As soon as the chain clattered to the floor from her neck, the rumble of contentment from Bella rippled through the cavern as she lifted her neck high above them all, a position that she had been prevented from achieving since she had been confined here.
Aoife, Ximena and Orynn moved towards the shackles around her back legs and as they worked, Bella snuffed at Lexi's figure that curled tightly in Greyson's arms.
'My poor Lexi,' Bella whined softly, 'Can you stand or are you too hurt? Do you know who I am?'
As Greyson set Lexi down on her feet, her legs shook uncontrollably and her body wavered. It seemed to take a tremendous amount of effort for Lexi to force herself to nod.
'Good. I know you've been through a lot, my heart, but don't let him steal this moment from you as well.' Bella persisted, pressing her snout against Lexi's body gently, closing her eyes and pushing her soothing energy towards her as Lexi leaned forward, resting her head atop her scales.
'I don't want to feel this way, Bella." Lexi murmured as she closed her eyes, the steady rumble of Bella's breathing soothing her in a way that she couldn't explain.
"Something in me is broken. It's gone. I didn't know it was there before and now it's just..empty." Lexi continued, her voice cracking as the words caught in her throat.
'If you want me to Lexi, I can take that feeling away.' Bella answered softly, desperately praying that she would accept. The slightest sign of weakness from her in the final part of the escape plan would put everything they had achieved so far in jeopardy.
After a few moments of silence, Lexi finally nodded wearily.
"Do whatever you need to Bella, but don't erase the memories. I want to know that he died and I want to remember what I sacrificed…I just don't want to feel like I lost something that was important to me when he was nothing but a monster."
'Very well.' Bella answered softly, 'It won't take me long. Just take a deep breath for me, okay?'
"Okay," Lexi whispered as she sucked a deep breath in, the grief threatening to choke her in one second, and then, after a slight pressure inside of her head and the feeling of something popping, it was gone.
'It is done,' Bella announced as Lexi stood upright, blinking at her in disbelief.
"It was really that easy?"
'For me?' Bella snorted proudly, 'Of course it was easy!'
Lexi couldn't help the smile that found its way onto her face, now that the soul destroying grief had been lifted from her.
"How..." she started but Bella interrupted her.
'I will not tell you how I did it, nor why you felt that way. You do not need to know. Be satisfied with the knowledge that it is done now and all is well. Those that you love and care about are safe, and now, we must focus on leaving this place until you choose to return.'
Lexi almost choked on her own saliva as she stared at Bella incredulously.
"Are you fucking insane? Why the hell would I want to return here?"
'You might have a change of heart,' Bella shrugged as she stretched her now unchained legs and flexed her wings experimentally, 'Now, all of you need to climb up and onto my back. Make sure you hold tight to the scales and spines there and I promise I'll move as slowly and carefully as I can.'
"You've got to be kidding," Greyson and Allen spluttered in protest even as Aoife and Ximena began to clamber eagerly up Bella's side.
'I can assure you I am perfectly serious.' Bella responded haughtily.
"Don't tell me that you're scared," Lexi teased as she eagerly made her way across to Bella's side, clambering up just as easily as Ximena and Aoife had done, and settling at the front of them.
'Now we didn't say that…" Greyson blustered as both he and Allen's eyes looked as though they might burst from their sockets at any second.
'Well, quite frankly I'm disappointed,' Bella purred, 'I had thought that shifters and Lycans feared very little. I promised to take good care of you all, so what's the problem?"
"The problem is that if wolves were meant to fly, we'd have fucking wings," Allen muttered as he stalked towards Bella, casting a resigned glance up at his now grinning mates face as he began the climb up.
Greyson followed afterwards, with Orynn shoving him up the last few feet as he expertly moved over Bella's back, pointing to the areas he thought that they should hold onto.
"Now, hold tight, the ascent is always the trickiest,' Bella smirked as she lifted her head and opened her mouth wide, sending a torrent of black flame interspersed with a whole spectrum of different hues of fluorescent purples and violets spiraling towards the ceiling of the cavern.
The dense rock offered no resistance, melting away into nothingness as the opening in the ceiling widened until it was big enough to fit Bella through.
'Brace yourselves,' she warned, a smirk of anticipation playing at the edges of her mouth as her impressive wings lifted in a graceful arc and beat downwards purposefully, lifting them quickly towards the opening.
The shriek that emitted from both Allen and Greyson was in stark contrast to the gleeful giggles and whoops that came from Lexi, Aoife and Ximena as they emerged into the sky beyond.
Lexi tilted her head back, closing her eyes and savoring the feel of the air on her face.
When she opened them again she was confronted with a scene that filled her with confusion.
They had emerged from the cavern and traveled upwards, hovering just above the towers of the palace that Lexi had first come face to face with Eromaug in.
The golden towers and ornate balconies of the Djinn's library were to her left and the streets below were packed with countless figures staring straight up towards them.
"It is done!" A familiar voice rose above the figures below as Maerifa and countless other Djinn hovered above the crowd, "As we foresaw, and so it has finally come to pass!"
His face split into a wide grin as he uttered his next words that would take Lexi's breath away.
"Raise your weapons, bow your heads and swear your eternal loyalty to our new Empress!" He announced as Lexi gasped in shock, with Bella rumbling happily below her.
As one, tens of thousands of voices below them rose in unison.
"Until the end of our days and to our last breath, we swear to serve you in life and again in death! All hail our esteemed Empress Lexi!"
"They can't be serious." Lexi breathed in shock, "Tell me they aren't serious Bella!"
Bella chuckled knowingly.
'The Djinn do not joke, especially when they have already decided on a title for you.'
"What do you mean a title?! They're already throwing Empress at me…what the fuck…I can't rule over all of these! Why…"
'The Djinn will take care of business here until you are ready to return,' Bella grinned as she began to glide forward, circling above the crowd below to raucous cheers, 'You honored your promise to them and as such, you have earned their unending loyalty.'
"But I don't want to be Empress…Bella..I can barely take care of myself, never mind an army of stubborn daemons!" Lexi continued to protest as the sound of Allen and Greyson snorting in disbelief made her turn to glower angrily at them.
"Everything always has to be beyond expectations with you doesn't it?" Greyson teased.
"Do you want us to bow and fan you with palm fronds while you relax too?" Allen grinned as she scowled furiously at them.
"You can fuck off for a start!" she spat furiously.
"That's a bit hard on the back of your very own soul dragon," Greyson retorted.
Their bickering was drowned out by Bella's rumble of laughter and for the first time, she truly felt that she knew happiness.
'Come, let's return you to the realm that you grew up in and we can decide how you want to proceed from there.' Bella rumbled as Lexi pouted, 'I have a feeling that 'Empress Lexi the Savage' has only seen the first of many adventures in her long life.'