Chapter 110: Chapter 110

“Just a little bit more, my lady... Please...”

Gilyan have not begged anyone saved the God of Darkness for years. He didn’t have to before this. He became a free man because of His Darkness, but now, he found himself in a predicament where he would kneel down and kiss the earth if he could just get his wish.

He didn’t know how many hours they had been buried down there. He tried his best since earlier to get help from above. However, he could not sense any living being, or was it perhaps because his magic was weak and limited?

Earlier, the goddess who was with them revealed something about him that he felt had some semblance of truth.

“All who can wield powers have the imprints of divinity in them, and you, in particular, given that strong sense of power, I’d say you must be a candidate for a god.”

He had believed those words. After all, he had seen how his powers had gotten out of bounds even without the God of Darkness’ permission. Perhaps he truly had the makings of a god, but why was he so useless now?

He couldn’t reach for any living souls above the earth, so he started to ask the bones that were the only things present underneath, but their efforts weren’t enough. It had been some hours since they had started to dig, but they were not much closer to unearthing them than they had been when they stared.

It was dark and murky underneath. They had avoided talking and using their energy for their air was limited, and Goddess Eily, the only sure goddess among them, needed to conserve her powers for Lady Khailis.

Suddenly, a faint golden glow started to emit from Khailis. It was coming from her stomach.

“Wah! What’s happening,” she squealed, and the goddess’ face darkened.

“The power within you – it’s almost at its limit!”

Goddess Eily moved closer to Lady Khalis and held her hand in her belly. It glowed with a white light, but Lady Khalis’ golden glow continued to intensify.

“Are the babies okay?”

“I... I don’t think they are. I think they are fusing and shrinking in numbers.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“When the mothers and the eggs are under stress, they can fuse and shrink in numbers to help the mothers survive and consume less energy. This is why few babies make it out from human parents in the Pauca Clan. They need a lot of powers to maintain their energy to begin with.”

For the first time, Gilyan saw the bubbly and happy-go-lucky Lady Khalis go pale from fright.

“Are... Are they dying inside of me?”

“It’s too early to say that. Just don’t move a lot and conserve your energy. I got you.”

Goddess Eily made Lady Khailis lie down on the soft earth while the goddess continued to emit a white beam of light from her hands, illuminating their bubbled force field.

A few more minutes of silence, and Goddess Eily spoke again.

“Hey, Rahul’s wife, are you sleeping?”

There was no response. Eily was about to slap Lady Khailis’ face, to which Gilyan and the Commander reacted.

“Do not raise your hands on the lady,” Gilyan said, feeling offended for her. He had observed some animosity between Lady Khailis and this goddess, and even he does not like the way this goddess treats Lady Humphrey at all.

“But this is bad. She isn’t supposed to sleep...”

Commander Rus scampered to get closer to Lady Khailis at the same time that Gilyan did. Gilyan took hold of the lady’s hand.

“Lady Khailis, you need to wake up.”

There was no sound. Eily moved her left ear closer to Lady Khailis’ chest. Next, she moved her hand to her nose.

“Her breathing is too slow. I think her body is trying to give its own energy to the eggs. Try to wake her up. I’ll send her a boost of energy.”

The light from Goddess Eily’s hand intensified. She placed both her hands over her stomach.

Lady Khailis continued to glow in a golden light. The more that Eily concentrated her powers towards her, the more she glowed.

“Blast it, she’s deflecting my powers and consuming her own energy instead! Wake her up. Wake her up now!” the goddess commanded in a fit of panic.

“Lady Khailis, please wake up,” Gilyan said, still holding to her right hand. He could feel a tremendous amount of force coming out of her body, but her pulse was becoming weaker and weaker.

“Khailis, Khailis, you can’t do this... Don’t go into a coma,” Commander Rus said, holding her other hand, tapping it lightly.

Memories of her own mother in her deathbed flashed in Gilyan’s head. Lady Khailis’ weak pulse was starting to resemble her mother’s own pulse in Gilyan’s mind. This can’t be happening!...

Before he knew what he was doing, Gilyan placed his hand on Lady Khailis’ wrist and tried to transfer her own energy to her.

“What are you doing,” Eily said in a slightly irritated voice. She was surprised to see what the boy was trying to do, but she didn’t remove her own hands on Rahul’s wife to stop him.

“The energy is going out of her body. I’ll try to keep it in,” Gilyan said. This was all he could do before he starts tearing up. He kneeled to Khailis’ side, his heart praying so hard that she might live.

Their underground bubble lit up like it was day time. Soon, they heard a rumble of the earth, and the ground shook slightly.

“What’s that,” the commander said, staring upwards.

Light poured in from above. Gilyan didn’t want to tear his attention away from Lady Khailis. Finally, he became curious enough to look up, and he saw that they were staring at the full moon, the multitude of stars and two winged beasts who were hovering above them, and one of them was looking at him like he was some sort of prey.

Gilyan knew who he was, and he felt so relieved that he wanted to cry. Finally, the lady would be saved!

******************

“Khailis!”

Faster than lighting, Gavil swooped down at his wife’s side, just opposite the boy who looked very much like her abductor. He rounded his tail at him, but the young boy was quick enough. He jumped away from his wife’s body as soon as he saw him ascend.

“What happened,” Gavil abruptly addressed the Goddess of Childbirth, who was still crouching down near Khailis’s belly, seemingly unaware that he was there.

“Quickly, transfer some magic into her!”

Gavil did as he was told. He partly transformed himself back into his human form, but retained his massive wings. He pulled Khailis’ body into his lap, and he kissed her.

He kissed her like there was no tomorrow, for there never would be one if she died in his arms!

It was a long and passionate kiss that even the ones beside them felt like they were invading such a private moment. They awkwardly turned their attention elsewhere but to the husband and wife in their midst.

Finally, when Gavil had finished, Khailis opened her eyes abruptly and gasped.

“My wife,” he exclaimed, as he clasped her face gently. He had never been so happy to see her open those pretty, brilliant eyes of hers.

She gasped more deeply this time.

“Are you glad to see me,” Gavil said. He wanted to kiss her again, but she pushed his lips away.

“Air. I need air...” She sat down and pushed Gavil away a little farther. She could still feel someone’s tongue in her mouth, as if obscuring her ability to breathe completely.

“Gavil, you’re here,” she finally said when she became aware of his presence for the first time. They hugged each other tightly. “Uh, why are you naked,” she asked when she felt something hard poke her side as he hugged her.

“There’s no time to explain everything, my wife. Just know that I came here to kill the one who took you away!”

With that, he suddenly transformed into a ferocious puma with wings and fur as dark as the night. He aimed his fangs at Gilyan, whom he knew had been close to Khailis the past few hours judging on how he smelled.

“Wait, no,” Khailis said, hugging Gavil’s massive body from behind, “don’t hurt that boy!”

Gavil was still growling fiercely at Gilyan, his eyes looking like a pair of hot coals, ready for a rampage.

“He took you away,” he said viciously using the Human Tongue to his wife.

Khailis hugged his sleek body even tighter. “Yes, but he rescued our babies! He helped me keep them alive!”

Gavil didn’t want to calm down, but he knew Khailis well, and he was familiar of how tenacious and persuasive she can be when she doesn’t want something done. He tried to manage the anger in his trembling body. When he spoke, he was a bit calmer.

“Alright. I’ll save my revenge for later. Right now, let’s go and help kill that nasty god!”

As he said this, a thick cloud covered the sky above them, but when they looked up, there weren’t any clouds in sight, only birds – and lots of them.