Her eyes opened and she looked around, realising she was in the spirit world and she had to laugh at the impossibility of it all. It would seem that while it was incredibly hard for her to die, she could still do it if she put her mind to it. Letari was holding her shoulder gently, her eyes sad but Etani was simply relishing, wanting to enjoy the free fall and the sudden stop.
She hadn't felt any pain, just a blinding joy at flight, the feeling of air whipping past her, the beauty of the world.
Standing, she looked down at the ribbon that pulled tight towards life and she sighed, looking to her twin.
"Kill them all," letari said though she had no way to say it.
She stared at her twin and then she nodded, her eyes turning and she started for the entrance back to life.
She burst out of the pool under Ceress and sighed as she looked around, hating that place. But even as the guard ran, she dragged herself out of the water and her mind was on Ayathian as she drew the line and stepped through… into the middle of the throne hall.
She pulled up short and spun, entirely shocked at the turn of events and eternally glad it was the middle of the night and the place was empty, except for a young maid who had dropped her tray.
Lifting her finger to her lips, she made a shushing gesture and the girl nodded, collecting her things and running.
How she ended up there she had no idea whatsoever. She should have ended up near that town she always went to. But there she was, naked in Ayathian's throne room.
Guards gaped at her as she passed, but none of them said a word, simply staring at the exotic creature as she stalked for the basement.
She kicked the door in and found all three already on high alert as she swept into the room and turned in a circle, looking.
The smell of her hit them first and they inhaled sharply, lifting her hand with her index finger extended upwards to ask for silence as she knew Versalis was about to speak though she hadn't heard or seen him moving.
Finding what she was looking for, she picked up her panic bag and undid it, dumping the contents out on the table and pulling on her best pair of dragon leather pants, a long black cotton top and her backup supply of weapons and chemicals.
She turned to the three as she bundled up her hair and started braiding it, her eyes going from Kai, who looked as though he had been crying, to Jaia who looked wary, and finally to Versalis who was trying to suck in as much air as he could.
"Are you alright?" she asked Kai as she reached the bottom of her hair and used a small leather thong to tie it off.
He nodded and while she doubted it, she nodded too.
Lifting two long daggers from the pile, she tucked them under her arm and slid on her gauntlets, the daggers fitting snugly against the underside of her arms.
"You two?" she asked Jaia and Versalis. She was still stinging at the rejection from Jaia, but she had tucked that away as well. Versalis looked ready to start shouting.
"You were dead!" he finally roared and she looked at him.
It wasn't only her smell that alerted them to her. She looked different, no longer scarred and broken, no more cuts and bruises, everything was new, and she was ready.
"So?" she asked, adding two knives against the small of her back in custom sheaths.
"For three days! How did you die?" he demanded and she lifted a brow at the length of time. Unusual, but it didn't matter at that stage.
"There is a very, very large mountain on the other side of your world. It is a very lovely place and a very big fall. I believe they say it's the sudden stop that kills you though. Enough damage and it does it."
***
Kai had gotten up off his seat and had fallen against her, his body shaking with sobs and she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"Kai, talk to me. What's the matter?" she asked quietly, looking up at the other two in confusion.
"He went to find you. He walked in on Drizdan throwing a world class fit about your running off somewhere. He saw…" Versalis trailed off as her eyes slid shut.
"It was like… like the dungeon all over again…" Kai whimpered, his arms tightening around her until it began to hurt but she refused to let him go.
"It's okay Kai, I'm okay now," she whispered, her cheek resting against the top of his head.
She was watching Versalis, who had relaxed somewhat and he rushed over to hug them both tightly.
Jaia hung back, watching her with the two men and looking confused. She watched him in return as she held the wildly sobbing Kai.
She didn't know what had happened in that room, but she wasn't about to let him go. She would do whatever it took to help him, and she knew he would have done the same for her.
Epharis burst into the room shortly after, his eyes wild as he found her.
"You!" he barked and she lifted a brow at him.
He realised the scene a second later and stopped, taking them all in and Jaia off to the side.
"Is this because of Drizdan?" Epharis asked warily and she nodded once, having no idea how he knew but not denying it. "Your Winter husband has been banished."
She jerked her head up at the words and stared at him, overjoyed and yet horrified at the news.
"Banished?" she demanded. How was she going to kill him if he wasn't in Ayathian?
"Yes, banished. The guards were called at a raving drow in the princess's suite. They had him arrested thinking he had killed you when they found your bedroom, I saw the… Bed," he had gone pale, his eyes boring into hers. "I heard rumour of a black haired goddess walking naked through the halls with an intent to kill and assumed."
"Flattering," she said, Kai squeezing her painfully but she let him.
"Etani we need to speak," he said and she shook her head.
"Not now. Later," she replied and turned to Versalis who was breathing in the scent of her hair. She swatted at him to get him to stop and he slunk away, looking pouty.
She knew he couldn't help it, she knew she would smell amazing to him but that didn't mean she wanted them sniffing her like that.
"Hear that Kai? He's gone now," she crooned as she led him to the couch and he curled up at her side, his head in her lap while she stroked his hair.
Epharis was looking down at the vampire, baffled and she tilted her head to Versalis, the two moving away to talk and she began to sing gently to cover up the whispers.
Her voice didn't seem to have an effect on Kai like it did with a human, instead it seemed to make him sleepy and before more than a few minutes he was asleep.
She sighed gently, stroking his hair back from his face and closing her eyes, her attempt to get dressed and armed forgotten for the time being.
"Why did you do it?" Jaia asked quietly and she looked at him, her expression neutral.
"I was so tired, I just wanted a break. But then I also wanted to get stronger, a reset," she said simply and Jaia looked angry. "But Letari said something to me that made me realise that there is a better option."
She smiled as she brushed over Kai's forehead.
"What did she say?" Epharis asked and she looked up at him.
"Kill them all."
No one said a word, all of them realising that she had come back for that exact reason.
She had been pushed and pushed, finally she had snapped and she wasn't going to take any more abuse.
Epharis swallowed and looked to the two vampires as her eyes dropped back down to Kai who looked troubled even in sleep.
The men exchanged worried looks as she began to sing again.