“Then don’t you dare go anywhere. I want you to keep nagging me every time I bring a boy home. I want you to scold me for how I dress.” Gilly started to tear up, missing even the most insignificant moment of the life with her father.
“I won’t. I promise.” Puffs of smoke and fire came out of the Demons’ eyes as they reconnected with their families.
“Baby girl, if Verhen returns to Lutia, you can come back as well, can’t you?” Valia’s father asked.
“Yes, Dad.” She lied just to reassure them.
“Darling, if you are still alive, maybe Verhen can bring you back.” Cidra’s hope rekindled with each moment they spent together and Locrias didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.
“Enough with this bullshit!” Salaark roared, interrupting all the conversations. “Breakfast time is long overdue and I’m starving for two!”
The Demons were about to hang up the calls amid the screams of their loved ones when Salaark opened two Warp Steps at the same time, pulling their families to the Desert.
“There. Enough with this back and forth. Talk like civilized people and let me eat my meal.”
Her voice was drowned in the burst of laughter and screams of joy that ensued. The Overlord ignored them and Warped everyone in the dining hall.
Just like Trion, the other two Demons spent the day with their respective families. The more they reconnected with their loved ones, the more the chains that bound them to Lith grew thicker and sturdier.
Power and knowledge now flowed freely in both directions, allowing the Demons to fuse their minds with him and share their techniques if they wanted.
Lith, Kamila, and Solus spent half the day with Raaz and the other half at the lake with Salaark and the kids. Everyone else was too shy to join them.
Except for Elina, of course.
Seeing half-naked women didn’t bother her and Lith would always be her miracle baby.
“Thank you for the wonderful gift.” Elina said while embracing him and allowing herself to fall apart now that Raaz couldn’t see her.
She had been forced to be strong for so long, keeping at bay Raaz’s inner demons in a losing battle. Elina could support her husband in his fight, but only he could defeat them. Seeing the man that she loved slowly crumbling apart had almost broken her.
Elina couldn’t rely on Rena and Senton since they already had the triplets and Leria to think about. Also, they had lost everything as well and their marriage was squeaking already.
Relying on Lith would have meant ruining his happiness and honeymoon. As for Tista, asking her for help would have been just cruel. After having killed so many people to rescue Raaz, she had her own inner struggle to overcome.
Elina had never felt so alone and helpless in her whole life. Even when Tista had the Strangler, at least she had her husband and her children by her side.
“What gift? It’s the least I could do.” Lith wrapped his arms around her quivering body, feeling like a jerk for ignoring his mother for so long and worrying solely about his honeymoon.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She repeated over and over as he lulled her like a baby. “I’m such an incompetent mother for always needing my son’s help. I can’t do anything on my own.”
With every tear Elina shed, Lith’s hatred for Orpal grew.
Until that moment, he had believed that it had already reached its apex. Yet now a new world opened to him as the suffering of his parents etched wounds in his heart that he would pass on Orpal the next time they met.
After a while, Elina fell asleep. Her mind was finally at peace after one day of suffering too many.
Lith refused to leave her side until she woke up and to return to the cottage until the next day. Locrias’ and Valia’s families stayed for the night as well, clenching their loved ones until Salaark forced them back to the Kingdom.
Once they were gone, the two Demons fell onto their right knee and brought Kamila’s hands to their forehead in submission.
“Thank you, my liege. My sword is yours. My life is yours.” They said in turns.
“Shouldn’t you tell that to Lith?” Kamila felt awkward from such deference.
Not even her niece and nephew were so respectful toward her. Panda Novel
“The dark lord sits on a dark throne, casting a shadow that swallows us.” Locrias’ voice oozed sarcasm as he stared at Lith. “Your grace, instead, cast a light on us and gave us our families back. We won’t ever forget your kindness.”
“How do you know? You weren’t there when I asked Lith to let you out.” She asked.
“He told us.” Valia replied.
“They deserved the truth.” Lith said in reply to her gaze. “As you reminded me yesterday, they are people, not tools. I disregarded their feelings just like those of my mother. They deserve better from me.”
Lith and Kamila returned to the beach at sunrise and by then, Mogar seemed to have become a brighter place. Just a bit, but still brighter.
Right before darkness fell upon the Griffon Kingdom.
***
City of Valeron, Royal Palace, right after sundown.
Archon Jirni Ernas had so much work to do those days that even after pulling an all-nighter she would still find several piles of papers on her desk the morning after.
She had her duties as Lord Commander of the Constables and as the political representative of the Ernas family in the Royal Court. After Morn had pulled the stunt that had led to Lith’s charges for high treason, Gunyin had asked her help.
The ongoing war forced him to spend most of his time in the Ernas Duchy to take care of their cultivated fields and resources. After taking care of his own family, of the Household, and of the people of his region, Gunyin lacked the energy to properly follow the madhouse that politics had become.
The intervention of the Council had stopped Thrud’s advance but there was still no real strategy to win the war. They could now prolong the struggle for months, maybe years, but unless they got rid of the Golden Griffon, every victory only bought them time.
The Mad Queen’s troops were immortal and used such ability to its fullest. They fought with all their might until the last breath, using the experience gained to become stronger.
The worse part about that was Thrud’s army learning more from their defeats than from their victories. The stronger the opponent they faced, the more things those among them with Dragon Eyes would learn.
The Emperor Beasts in the Madness had yet to come out, but all of Thrud soldiers had consumed a small dose of ambrosia. Thrud would always send those who had managed to awaken the Eyes on the frontline.
This way, once their bodies regenerated inside the Golden Griffon, they would share the acquired knowledge with everyone. It was a well-oiled, immortal machine of destruction.
On top of her work as a political advisor and Archon, Jirni also had to deal with the Royals and their attempts to draft a deal that Lith would accept. After the fiasco with Kamila, they were onto Jirni, blaming her for having failed to notice where the Constable’s loyalty truly lay.
Actually, Jirni had always known about Kamila’s intentions, she just didn’t care.
