‘Yes, but she’s going to be born as a regular hybrid.’ The Emerald Dragon didn’t miss the underlying accusation. ‘I’m not going to lie. At first, I resented both children the same way.
‘She is innocent and she’s part of my family. No ifs or buts can change it. After a while, I realized that Valeron is no different so I came here to make things right.’
‘Thanks, Dad. It means the world to me.’ Jormun said.
‘Don’t thank me yet. I’ve also come to make you an offer. Can call your w- the Ma- Thrud here, please.’ Leegaain had a hard time accepting their relationship and how it had started, but he did his best to keep his opinion to himself.
‘One second.’ Jormun knew it, but pretended not to notice.
“What is he doing here?” Unlike Jormun, the Mad Queen felt no joy in the meeting and unlike his Generals, she had no fear of the Guardian.
Her deep white core had turned a few shades brighter and burst its aura forward as it channeled the power that the lost academy and the mana geyser below it granted to her.
The Sword and Armor of Arthan were extensions of her being. Along with the silver lightning of the Life Maelstrom they further amplified the tremendous power she held.
The Armor opened on her back, letting a set of gold-feathered wings out, her hands turned into talons, and small feathers came out of her skin, forming a sturdy protective layer.
“The white core turned you into a Golden Griffon like Tyris? How can someone like you reach such enlightenment?” Leegaain was flabbergasted, doubting for the first time in millennia Mogar’s sanity.
Even one of his Firstborns would have trembled in front of Thrud, but she was just a speck of dust in front of a Guardian. Yet.
“Are you insane?” Jormun using that word despite knowing how much she hated it was a huge tell, but him standing between her and the Guardian while pointing at the baby sealed the deal.
“I surrender.” Thrud fell onto her knees, dropping her equipment and shapeshifting into her naked human form. “Do whatever you want with me. Please, just don’t harm my son. He shouldn’t pay for the actions of his mother.”
Normally, she would have fought tooth and nail, but she couldn’t afford to conjure the firepower necessary to harm a Guardian without putting the baby’s life at stake.
‘Am I the bad guy here?’ Leegaain thought, seeing the Mad Queen willing to throw away hundreds of years of scheming and thousands of lives she had sacrificed just for the sake of protecting her child.
“By the Great Mother, what the heck are you talking about?” He actually said. “Can’t a grandfather visit his baby boys?”
“Do I have your word you won’t hurt Valeron or take him away from me?” Thrud refused to stand up until she was certain of the Guardian’s intentions.
“I swear it on my blood, now stand up and cover yourself, for the gods’ sake!” Leegaain said, half-outraged and half-ashamed of himself. “Do you want to hold the baby or can I keep him for a while longer?”
The Mad Queen looked at Valeron who had kept sleeping despite the fuss and shapeshifted the Armor into a yellow day dress embroidered with white lace worthy of the Royal Court.
“You can hold him. Even if there is a surprise attack, there would be no place safer for him than your arms.” She considered her son a good judge of character.
Valeron always cried when someone like Linnea or Hystar came close to his crib.
“I’ll try to be quick and not overstay my welcome.” The Guardian said while conjuring a soft tune that he used as a lullaby for his children. “Here’s my offer. Put an end to this war, depower the Golden Griffon, and in exchange I’ll grant the three of you asylum.”
“Would you really do it?” Jormun asked while looking at Thrud’s expression with hope.
“Yes. If you accept, Jormun and Valeron will be free to come and go from my lair. They have done nothing wrong and they will be free to live their life however they want. As for you, Thrud, you’d have to stay there.
“You would be forbidden from going outside but I would also keep any of your enemies from finding you and allow you to escape from both the justice of the Kingdom and the Awakened Council.”
“Are you offering me an eternity of slavery?” Her eyes turned into fiery slits of white mana, but not an ounce of power radiated from her.
“Not slavery, just imprisonment.” Leegaain shook his head. “Also, it wouldn’t be forever.
“You are eternally young now whereas even Awakened sooner or later die. In a few millennia, when your name has become but a cautionary tale and everyone who met you is no more, we can discuss your release.
“I’m confident that with time, meditation, and self-discipline, you can be redeemed. With your power and your genius, there are countless ways you can make up for your crimes with.
“You have killed thousands to fuel the Madness and your machinations but if you become a Magus, your knowledge will save millions if not billions of lives. Mogar will be better for it and at that point, no one would deny to you your rightful place.”
“My answer is no.” Thrud replied with no hesitation. “I won’t be locked in a prison for taking what’s mine by birthright.”
“Are you sure of your decision?” Leegaain asked. “My lair isn’t a damp cave. I stretched its boundaries with dimensional magic and filled it with biomes whose extension surpasses the Gorgon Empire.
“You would have an entire new world to explore.”
“No matter how dignified, a prison is still a prison.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t be able to show to my son his own country, explain its story to him, nor could I share with him any wonder Mogar has to offer.
“Seeing his mother locked up, hearing only what the rest of the world thinks of me, he would grow up ashamed of his heritage and name. That’s a burden that no parent can allow befalling their child.”
“He should be ashamed of his heritage and name.” Leegaain’s voice became cold. “Your father was a madman who in his short time killed even more people than you did. He created with Forbidden Magic the monstrosity that surrounds us.
“He enslaved countless innocents, robbing them of everything that made them sentient beings and turned them into mindless puppets. Before spouting nonsense think about what your father did to my son. Your husband.
“Think about how your own son was conceived. Let’s say that you win this damn war. Once he grows up will you tell him the truth about his birth or are you so delusional that you can spin such a horror until it becomes a romantic story?”
