Chapter 46 - Facing your fears

Lily's newfound and seemingly unswerving determination sadly only lasted until she met the first scary-looking monster in this hellish place. Fear quickly set in, overwhelming her completely, making her frozen on the spot.

As the scarlet eyes gazed on her, she felt as if the monster was looking deep inside her heart and pulling out the strings of fear, and doubt, turning her legs wobbly and smearing water on the corner of her eyes.

Not daring to take a step further, she gulped and stuttered in a weak voice.

"B-b-brother help meee! I-i-i don't know w-w-what to do!"

Standing next to her, Aiden put his hands on Lily's shoulders and smiled. Then he stepped out of the shrubs and faced the hound face to face, focusing his mind on his [Dragon's Wrath] ability. He actually wanted to work on the transformation and get to know it more during his time in this pocket world, so he wouldn't face such embarrassing moments like before.

Focusing his will, he forced his transformation only on his hands. Lily watched as Aiden's hands morphed, growing golden scales, his thin fingers changed, became meatier and as they grew huge, thick black claws at their fingertips.

Suddenly a simple bow and a quiver full of arrows appeared on the ground in front of Lily, catching her off-guard and surprising her momentarily.

"Pick up your weapon big sis. I stored your weapons for you, but now it will be your job to carry them and assist me. We are supposed to be a team, remember? Let's defeat this enemy together!"

Puzzled she looked at Aiden and was about to ask what he meant about 'stored', but then coming back to her senses, instead she just looked at the weapon tailored for her on the ground. She really wanted to know more about this 'storing' he mentioned though and made a mental note to ask it if Aiden will not give an answer.

Looking at the weapon in front of her in the ground, she smiled and picked it up. No, she can't always hide behind the back of her brother and Granny all the time! She wanted to be standing WITH them, not behind their backs. She wanted the two of them, brother and sister to be a true team, a team that would help each other and works together to overcome any obstacles, and not just rely on Aiden to save her all the time.

'I'm not gonna be scared all the time, I will not let anybody else be hurt because they were protecting me! I'm not gonna lose brother, no that's not gonna happen! Pick up the weapon you scaredy-cat!' She berated herself inwardly. Shaking her head, she picked up the quiver and placed it on her back, then pulled out one arrow as she readied the bow.

Meanwhile, Aiden already engaged the hound. The terrifying-looking animal wasn't that difficult to overcome, but he was keeping an eye on Lily, and seeing that her eyes cleared, he wanted her to kill the beast to anchor her determination and shoo away the fear once and for all. This symbolic victory would be the anchor, the moment she could always return to when she would feel doubt set in her heart. This would be…

'...the first trial!' Aiden exclaimed inwardly. He just realized that most likely Granny and Number 3 place this beast here to rattle the girl's frail mind and make sure with his help she would overcome her inner demons and become much stronger.

Smiling, Aiden kept blocking the beast's attempts at clawing and biting on his flesh, while also doing light scratches on its body, just to keep it occupied, and to slowly drain his stamina. Seconds felt minutes as he was waiting for Lily to shoot the arrow.

'Come on… shoot it Lily… You can do it…' Aiden muttered to himself. He couldn't look back or voice it out loud, this was something Lily had to do herself…

---

Holding her breath as her mother once taught her, Lily aimed at the head and pulled the bowstring until it stretched.

'With this, I am no longer what I was. Let this arrow be the start of the new and strong Lily!'

Finished with her self-motivational chant, she let go of the string and watched as the arrow flew straight to its intended destination piercing the unsuspecting beast in the left eye and settling its tip deep into its brain, ending the creature's life in an instant.

Blood, mixed with brain tissue spewed out of the point of impact, spurting a little bit of it on Aiden's arms and chest, as he jumped back. Transforming his hands back to normal, he turned around and while still smiling, he looked at Lily.

"Big sis, you could have aimed at somewhere else and still come out victorious. You just had to aim at the one spot where I would be covered with this goo!"

Giggling, Lily stuck out her tongue and cheekily replied.

"Blee! That was the easiest spot to penetrate! And you deserved it for being a meanie!"

"Oh really?! Well then, let me give you a bit of the victory juice!" He smeared a bit on his hands and ran towards Lily.

"Ewww, don���t smudge that icky goo on me… Waaaaaa!" Lily started running the opposite direction while giggling loudly.

The chase lasted for several minutes, but in the end, both of them were smeared all over and were sprawled out on the ground, happily resting.

Turning his head towards Lily, Aiden gave her a genuine smile as he addressed her.

"I'm proud of you big sis. You successfully overcome your demons, and as a result, you are so much stronger!"

Looking at his brother, Lily felt overwhelming happiness bubbling from the depths of her heart, rapidly healing the holes that her troubled past left there. Alongside this happiness, she also felt the first seedlings of pride, a feeling that she never felt before. She was happy and proud that she finally managed to be useful, and instead of being the one hiding in the back, she faced the danger together with her beloved brother! This was a feeling she wanted to experience more from now on. While she knew she will have to work hard, -at this moment-, Lily wouldn't mind fighting even gods if she would face it together with Aiden!

"Ehehehe" a weak and tired giggle was the only thing that left her mouth, as she closed her eyes.

Aiden looked at the tired girl briefly, then turned his attention to the starless scarlet sky. Sighing, he continued.

"You know, I have a feeling this was the first trial or at least a part of it. You had to face a challenge and grew much stronger as a result. I'm just not sure if that was all, or there's something more... You faced your fears…"

As he lamented on the battle, he suddenly realized.

'That's it! That must be it! It has to be!'

Before Aiden could continue with this train of thought, Enya's mature voice resounded in his head.

[Before you do something you might regret later, think it over once more. You should not put the girl in unnecessary danger by telling her everything about yourself.]

Closing his eyes in the outside world, he 'descended' to his soul space, and faced the light that symbolized Enya. Frowning, he asked.

'What should I do then? To overcome this trial, I have to be able to trust the one who's most important to me. I have to talk to Lily and tell her I'm not a dragon that everybody seems to think, but instead I'm something else.'

[Aiden, that doesn't mean you have to burden her with such heavy baggage. Think it through. The Primals have disappeared many, many millennia ago. Telling her will not give you relief and will not provide you any benefits. Also, she probably has no idea what a Primal is even if you tell it to her and you will just confuse her.]

'What should I do then?! I can't keep her in the dark, I have to tell her something! I will need to use this time we have in this pocket world to get familiar with my shapeshifting abilities. I can't keep using the claws for everything, I would be wasting this golden opportunity…'

[You should tell her some of the truth, but not everything. Tell her that you are something more than a dragon, something ancient, something long forgotten. Tell her that you can change your body of the foes you conquered but that you can only maintain that form for a short duration. That is something that she will not question, as there are a few individuals capable of similar feats. While it is not the whole truth, it will be sufficient to overcome the test, while also protecting her. Make sure you also tell her to keep this an absolute secret, even from the other two, even from Granny! She is much more than you think...]

'Much more? What do you mean?'

[Not important currently. Go now and talk to the little girl!] as Enya finished, she forcibly expelled Aiden's presence from his soul space.

Opening his eyes, he groaned, but at the next moment, he turned his attention towards the still resting girl, looking at her dozing off and sleeping without a care in the world returned the smile to his face.

'This girl…'