Chapter 997: Pretending to be Dead
Chapter 997 – Pretending to be Dead
The first elf looked at him.
Then looked toward the others.
The fight was still ongoing.
The tree defense looked weaker now, yes, but not gone. The largest roots had lost their bright oath-glow. The vines no longer moved with perfect coordination. Some collapsed into lifeless heaps after Sira cut them. Yue had pinned one massive root beneath her spear and was dismantling its glowing script with terrifying patience.
Gula and Lullaby worked together in the strangest possible rhythm. Gula dragged roots into place, Lullaby bonked them into sleepy surrender.
Ely supported them from behind, healing light bright around her hands, but her eyes kept flicking toward Lux every few seconds.
The first elf turned back to him. "You just lie down and let other people kill that thing?"
Lux exhaled slowly. "I couldn’t move much."
"That sounds like an excuse."
"It is a medical assessment. I am a burden now," he said lightly.
The first elf’s expression changed slightly at that.
Lux smiled as if he had not noticed. "So I prefer doing something I can do best. Minimum movement and pretending to be dead."
She stared at him.
"A great plan to stay alive," Lux said.
A root slammed against one of his Abyssal tendrils. The shadow limb tightened and crushed it with an ugly crack.
Lux patted the ground beside him.
Or tried to.
His hand moved about two inches before he winced and decided that was enough effort.
"Come lay down with me."
The first elf’s gaze followed his hand.
His wing was half-open against the floor, dark and broad, its feathers and shadow membranes spread between her and the cold stone. It trembled faintly from exhaustion, but still formed a soft barrier beneath them.
Lux gave her a very faint, very offended smile. "Don’t worry. You won’t get dirty." His voice lowered with absurd pride. "I’m a gentleman, you know."
The first elf stared at the wing.
Then at his face.
"I am more afraid you will do something to me."
Lux blinked.
Behind them, Gula laughed so loudly she almost lost grip on her fork-spear.
The first elf continued with perfect calm. "Your pheromones are leaking something that says, ’Let me mate with the nearest girl.’"
Lux tried to laugh.
He immediately regretted it.
The motion sent a sharp pain through his core and abdomen, and his laugh broke into a groan. "Ah. Bad. Terrible. Laughing canceled."
The first elf’s expression remained deadpan, but her eyes lowered to his wound.
The humor dimmed a little.
"I’m an incubus." Lux closed his eyes briefly. "It’s biological slander."
"Your biology is loud."
"Fair." Lux opened one eye again. "You’re afraid I’m going to molest you?"
The first elf looked at him as if the answer was obvious. "Who knows?"
Lux huffed. "I am a gentleman."
"That sentence is wounded."
"I am wounded." He shifted slightly and immediately regretted existing. His wing trembled beneath him. "I know when I need to be rough... or not at all."
Her gaze sharpened faintly.
Lux waved one weak hand. "Now? No. Thanks. I still want my life."
The first elf watched him for a long moment.
He looked awful.
Pale. Bloodied. Exhausted. Still restraining roots with shadow tendrils while pretending this was a casual conversation spot. He had every appearance of a demon who would flirt with death, file taxes on it, then ask if death wanted coffee.
And yet, beneath the charm, the smirk, and the absurdity, his body was shaking.
He had saved her.
Stolen her.
Protected her.
Shown her a truth she had not wanted.
And now he was asking her to lie down beside him because apparently that was his version of keeping her from running back into denial.
The first elf sighed.
A small sound.
Ancient.
Tired.
Human, almost.
Then she carefully lowered herself beside him.
Not fully comfortable. Not trusting him completely. But close enough that his wing rested beneath her shoulder and kept her from touching the cracked stone.
Lux’s smirk softened. "There."
She looked up at the trembling roots overhead.
"You are ridiculous."
"I know."
"That was not a compliment."
"I accept anyway."
She turned her head toward him. "What now?"
Lux’s eyes drifted toward the girls still fighting.
Sira cut through another root and shouted something about disrespectful shrubbery. Yue broke the oath-script on a vine, and the entire section collapsed. Gula dragged a root bundle toward Lullaby, who bonked it with sleepy finality. Ely’s healing light swept over all of them like dawn.
Lux’s Abyssal Grasp tightened around the remaining central roots.
The giant salad tree was losing.
"Now," Lux murmured, "you rest too."
"I have rested for centuries."
"No." His voice softened. "You were preserved. Different thing."
The first elf went quiet.
Lux closed his eyes again, but this time he kept speaking. "You’ll search for the truth. Then decide. Not because Kaelmor told you. Not because I told you. Because you saw it."
She looked at him for a long time.
Then said quietly, "And if the truth says I was wrong?"
Lux’s answer came slower, weaker, but steady. "Then you were wrong after saving your people." A pause. "That’s allowed."
Her eyes trembled.
Something inside her face shifted again, emotion arriving late and untrained.
Lux did not look at her. He truly couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.
He only murmured, "Welcome to the worst part of freedom."
She swallowed. "What is that?"
His mouth curved faintly. "Having to choose again."
The shrine shook one last time as Yue and Sira struck together, cutting through one of the largest remaining roots. The defense groaned. Lux’s Abyssal tendrils crushed the rest downward.
The first elf lay beside him on his wing, staring at the ceiling of her own shrine like she had never truly seen it before.
Lux breathed shallowly beside her.
And for the first time since the fire, she did not feel like a debt.
She felt tired.
Afraid.
Angry.
But... Alive.
Then she said something that Lux thought was impossible. "Thank you..."