“Not really. I can keep hundreds at a time. Just one is nothing.” Lith replied.
“Can they eat and taste food?”
“Taste, yes. They can’t digest it, but the darkness of their body should consume anything they eat. Why?”
“I was thinking of having breakfast with the whole family. Now that we are all reunited, we should celebrate.” Raaz replied.
Lith stiffened for a moment. His love for Trion was second only to that for a kidney stone, yet he couldn’t deny his father such a simple favor. Not after seeing the light in his eyes again, like the day Kamila had proposed.
“Sure thing, Dad.” Lith said, forcing himself to smile.
“Lith?” Kamila tugged at his arm.
“Yes, darling?” He turned around to look at her, noticing the sadness on her face.
“Shouldn’t you let Locrias and Valia out as well?” She asked.
“Why?”
“Because they are people, not tools. Because their families saw them die and resurrect in Orpal’s broadcast. They must be suffering just like your parents. Imagine how must they feel not knowing what really happened to their loved ones.
“The only thing they know is that Locrias and Valia are in the hands of a runaway criminal that somehow controls them. You heard Trion. It’s the good memories that remind him of what he fights for and allow him to resist the madness.
“Why don’t you give your Demons the opportunity to make more good memories? They didn’t die centuries ago. Their families are still alive.” Kamila replied.
Lith pondered her words and used a construct to give Trion the same appearance and warmth of a living being.
“This way you won’t scare Aran and Leria.” He replied to his brother’s silent question. “Feel free to shapeshift after the introductions. You are their relative, after all, and they will expect you to turn into a Demon.”
“Do the children really know about you? About us?” Trion asked in surprise while pointing at Tista and Solus.
“Yeah. Believe me, as soon as they consider you a friend, it takes a lot to surprise them. They even have talking pets.” Lith shrugged.
Trion was about to give him a deep bow, but Elina stopped him.
“No formalities today. You are not a Demon, but his older brother and my son.” She said while finally embracing him.
She had longed to reconnect with Trion ever since he had saved her life in the Heavenly Wolf restaurant, but she couldn’t leave Raaz alone nor let the two meet.
Seeing her joy, Solus teared up as well.
“Since today is supposed to be my day, can we please stay here?” She asked both Lith and Kamila. “Mom deserves to spend more than a few minutes with Trion. They haven’t seen each other in years and have so much catching up to do.”
Lith rolled his eyes and Kamila nudged him in the ribs.
“You are right, Solus. We’ll gladly spend the day here. I heard that the lake is amazing. It’s no beach, but it will do. Right, darling?” She said with a smile that didn’t extend to her reproachful eyes.
“Right.” He replied with a sigh.
“What about Locrias and Valia?” Kamila asked.
“What about them?”
“Don’t be a smartass with me.”
“Oh, gods, fine!” Lith conjured them both and the two Demons looked around for enemies.
Panda Novel “What’s going on?” Locrias pointed at the people crying in joy on the other side of the room.
“I remember you talking about your wife and daughter.” Lith said. “And you, Valia, said that you wanted to say goodbye to your parents. Yet neither of you are really dead and you are still going to be around for a while.
“Do you want to talk to them? See them?”
The two Demons froze. On the one hand, there was nothing they wanted more. On the other hand, they were terrified of the reaction their loved ones might have to their inhuman appearance.
“I’m a monster. My family is better off thinking me dead.” Locrias said with a dejected voice.
“What about now?” A wave of Lith’s hand restored their human appearance and a hard-light construct gave them color and warmth.
Seeing her hands pink instead of greyish-black made Valia feel more confident, but she was still afraid of rejection.
“Can I talk to my parents? Meeting them is too much, but I think if it’s just a call on the communication amulet, I can make it.” She asked.
Lith was no miracle worker. He had stored Valia’s amulet in his pocket dimension, but it had lost its imprint and with it also all the runes engraved on its surface. Hence he called Salaark.
Once Valia imprinted the amulet again, the Guardian restored the lost runes by reigniting their lingering energy that had been preserved in the time-frozen dimensional space.
Valia’s hand trembled as she pressed the rune of her parents.
“Mom? Dad?” They had both run to the amulet, answering the call at the same time.
They had believed that the reappearance of the rune must have been some sort of magical glitch, but they still answered.
“Baby girl? Is that really you?” Said a feminine voice as it cracked.
“Yes.” Valia took a deep breath and activated the hologram.
Screams and tears erupted from the amulet as her parents asked her questions without giving her the time to answer. In their frenzy, they tried to touch her through the projection every time Valia leaned forward, just to phase through.
Locrias looked at her in envy. He had been dead for much longer and his amulet was lost. Not even Salaark could make him talk with his family.
Or so he thought until she handed him a silver amulet with only one rune already engraved, waiting to be imprinted. The rune of his daughter.
“How?” He asked with a quivering voice, looking at the Guardian in awe.
“I just went there and exchanged runes.” She shrugged. “Quick, or it will disappear.”
Locrias imprinted the amulet, making his rune also appear on his daughter’s communication device thousands of kilometers away.
“Dad?” A teen’s voice came out along with the hologram of a girl about fifteen years old. “Dad are you alive?”
“No, Gilly. I’m dead, but not gone.” He replied, his voice shaking.
“Mom! Come here, quick!” A shuffling of quick steps followed the panicked yell in fear that something bad was happening.
“Erwald, is that really you?” The middle-aged woman of the hologram covered her mouth with a hand, trying to suppress a scream.
“Yes, my love.” Locrias replied. “Gods, Cidra, you are still as beautiful as the day I proposed to you while blind drunk.”
They always left out that detail while telling the story of their marriage. It was a secret they had shared only with their daughter.
“See, Mom? It’s Dad! When you can come back home?” Gilly asked.
“I can’t. Verhen is in the Desert and if I get too far from him, I’ll fade away.”
“Is he holding you hostage?” She said with fury, ready even to fight a Tiamat for her father.
“No, I’m here of my own will, pumpkin. It’s the nature of Verhen’s powers that tethers me to life. I can free myself whenever I want, but when I do, I’ll be gone forever.” Locrias replied.
