Sylpha glared at the members of the Council who shrugged in reply. She had no idea that just like Lith’s cracked life force compromised his lifespan so would the effects of the Forbidden Spell on anyone who didn’t carry Arthan’s blood.
Meron had lost a decade while the Awakened would have lost hundreds of years, if not their very life. Meron at least carried Valeron’s and Tyris’ blood, making him at least similar to Arthan, whereas the Council representatives had none.
“I’ll honor your sacrifice, your majesty, but you’ve underestimated the magnitude of what you are asking from me. We’ll discuss it after the test.” Lith first shapeshifted into his Tiamat form and then stripped, entrusting everything to Kamila.
“Why did you do that?” Raagu was flabbergasted. “We need to check your Abomination side.”
“Of which I have limited experience and control.” Lith replied. “I can’t risk damaging my equipment and I’m not showing myself naked.”
“You never trained your Abomination half?” Sylpha turned pale.
“It’s not like I spent the last few years playing around.” The Tiamat snarled. “I got these powers for but a few months and I spent most of them fighting for you. Also, everyone I met told me not to practice Chaos magic so what was the point of training my Abomination form?”
‘On top of that, after what happened with Ilka, I don’t trust myself with this power.’ He inwardly added.
“He’s right. I forbade him to.” Faluel and Xenagrosh said in unison.
Lith closed his eyes, focusing on the heavy melody of the Void that comprised his life force. Now it had spread to the red human tendrils and the violet stars of the beast side, but its tune was unmistakable.
It was full of wrath and fury, more a scream than a song. Lith focused on his past and the pain it carried, shapeshifting into something in between an Eldritch and an Empowered Abomination.
In that form, Lith still resembled Derek McCoy but only those who had seen his memories of his previous life would be able to recognize him. To anyone else, Kamila included, he was just different.
Long straight horns came out of his forehead while curved horns came out of the base of his skull, covering his neck. His upside-down membranous wings became normal while the feathered wings were absorbed in the black mass of his body.
Seven eyes each of a different elemental color opened on his face along with a lipless white maw. His height hadn’t changed and he stood over 2 meters (7′) tall. His mass was also unaffected by the transformation.
The Abomination form’s full size was smaller than the Tiamat, but the energy it was made of was so dense that it almost had physical substance. The Chaos mixed with darkness drained the light in the room, making his black claws and talons glisten.
Solus’ ring slipped on Kamila’s finger, shrinking her size until it hurt in worry.
‘What’s wrong?’ Kamila asked through the mind link she knew would be there.
‘Be on guard. That’s Lith and yet he isn’t.’ Solus remembered well how the Void had attempted to devour Lith in the Hogum Household.
She also remembered all the times when his Abomination side had run wild and hurt her. It was the only side of Lith she had no hold on. It didn’t scare her, but it hurt her more than she would admit.
The Void was nothing but the remnants of Derek McCoy that had transcended space. A scarred fragment that lived in the darkest part of Lith’s mind. It was the embodiment of all Derek’s traumas that he had unleashed back on Earth after losing everything.
He lived with Lith, experiencing everything with him, but his negative feelings were cranked up to eleven.
For a moment, the seven eyes turned white as the elemental power was replaced by the Decay that kept the spark of Chaos inside Lith’s darkness body at bay. The Void looked around, recognizing the Royals and the members of the Council.
It had no love for them and his maw turned up in the savage smile of a predator ready to strike. The Abomination was no Eldritch, yet it exuded a murderous euphoria that made even the ancient Awakened tense up.
Aside from Kamila, Faluel, and Xenagrosh, everyone felt its gaze lingering on their vitals as it searched for the weak spots of their enchanted protections. They returned the gaze, weaving their best spells in case Lith lost himself to the Chaos.
If that happened, even without equipment and with the gap in their cores it would’ve taken him a single Cursed spell to kill them.
“Lith, are you alright?” Kamila walked in front of him and color returned to his eyes as he regained control of his body.
“Not really.” He replied, his voice shifting between Lith’s and Derek’s. “Please, stay close to me but not enough to be affected by the array.”
While he still had full control over his body, Lith stepped inside the circle and Meron activated its effects. In the test version that Vastor had developed, the spell’s energy was visible and everyone could see its tendrils recognize a prey and charge at it.
They plunged inside the Void, trying to rewrite its melody according to Arthan’s will. The Unwavering Loyalty array had never met such a complex life force, but in the end, even a Tiamat was just the sum of the four races.
The tendrils of light moved toward the Void’s mana core, where the human and the beast side were safely stored inside the black sphere of the Abomination. Lith felt the energy of the spell altering his essence and reacted with extreme prejudice.
The darkness ate at the golden light and rearranged itself until it returned back to its original state. The Unwavering Loyalty array kept attacking non-stop, but the Void had learned how to defend himself.
After a while, the Abomination life force managed to feed off the foreign energy signature and add its power to his own.
Once the Forbidden Spell faded, the diagnostic arrays in the Throne Room confirmed that Lith’s life force was unscathed and a blue light appeared.
“What’s the verdict?” The Abomination’s voice now fully belonged to Derek and it felt as alien as his appearance.
Lith was still in control, but the Void didn’t like their situation one bit.
“Everything is fine.” Sylpha said while helping Meron to sit and drink several tonics. “You can shapeshift back into a human.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Lith replied, the elemental lights in his eyes kept switching on and off as the Void fought him for dominance.
“I have no idea if keeping this form for long can be dangerous for me or my companions and I can’t afford to put my limits to the test after the start of the mission.”
“Fair enough.” Sylpha nodded while she kept attending to the King’s condition with the help of Faluel and Raagu.
Kamila stared at him with worry, believing that there was something wrong with Lith. His face was supposed to be a black slate as still as a lake during a windless day, yet it kept twisting and twitching as if there was an ongoing struggle right below the surface.
And she was right.
