A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 291: Chapter 291 - Eira wakes up

Audumla whirled around and hastened back to the console. Her fingers brushed over one of the sigils, channeling information directly into her mind.

A relieved smile appeared on her face when she realized what she was looking at. "That… that's Eira's core! Thank the spirits I had sigils in place to detect powerful treasures…" Then she frowned, "But that must mean they put Eira in another medium…"

"Ugh…" Audumla groaned, resting her forehead on the console, her arms dangling at her sides in a gesture of defeat. "I wish I could see inside the harbinger's base… Are you safe, Eira? Are they treating you well?"

She fell silent and waited a moment before sighing. "Well… so long as she's been put in a medium, she'll stay alive. If I leave this place and those people come for me, it would put her in danger as well, so... I suppose I have no choice but to wait and hope for the best. At least the harbinger is back now.

Even if he is enslaved, I don't actually need his free will, so maybe I can discuss terms with that fairy. Besides, I still need some more time to fully recover…"

Before retreating to rest, her eyes blazed with fury. "But I swear to the spirits, if that cursed fairy harms my Eira in any way, I will tear off her wings and drown her in her own anguish!"

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A few moments earlier, back in Eira's core, Erik was sitting on the floor and clutching his head. At the same time, the other inhabitants of this place, Alice, Emma, Emily, and Astrid, all came running in after hearing Elora's screams and Erik's roars just a few seconds ago.

Each reacted differently to the sight of Erik clutching his head and Elora lying motionless before him.

Like the experienced fighter she was, Astrid remained calm, drew her swords, and took position next to him while cautiously looking around to what might have caused this situation.

Emily was much the same, but she looked less calm and more furious, as orbs of darkness started floating around her and she took up position on Erik's other side.

Even Alice transformed to her wereverine form, despite the discomfort, and took up position to add her meager strength to the group.

Emma dashed up to Erik and Elora, voicing the group's collective concern. "Master, are you okay?" Emma's voice was laced with anxiety as she enveloped Erik and Elora in the soothing glow from her light affinity spell, in an attempt to hasten their recovery.

The echoes of pain were still rampaging through Erik's mind, but Emma's question managed to pierce through the noise, while her spell managed to soothe him a little.

So, they heaved a collective sigh of relief when he raised his head from his hands and nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine… I think we made first contact with Audumla, but we got through it alright."

In front of him, he noticed the unconscious fairy. He got worried for a second, but checking through their bond reassured him that she was just sleeping. 'Well, she certainly deserves it…' he mumbled inwardly.

He picked the fairy up and used their bond to absorb her back into his soul, before standing up and looking at the people around him.

Seeing that they still looked concerned and ready for action, he slightly smiled before opening his mouth to try and reassure them some more, but before he could, the core in the chest of his armor flashed, and Eira appeared next to him.

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She appeared unchanged, still clad in her strikingly martial yet undeniably alluring outfit—a gold metal bra paired with leather pants.

All eyes immediately turned to her, some of them hostile and suspicious, as the sigil construct looked around with slight confusion on her face. She blinked a few times, and slowly looked at her hands, before turning to Erik.

Seeing him look at her caused small tears to appear in her eyes while the corners of her lips curled up into a bright smile. "I'm… I'm back! I feel weird, and— and this is going to take some getting used to, but I'm alive! You kept your word!"

Without waiting for his response, Eira threw her arms around him, her body trembling as tears streamed down her face. The others around them became highly alert, but Erik quickly held up a hand to calm them down, before wrapping his arms around Eira.

"Of course I did, Eira," he smiled while stroking her hair. "How did the transfer go? Did you notice anything?"

They separated, and Eira wiped her tears away, which disappeared into sparkles of light, before shaking her head and still smiling brightly. "Nope, nothing! One moment I was inside my core waiting to be disconnected, then everything went black for a moment, and before I knew it I was in an entirely different environment!"

She seemed to have no clue of the suspicious looks she was getting from the others around her. Still, they kept quiet and let Erik handle it, mostly because he was the only one who actually knew what happened here.

Erik nodded slowly, "I see…" At the same time, he prodded one of the failsafes he and Elora had installed in the armor, and received a flood of chaotic emotions in return. Eira's emotions. After quickly sifting through them, he noticed nothing that would indicate lies or betrayal.

'So not only does she not know about Audumla's appearance, but neither does she remember what we talked about while Elora was disconnecting her…' he thought to himself.

"Say, Eira," he asked the construct, who stopped exploring the inner working of Erik's armor to focus on him instead. "You don't have a mother, right?"

Eira blinked in surprise, but than simply shook her head, "No? Well, I suppose mistress is my creator, but she's already my mistress, not my mother. I don't have a mother in the way that you do!" She smiled brightly at the end, as if not minding the fact she didn't have a mother.

'The truth again…' Erik quickly realized. 'So what was that before then? Just a slip of the tongue? A secret desire…? Or something more…'