Omnixius
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DKP 8-13 An enemy come home
🕑 Added 2022-06-03 21:57:51 +0000 UTCIt took three days for Thayle to teach Sarah how to control the aura sight. She was annoyed that Lilly had mastered it sooner but grateful it had finally come. It was still a little bright to look at Gersius, but the beauty of the colors was something that deeply moved her. Now she could see the love radiating out of her family as it flowed to her in streams of light. It moved her heart to new depths of love and appreciation, especially when Gersius made love to her. His light was overwhelming, bathing her in its glow and suffusing her being with raw power. She needed his love to help restore her strength, and a few nights in bed with her family had done much to heal her.
Now she clung to Lilly's chest, being stroked by a soft hand. She didn't feel safe being alone, and Lilly was all too eager to be the one who held her. It was also a strange change of position for Sarah to be the one clinging to one of her wives to feel safe. Still, she did indeed feel safe, and Lilly radiated a warm love over the bind that put her mind at ease.
She was grateful for that because she had missed yet another triumphant moment in their lives. Her husband had been blessed by two divines and had saved his other two wives in a show of great power. Gersius was now twice blessed, a being not seen since she was a little dragon younger than Lilly. She remembered the man who was blessed by Vellis and Ulustrah, a peaceful soul who sought only to bring healing to the whole world. Gersius was nothing like this man. He was driven to bring peace by force despite all logical reason saying to face this Goromogoth in battle was suicide Gersius was marching to war.
In the nearly two weeks it had taken her to be rescued, Gams had started a series of offensives, striking at the Doan, who were taken completely by surprise. All reports suggested they hadn't expected Gersius to come out to meet them, and they had grown complacent in their idleness. Lilly spent the previous hours reading Sarah the reports that showed bloody battles were fought, and the Doan were now enraged.
Alayse was marching north and west with her army to act as the first line of defense when the missing third Doan force reared its ugly head. The army in the middle was the least experienced and equipped, but Gersius intended to use them in a ruse. By using them to fortify the border keeps, the heavily equipped veteran soldiers in the keeps could be used in the offensives. That force would reach the walls in two weeks' time, and Gams would have free reign to march west.
Even as all this was going on, Sarah's logistics army had followed her orders to the letter. Hundreds of wagons and tons of supplies were streaming west. It would be followed by hundreds more and by the captured materials from the Whiteford army, but even this would not be the end of it.
Sarah was surprised to learn that Gersius was so enraged that his neighbor had aided the enemy that he put a tax on their kingdom. He was bleeding them dry of foodstuffs and war materials while warning other would-be challengers they would suffer the same. It was an unusually harsh sentence from a man she knew as caring but seeing her imprisoned in that dark place has changed him. Where once his heart lay with restoring peace so he could raise a family, now he was determined to wrench peace from an unruly world and keep it by the point of a sword.
“I don't like the change either,” Lilly said as she read Sarah's mind. “But I don't blame him for being angry. They helped set the trap that put you in that terrible place and was meant to tie us down in a long war in the east.”
“To divide our strength,” Sarah agreed. “Just as they tried to do in the south. They are always trying to drag us into border wars to prevent our full strength from being turned on the Doan. This proves one thing that is in our favor. For whatever reason, the Doan are not ready. They are either waiting for something or gathering their strength. But something has them waiting, and the enemy does not want us to challenge them yet.”
“Gersius thinks it's the missing army,” Lilly said. “He says they are likely waiting for it to attack to force him to pull men off the border. Then when the keeps are weakened, the real invasion will begin.”
Sarah agreed that was logical especially considering Numidel's death. It was likely he was killed to conceal the army's movement as it circled far to the north of the mountains. They would flank the empire, appearing in the northeastern heartlands and rampage through some of their most productive territories. By the time an army was deployed to deal with them, dozens of cities would be burned, and those lands would take decades to recover.
“Alayse will get their first,” Lilly assured her.
“Alayse is weeks away,” Sarah replied as she shifted her head on Lilly's chest. “There is another point we have to be well aware of. The enemy wants you and I dead. They have tried repeatedly in the last few months to strike at the both of us.”
“I know,” Lilly replied with a sad tone. “And they have knowledge of ancient magic to back them up.”
“They do, indeed,” Sarah agreed. “That may be how they are controlling the bandersooks. Some ancient means of manipulating them.”
“Some of Gam’s reports say he has killed thousands of them,” Lilly added.
