Feela the Behemoth glared at Faluel in reproach as she sniffed the air like a hunting dog on the prowl, confirming Lith's hybrid nature.
'Curse you, damn Hydra. Creatures like Phoenixes and Dragons don't even bother joining the Council whereas their lesser cousins seek us only for the secret of Awakening.
'A Wyrmling with Origin Flames is the best apprentice a Forgemaster could ever want. Now it's too late to change my motion and request to be the one appointed as Verhen's mentor. I can only give him to Faluel or Raagu. You tied my hands, you seven-headed deceptive snake!' Feela thought.
Raagu looked at Lith with even more greed, daydreaming about all the wonders that human Forgemasters could achieve once freed from the necessity of resorting to beasts to purify metals.
'Lith is the first human capable of harnessing Origin Flames. If his bloodline shares this trait, his descendants would be a priceless asset. We must keep him from falling in the hands of the beasts or nothing will change.' Raagu thought.
'This hybrid could bridge between the Council and the Abominations, if not even bring humans and beasts closer. I must tread with caution and make sure my people don't get swallowed by the shift in the power balance that this revelation might create.' Lotho the Treant thought.
'I always wondered how a meal cooked with Origin Flames would taste. Too bad they are too expensive to waste them like that. Now that I think about it, did I turn the fire below the cauldron off before I left home?' Inxialot thought.
He had long-since hoarded everything he needed for his research and had no care for what other undead might want. The King of Liches just wanted to go home.
After the five judges forced everyone to stay calm, they took turns in scanning Lith's second life force. If before it was just a squabble between two factions, now the result would affect them all.
"I owe you an apology, Jiza. I have never seen anything like this and the two life forces eclipse each other to the point that it's impossible to notice the second unless you know what to look for." Raagu said.
"He's a Wyrmling, yet he is not." Feela mumbled. "Usually, at his age, the two life forces of a hybrid clash violently against each other because they are incapable of coexisting.
"It's the reason why by the time a hybrid's mana core reaches full maturity at twenty years of age, it can't cope with the conflict anymore and the hybrid is forced to pick one life force.
"In Verhen's case, however, the two life forces are like light and darkness, two sides of the same coin. I believe that in due time they'll become one."
"Maybe we should ask our guest what she thinks." Lotho pointed at Xenagrosh. "After all, he's part Abomination. Why not let them take care of him? All the members of the Organization are hybris, so they are best suited to teach him."
Knowing that it was too late to lay claims to the young man on the plants' behalf, all he could do was damage control. The Abominations were few in numbers even for Awakened standards and had already access to Origin Flames.
If Lith fell into their hands the shift in the power balance would be negligible. Moreover, it would make the war between undead and Abomination escalate even further. Plants considered both races as parasites and only wished them to become extinct.
"No way. Abominations aren't part of the Council and I'll not give them an Awakened to experiment upon." Feela and Raagu said in unison.
Both their factions had resorted to inviting the Organization into their fold only out of desperation. Without a Ruler of the Flames, the gap between true and fake Forgemasters became smaller by the decade and with Dawn's return, the three Horsemen were reunited again.
Each one of them could Awaken their host without fail and provide their spawns with uncanny abilities. Bytra and Xenagrosh together would solve the former issue while the unique powers the monster-Eldritch hybrids held would force the Horsemen on the defense.
Yet if the Abominations discovered how to Awaken again and became able to produce an offspring, they would become Mogar's master race. Raagu and Feela regarded them as a necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless.
"Thanks for your trust. I'll make sure to convey it to the rest of my kin." Xenagrosh sneered. "I'm not going to take part in your power play, but I will not stand idly if you try to harm my little brother."
A small burst of purple Origin Flames came out of her mouth while a single gold coin appeared amid emerald flames between her middle and index finger.
"I beg your pardon?" Lith had been careful and followed Faluel's plan down to a t, yet the sudden turn of events couldn't be underestimated. "What do you mean, little brother, and how did you bypass the dimensional sealing array of this place?"
He would have liked to ask many more questions and discuss with Solus the findings of her mana sense, but he was afraid that among those old monsters there was someone capable of spotting their mana link if triggered from a distance.
"How dare you threaten the Council, Fallen Lord?" Lotho stood up, forcing the magical ceiling of the courtroom to grow higher to accommodate the wooden titan.
"Do you think that just because you possess an omni pocket you're a match for us? Conjure your best weapons, parasite, and we'll gladly put you down and retrieve them from your corpse, just like you stole them from your countless victims."
Lith had no idea how strong Xenagrosh was. To Life Vision, her black core and her troll core canceled each other in a foggy mess, whereas Lotho was brimming with so much power that he appeared as a small mana geyser.
"I gave her the omni pocket as a coming of age gift." Leegaain voice was quiet, yet it eclipsed everyone else's, making the room fall silent.
An odd feeling of cold spread among the Awakened, as if a winter storm had walked through the door, finding them stark naked.
"What did you say?" Lotho turned toward the still sitting Guardian, whose mantle turned out to be his folded wings.
"You heard me. She didn't steal the pocket." Leegaain stood up, and everyone else suddenly felt smaller. The only thing worse than discovering Xenagrosh's origin was facing her father's wrath.
"How dare you threaten my daughter in my own house, after I promised her hospitality rights to settle her business with the Council?" Leegaain flapped his wings, forcing everyone on their knees due to the air pressure that the gesture caused.
Only Xenagrosh was allowed to stand and Lith with her because she was shielding him with her own wings.
"This isn't your home." Raagu managed to stand, but barely. "This is the Council's headquarters…"
"Oh, no. This is the Empire and everything else is an insignificant detail on the map, waiting to be rewritten." A simple glare forced her to fall down again while Lotho had now shrunk to the size of a child.
"If you want to fight the Abominations as I asked you all years ago, be my guest. If you insist on bringing them to the Council, I'll get over it. Yet threaten one of my guests again and we'll see how many are willing to face me to indulge in your madness." Leegaain snarled, and the strength in his voice made the weakest in the room faint.
