"There will be no second attempt." Raaz shook his head. "They would have never dared to make a move against me if not for our prolonged absence."
"And my rocky relationship with the Crown." Lith added the part that his father had left out not to make him feel responsible. "I'm not a kid, Dad. You don't have to sugarcoat the truth for me."
"Correct." Raaz nodded. "You may not be a kid, but you'll always be my son. I know how heavy the burden you carry is despite all of your efforts to make it look as if it's nothing. You can't blame me for trying to help you however I can."
"Thanks, Dad." Lith said.
Raaz heard those precious words so rarely that they moved him, making him wish he could do more. Yet he kept walking, pretending that nothing had happened.
"Now that the sowing of my fields has started and with you being a hero again, making another move would be suicidal. Also, you have my word that if they do, I'll not stand in your way. Being good is one thing, being stupid is another."
After that, they didn't say another word until they reached Zekell's house.
They spent lunch talking with the blacksmith and telling him about all the marvels of the Desert while he brought Senton and Raaz up to speed about the most recent events.
"I'm not going to lie, Lutia's growth is good for business, but it's also a pain in the ass." Zekell said after sending out the children to play. "The newcomers blame Lith's enemies for everything that goes wrong with their business and consider him a threat to their safety."
"This is ridiculous!" Raaz lost his composure, forcing Lith to calm him down. "Lutia has one of the lowest crime rates in the County thanks to the Queen's corps. It's only thanks to Lith that no noble dares to bully us and that none of our caravans get attacked even outside the city.
"Criminals are too afraid of retaliation from Lith or the army. On top of that, the Warp Gate in our barn allows the Kingdom to dispatch troops at a moment's notice. Our village- I mean, our city has never been safer!"
"You are right, but the other merchants see the Warp Gate as another unfair advantage. They claim that the least that Lith could do to compensate Lutia for living under the constant threat of an attack is to share the Gate with everyone so that they can make up for their losses ." Zekell said.
"What a bunch of ungrateful bastards!" Raaz snarled. "Son, I say it's time we go back to the Desert, this place is starting to sicken me. Don't forget about the promise to the children, though. Go fetch our ride, we'll wait here."
Raaz threw at Lith a meaningful glance to which he responded with a nod.
"I thought you brought the DoLorean with you." Zekell scratched his head in confusion. "Besides, Abominus and Onyx will never fit. Isn't it better to just Warp?"
"Not that kind of ride." Raaz said with a smug grin on his face. "You and your wife are invited."
The blacksmith had no idea what was happening, but after living for so long in Lutia he had stopped asking too many questions. After one surprise too many Zekell had grown numb to them.
Or so he thought until the Voidfeather Dragon landed on luminous platforms that appeared a few meters above his workshop.
His breath had the strength of a gust of wind and smelled of sulfur while his red scales glistened under the sun like giant rubies. The creature glared upon the city with his seven eyes, spreading a subtle aura of terror that made it impossible to talk.
"Get on. I don't have all day." Lith, or better, his life-like hologram said from the Dragon's back while sitting on a saddle and holding reins both made with Light Mastery.
"What a magnificent beast." Like all the old inhabitants of Lutia, Zekell was unaffected by the aura of terror.
He instinctively raised his hand to reach the creature and Lith gently lowered his snout to allow the blacksmith to caress it.
"Is it tame?" He asked.
"No, but it owes me a couple of favors." The hologram said loud enough for everyone to hear.
An escalator made of light appeared from the saddle and extended to the feet of the Verhen's. The kids didn't waste a second, running to the top of the ladder without fear.
Zekell looked his wife in the eyes for a second before asking:
"Is it safe?"
"What do you think?" Lith's hologram replied while pointing at the kids sitting on the head of the beast, each one of them glued to a different horn.
A barrier of light enveloped them and the seats they were strapped to.