“The Doan are using them as fodder to wear us down,” Sarah said. “That seems to be all they are doing right now. Grinding at us from all sides, to wear us down for something we don’t yet understand. Discovering what that thing is will determine if we survive this conflict or not.”
“Maybe she knows?” Lilly suggested as she thought of the dragon held captive in the rooms below the palace.
“Maybe,” Sarah agreed as she thought of the red. Thus far, she had refused to say anything that wasn't an insult, and her temperament made Shadros's original behavior charming.
“I am going to try to speak to her again today,” Lilly said. “Shadros is going to come with me.”
“He is shaping up to be a fine man,” Sarah said as she considered how helpful Shadros had been of late.
“He loves Mingfe, and seeing her nearly die has shaken him,” Lilly commented as she stroked the back of Sarah's head. “Seeing you in that horrible place has shaken the rest of us.”
“Let’s not dwell on that,” Sarah sighed. “Better we focus on beginning your training. You must learn to enter the dream at will.”
“Do you really want to teach me that after what you went through?” Lilly asked.
“Child, thankfully, you managed to enter the dream by accident to learn what had happened to me,” Sarah said as she looked up. “But we can't trust to accidents. You must learn to make full use of your dragon power. You can't even call on your strength while in human form.”
“I know,” Lilly cried and looked to the side. “I do it sometimes when I am angry, but I can't do it at will like you can.”
“I will teach you how,” Sarah said and crawled up a bit so she could look into Lilly's eyes. “Now, give me your lips. I have become rather fond of this kissing, and I want to do more of it.”
Lilly smiled and curled her arms around Sarah’s neck as the two locked in a soft kiss. Sarah loved the touch of those tender lips and the meaning sharing such a thing carried. It was a display of something they shared, a union of hearts that made them one. Lilly smiled as she read Sarah's thoughts and reached deeper, sharing the kind of kiss that signaled a desire for more.
“You little beast, we already did that,” Sarah said over the bind.
“So? Why can’t we do it again?” Lilly pleaded in her head as she cradled Sarah’s face.
Sarah felt something strange from that request, an odd sense of comfort that she was desired. Unable to resist such a thing, Sarah relented as the two women began to share each other's intimacy. When it was done an hour later, Lilly sat astride Sarah's rear, pulling her long red hair aside so she could rub Sarah's back.
“So, how do we begin?” Lilly asked as she started to dig deep at Sarah’s shoulders.
“If you mean how do you start training to enter the dream, then we begin by making you aware that as a dragon, you can sleep even while focusing on a thought,” Sarah replied and then let out a slight moan as Lilly worked the back of her neck.
“Thayle taught me how to do this,” Lilly admitted. “But she’s much better at it.”
“You are doing just fine,” Sarah sighed and folded her arms to rest her forehead on them. “Think of how you pray to the divines. You focus on a thought and then look inward, reaching for that distant power. The dream works very much the same way. You focus on seeing something in it, and then look outward, letting the world around you slip away.”
“I know that makes sense to you, but I don’t know how to look outward,” Lilly replied with a hint of frustration.
“It takes some practice,” Sarah insisted. “But it is a sense of giving up that which is you to the wider existence beyond. In your case, I would think of your valley and focus on being there as you give up the walking world and fall asleep.”
“And you can just fall asleep when your mind is so busy?” Lilly asked.
“It isn't busy; it’s focused, just like when you reach for the divine,” Sarah corrected.
“But when you reach for the divine, you look inward,” Lilly said. “Why would the divine be inside?”
“Because the divine blesses you, and that connection is a part of you,” Sarah explained. “This is why our husband is twice blessed because a part of Balisha and Astikar dwells inside him.”
“But the dream is somewhere else?” Lilly asked.
“It is another world as far as we dragons know. We believe the sleeping mother creates it, and we dragons influence it,” Sarah said.
“The sleeping mother,” Lilly repeated as she thought about the words written on the dragon shrine. She explained them to Sarah, who confirmed that they were likely talking about the earth mother. The dragons believed in her too, and she was said to be the creator of their race.
“So Ayawa's people and dragons believe in the same being,” Lilly said as her hands pulled at Sarah's energy and dragged it down her spine.
“Are you planning to torment me like your little minx of a sister does?” Sarah asked.
“No,” Lilly said with a big smile. “I am going to use it to soothe you.”
“If you pull my energy to someplace I do not approve of, I will spank your behind until it is as red as my scales,” Sarah insisted.
“Ha,” Lilly laughed. “You wouldn’t do that.”
“Don't you test me,” Sarah quipped. “If you and that trouble maker keep pressing your luck, I will restore discipline.”
