Chapter 492: I feel... like I can kill anything
Yennifer remained silent for a moment, still lying down, breathing heavily. The air around her seemed to vibrate—not with chaos, but with potential. Like an arrow stretched to its limit, about to be released.
Then, with a slow movement, she sat up.
Cristine immediately placed a hand on her back, instinctive, protective.
Yennifer raised her head, staring at the stone ceiling, and for a brief moment, she closed her eyes. As if trying to understand... to inhabit that new body. When she opened them again, a small spark ran through her white iris before dissolving.
She moved—first her fingers, then her shoulders. A crack ran down her spine as she slowly stretched, arching her back and letting out a long sigh, almost a guttural purr.
"My body..." she murmured. "It's different. Light. But... solid. As if I could crush stone with my fingers."
Cristine watched every reaction, her eyes wide. This was Yennifer—the voice, the gestures, even the way she ran her hand through her sweat-drenched hair. But there was something new in her eyes. An instinct. A fire.
Yennifer shrugged her shoulders, standing up completely. Her legs, shaky at first, soon found their balance. She stood upright, her horns glistening in the dim light of the torches that were beginning to reignite on the temple walls. The magical tattoos on her arms—once blue—now glowed a deep scarlet.
She looked at her own hands, slowly opening and closing her fingers. Then she looked up at Cristine and smiled—a small but genuine smile.
"I feel... like I can kill anything."
Cristine held her breath. That sentence was not spoken with arrogance. Nor with malice. It was a statement of fact. Cold. Simple. Like someone saying they know how to swim.
Strax approached, silent. His eyes assessed every movement, every inflection, every change in Yennifer's aura. The demonic glow was still there — strong, yes, but stable. It did not yet devour her consciousness. Not yet.
"Don't test it now," he said, his voice low. "This power you feel... it's real. But it's also unstable. It came from a place that demands a price. Even if you don't know what that is yet."
Yennifer nodded slowly. But her eyes were still fixed on her own hands. Cristine touched her arm gently.
"Are you still you?" she asked.
Yennifer's response was a strange expression—a mixture of pain and understanding.
"I am. But now... I am also something else. It's like... a door inside me has been opened. A door that was always locked. And now there's someone inside. Someone ancient. But not an enemy."
Cristine swallowed hard, still holding her sister's arm, feeling the supernatural heat emanating from it. Part of her wanted to pull away. The other part wanted to hold on to her forever, afraid of losing her again.
"You said my name," Cristine said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "When you woke up. You recognized me."
Yennifer looked at her now with more clarity. With more... tenderness.
"How could I forget the name of the only person who was always with me? Even when everything else fell apart?"
Cristine fell to her knees, silent tears streaming down her face. She said nothing. She couldn't. She just squeezed her sister's hand and brought it to her face, as if holding something sacred.
Strax stepped back, giving them space.
But Yennifer raised her head, her expression now more serious. She looked around. Her eyes scanned the temple, the corridors, the shadows between the columns.
"Those demons..." she began, her voice low and steady. "I felt their touch. When we fought. One of them... smiled when he stabbed me. He said I'd 'love to see what happens in the future.' And then... I blacked out."
She looked at Strax. "How did the city fare?"
Strax shook his head in denial, "We're not even close to Eldoria. We came here first to see how you are... Coincidentally, Vorah was attacked by a group of dragons two days ago."
Yennifer frowned in surprise. "Vorah? Attacked by dragons? That... doesn't make sense. Dragons don't attack human cities, at least there are no records of it... those guys have isolated themselves in Caelum for the last thousand years."
Strax crossed his arms, somber. "That's right. But they weren't ordinary dragons. They were savage, with no pact with anyone, with blackened eyes and corrupted marks on their scales. Three coastal cities disappeared in the same week. No one can say for sure where they came from or what they want. But the coincidence with what happened to you... doesn't seem like chance to me."
Cristine stood up, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "Do you think they're after something?"
Strax looked at Yennifer. "I honestly don't know what they're after with all this. Probably provocation. Or something like that."
Yennifer took a deep breath, the sound like the low growl of a creature at rest. "So we can't go home yet."
"No," replied Strax. "Not yet. We have to go to Eldoria. Maybe we'll find answers there. We'll need to see the damage they caused in the city."
Cristine picked up the cloak Strax had conjured and helped Yennifer put it on. The magical illusion slid smoothly over her sister's body, hiding the demonic features—the horns, the eyes, the fiery aura, and of course, the color of her reddish skin.
But even under the disguise, it was impossible to ignore what was different.
The raw power that emanated from her was not so easily concealed.
"Can you walk?" asked Cristine, caution still present in her voice.
Yennifer stretched her legs, testing the weight of her own body. Her muscles responded with frightening precision. She flexed her knees, rolled her shoulders, and smiled slightly. "I can fly, if I have to."
Strax raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curving into a restrained smile. "There's no need to test that now. Let's go over the forest. I'll take my true form and take us straight to Eldoria. We'll be there in five minutes if the wind cooperates."
Yennifer took a deep breath, her eyes shining for a moment with restrained demonic light. She looked up at the overcast sky above the treetops.
"Five minutes... to return to the world that saw me die." She turned to the two of them, her tone calm, almost melancholy. "Let's go, then. Before I change my mind."