A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"Is that so?" Lilith purred dangerously. She continued eyeing him with sadistic curiosity, but didn't otherwise move from her spot. At the same time, Erik was hit with another cocktail of emotions when he heard her voice.

It was the same beautiful voice that once whispered sweet nothings in his ear, and then turned to poison.

"I suppose you'd better hope that's true, because you don't want to make my current agitation any worse, dear Aaron..." she continued with a soft smile. "Losing to a second ranker is not the kind of surprise I want from my deacons, you know…"

Despite her calm words and manner, Erik could feel the tension in the air. She was furious. Of course, her threatening behaviour had no effect on him. If anything, it made him angrier. He'd never been afraid in coming here, even if perhaps he should be. At least a little.

Even assuming this woman was a normal third ranker, which she likely wasn't based on some of the things they'd learned from Aaron, she was still far more powerful than the current Erik. He could now easily defeat someone like Aaron, but those like Abigail and Enkai were still a little out of his league. And this Lilith was surely stronger than her own Deacon.

"Remember, I can't see how strong she is exactly, because she'd notice and likely grow suspicious or angry…" Elora warned him in his head. "But Naeku said there was something strange with her, even though she couldn't say for certain what."

Surprise and anger passed through 'Aaron's' eyes. "Why do you assume I lost?" he asked, through gritted teeth, while doing his best to remain humble. Most of this was acting, of course. He certainly didn't care if Lilith underestimated 'Aaron'. But he was genuinely curious.

Lilith snorted derisively, "Come now, little Aaron. Did you really think I wouldn't be keeping an eye on the battle? My little birdy wasn't able to follow your battle, but she definitely saw that werewolf return."

Suddenly, she lazily stretched out her right hand, and conjured five small, dark flames — one for each finger. The flames danced and glided playfully across her skin. "Now say something useful, before I decide you've wasted my time," she continued with a lazy threat.

Instantly, Elora became a little more alert. "Shadowflame… It's a fourth rank affinity, like your thundersnow, or Astrid's sun. It's very powerful, and combines the affinities of frostfire and shadow… Honestly, where do all these people with powerful affinities keep coming from?"

Her last words were a strange mix of serious and jest, because she genuinely wanted to know.

"Anyway, you definitely can't get into a fight with her…" the fairy continued a little anxiously. "You'd only be able to flee, either into our dimension, or on foot, hoping you'd get out of range before you die… Before 'we' die."

"I know…" Erik muttered back helplessly. He'd tried several times to get at least Emma, Emily, Astrid, and Alice to stay behind somewhere, but they'd all refused. Of course, he could toss them out of his dimension and leave without them, but he didn't want to be the kind of person making decisions for those he loved.

At least, not outside of the bedroom.

"How'd she even get so powerful in the same amount of time as me…?" Erik couldn't help but continue, feeling extremely frustrated and annoyed. "There's no way she was a first ranker at the time of the awakening, or I wouldn't be here today!"

So far, every third ranker they'd met, aside from Frostfang, had been a first ranker before the awakening, through the use of Audumla's altars and medallions. Liv Frost, Astrid's mother, was no different. Back during their short time in Alta, Norway, Liv had shown them the altar she'd used to reach the first rank back then.

Now, Lilith was the second one, after Frostfang, who was somehow ahead of the pack, without having a pre-awakening advantage. Yet, unlike Frostfang, Lilith clearly did not have an unstable and weak foundation.

"I don't know, my love," Elora soothed softly. "But that's a question for another time. Remember, today, the goal is to save your mother. Revenge will come later…"

"Assuming she doesn't just keep growing at the same ridiculous rate," a frustrated Erik cursed hatefully. On the one hand, he hated how he was finally this close to Edda without being able to do anything about it. But, on the other hand, he did consider his mother more important than revenge right now.

Elora quickly shook her head, "I doubt that's possible. There's plenty of methods for quick growth out there, and even some without overly detrimental side effects, but they're not infinite. Everything has a limit. At some point, you get diminishing returns, or a shaken foundation."

That wasn't the most comforting thing to hear, because what if whatever method Edda used wasn't at its limit yet? But even so, Erik knew that only time would tell.
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Fortunately, their mental conversation was far faster than regular communication, so no more than a second has passed since Lilith demanded he tell her something useful.

Yet, her eyes were slowly narrowing, because she clearly considered even this second to be far too long of a time for 'Aaron' not to be answering her.

Quickly suppressing his turbulent emotions, Erik once again showed his acting talent, by grinning slyly, even as he continued clutching his side and tried to exaggerate his wounds. "If I share this with you, and it's useful to you, I'm sure the magnanimous lady confessor would consider my request of being treated by your healer?"

At this point, Lilith annoyance appeared to grow even larger, and she elegantly stood up from her throne. She wore a somewhat revealing, black, gothic-style armour that looked like it was plucked from a fantasy game. Yet, Erik didn't doubt it offered her plenty of protection.

Menacingly, she began to walk closer to him. The small dark flames continued to play on her hand, even as she looked at him with dangerous calm.

Her threat was clear.

So, 'Aaron', clear his throat and started talking. "Uch, t— that werewolf I fought was far stronger than any second ranker has any right to be…"

Not stopping, Lilith continued to walk closer, while she snorted. "Tell me something I don't know, and make it quick."

"You can't let her touch us, Erik! The projection can stand up to omnisense, but not touch!" Elora hastily warned in his head.

'Aaron' stumbled back a little, Erik's best approximation of fear in his eyes. "A— Alright! I— I believe this werewolf knew you, Lady Lilith! His name was Erik, and I believe he called you Edda!"