“Thayle says she likes discipline,” Lilly teased.
“She likes a lot of things,” Sarah groaned as Lilly wrapped her hands around the woman's sides, pressing firmly to stimulate the energy points. Sarah knew this was part of the massage, to touch the nodes where the nerves joined. One could gather the body's energy, moving it about to create various positive effects. Lilly was slowly working her way down Sarah's body, gathering the energy and moving it to the center of her back. Firm thumbs were kept in place to hold the energy where she wanted it, while fingers rubbed and pulled in more.
“I like massaging you,” Lilly said as she traced small circles with her thumbs. “And I love knowing you are my wife.”
“I love being your wife,” Sarah replied as she lifted a foot in complete contentment. “That was the thing that haunted me the most. Thinking I would never be able to share a moment like this with one of you again.”
“Gersius would never have left you in that place,” Lilly insisted. “None of us would. We would find a way to get you out no matter what we had to do.”
“Not if you can't enter the dream at will, you won't,” Sarah countered as Lilly's hands reached the small of her back. Lilly gathered the last of her energy and then slowly pulled it up her spine, bringing it to the bast of her head. Then she pressed in firmly with her thumbs before releasing it. Sarah felt a soothing calm spread through her body, driving away all sense of discomfort and pain. Lilly then lay on her back like a blanket, holding tight as Sarah was soothed to the edges of sleep.
“Practice it with me,” Sarah whispered as sleep drew in. “Come with me to the dream.”
Lilly smiled and closed her eyes, focusing on being where Sarah was. She kept an image of her wife firmly in mind while trying to drive all other thoughts away. When that didn't work, she used the breathing technique, holding an image of Sarah while also focusing on listening to herself breathe. She slipped away a few minutes later to awaken in a dark place, the only light being a white glow around Sarah.
“You did it,” Sarah said happily as Lilly appeared in the dream.
“Where is this place?” Lilly asked and looked around what felt like a dark cave. She noticed she was wearing the battle dress Sarah had made for her and then noticed Sarah was in a white gown trimmed in gold. “And why are we dressed?”
“Why wouldn't we be?” Sarah asked. “We have become so comfortable wearing human clothes that our subconscious mind portrays us dressed.”
“Alright, but that doesn’t explain where this is,” Lilly said.
Sarah nodded and looked around as Lilly joined her side. It did indeed appear to be a cave, perhaps one under the city. She took Lilly’s hand and decided to walk around, exploring this space to see if it contained answers.
The two talked about the dream and how to move from place to place. It all had to do with visualizing the location and then putting your heart behind it. Everything about the dream was emotion and good or bad; it changed based on them.
After many minutes of exploring the cave, they saw a light over what appeared to be a distant door. Sarah was surprised to see an actual door indicating that this area of the dream must have been changed by strong emotions. She was even more alarmed when Lilly declared that she knew where they were. This was a door at the end of the prison blocks and just knowing that made Sarah wary. What must have happened in this prison that it imprinted on the dream? She thought of the terrible crimes committed by the Father Abbot and his dispicable raven guard. These cells would have been used by them for their victims and those crimes might linger here still.
With a bit of dread, she opened the door to see the broad hall that marked the wing of cells. Thanks to Gersius it was well illuminated by magical lights, and every surface was cleaned, polished and made as hospitable as possible. The cells now contained comfortable beds, a table and a good chair. The only guest of the cells was the forge master of Vellis and the new dragon who was being given special attention. Gersius had gone out of his way to make her comfortable, providing a small amount of gold, and special meals. He was hoping the food would appeal to her, and the gift of gold would loosen her tongue. Sarah had her doubts but she admired how well he treated prisoners.
Lilly took the lead, pointing out where the woman was kept in one of the smaller cells, so she didn’t have the space to change forms. It was a wise decision considering the woman’s nature, but she could still be dangerous in human form. Thus she was only attended by followers of Balisha who could resist and counter the dragons fire should she use it.
Sarah looked about the empty cells, made of a front wall of bars, and sides of thick stone. They rounded a corner and Lilly came to a halt staring into the cell as she groped for Sarah’s hand. Sarah, took her hand as she too looked into the cell and was stunned to see the dragon woman staring back at them.
“She's here?” Lilly asked and looked around to see everything else was empty. She turned to Sarah, who looked just as surprised to see the woman. Slowly Sarah approached the replica of the cell, and the woman stood before walking close to the bars.