"Zekell Dragonrider is a heck of a name for a smithy." The blacksmith managed to find to courage to use the escalator only because he was the only one still on the ground and because it would do wonders for the business.
"Can I sell scale replicas of you in my shop?" He asked.
"Which one?" The Dragon replied.
"All of them. Dragon themed jewels for the ladies, weapons for the men, and toys for the kids!" The last part had Aran's and Leria's approval.
"Fine, but I want my share." Lith said with a sigh.
"Sure. I-"
"Grandpa, we want to fly, not sit!" The kids yelled in unison.
After everyone was safely strapped to their respective seat, Lith took off with a roar that made Lutia tremble. At first, Zekell and his wife thought they would die of fright but after nothing bad happened for a few seconds, fear gave way to the exhilarating joy of flight.
The barriers of light let in just enough wind to ruffle their hair and the Dragon moved as lithe and majestic as a hawk. The city of Lutia became smaller as Lith rose higher in the sky until they could see even Raaz's house and the Trawn woods from above.
They flew through the entire Lustria County and Lith made sure to pay Baronet Hogum a visit. He circled several times above his mansion, releasing a powerful aura of fear with each roar until he could almost smell the piss from above.
'Once Hogum investigates the phenomenon, he'll learn who the Dragon belongs to and will get his message. You touch my stuff, and I touch yours.' Lith thought.
***
Heavenly Plume Village.
Solus's cookies were the best she had ever cooked, which wasn't actually much but to her, they tasted like victory.
'Maybe starting my cooking lessons with sweets wasn't such a good idea.' She thought while patting her stomach. 'I need to diet and exercise if I want to lose weight.'
"You need a more delicate touch with the dough, dear." Elina said, dipping a cookie in milk to make it soft enough for human consumption. "If you compress it too much, instead of crunchy cookies you get cookie-shaped rocks."
"Sorry, I'll do better next time." Solus wolfed them down, instead.
'After everything I went through, I deserve a break. The diet can wait for tomorrow..' She thought.
'If I leave even a crumb behind, the Kingdom will appropriate it and I can kiss my loot goodbye.' Lith thought.
'That's not very patriotic of you, young man.' Locrias scolded him. 'If not for everything that the Kingdom has done for you, you would still live in your backwater village.'
'Locrias?' Lith was flabbergasted.
While the rest of the Demons had disappeared after venting their anger and vanquishing the enemy at hand, Locrias had remained. His body was reduced to flickering shadow, but his will was as strong as ever.
'Nice to meet you again, too.' The Captain replied with a sneer. 'I always knew you were a jackass, but this is too much. How can you worry about your loot instead of about your country and even forget about your partner?'
'Solus!' Lith suddenly remembered that she was still on the battlefield, pretending to be him.
'Yeah, her.' Locrias said. 'That poor girl risked her life for you and-'
'Shut up! I need to think.' Lith sighed in relief when Syrook's corpse disappeared inside the pocket dimension and immediately opened a Warp Steps back to Solus.
'I'm not done with you, young man, but I agree that this conversation can wait.' Locrias' defiance reminded Lith of the reason why he had given up on the idea of creating higher undead.
There was no such a convenient thing as a being with free will who was also blindly loyal for no good reason.
'I'm sorry for taking so long. How do you feel?' Lith said via the mind link.
'Like crap. Thank you for asking.' Her legs had already started to disappear, making it impossible for Solus to stand up. 'The pain is unbearable. Please, get your ass back inside this armor as soon as possible and me inside my ring.'
'On it.' Lith took her on his hand.
"Stop right there!" Lith recognized Captain Eman's voice and admired him for his bravery. "Where are you taking Major Verhen?"
Eman and the other soldiers had come to help as soon as they had stabilized the condition of the wounded. They had barely any strength left, their equipment was almost depowered, and their spells would amount to a mosquito bite and they knew it.
Yet they stood against the Tiamat as if he needed more than lifting his foot to squash them like bugs.
