"Lith's achievements make no sense. Phloria has trained all her life under my guidance, yet he fought Nalear better than she did, even holding his ground alone. I had plenty of masters, books, and time to refine my art, yet he managed to craft an Orichalcum Skinwalker armor before me.
"Aren't you scared of what he could become with proper training?" Orion pointed out.
"I've only two regrets. That Lith wasn't born as our child and that he is too stubborn to realize his own limits. I'm not afraid of what he might become so much as him dying in another crazy experiment of his. It would be such a waste of potential." Unlike Orion, Jirni knew about Lith's crippled life force and so did Elina.
That was the reason why both women would have liked him to have children, even though for completely different reasons. Elina just wished for his son a happy life, to experiment all the joy that he had gifted to others.
Jirni, instead, hoped that Lith would pass down his secrets to his natural heir and that would create another opportunity for her family to inherit such knowledge as well.
***
Meanwhile, in Quylla's quarters, the young mage couldn't pretend anymore to ignore the elephant in the room. Not now that she had lied on his behalf to a Royal Constable.
"Oh, gods, what are we going to do now? What if Constable Griffon exposes our charade?" Quylla asked, adding a quick pacing to her fidgeting since her legs were unable to stay still as much as her hands.
"We're not going to do anything." Phloria picked Quylla up and force her to sit down on the bed. Her sister's anxiety was seriously starting to annoy her. "You haven't lied and neither did Lith. I'm the only one who distorted the facts just enough to cover for him.
"Besides, how could she possibly expose us? There were only the three of us in the underground lab."
"Yes, but what if Constable Griffon is as good as Mom at sniffing lies? What if the Ernas household ends up paying for our mistakes? Lith kept the sword for himself and I still lied by omission." Quylla said while holding her own head between her hands.
"Quylla, we have lied to our parents, to the Headmaster, and to everyone else until now whenever Lith pulled one of his miracles. This is hardly the first time we lie to the authorities. What's the real issue here?" Phloria asked.
"It's just that it feels so weird. You think you know someone and then you find out that they are another person entirely, if even the term person is still appropriate in our case.
"Don't get me wrong, I love Lith like a brother, but he is- Gods, I don't know what he is. How can you be so calm? What we've just done is an act of treason. We have lied to an official of the Kingdom and helped a potentially dangerous individual to snatch a powerful artifact.
"We have basically put everything we have at risk for a dragon-human thingy. Why didn't he tell us the truth sooner and how could you have kept being his girlfriend knowing what you know?" Quylla asked.
"I'm calm because this changes nothing to me." Phloria replied. "I lied for him back when I thought he was just stronger than regular people and I'll do it again whenever Lith needs my help.
"He should have explained to you why he didn't share his secret before. He was afraid of scaring you away and judging from your reaction, I can't blame him for it. As for me, how could I break up with him just because he had come clean with me?
"How could I turn my back on him when he did it thinking only about my sake, to protect me from the danger that Lith believed he posed to my life? Lith knew I would have been afraid, that my first instinct would have been to scream and run, just like you're doing right now.
"Yet I stayed, because what really scared me weren't the scales, the eyes, or the claws. It was all the pain in his eyes, the honesty when he called himself a monster like it was the most natural thing in the world, and how afraid he was that somehow whatever is tainting is body could harm me.
"Do the scales change him from the mean eyed little runt who taught us about first magic? Do the eyes make him less of the friend who held our hands during and after the fourth year's second exam? Who fought alone against Balkor's minions for our sake?
"Maybe it's stupid of me, but when he tried to push me away, I didn't think about the people that I've seen him kill, nor about how scary his true nature was. All I could think about was how after Nalear enslaved you, Lith spent every night on your bedside, holding your hand and caressing your head until you fell asleep.
"About all the time he spent holding me at night because I was terrified by all the terrible things we've experienced and by all the people we have lost during our time at the academy.
"Lith had lived our same experiences, yet even if he was the one on his deathbed after saving Protector, even if he had been captured and tortured by Nalear, he consoled me. Not the other way around.
"Sorry, but I don't feel a martyr for doing what I did back then nor for doing what I've done today. Neither I'm acting out of pity, only out of affection. It's always easy to talk in hindsight, but have you ever stopped considering that he could have left us for dead?
"And I don't mean just back in Kulah, but also every time he could have easily get out of danger if not for our presence. How many times have we been able to afford the luxury of being helpless just because Lith was with us?
Phloria sat down in front of Quylla, watching her in the eyes while holding her hands.
"Who is the real monster? A human who can shapeshift into something else or a person capable of turning their back to a friend just because they are different? He saved you, me, even Mom, so many times that I wouldn't even care if wasn't human at all. Lith is Lith, everything else is just a meaningless detail."
"Gods, Dad is right. Lith has been a moron to break up with you." Quylla said while pondering her sister's words.
"I'm the one who broke up with him. Why does everyone seem to always forget this part?" Phloria chuckled.
"Because you're one of the most amazing people I've ever known." Quylla replied while hugging Phloria. "And you know what? You are right. Even though Lith himself doesn't know what he is, I do. He's my friend and part of my family.
"Lith basically adopted me before Mom did and over the years, he has done more than just saving my life. He has always been there for me, helping me to get back on my feet when I was too broken to stand on my own.
"That's all I need to know about him."
Phloria nodded, returning her hug. The matter with the sword, however, worried even her quite a bit. She had shared most of her knowledge about runes with Lith back in Kulah and all members of the expedition knew how close the two of them were.