“How are you standing here?” Sarah asked in true confusion. The woman must be sleeping but it defied logic that she was simply waiting her in the dream. She wondered if perhaps she was the reason the prison block was here. It made sense considering it reflected Gersius’s changes, meaning the emotion that created the space was recent. Looking at the fire that burned in the woman’s eyes, Sarah guess that emotion was rage, and it was fixed in a deadly stare at her.
“I am a dragon. It is my right to be in the dream,” the woman replied with a voice that echoed with defiance.
“She is talking!” Lilly said in surprise. “She is never so nice.”
“I have finally seen someone worthy to speak with,” the woman said and stared at Sarah before looking down to frown at the joined hands.
“Does that bother you?” Sarah asked when she noted the expression.
“So the rumors are two. His dragons have defiled themselves with each other,” she mocked.
Sarah drew herself up to glare down at the woman in the cell. She took the haughty countenance of a queen and turned that gaze on the prisoner, who didn't back down an inch.
“We have not defiled ourselves,” Sarah replied. “We have grown and become something much greater.”
“Weaker,” the woman corrected. “You weaken your blood by mingling it with humans. You were never meant to share their disease and give away your strength.”
“Don't you lecture me,” Sarah shot back as her anger started to burn. “I am old enough to know we dragons do nothing with our lives save dig a hole and sleep the ages away. Human’s on the other hand have a culture that creates beautiful art, wondrous music and fantastic structures. They live such a short time and lack a fraction of our strength but they shame us in everything they do. And yet, those creative minds saw such potential in us. When dragons and humans started to work together, they showed us how to use our power. We achieved so much in so little time, accomplishing the stuff of legend and dreams.”
“And what price did we pay to do these things?” the woman asked. “We were on a path of becoming weak like them. Our great heritage and bloodline forever tainted by theirs. It isn’t what the sleeping mother wanted, and only Solesta saw the danger.”
Sarah listened to her angry words as something tickled at the back of her mind. Something about this dragon felt familiar, but she was too young for Sarah to have known her before the fall. It was also clear this dragon was angry at her specifically. The more Sarah tried to reason it out the more it clouded her mind, their was something about this girl that was starting to haunt her.
“Who are you?” Sarah finally asked.
The dragon smiled as her eyes burned with renewed light. Sarah realized she had been waiting for that question to be asked and that realization made her even more wary.
“You are a red, a daughter of Solesta. You betrayed her and followed a lesser divine to stand against her in the end,” the woman accused. “You know nothing of what dragons have endured because of creatures like you.
“You call Solesta a greater divine?” Sarah balked. “And you dare to talk about what dragons have endured? You have no idea the price I had to pay because of Solesta’s mad curse!”
“If only you had the wisdom to accept it,” the prisoner countered. “But instead, you tried to hide in your own personal prison. Waisting the years away with that other fool dragon.”
“How do you know that?” Sarah asked as she began to wonder how much this dragon knew of her. She couldn’t be sure if this was personal knowledge of perhaps a broader understand of their enemy. It was shocking how much the enemy knew and how long they had been making their plans. She even had to consider that this creature being here was part of yet another plan, a trap to kill them once again.
“I ask you again, who are you?” Sarah demanded.
“You don't remember, do you?” the woman asked as she leaned closer to the bars. “You don't' know this face because I was so young when I left.”
“What does she mean?” Lilly asked as Sarah went cold over the bind.
“It can't be,” Sarah stammered and stepped back. She was struck by a cold fear that clawed at her heart, dredging up the sorrows of the past. She finally understood why this dragon felt so familiar but she couldn’t accept it.
“Why do you say it can’t?” the woman replied with a wicked smile. “What is so hard for you to accept, mother?”
“No,” Sarah snapped and waved a finger in the woman’s direction. “I refuse to believe that is true! It can’t be! I can’t bear the thought of another one of my daughters trying to kill me.”
“Your daughter?” Lilly said in alarm and turned to the woman. “You’re her daughter?”
“Again, why does the truth surprise you?” the woman asked. “I am a red like my mother before me, but I have found the truth while she works to recreate the tragedy of the past.”
“I am trying to restore the past, not destroy it again,” Sarah shouted as a storm of painful emotions flared in her heart. She not prepared to face her own daughter in a war of ideology and her heart was no longer so closed. Now she felt genuine compassion for the creature in the cell, and a deep rooted need to love her. She knew these were feelings brough on by the bind and her emotional growth, but they hurt none the less. “You are poisoned by Solesta’s curse and brainwashed by our enemy.”
