly separate core.
Haven smiled, for the rest of their lives, he would influence how her core grew… separate from Nix. Separate from Ru, she was now his.
Beloved closed her watering eyes, no tears, not yet. "Nix this will hurt, so much more than to burn, to scrape off the worst, or the body won't endure."
Nix only nodded. He was still coughing up the chunks of taint. It's amazing what humans can learn to endure… such resilient creatures.
Beloved looked up to glare at Nix's heart bearer… if she'd just done as asked… Nix wouldn't be suffering so much. "You took from my Nix, left his heart in your hands, look at how neglected, look at results of your demands!"
Haven gave the heart bearer a cold smile as he fed his mana into Beloved. His Beloved was positively glowing with power. Now, to see how a newly minted goddess would wield it.
Neolani realized she was falling, they were all falling. She couldn't use mana, hers or Ashton's.
Alexei managed to grab Neolani by her outstretched hand, "The children!" He roared at her! If she reached out she could grab them!
Neolani snapped to attention, grabbing the startled Melia by her dress and dragging her close. Before she could reach for Azarius they hit something hard. Neolani struggled to free herself from… mud? She glanced around, the area was so dim she could barely see anything. She shivered, the mud was so cold there was a light layer of frost where it remained undisturbed.
Alexei yanked himself half free to struggle closer to the still Azarius, "Azarius! Azarius!" He was walking through a swamp? The biting chill only made every step harder as he broke through the ice. He heard mages trying to summon any kind of light, even lightning, apparently nothing was working. After he pulled Azarius up he realized his son was just stunned.
"It hurts!" Melia cried wiping the mud off, "Mom! It hurts!"
Neolani realized the mud… was burning them! She'd been so cold she hadn't even realized it until Melia pointed it out. "Find higher ground! There!" She ordered seeing a mound just a few yards away. She squinted, realizing… everyone had dropped in.
Lucian pulled his legs free from the muck, snatching up the still screaming Natasha over his shoulder, he struggled toward Serafin. He could see his breath in the air, as he passed… the mud started to harden again… what in the fresh hells was this place?
"Emperor Father! Emperor Father! It stings! Wuaaaaaa!" Natasha cried trying to wipe herself clean.
Lucian huffed pulling his leg free, grabbing the struggling Serafin, he lifted him over his head. "Hold on! We're going for your mother!" He growled as he continued to his screaming empress. The nearly frozen filth seeping into his boots. The cold he could endure, the acidic burn after had him worried, he could only imagine how much worse it was for the others.
Sebastian used his cane to drag his grandchildren up, "To the hill! Go! Don't wait for us!" He ordered. He glanced around to see everyone doing the same. Pointing their groups toward the highest vantage points they could reasonably reach.
Jaxon struggled to carry concubine Ofelia while Monroe carried the infant princess, "Marquis! Follow in our steps!" He was waist deep in the acidic swamp. The frost quickly marked their paths, but it was still easier than breaking the solid ice.
"Your grace! It's… not burning me! Please help my father!" Ofelia stated as she tried to lower herself, her father was chest deep in the mire, one hand still stuck from where he'd fallen.
"No! Go! It's… I'm fine! Your Grace! Please take her!" Frances huffed as he struggled to keep moving. His body was already shivering from the bone chilling cold.
Ofelia bit her lip as she stopped struggling, if she continued she'd only make their situation worse. She curled up as tight as possible, shivering as she breathed into her hands.
"Princess Samara isn't… doesn't seem to be hurt either Lady Cologne," Monroe said as he lifted the princess over his head again. Thankfully, she wasn't struggling otherwise he might have dropped her. He glanced over his shoulder to the screaming prince Wyatt… Two guards were carrying the unconscious concubine while a third tried to carry the toddler.
Lucian unceremoniously lifted Charmaine into a standing position. Lucian winced when he realized she'd no doubt be bruised later. With a bit of juggling them around, he managed to princess carry Charmaine while Natasha was on her lap. Serafin was riding his shoulders. After confirming everyone was making their way to the scattered mounds, he continued forward.
Leonard was kneeling on the mound, he'd half crawled out of the mire. The chill was relatively better now that he wasn't chest deep in the muck. The acidic burning now akin to a healing sunburn. The urge to itch was there, but manageable. He looked around, most had pulled themselves out of the mire… now that the splashing had mostly died off he noticed a hum.
"Father, over there! There's a light." Levi said pointing off in the distance. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness… he shuddered. There was a soft, flickering glow off in the distance. As if a campfire was slowly dying out.
Jaxon checked over both concubines while Lucian was checking over the four children. Prince Wyatt was already breaking out into a rash… Lady Lasvil wasn't fairing any better, already her exposed skin was starting to blister as frost hardened the muck on her dress.
"Jax… is that… a giant… skeleton?" Monroe asked peering at the flickering light. His vision was better than most humans, that wasn't a mound the light was on… it was the inside of a ribcage. The ribs were decayed, some even broken… where a heart should be was the soft light.
Jaxon squinted, leaning forward as he continued to wipe the worse of the muck off himself. "Is someone sitting on the other side of the fire?"
Lucian turned to look, he couldn't see any other bones protruding out of the muck, at least not from here. But there… was something on the other side of the red glow.
"It's a corpse… though mostly intact. A… young man." Randal said, he could see the figure as if it were only a few feet instead of a few hundred feet away.
Lucian's attention snapped to the duke. Then the mountain man who'd carried three men out of the mire. Frost was already forming all over the mountain man but he didn't look bothered.
"What else do ye see Randy?" The priest asked sending a silent prayer to anything that had died in this awful place…