NOVEL WEB Chapter 315: Ghost Of The Past
The stars were cold that night, scattered like distant jewels across the velvet sky.
The quiet wind whispered down from the Arondale peaks, brushing across the canvas of the tent where Ren and Lilith lay curled together.
They were just at the mountain standing at the edge of the range and could already feel the cold. But that didn't mean anything.
The mountain range was definitely not normal. Ren even knew of a garden at one of the peaks that was always perpetually warm, as if it was the middle of summer.
The fire outside their tent had long since faded to embers, and Thorn's soft snores were the only sound in the darkness around them.
Inside the tent, Ren lay on his back, Lilith curled into his side, her fingers idly stroking through his hair.
They were both awake, staring into the shadows above them, speaking in hushed voices for the only reason that it was night.
"How are you feeling?" Ren asked, his voice a gentle murmur.
Lilith's fingers paused for a moment in his hair, then resumed with the same softness. "I'm fine."
He turned slightly, shifting his weight to look at her. "No, really. Don't lie to me."
She sighed, a long, slow breath. "I'm fine, Ren. I'm not dying. The poison's fully gone."
"It's your Soul Dominion." He said, more a statement than a question.
She nodded against his chest. "Yes. When we were on the boat back to shore, I could feel it. Whatever Shing did... before he died, he locked it inside me. Twisted it inwards. Now I can only use it on myself. Not on the world. Not on others. It still hasn't changed."
Ren frowned. "You still can't use it at all?"
"There's been no change since the last time you asked." She chuckled. "I can still enhance my body. Fight. But my soul threads, the swords I create, the constructs... they're trapped inside, unable to come out."
Ren exhaled through his nose. "I'm sorry. That's not fair."
She raised her head slightly and kissed his chin. "Don't be. I'm still stronger than anyone else out there. You've seen me. I don't need the threads to hurt people."
He smiled faintly. "True. Still... it shouldn't have happened."
A silence passed. Then, softly, Lilith said, "In a week, you'll be eighteen."
He blinked, surprised. "Yeah. I guess I will."
"You know what that means, right?"
Ren smiled. "Marriage."
She leaned in and kissed his forehead. "We're finally going to do it. Get married. You and me."
Ren smiled as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, fingers gentle. "You excited? Nervous? Both?"
"I've been dreaming of it since I was twelve." She said quietly. "Planning. Waiting. I thought the wait would kill me but it's finally here."
Ren chuckled. "I remember. You always wanted to get married immediately back then. You'd corner me with lectures on the benefits of marriage."
"I'm still impatient, you know." She said, eyes gleaming in the dark. "But now I can wait a week. A week isn't too long."
He paused, thinking. "Do you ever wonder how everyone back home is doing?"
Lilith scoffed. "They don't matter. I'm all you need."
He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I need food too. And water. And air. And—"
She groaned playfully. "Fine. Yes, your family is sweet. And Thorn's your best friend."
"But after we're married, we'll build a house and stay there. Just us. A big one, with high walls, no visitors. A kitchen with a view of the woods. A quiet place."
Ren laughed. "What about Thorn? He'll be devastated."
She made a face. "He can go live his own life. Find a girl. Raise goats. Open a tea shop. I don't care."
"You do care." Ren said, poking her side.
"Not if he ruins our alone time." She huffed, rolling her eyes.
Ren reached over and tapped her nose. "You know if we walk away from this, the world ends, right?"
"If the world ends and it doesn't touch us, does it really end?"
"Lilith."
"Okay, okay." She relented, resting her head back against him. "We'll save it. Your family can keep breathing. For now."
"Thanks."
Another pause stretched between them. Then she said, quietly, "But when it's done... when it's over... I want you to myself. Fully. No interruptions."
Ren nodded, brushing her hair back. "You'll have me. I promise."
"Even if Thorn decides to come with us?"
"Thorn's free. He can go wherever he wants. If he wants to live on a mountaintop, let him. If he wants to disappear, that's up to him."
Lilith smiled, the tension in her shoulders easing. "Good. Then it's settled. You, me, and a future we steal from the wreckage."
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Far above them, on the jagged ridge of the peak of the mountain they were on, a man stood beneath the moonlight.
He wore a heavy cloak that moved like smoke, and his body was a haze, blurring as if the night couldn't decide what shape he should be.
One minute he was tall, the other, he's short. A second ago, he was bald, now he has a ponytail.
This was the second of the Three.
The Blurred Man.
Behind him knelt two others.
One was wrapped in a dark cloak with the hood up and wearing a wooden lion mask.
The other wore a white cloak, face hidden behind a blank silver mask. They knelt without speaking, their heads down.
The Blurred Man hummed a tune, low and wandering, something that seemed like it had been plucked out of a nursery rhyme. It didn't belong to any culture of this world.
He peered down at the flickering light of the campfire far in the distance. It was so far away that while he could see faint light, no one else would be able to see anything.
"They've met Yggdrasil." He said aloud. His voice was not loud, but it carried. "I can smell it on them. The residue of root and rot. They've touched the edges of things they do not understand."
He turned slightly, the blur of his face settling into something vaguely human for just a moment. "If not for the safeguards in the Stolen, I'd go speak with them myself."
He chuckled. "Nero. Contessa."
The lion mask tilted upward slightly. The silver mask remained still.
"You know your orders?"
"Yes, my lord." Nero said, his dark cloak not moving an inch.
"We are ready, my lord." Contessa added.
He nodded, lifting a hand. "Go."
The two vanished in a flash of darkness and light.
The Blurred Man took a second to stare at the place where the two former Chosens of the Creation Church had been before turning back to the sight far below.
"This'll be interesting."