“Solesta’s blessing,” the woman countered. “It shields us from the taint that learning human emotions brings.”
“You know nothing of the world but your narrow point of view,” Sarah snapped as she wished for some way to reach her. “I did my best to prepare you for the curse, but there was no way I could protect you. I am sorry you have fallen to become this.”
“You dare to be sorry for me?” the woman raged. “I am fighting to save our kind from extinction. You are trying to weaken our blood and kill off the few who remain. How will you carry our line on when you call a human your mate?”
“We can have children with –,” Lilly began, but Sarah cut her off with a squeeze of her hand. Nothing good would come of from this dragon learning their secret, and she might use the dream to report the revelation to their enemy.
“I had my brood,” Sarah replied. “And look what they have become. I didn’t make your sister come home with a spear meant to kill me, and I didn’t put you in that cell.”
“Wait, so this is our daughter?” Lilly asked as a smile spread on her face.
“I am not your daughter!” the dragon shouted.
“Well, by human traditions, you are,” Lilly pointed out. “I married Sarah, so I am your mother as much as she is.”
“Human traditions mean nothing to me! You are not even close to my age!” the red roared.
“Always by age,” Lilly sighed. “Why can't dragons be happy they have a family?”
“Because we are all family, sorted by age,” Sarah replied as she started to gain some composure. She couldn’t believe she was staring at her one surviving daughter. It was even harder to accept that she had nearly died in a battle to stop Gersius from recovering the seals. Sarah would never have known her daughter had resurfaced had Lilly killed her.
“You know I try not to kill other dragons,” Lilly said as she read Sarah's mind.
“But you do kill them when you have to,” Sarah replied and turned her gaze on her daughter. “Have you taken a name yet?”
“I have no intention of sharing that with you,” the woman retorted.
“I see,” Sarah said and tapped at her chin. “What should we call her then?”
“Oh, I spoke to Gersius about that earlier. He thinks we should call her Rose,” Lilly said.
“Rose,” Sarah said with a nod and turned to look at the woman through the bars. “So be it.”
“I am not accepting your worthless human name,” the woman snapped.
“Oh, but roses are beautiful flowers,” Lilly insisted as she had a strong emotion. Suddenly, they were in a garden filled with roses in bloom while the warm sun shined down on them.
“How did you?” the dragon said as she looked around in shock. “You transported me through the dream when I was resisting you?”
“I did?” Lilly asked in confusion.
Sarah looked around, every bit as surprised as the other two. However, she wasn't troubled by it for long. She realized this was more proof that strong emotion unlocked divine power. Lilly had felt a strong desire to show the woman the beauty of roses and, in doing so, brought them to a place where she could see them. It had nothing to do with training and practice like Sarah had. It was Lilly's loving desire that fueled the change, just as Gersius had when Lilly's calling rampaged.
“This is impossible!” Rose said defiantly. “You can’t transport an unwilling dreamer.”
“She can, and she did,” Sarah replied as she folded her arms. Now was the perfect time to teach her daughter a valuable lesson and cast some doubt on her beliefs. It was too good an opportunity with the power of emotion being so clearly displayed. “Lilly did so because she has gained true power through her relationship with humans. She has broken free of the chains Solesta put on her heart and learned how to channel love.”
“You lie,” Rose insisted. “You have played some trick here. I will figure out how you have deceived me.”
“I just wanted to show you how pretty a rose is,” Lilly insisted as she carefully plucked a flower to avoid the thorns. “They are like dragons, beautiful and dangerous.”
“Will you stop talking about these weeds!” the dragon screamed and started to give off black smoke.
“Go ahead and change,” Sarah said. “We both know you can't harm us here, and when you wake up, you will still be in that cell.”
The smoke ceased as the angry dragon shook out her long red hair. She turned about again to gaze over a field full of yellow and red roses, swaying gently in a breeze.
“Still trying to work out how you came to be here?” Sarah asked.
“I am not a fool,” the woman spat. “I know you can’t force somebody into the dream or take them to places without their willing participation. I was actively resisting you, so I know this is some kind of trick.”
“Rose, you need to accept the truth,” Sarah urged.
“That is not my name!” the dragon shouted and paced angrily. “Take me back and leave me be!”
“Why?” Lilly asked. “We could go someplace prettier and talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you!” she shouted. “I just want to save our kind.”
“So do we,” Lilly replied. “But we want to do it by restoring the age of harmony. You want to do it by separating men and dragons for good.”
“The age of harmony, as you call it, ended in a terrible war that decimated our kind,” the woman pointed out.
