Seeing Caelia falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut was a terrifying sight. After all, just a few moments ago the very sword she held to unleash this dreadful power had turned to nothing. It didn't just break or turn to ash—no, it disintegrated as if it had never existed.
Nyx felt—he didn't really know what he felt. But he had a slight ache in his chest. His vision was still a bit blurry and he wasn't able to fully focus on anything. Even if this overload of information was over and his brain wasn't getting fried anymore.
He still needed some rest before he could even think of doing anything at all. Nyx's senses and brain had been destroyed and rebuilt over and over again when Avelyne healed him.
He tried to reach out to Caelia, but his knees felt unnaturally weak.
Just as Nyx was about to fall forward, a soft hand grabbed around his waist, stopping his fall and gently laying him down.
As Nyx saw Caelia's body hitting the ground, he realized the absence of noise her body should have produced.
His eyes widened.
'Wait what!? Why is the sound still missing? Did her attack silence this area forever?'
If that was true, then Caelia was on a completely different level than all other awakened Nyx knew.
Well, that was something he could think about later anyway. Right now Nyx's priority was to get some rest and as soon as he was able to move again he would check on Caelia.
Unfortunately, Nyx wasn't able to move even the slightest, so he couldn't tell Avelyne that he was no longer standing at death's door—probably.
Laying on the ground, Nyx saw Avelyne sitting right next to him. He wasn't able to move his head but that didn't matter as she currently leaned over him, examining his condition.
Enjoying her gentle care for him and the refreshing feeling of her healing that she still hadn't stopped, Nyx's eyes became heavy. He tried to resist the pull—but it was all for naught as he lost consciousness a few moments later.
Hearing the soft chirps of some birds and the quiet crackling of a fire, Nyx's eyelids fluttered slowly open.
Thanks to the rest his body took against his will, Nyx was already feeling a little bit better. He tried to move his head a bit.
„Arghh! Fuuck!"
As soon as Nyx tried to move even a bit he felt an unbearable pain in his head.
„Not so fast."
Avelyne's stern voice came from somewhere left, but he couldn't see her as she was currently somewhere out of his view.
It was at that moment that Nyx noticed that he was able to hear again. The weird silence that had covered the area and acted as some kind of rule that forbade any form of noise was gone. Nyx wasn't sure if it had returned to normal or if Avelyne had transported him somewhere else while he was out.
Thinking about it, Nyx remembered what happened to Caelia just before he lost consciousness.
Nyx tried to move again, this time not his head as he didn't want to experience that headache again. But it proved to be harder than what he thought. Using all of his regained strength, Nyx barely managed to move a finger.
The cost? Unimaginable pain in his whole body, of course.
'Ughhh, who gave humans the ability to feel pain. I would personally love to bash his skull against the wall.'
While Nyx was silently cursing the god who created humankind in his mind, Avelyne walked over to him until she entered his sight.
„Don't worry about Caelia. She will be fine."
Nyx couldn't help but scoff at that.
„For sure, and my brain got fried just earlier so I taste better for the abominations."
His voice cracked a bit and was not much above a whisper but Avelyne heard him without any problem. Which was one of the perks of ascending, as your senses would get better too.
Avelyne saying that Caelia would be fine didn't convince him a single bit.
Hearing Nyx's retort and doubtful face, Avelyne couldn't help but let out a faint chuckle.
'What the hell!'
Nyx was baffled.
How could she laugh like that when his lifeline was laying somewhere and was obviously dying if she wasn't dead already. Without her they wouldn't have survived this tide and on top of it Nyx wouldn't be able to survive without Caelia even after this.
„I know her for far longer than you do. Believe me when I say that she will be fine."
Seeing that Nyx still wasn't really convinced Avelyne added after a short pause.
„I mean, I could have left you to heal Caelia when she collapsed. You would have died, but if that's what you prefer."
Looking at Avelyne as she shrugged her shoulders while saying that she could let him die if he preferred it as if it was nothing, Nyx shuddered inwardly. Somehow he felt pretty cold right now.
'I better don't question her judgment again in the future.'
Noticing that Nyx wasn't going to judge her for it anymore she sat herself down beside him.
„You know, even if the cause for your wounds was gone after Caelia killed all beasts in the vicinity, your body still suffered extreme injuries that even I can't heal that fast. I only managed to delay the time of your death with great effort."
What Avelyne told him was pretty logical and Nyx felt a little embarrassed that he himself didn't realize something so obvious. Of course, just because the 'weapon' that caused the injury was removed wouldn't automatically heal it. That would take time.
Thinking about it, Nyx was actually a little bit pissed. He had survived a couple of assassination attempts and got hurt pretty often on the streets. So how did he forget something so natural.
'What am I, a toddler?'
As Nyx couldn't move and didn't see or hear anything else besides Avelyne, the sky and the crackling of the fire that warmed him, he decided to ask her about Caelia.
„You said she will be fine, so where is Caelia, is she already up?"
Noticing the little smirk on Avelyne's face, Nyx already regretted asking the question. Ever since meeting her she had been teasing Caelia almost all the time. The moment something came up that she could exploit she would do so without shame.
Nyx had assumed and maybe prayed that this was just a thing between her and Caelia, but as it turned out that wasn't right.
„So I am not good enough for you huh? Already missing your dear Caelia. I was already worried about her, as I thought it was a one sided love. But I am happy to see that this wasn't the case <3."
All Nyx could manage to do was to look at her dumbfounded. He didn't really care about her little games or how she pinned the relationship between him and Caelia. But how could she be so shameless to really start joking right now?
Sigh
„Whatever you think, so could you please answer my question."
„Well—"
Just as Avelyne was about to answer both of them heard a loud growl in the distance.