Chapter 15
She had accepted that Sher had its own autonomy since it was no longer a part of her body and she also didn't plan to suppress Sher as she did in the past. She had always felt its reluctance to her life as an outlaw then but its obedience had not been an option, it was law.
She was also aware that she hadn't considered the destruction to the forests if the island suddenly vanished from the lake. Heck, she had even forgotten about the gargoyle sculpture that would be damaged in their wake. Was she the one crossing the line here?
Even so, it was a choice that she had made in a desperate moment and now she actually realised that she could not always trust Sher to do as she wanted; as it was in the past. She couldn't go to Arim on her own either, she would definitely die if she did so. Could she only live under Sher's mercy now? How the tables have turned.
Images appeared in her mind. She saw Sher's leaves glowing white instead of blue and surrounded by illusory butterflies, lighting up the total darkness. She knew that she was looking at the darkness of Arim's nighttime. What was that supposed to mean? Did Sher develop a phobia of darkness?
"We could have gone to the daylit side and followed the sun," she guiltily pointed out. She would've definitely taken them to the dark night side last night by default, because of her body clock, but she would be careful now that she knew.
There was silence for only a moment before a vine coiled around her right arm and gently pulled her in the direction of her bed. She got there and just stared at the bowl-sized flower in amazement. She definitely wouldn't fit inside it as a human.
She squatted and placed a hand in the flower, confirming that her link with Sher was still there. She saw the entire island in her mind as a network of the eight Whiteleaf trees. She watched as everything came alive, and she was at the core of it all.
She thought about the ruin that might befall the forests and the damage to the sculpture beneath the mountain, and decided against going to Arim. The cause of the entire crisis, the red moon, had already passed. Hence, there was no need to anymore.
All of a sudden, the entire island started shaking and she fell on her bare a*s. Was it an earthquake? Or were they under attack? Had the manozores honed in on them after she changed back into a human?
"Sher! What's going on?" she asked as white light surrounded her and she turned into a fairy. Images of Sher's roots shifting underground came to her mind. The roots of three Whiteleaf trees closer to the North also started shifting. She was rightly taken aback and puzzled.
A rift slowly appeared in the Northern region of the island, closer to the boundary of what remained of the lake, and then she understood. Sher was breaking off a section of the island to act as a dam to hold the lake back.
It wouldn't be enough to hold it permanently but it would last a long while. It would be enough to hold out till they got back from Amir. Was this a mana AI's IQ hard at work? She was extremely moved by the gesture but wasn't this going a bit too far?
"It's fine, Sher. You don't have to do this now. We'll try it again when the next red moon arrives," she said sensibly.
The transparent barrier, that was now only shielding the top hemisphere of the island, abruptly extended and sliced down cleanly through the created rift, chopping off the roots of two Whiteleaf trees. They hadn't been wholly dragged away from the makeshift dam.
"What the f*ck are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" she yelled, aghast.
And here she thought she was the one who was going overboard. Was Sher making a statement? Well, if it was then it was crystal clear but there must've been a better way to put the point across, right?
She opened her mouth to argue some more but closed it when she recalled that she was technically the one who started it. She rationalized that since Sher had already gone this far for her, she could only acquiesce.
She landed in her flower bed and they instantly appeared in the skies of Arim. She only noticed the shift when the sunlight streaming into the hollow turned from golden to orange rays from the orange dwarf star. That is, they had been orange but were slowly beginning to turn red.
"Wait, it couldn't be. Don't tell me...," she didn't finish before her body started getting warmer and a familiar rosy scent filled the air. She was thrown off-balance. Was this supposed to happen?
She quickly blinked them back to the lake. She hardly noticed the land tremors as golden sunlight shone on her and the red haze in the air faded. She was quiet for a long time as she thought about what had just happened. Sher, as always, was as steady as a tree.
When evening came, she sat in her human form by the pool, her feet dangling in the cool water. As the sun set, she looked at her reflection in the water and watched as her hazel eyes turned red. The plants around her also seemed to glow red but she now knew that that wasn't the case.
The issue lay with her body this entire time and not on some abstract red moon. Was she in heat? Her body warmed up with the thought.
There was no avoiding it. Looking on the bright side, at least she didn't have to worry about her long claws scratching her ladybits anymore. She slid her human hands over her breasts and sighed in pleasure.
There was no discomfort this time, only pure lust. She leaned back and spread her legs, using both hands on her body this time. She couldn't understand it, her p*ssy was dripping wet but it was also flaming hot.
And what wouldn't she give to have an equally hot guy inside her right now? It wasn't long before she had her first of many orgasms that night. The same scene replayed the following night.
After she fell asleep, she dreamt of an island flying over the coniferous forest. It looked similar to Sher island, only smaller. It moved towards the mountain in the East, paused and slowly descended into the forest.
It crushed a few trees and only went a few meters into the ground before stopping. Suddenly, two shadows jumped off the island and quickly made their way through the forest, moving like gusts of wind towards the top of the mountain.
The two forms were then visible atop the mountain peak, staring straight at her territory. It felt like they were looking directly at Sher. The two were clearly a man and a big black wolf. The wolf then raised its head and howled at the bright sky. She was jolted awake by the loud howl still tearing into the air.