Rykka (Beastborne: Book 1)

Part 14: Cleansed

Song: Trampoline - SHAED

The hot water on her skin felt like a magic in and of itself. Her muscles relaxed and her wounds felt cleaner than ever in the warm water. As she floated she felt her back fully relax into the hands underneath it supporting her. One of Lynsias's large hands was just under her shoulder blades and the other was at the base of her spine holding her in a laying position in the water. Two smaller hands ran down the length of her side under his guidance. She could taste the mix of his salty essence and Althira's sweet, almost nutty, essence blending on her tongue. Lynsias and Althira chanted in the old language as he guided her with the smallest amount of essence into healing forms through Lythias's wounded flesh.

Lythias felt better by the minute as the two worked on her in the hot water. The three were completely bare, nudity was not a taboo among the Serenaean people or those of the mountains like it was up north, but this was a lot more nudity than Lythias had ever been exposed to her in her solitary life. It had been quite distracting once her mind began to clear but she pushed it away. They were beautiful people but she was not in a place to even think such things. She managed to turn away from that embarrassing line of thoughts when Lynsias explained the depth of his relationship with Althira. They also shared a tether. Which meant that Lythias and Althira had been tethered indirectly. It explained some of the attraction, the other part being Lynsias's own attraction. 

Lythias supposed she couldn't be surprised anymore about Lynsias's abilities. She hadn't even told them about her own 'lost' magic, so she tried not to judge, or set any expectations as to what he might use it for, or do with it. Still, she found him somehow exceeding her expectations, if not for him but for the magic of the world. The only literature she'd read on the act of being bound to two souls as connected as they were had all but stated directly that being tethered thi way was impossible. The kind of power needed to manipulate souls and essence without damaging them was unheard of or, at least unwritten. Yet, Lynsias had a knack for doing the impossible, Lythias supposed that was something they had in common. More than the tether, Althira was also part of the group that considered themselves indebted to Lythias. She didn't like the idea of another person feeling like they owed her something, but Althira was hard not to like.

The woman herself had basically said that she forcefully attached herself to Lynsias when they were merely children and the two of them were inseparable until they were teenagers. Only in the past two years had the two reconciled after being apart for almost half a decade. They didn't talk about the events leading to the tether but they did say that it was more along the lines of why hers was formed than due to any romantic notion. Then the two explained how they would be able to use the tether to heal her completely. With the bond between their souls Lynsias would be able to heal her using Althira's essence instead of his own. Her soul would act as a supportive back up, in case things went entirely wrong. Hopefully the strain wouldn't be anything her soul couldn't heal. Now that they were connected one part could heal the other, three souls were essentially one. 

It took the better part of the night to complete the healing. The kilthra had bathed in turns and then dutifully kept watch as the three worked. When they were done with the healing, Lynsias had carried Lythias to the side of the pool and sat her on the warm rocks just beside it. Althira was quick to climb out and help her dress. The healing had worked but her body was weak with new and fragile flesh. She was weaks ahead of her own healing, and would be able to travel with little pain once she'd rested. Lynsias dressed quickly and helped Lythias instead, so that Althira could also dress. They began the short trek back to the den at a much slower pace than they'd come. Lythias was exhausted, though she wasn't sure if it was her own lack of energy or the two that she'd essentailly drained during the process. She supposed it didn't matter, while Althira wrapped an arm over her shoulder so the two could lean on each other as they walked. 

Lythias had been dressed in new clothes and healed for the first time since her home had been lost. She attempted to guide them better through the dark, their keen senses had nothing on her own inhuman ones. Althira hummed lightly in thanks when Lithias stopped them just before she noticed a dip in the path down into the ravine, the snow made it impossible to tell in the darkness of the early morning. She directed them almost silently, only having to gesture and nod to the safer spot on their left. Lynsias lifted her off the ground entirely to help her over the uneven space. She tried to tell herself it was because he didn't want her to undo everything he had done to save her with a simple slip. 

Out of the three he was the least tired so when they arrived back at the den he had them enter the den while he risked a small fire outside to cook a goat that Othanis and Aakine had dragged up around the time that they arrived back at the den. The cloudy night should provide enough darkness to cover any smoke and the kilthra would sense anyone before they got close enough to see or smell the fire. Inside the den Lythias found herself sat upright as Althira coaxed her into allowing the woman to braid her hair. It admittedly had only taken a few warm looks and bats of her eyelashes for Lythias to agree to anything in her current state, 'or maybe any state'. The thought had her cheeks burning again as Althiras slender fingers worked their way through her hair. "Your curls are magnificent, eme kayte." Althira's raspy voice was almost enough to draw her to sleep.

Lythias knew that tomorrow when her mind was clear she would be embarrassed for how she'd been acting today, if not in all days since she'd met either of the two, but she couldn't find the notion to care tonight. "You are very kind, pretalia." The words were lazy on her tongue as she spoke in her first language. She was happy to find that Althira knew it as well as her and Lynsias. Even if it did mean that Lynsias had basically lied when he said implied he was the only one in the area who spoke the language aside from their enemies. It was simply clear he had not meant for her to meet Althira here, if not ever. Which led Lythias to think about how the two had argued when she'd first arrived.

"You were supposed to leave with the others but you stayed behind, why?" Althira's movement's didn't falter but she hummed slightly as if she had not been expecting the question. "You want me to reassure you that it was because of him. You want me to say I could not leave him behind." Lythias frowned slightly. Althira wasn't being unkind, her tone was natural and warm as it had been. Still Lythias didn't like how right she was. She was hoping that Althira had come for Lynsias's sake. That she'd felt his tether with her and come out of concern for the weakness that followed such a thing, as well as whatever event that would cause it. But she had been having a sinking resignation in her gut since the moment they'd met. Althira wasn't here for Lynsias.

"You are not." Lythias hated that her voice shook slightly. She did not enjoy how weak she felt. Most people would feel more powerful than ever having two warriors swear their fealty and life debt to them. Yet, Lythias felt weaker than ever. That was two more lives that would be ultimately ended because of her existence. She'd worked hard to continue her training without either of her former mentors in the past years. She'd spent weaks traveling among the kilthra packs in the summer. She'd trained among the beast and become one herself. Her abilities had been lost in time so there was nothing a formal trainer could do for her anyway.

So she dove into her books and she learned and she studied. She modified spells, she filled entire notebooks with notes on how her abilities worked before memorizing and burning them. She'd become a beast in more ways than one so that she would never need to rely on another human. Now she had two that she'd been relying on since they moment they'd met. A painful feeling lodged its way into her chest, not physically, but almost a sinking feeling that flooded through her like a bitter wave of self loathing. "I am sorry that is not what you want to hear." It took Lythias a moment to realize that Althira had finally stopped her movements and was now sitting in front of her to face her.

Something about the slightly hurt look in Althiras almond shaped dark eyes made Lythias falter. "I do not reject you for the reason you think, pretalia." She said slowly, turning her eyes down to her hands fiddling in her lap. "It would be better if you left for both of our sake." She continued as her fingers curled around themselves and uncurled rapidly. Althira scoffed. "How would my departure benefit you?" Lythias was silent. Althira scoffed again and started crawling towards the entrance to the den. "You should come eat a hot meal, I'm sure it has been quite some time, and you need it for our journey." And just like that she was back to being as kind as she had been before. Lythias was baffled and ashamed as she followed her out.