“But it doesn't have to end that way again,” Lilly insisted. “Solesta is gone, and Balisha deeply cares about our kind. She can restore the balance and bring the golden age back.”
“You can't restore the balance without Solesta,” the dragon laughed. “You think you can simply rebuild the past and live in another golden age because Balisha will guide you alone? Then you're a bigger fool than I originally believed. The dragons will die without Solesta, and restoring power to Balisha will only hasten the end. You have only one choice if you want to save our kind. You have to restore Solesta and choke Balisha off.”
“How do you restore a dead goddess?” Sarah balked.
“You get out of our way!” the woman cried.
“So that’s what they are trying to do,” Lilly said as she paced a few steps. “You really think you can restore Solesta?”
“You know nothing about what we are trying to do,” the woman growled. “And I am done talking to you.”
“But why?” Lilly pleaded. “Please talk to us. Maybe we can come to some kind of understanding.”
“Take me back!” Rose roared.
“I don’t know how!” Lilly cried.
Sarah could see Lilly hit a nerve by asking if they could restore Solesta. It meant that, in some way, they were hoping to do just that, but she remembered speaking to Gersius about this. In their attack at the temple to reclaim the seals, their adversary had said both goddesses were wrong. He also suggested that his master was going to fix their mistakes by denying the divines. It was a puzzle, to be sure, but much had already been learned. Rose said a goddess could be restored by getting out of their way, which meant that was exactly what they were hoping for.
“Both of you calm down,” Sarah interjected and turned to Lilly. “You are keeping her here with your desire to reach her.”
“I am?” Lilly asked in surprise.
“Yes, she would be able to take herself back, but she is helpless to the power of your emotions, and it's terrifying her,” Sarah replied.
“I am not terrified!” Rose insisted, but her voice lacked conviction, and her aura told the truth.
“You are afraid,” Lilly said in shock and then looked around as if trying to find something. “I didn't mean to make you feel that way.” She concentrated on seeing the cells as they looked in the dream, and suddenly they were back with the dragon standing behind phantom bars.
“This can't be,” Rose said and paced her cell. “You can drag me anywhere you want, and I can't resist it.”
“That’s the power that comes from humans and dragons sharing love,” Sarah insisted.
“No!” the dragon roared. “Stop tormenting me with your lies!”
“You just said you can't resist it. How else do you explain how a younger dragon can manipulate the dream?” Sarah demanded to know.
“You are doing this,” Rose said as she glared at Sarah. “You have used some trick to manipulate me.”
“I am sorry, my daughter,” Sarah replied. “But I am not in control here. You are facing the power you call weakness and learning the terrible truth. You are the one who is living a lie.” With that, Sarah took Lilly's hand and willed them out of the dream to wake at Lilly's breast once again.
“Was I really doing that?” Lilly asked as she woke with her.
“Yes,” Sarah replied and curled tightly to Lilly. “I am more certain than ever that emotion is the key to power, and none of us has it mastered as you do.”
“What do we do about Rose?” Lilly asked.
Sarah smiled as she considered that question. Rose was a fitting name for her daughter, and Lilly's display of power would most certainly be eroding the woman's beliefs. Perhaps she would be so unnerved that they could convince her to do the unthinkable and share her true name. Then they could find a good man to bind her and, through his love, break the curse. It still seemed like a slim hope, but she would grasp at any chance to save her final daughter for herself and Numidel.
“We will find a way to reach her,” Lilly promised. “I will pray to Balisha for help.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said as Lilly’s arms curled around her.
“Do you mind if I think of her as my daughter too?” Lilly asked.
Sarah smiled and felt warm inside as she insisted Rose belonged to all of them and sincerely hoped to hear the woman call Gersius her father one day.
“I hope so,” Lilly said and rubbed Sarah's back. “Oh, it's so wonderful that our family keeps growing!”
Sarah thought that, too, as she silently prayed for this gift. It was too early to tell how Rose had taken the truth, but Sarah knew something had changed. The woman went from calm to screaming as she was forced to face Lilly's power. That proved she wasn’t handling the truth well and the cracks would soon appear.
“All we can do now is be patient and wait,” Sarah said as she and Lilly clung to one another tightly. It was a new hope in a dark chapter but one she didn’t dare put too much faith in. Her daughter was still a pawn of their enemy, and she couldn't be trusted until she was bound to somebody. Sarah began to consider who might be able to love the angry dragon, and one name immediately screamed out. Yes, it was a good turn of events, and tomorrow would be even better.
