"My relationship with Lith is messed up but it's the best thing I could ask for. He loves me for who I am and I have no need to hide anything from him." Solus said.
"If there's something I've learned from this trip is that I hate lying and how limited my current existence is. I'm sick and tired of going back to Lutia every other day. To be incapable of having a meaningful conversation with anyone but you girls.
"By staying away from Lith, I'm supposed to be free but instead I've never felt caged like this, not even when I existed solely as a voice in his head. I can't show my powers, I can't reveal my name, and I can't even walk away from a geyser without my body betraying me.
"This is no life. I don't know if I'll ever be free from the tower, but I'm certain of one thing. I want to live with the people I love and who need me instead of wasting time with a bunch of strangers to whom I can barely tell the time to not betray my secrets.
"I want something like my mother had with my father. Something that makes me feel whole with someone I can be my true self. Anything less would be an empty façade. If I can't have it, I'd rather stay with Lith, Kami, and Elysia, come what may."
"So, are we done here?" Nyka asked. "Do you want to go back to Lutia?"
"Not yet." Solus shook her head. "This is still my first real vacation, spending time with my friends instead of just hanging out with Lith's. Also, I want to spend a bit of the money I earned during the past fifteen years without him nagging at me."
The thought of his stinginess brought a bittersweet smile to her face. On the one hand, Solus wanted to free herself from her co-dependency on Lith but on the other hand, she missed everything about him.
She could almost hear Lith asking her who Duke Hestia was and complaining about how much she had spent on restaurants and hotels. Their bond ran so deep that every conversation they didn't have hurt.
Distance had allowed Solus to separate herself from Lith, but the problem was that she hadn't liked what she had found. As Elphyn, she had felt empty the moment she stepped away from her Forge whereas as Solus, she had discovered that there was more in life than work.
"By the way, you can let Dawn out. There is no reason to hide from her that as soon as I run out of energy again the vacation will be over."
Nyka nodded, allowing the Horseman to join the conversation after bringing her up to speed.
After dinner, they split up.
Tista wanted to experiment with both her life forces alone, in the hope to make her mind once and for all. Solus, instead, took a stroll through Nestamaath, enjoying the night view from the battlements of the magical fortress and the small talk with strangers she encountered along the way.
'These may be small things, but they belong solely to me. Lith would never do it unless Kami or I dragged him by force.' Solus chuckled, her mind drawing a vivid image of how he would roll his eyes and the annoyed rant he would make.
As for Nyka, or rather, Dawn, there was something that she wanted to check.
For a few days now the Horseman had felt someone staring at her from a distance. She had tried every spell and trick in her book to catch by surprise whoever was tailing them, but to no avail.
They kept themselves always past Life Vision's area of effect and had managed to avoid all the arrays she had laid. By the time she tracked them down to their last known position, the energy signature had faded too much to be recognizable but she was certain that I was a familiar one.
'Why didn't you let me warn Tista and Solus about this?' Nyka asked, afraid to face alone anyone capable of outsmarting Dawn.
'And tell them what? That I have the suspicion that someone might be following us? What would that achieve aside from ruining their vacation? Tista is still a mess due to her life forces going more out of balance with each passing day and Solus has lived her entire life in the shadow of a paranoid man.
'They would spend these last few days constantly watching over their shoulder and we would have learned nothing more than we do now. Also, I have a theory that we can test only by ourselves.'
'What theory?' Nyka didn't like how the Horseman could easily switch from "I" to "we".
It was just one word, yet it managed to make her feel responsible for Dawn's actions and for whatever would happen were Nyka to not heed her warning.
'If I'm right and we are actually being followed, for some reason they have never attacked us. This means that they either want to collect information about a member of our group or are waiting for an opportunity to face us one-on-one.' Dawn said.
'Tista spends her time either with us or Bodya while Solus always hangs around public places. As for us, due to our bond, you don't need to hunt and we've never strayed from our group. Until now.'
'Are you telling me that we might be the target?' Nyka used all of her mystical and enhanced senses, but found nothing. 'Isn't it one more reason to warn the others?'
'Again, it's just a theory. It might be one of my followers from the Dawn Court or maybe Night wants to approach me to ask for my help. I can't risk spooking them and neither Tista nor Solus would be of use.
'If push comes to shove, your hybrid friend would be forced to pick a life force and you'd feel guilty for it while Solus is reaching her limit. She would be useless in a fight and involving her would put her in danger.' The Horseman replied.
'What if it's Night and she attacks us? Unlike her, we don't have our steed!' Nyka pointed out.
'Unlike her, we don't need it.' Dawn snorted. 'I know the spell that can destroy her and even if it failed, I can always call upon Mother. I'm no idiot and I've warned her already. If my signal suddenly disappears, she'll reach Nestamaath before Night can finish one of her obnoxious rants.'
Nyka inwardly nodded and left Dawn full control over her body. The Horseman covered her skin with a crystal armor and kept another prism in her hand, ready to turn it into a replica of her Twilight blade at a second's notice.
"You can put that down." A hoarse voice coming from around a corner said. "We both know that you are stronger than me, but also that you can't beat me with that toy. The time you devoted to your foolish experiments I spent it polishing my swordsmanship."
Dawn turned around, Nyka's eyes ablaze with white light as a scarred man stepped out of the shadows right outside the range of Life Vision.
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