"Verhen needs urgent treatment. After that, we must discuss how to share the Dragon's corpse." In that form, Lith's voice sounded like a howl coming from an abyss that somehow had learned how to form words.
"There's nothing to discuss." Eman didn't budge. "You'll take half of it and the Kingdom will take the other half."
"Half?" The Tiamat laughed, sending a shiver down the spine of those who heard it, no matter the distance. "Then I demand also half of the items that the human and the undead wore."
"Quaron is Major Verhen's kill, not yours."
"I can say the same about the Dragon." Lith snarled.
"As for the undead's equipment, we are grateful for your assistance, but it didn't belong to the Dragon. It was stolen from the Kingdom and if you take even a single piece, you'd become a criminal as well." Eman said.
Lith admired his guts and loyalty, wishing that his Demons were all like him.
'You wish.' Locrias scoffed. 'People like me and that lad took an oath because we believe in a cause, not to become puppets.'
The Tiamat's seven eyes brimmed with fury and greed at the thought of losing even a single scale of the Dragon.
'Please, I need help.' Solus said, making his anger fade.
Lith Blinked high in the sky and then he flew away. Solus promptly returned inside her ring and her pain stopped.
'I need time to recover, maybe even a mana geyser.' She said.
'What's that?' Locrias asked.
'Seriously, why are you still here?' Lith checked War and noticed how desperately the Captain clung to the strands of mana he had left.
'I'm not ready to move on.' The Captain sighed. 'I can't just die while the Kingdom is sieged by people like Thrud or the undead. On top of that, I can't forgive the Balkor copycat.
'That bastard took everything from me, killed a lot of good people, and yet they are still somewhere, enjoying life. Before I go, I want to see them dead.'
'That makes the two of us.' Lith replied. 'Yet I still don't understand what you want from me. I'm not going to keep a Demon always active just for you. It takes too much energy and it would drive you insane.'
'I'm not asking anything from you, I'm offering you my help.' Locrias replied.
His body was made of Lith's mana and because of that forming a proper mind link came to him as natural as breathing.
Locrias showed Lith how the Demons rarely worked together, each one only focused on venting the anger or resentment that still bound them to the world of the living. He also revealed to Lith that Demons inherited his knowledge, making them able to use most of his spells.
Yet the majority of them hadn't been mages in life so they stuck to what they knew or used their powers clumsily. On top of that, the fact that they shared the same energy signature made them immune to each other's spells and created countless tactical advantages.
'I see what you mean.' Lith nodded. 'I'm already working on giving my Demons some leaders but I could use more than two. I don't care how you do it. You can stick around me as long as you promise to keep my secrets.'
'Don't worry, kid.' Locrias replied. 'I won't share your secrets with anyone just like I won't share the secrets of the Kingdom with you. It's a fair deal.'
'Wait, what secrets is the Kingdom keeping from me?'
Locrias ignored Lith's words and let go of the energy that comprised the last spark of his Demon form. The shadow disappeared, leaving behind a small sphere of light the size of an apple.
Lith expected it to dart toward the sky, like it always happened when a soul moved on, yet Locrias' sphere of light charged at the Tiamat instead. Or better, at his only feathered wing.
The red veins on one of them turned from a random pattern to a rune that closely reminded Lith that of Locrias' communication amulet. Lith and Solus could sense the presence of the Captain within the feather and tried to talk to him, yet instead of words came visions.
Locrias was at peace, in a state similar to a deep slumber where he re-experienced the happiest and the saddest moments of his life. The former dreams reminded him of what he was fighting for and kept him from becoming insane.
The latter nightmares reminded him of what he was fighting against and rekindled the flames of hate that kept him bound to Lith.
'I guess this explains what my feathers are for. Each one of them can store one soul.' Lith pondered.
'I'm sad for Locrias.' Solus said. 'The dreams give him the illusion of being still alive and of going back to his family.. Once he wakes up, the pain will blind him.'
