A few years ago, the god of death had come close to destroying the Kingdom and killing his daughters. Now Balkor was abetting Orion to commit high treason.
“We’ll see. Things may change in a while.” Orion shrugged. “Wish me luck.”
“Break a leg.” Balkor escorted Orion through the city, vouching for him every time they were stopped by the guards.
The presence of the Overlord didn’t make the security laxer. Quite the contrary, it made her loyal soldiers do their best in the hope to catch Salaark’s eye and receive her blessings.
“This is an unexpected surprise.” The Guardian was sitting on a golden throne raised by a dais over one meter (3′) from the floor. “With everything that’s happening in the Kingdom, I thought you were busy Forgemastering something to save your daughter.”
She wore her long black hair down in a cascade that reached the floor. The pristine white of Salaark’s desert robes emphasized her bronze skin and her emerald eyes.
Her beauty was otherworldly yet it was easy to miss due to the regal aura of power she emitted. From her bearing to the tone of her voice, everything about Salaark exuded a charisma that made her guests want to bend the knee without her asking.
The only thing ruining the gravity of her presence was the small Shargein sitting on her lap and munching her hair while the Overlord held him between her arms. The young Featherling looked at the newcomer with interest for a whole second before yawning and falling asleep.
Salaark had made his head rest on her bosom, and the sound of her heart had done the rest. To Shargein, it was the best lullaby on Mogar.
“I would, if there was something capable of performing such a miracle.” Orion couldn’t stop looking at the baby, wondering if Lith’s children would look like that. “That’s why I am here.”
“I don’t follow.” Salaark actually had a clear idea of the reasons behind his coming.
The grief and despair Orion emitted were almost palpable.
“For years you have pestered me to abandon the Kingdom and join you. You sent me so many letters that I’ve stopped reading them and started using them to light my fireplace.
“Today, I’ve come to accept your offer.” He felt dirty inside speaking those words but neither his tone nor his determination faltered.
“Really?” Salaark raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“Really.” Orion nodded, knowing that her lack of enthusiasm was probably due to the terms of his surrender. “I’m willing to betray my country. To become one of your Forgemasters and share with you everything I know.
“My personal techniques, the Ernas legacy, and even the Royal Forgemastering are going to be yours if you’d have me.”
“A tempting offer. Too bad that I feel a ‘but’ incoming.” Salaark leaned back while wrapping Shargein in a cloth made of Phoenix feathers woven together.
“But only at one condition.” Orion clenched his fists. “I want you to Awaken me for real. I don’t want to become one of your half-assed Feathers but a full-blown Awakened with breathing techniques.
“I don’t ask you to help me in rescuing my daughter, only to give me the means to do it myself. It’s a fair deal, if you ask me.”
“Let me get this straight.” Salaark cocked her head in a bird-like manner. “I Awaken you, then you get back to the Kingdom, do whatever you have to do, and then you come back to the Desert?”
“Correct.” Orion nodded. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m willing to give you my word and leave here my entire research as collateral.”
At a wave of his hand, tomes started to pour out of his dimensional amulet. There were so many that they soon reached Orion’s hips and more kept coming.
“If you don’t believe me, look at this.” He handed Salaark a thick book with a white cover. “It contains the blueprints for the War series of blades and all my experiments to replace the pseudo cores with a real power core.
“This alone makes me a traitor of the Kingdom. That book is supposed to not exist. It proves that I’m the one who made War in open defiance to a Royal Order. Now that you have it, my life is in your hands.”
“You are misunderstanding my words.” Salaark didn’t even open the book before returning it to Orion. “I trust you. I have complete faith in your skill and honor otherwise I would have never offered you the job as my Head Forgemaster.
“What I don’t trust are your motivations.” A snap of her fingers made all the tomes go back into his dimensional amulet.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I made you my offer when you were a free man. When the only thing influencing your choice was your own will. Had you switched sides back then, I wouldn’t have considered you a traitor even if the Kingdom did.” Salaark replied.
“I wouldn’t have forced you to share anything you weren’t willing to and I would have just been content to enjoy the future fruits of your genius. Now, instead, you are a man with a knife at his throat.
“You didn’t come here of your own will but only because you are desperate. