A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

She currently found herself in a small pocket of Erik's soul, which had been cordoned off for her during the bonding process. It wasn't a physical space, exactly, but it was essentially her home. It was the place she felt most comfortable—even if she wasn't technically much more than a floating white blob in a white void.

To her, it felt like existing in the feathery soft form of her true love's constant embrace.

It's not like she was isolated either, because from here, she could see what Erik sees, hear what he hears, and aid him with the use of her magic. She didn't mind the lack of a physical body when she was in here, because she knew she could leave whenever she liked.

Besides, who'd complain about being carried everywhere?

Right now, both she, as a white blob, and this personal space of hers were flashing dark green as she unleashed her Seidr magic's healing. Enjoy new stories from empire

Unfortunately, Seidr magic was like a jack of all trades, but master of none. Her healing was subpar compared to many other affinities, but fortunately, she could at least use her connection with Erik to affect the most critical areas with surgical precision.

"His body can't take it…" she mumbled to herself with concerned thoughtfulness. "The aetherium and runic power is merging and creating something more powerful, just like last time, but back then he was just channelling it directly into the water."

"Now he's not expelling the energy immediately..." she continued to mumble anxiously to herself. Frantically, she attempted to stem and control the break down of Erik's body. Yet, it felt like plugging a hole, only for two more to appear at the same time.

"Just expelling the energy directly wouldn't defeat Lilith… no, he needs to retain the power inside him in order to use actual skills and empower his body, but… this stuff is far too destructive…! His body will break down!" she cursed in a worried tone.

Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of a solution, but in the end, there was only one thing she could think off.

She sighed wryly, and with quite a bit of unwilling sadness. "I don't think I have a choice…" she muttered to herself. "It's the only solution right now, even if I don't like it."

Her gaze hardened as she resolved herself. "It's not like it will be forever," she continued sternly. "It's a small sacrifice to make for our safety and mother-in-law's rescue."

Having resolved herself, the formless blob that was Elora suddenly began to flash with multiple dark-green sigils. The sigils quickly expanded outwards like an aura, where they then crashed against the walls of her personal space and began to inscribe themselves against the seemingly empty space.

in the end, Elora was suddenly surrounded by a cage of green sigils. Then, she looked around the area, sighed, and disappeared. At the same time, she appeared behind the charging Erik in her fairy form and smiled at his back. "Go get her, my love…"

* * *

Now realizing the true danger, Edda panicked and finally took her hand off Runa's collarbone to try and defend herself.

Realizing there was no way for her to create another flame barrier so quickly, she decided to ignore the storm of electrified snow, as there was no way she could stop that with her hands alone.

Instead, she roared, and crossed her arms in front of her face. Bracing herself again the hail's impact, which crashed into her right after.

Erik's thundersnow blast had been formed with the energy he created from mixing aetherium and runic power, which made it even more powerful than usual. Certainly powerful enough to break through Lilith's physical defences, regardless of what this ascension had done to make her strong enough to toss Erik around.

Electrified snow began to cut into her flesh, sending shocks of icy lightning through her body, freezing her insides and making her muscles spasm, as blood flowed from many small wounds.

Yet, to her credit, she didn't make a peep. She put her full focus on the incoming hammer. Her eyes were full of enraged determination, perfectly matching those of Erik. Her arms remained crossed in front of her face as she prepared to face his blow.

The world almost appeared to move in slow motion. Erik's hammer inched closer to Lilith's arms, aiming at her head right behind them. His face was a twisted expression of fury, hatred, and determination. His transformed, wolfish maw was wide open and in the middle of a roar as his fierce amber eyes shone with bloodlust.

Lilith wasn't much different either. Her face was twisted in contempt, hatred, and frustration. Her mouth was open to, but rather than a roar, she was screaming something. "Aaaaagh, I hate you, Erik Gunnulf! But you are too late! Your mother has fallen, and you'll—"

But she didn't get any further. Her words devolved into a pained scream when the hammer crashed against her arms and they snapped like twigs. As a defensive measure, all they were good far was slightly redirecting the attack downward. Now, instead of smashing apart her head like a rotten tomato, it hit her chest.

As soon as they made contact, time went back to normal. After hitting her chest, Erik's hammer swung wide, and Lilith crashed against the wall behind her. Unsurprisingly, this regular wall wasn't build to contain the destructive powers at play here.

Thus, she went through it. And through the next one, and the next one. Blood exploded from her crushed arms and chest, but she was still alive as she flew through the building. Erik saw her glare at him with pain and hatred, before crashing through the outer wall and disappearing into the city.

A part of him wanted to give chase, but as soon as he took another step, his body gave up on him. He'd forced himself to the brink in order to deliver this blow, and now it was done.

He sank to his knees and keeled over, head first into the floorboards.

A grim smile on his face.