"I thought about how could Manohar and I get fooled by the Skinwalkers and I think I know the answer." Lith replied. "You see, the life force is a three-dimensional form of energy, yet when a healer looks at it, they only examine the surface because it's there that the signs of an illness or of a slave spell can be found.
"Yet a Skinwalker is different. They rearrange their life force to mimic that of their victim, folding and rearranging it until they match. It means that since their victims have no runes on their life force, the Skinwalkers probably turn their own inside out so that when a healer examines them, they look normal."
"Good gods! We need to alert the army and have every city official checked again." Kamila said.
"Slow down. I said that I wanted to call you because you are the only army official that knows my secret. I have no way to share this information without arousing a ton of questions I can't answer." Lith could see the disappointment on her face.
"I need you as a Constable to bring this matter to the light without my involvement. Do you think you can do it?"
"I'm a Constable, not a healer. Requesting such a deep scan on trusted members of the Kingdom requires an iron-clad reason. What about asking for Vastor's help?" She replied.
"The Professor would be in my same spot. Too long has passed since we submitted our reports and without a good reason, we can't go back-"
"Hold that thought." Kamila pressed her fingers on his lips to shut him up as a detail of the Vampire's words echoed in her brain.
The smell of ink mixed with her natural scent froze his mouth along with his body.
"There's something even worse than enslaved imposters running the Kingdom." She turned as pale as a ghost, pressing her palm on his face to not be interrupted by questions. "If you and Manohar failed to discover the Skinwalkers, then there's no way the Undead Courts did.
"Then ask yourself, how did Lekha know about the Skinwalkers?" Kamila kept her hand in place until Lith's eyebrows rose in understanding.
"Lekha knew because Thrud shared her plans with the Undead Courts and the only reason she did that is that they are working together." They said in unison.
Lith and Kamila kept walking and talking until Elina called them for dinner. They had spent hours trying to find a way to alert the Kingdom of the impending threat, but to no avail.
Without a source or proof, no one would listen to them and even if they did, without knowing whom to trust, they risked alerting Thrud. They had no idea how close the Mad Queen was to completing her war preparations and without a proper plan, they would just help her.
Revealing the existence of the Skinwalkers while they still had no way to quickly identify them like it happened for the Doppelgangers would have thrown the Kingdom into chaos.
Fear and paranoia would have driven people apart, compromising even the army's chain of command. Mages and soldiers would second-guess every order they received, afraid that their commanding officer might actually be an imposter.
If Thrud learned that the army had discovered the presence of her Skinwalkers before they had a spell to identify them, all she had to do to achieve a swift victory was to sacrifice a few of her pawns to fuel the ensuing chaos and strike at the Kingdom while its ranks were divided.
"I'll do what I can from the inside. You alert Vastor. He's supervising the White Griffon's Light Department in the search for Doppelgangers in the Distar region so maybe he can help." Kamila said.
When they returned home, the kids were playing with Solus. She had to hold the Sage Staff just to keep her body stable, something that Kamila didn't miss. Kamila stopped to look at her, finding it amazing that Solus had retained her sanity after being trapped inside a rock for years.
"Aunt Kami, you are back!" Aran dropped his toys and ran to her, quickly followed by Leria.
"I've never lied to you and I never will." She hugged the kids and then Solus as well when she passed near Kamila to reach the table.
"I never got the opportunity to thank you for keeping Lith alive for all this time. You are an amazing person, Solus, and without you, Mogar would be a darker place."
"Thanks, I'll do my best." Solus was so surprised that she said the first thing that came to her mind, making Kamila chuckle.
The kids were so happy to have what they considered the whole family reunited that they insisted on Kamila staying for the night, forcing her to leave only after they fell asleep.
The following morning Aran, Leria, and Elina nagged at Lith for Kamila not being there for breakfast which made him leave for the Desert way sooner than he had planned.
He had to use the Warp Gate in the barn because Salaark's tribe had moved to a new oasis where Lith had never been.
He needed Salaark to remove the imprint on the equipment he had borrowed and to split everything but Sunder in their basic components. He wanted to improve the Railgun and the armor while he had yet to finish studying the enchanted claws' power core.
"Back already? Don't tell me that after a little more than one month in the Desert you can't live without your grandmother?" Salaark said, welcoming him and Solus with open arms.
The womb of the Overlord was starting to show the first signs of the pregnancy and so was the huge mahogany table that she used as a desk. Usually, it was filled with paperwork, but now it was covered with empty food trays.
"Yes." He replied a little too quickly to be believable.
"I knew it!" Salaark stomped her foot, causing an earthquake and covering the sky with thunderclouds. "I did all I could for you and yet you visit me only when you need something.
"Why are you so mean to me?" She started to cry and so did the sky. The usually dry Blood Desert was now facing the first typhoon in over a century.
'Oppenheimer almighty! I already have trouble with the mood swings of pregnant women. I have no idea how to deal with a pregnant Guardian.' Lith thought while bearing the hostile gaze of all those present in the room.
'Get a grip or the Desert will not survive your social blunders.' Solus replied.
"I'm sorry Grandma. I did come here for your Creation Magic but I brought you gifts." Lith gave her a cheesecake, some doughnuts, and various new flavors of ice cream.
They were actually prototypes of sweets he had made for Solus's birthday, but he had to go to war with the army he had.
"How kind and delicious of you. Thank you." Salaark now cried with joy and the typhoon turned into a misty spring rain that cleared the sky as soon as she tasted the first doughnut. "Can I have the recipe, please?"
"Yes." Lith gave her a few papers.. "I still have to perfect them and I'm open to suggestions."
