"Nonsense." Faluel shook her head. "I see that you diligently used Lifestream to nurture your mana core and that the constant practice of Forgemastery at a level beyond your own brought your impurities together.
"Now is not the time to rest, but to make one last push to achieve a bright blue core."
The lesser version of the Hydra's breathing technique that Friya used was still more effective than Lith's old Invigoration, allowing her to progress at a faster pace.
"By the way, is it true that a Harbinger shares their master's bloodline abilities?" Friya asked.
"Yes." Faluel nodded, liking her enthusiasm. She had expected Friya to whine and beg her to take a break from training.
"Why didn't you ever mention this before and what would I get if I became yours? Dragon Eyes? Origin Flames?"
"You wish." Faluel said with a sneer. "I don't have Origin Flames and if having a Harbinger was enough to not need to pay a Divine Beast for them, all lesser Dragons would have one. No, you can only obtain the same bloodline abilities I have."
"But, you only have Domination and your seven heads!" Friya blurted out in disappointment. "I already have the streaks of my own so I have no use for your Domination and growing six more heads would make me into a monster!"
"And that's why I've never mentioned any of this before." Faluel said with a sigh. "I'm an Emperor Beast, not a Divine Beast. I'm already lucky to have a few bloodline abilities instead of none like most of my kind."
"This is great!" Friya's voice oozed sarcasm. "What's the Harbinger of a Hydra capable of doing, exactly? I mean aside from things that any regular Awakened can do."
"They can Dominate the same elements that the Hydra has already mastered and they can shapeshift into a hybrid Hydra form. It allows them to grow more heads and obtain a physical prowess between that of an Awakened human and an Emperor Beast." Faluel replied.
"If I fail your test, can I ask Lith to become his Harbinger instead? According to Syrook, he is a Divine Beast." Friya pouted in annoyance.
"So that you can share with him my breathing and Forgemastering techniques? Sure!" Faluel clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Of course not. You fail, you die. I have been crystal clear about it from the beginning.
"You have become pretty arrogant for someone who begged me to take her in. Someone that without me wouldn't even be an Awakened and would be stuck with her pretty bright cyan core!"
The Hydra didn't shapeshift into her true form nor did she bare her fang. She just stared down into Friya's eyes until she lowered her gaze.
"You are right. I'm sorry, master Faluel." Friya gave the Hydra a deep bow. "Without you, I would know nothing about true magic and spirit magic, let alone Domination."
"Good girl." The Hydra patted her head, smiling. "Also, there's an unwritten rule to never take a Harbinger of the gender you are interested in. That's why I took you and Syrook took Quaron."
"Why is that?"
"Because the relationship with a Harbinger is very intense. The blood bond and the mind link cause the Harbinger to be influenced by their master's mood even when they receive no order." Faluel replied.
"Imagine what would happen if the master were to take a fancy to their Harbinger."
"I definitely don't want to be Lith's Harbinger." Friya swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea.
"Yeah, unlike Solus, you wouldn't be his peer, but his servant. Also, I have no idea if a Tiamat can have a Harbinger." Faluel said while someone knocked on the door of her lair.
No array could block a Spirit Warp, but they could still kill whoever opened one without authorization.
"Welcome-" The words died in the Hydra's throat when Solus walked through the door in her human form, using the Sage Staff as a walking stick.
"Elphyn Menadion?" Faluel fell onto her butt from the shock.
She had recognized the lost daughter of the First Ruler of the Flames from one of the paintings that her mother, Fyrwal, kept in the dining room.
After the encounter with Silverwing, the entire group became pale. The Hydra was too young to have ever met Solus back when she was alive and Lith had never planned to let her know about the tower.
"That's how you could craft powerful artifacts even before receiving my lessons and why you didn't hesitate to offer the Hands of Menadion to me. You possess the tower of Menadion!" Finally all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
Faluel knew from her mother about the slaughter of Menadion's apprentices that had taken place shortly before her death. Lith's odd Forgemastering prowess, Solus's unusual behavior for a cursed item and her getting stronger over time finally made sense.
"Guilty as charged." Lith had no point in denying the obvious. "I was planning to tell you one day, but not like this."
"Not while I'm stronger than you, you mean." Faluel knew him enough to understand his way of thinking. "Judging from your lack of surprise, you knew it all along, Friya. You are the worst Harbinger ever."
"Master Faluel, I-"
"I don't care." The Hydra cut her short. "Now, young man, if you still want my help, you'd better tell me how you two met from the beginning, but this time I want the truth."
Lith hesitated for a second, looking Solus in the eyes until she nodded. Then, they took Faluel's hand, forming a circle, to share with everyone their story up to their latest meeting with Silverwing.
"I'm pissed off at you two for lying to me for so long, yet I'm also proud of you. You did the right thing." Faluel embraced them both, glad that they had survived two encounters with a hostile white cored Awakened.
"If you told me about the tower too soon, I might have been tempted to take it for myself. Also, the moment I told my mother about Elphyn, she would have reacted just like Silverwing.
"Mom despises humans and she would have never left the daughter of an old friend at the mercy of a stranger."
"Did Fyrwal know my mother as well?" Solus asked.
"After King Valeron faked his death, he dedicated every moment that he couldn't spend with Tyris to the study of magic in order to improve the lives of both his descendants and subjects." Faluel said.
"He studied under both Silverwing and Menadion, becoming a friend of both. Mom didn't trust any human, so at first, she followed him to make sure that they wouldn't take advantage of his good heart and then she became their apprentice as well."
"Does she have some of my father's paintings?" Solus said. "If I could see them, I might recover my memory and remember who killed me."
"Yes, she has one depicting you and Menadion." Faluel nodded. "My mother also has paintings of all of her fellow apprentices, but she made them herself.
"When Threin married Menadion, my mother had long finished her apprenticeship and for Awakened standards, his existence was too brief for him to befriend Mom.. After his death, my mother would make you a portrait every year on the day of your birthday to carry on the family tradition.
