A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Elora suddenly appearing next to her startled Runa, but she recovered quickly, mostly because there was currently only one thing occupying her mind.

So, she looked at woman's sincere smile, judged it to be genuine, and thus decided to worry about her identity later. She nodded in assent, and started struggling towards Erik, now with Elora supporting her.

She was hurried, her eyes were only focused on one thing, and her body felt like she was wading through quicksand, but with the fairy's help she quickly returned to the bed, and shuffled closer to her son.

Erik himself remained vast asleep during all of this. Normally he'd be a little more alert, but Elora had spent some time healing him earlier, so his body was quite exhausted.

With trembling hand, Runa reached forward, until she touched his cheek. When she finally felt the warm, physical touch of Erik's skin, a smile slowly began to creep onto her lips.

"I knew it…" she whispered, relief and elation in her voice as she slowly started to laugh. "Hahahaha, I knew it!" she exclaimed, far louder this time as her smile spread further. Finally, tears began to stream down her face as she practically fell forward into a hug.

With her arms wrapped around him, she began to sob and cry, despite interspersing it with laughter. Meanwhile, she continued whispering, "You're alive!" on a loop.

Of course, regardless of exhaustion, there was no way Erik would continue to sleep through this, especially not since Runa was pressing directly on his wound.

So, he groaned and his eyes slowly began to flutter open. "Uuugh, Elora… We fooled around a little earlier, but just wait another few days before we get back to the real stuff, alright?"

Yet, when he heard Elora suddenly begin to giggle in a different location, he quickly shook himself awake to notice what was happening.

Instantly, he smiled widely in relief, "Mom…" and wrapped his arms around her in as well. "Welcome back to the land of the conscious."

'I guess she doesn't remember when she first woke up a few days ago,' Erik chuckled inwardly. 'Otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted in the same way. Mom's not the kind of person who breaks down multiple times over the same thing.'

Erik couldn't help but sigh at the fragility of his mother's body. He remembered her as a lean machine with the power of several men. In fact, now that he thought about it, he realized Katya was actually quite similar to his memories of Runa… but he quickly discarded that thought, and burned it in a bonfire of denial.

Regardless, it was clear she still had a long way to go in terms of recovery.

They spend a few minutes like this in each other's arms, until Runa's tears finally dried up. At that point, Runa sighed, before sitting up.

Yet, before Erik could say anything, she weakly grabbed his shirt with narrowed eyes. "You'd better have a good explanation for worrying your mother all these years, Silvy!"

Erik grinned and extended his hand to wipe away her dried-up tears, "Of course I do, Mom. And I hope you have a good explanation for making me come rescue you!"

"You dare talk back to me!" she exclaimed with wide eyes, as if she truly couldn't believe it, before narrowing her eyes again. "It seems you've grown up… I'm not sure if I like it."

Erik chuckled fondly, "Of course you do, Mom. You always wanted me to become a little more assertive."

As he said that, he gently removed his mother's hands from his shirt and stood up while taking her in princess carry, before putting her back on the bed. "You're still weak, Mom, so don't exert yourself too much."

For a moment, Runa blinked in surprise. For some reason, she'd remained in the belief that there was no way Erik could resist her strength, but their roles had completely reversed. She felt conflicted.

Finally, after already being back on her bed, she crossed her arms, "I'll decide whether I exert myself or not, you little shit!"

"Hmpf, hmpf," she grumbled under her breath. "Don't think you can suddenly act like the big man because I'm not in the best position right now! I'm still your mother, and I'll beat you up again soon enough!"

Erik pulled the chair closer to his mother's head and sat down on it with a gentle grin, "I'd like nothing more, Mom…"

Inwardly, Erik was bursting with an almost giddy happiness. An interaction like this was unusual for them, simply because Erik had changed significantly, but his mother hadn't, and that warmed his heart. She remained the same as he remembered, despite everything she'd gone through.

At least, on the surface.

"You really have changed…" Runa whispered after a moment of silence. Mother and son were now holding hands, while Elora stayed in the background for now, giving them some space.

"But… What is this about a rescue…?" she the continued with a worried frown. "The last thing I remember was leaving for Africa, in search of Edda."

Despite her weak voice and generally gentle tone while she talked to her son, she still managed to spit out Edda's name with a few buckets of venom, as if instinctively.

"You— You don't remember…?" Erik exclaimed while his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Instantly, he wondered if that might be good news, because those memories included the near-fatal wound she delivered him. It also explained why she wasn't more broken up about that right now.

He turned to look at Elora, and the fairy snapped her fingers to turn on the lights in this room, knowing Runa was likely still having trouble seeing, even with the moon light.

Then, she gracefully moved closer, until she sat down elegantly on the armrest of Erik's chair and nodded slowly, "I wasn't sure, but there is a link between the soul and one's memories, so it was always possible she wouldn't remember much of what happened since giving Jonas a piece of her soul."

"But I think the rest should come back over time," she then smiled at Runa. "The rest of your memories exist in the wounded part of your soul, so just give it some time. As your soul recovers and refines the damaged half of itself, you'll eventually get those memories back."

Erik couldn't help but grin slightly as he noticed the almost imperceptible tremble in his wife's voice, and the anxiety that leaked over through their bond. She was nervous over meeting his mother, and he couldn't be happier. Explore more at empire

After all, he remembered his own nervosity around Morganae, Elora's mother.

Runa blinked as she turned her gaze towards Elora. "You… What are you talking about? How do you know about what I did to Jonas? And…. who even are you?"

Elora trembled a little under Runa's suspicious gaze, and looked over at Erik, who coughed a little awkwardly. "M— Mom, I'd… like you to meet my wife, Elora."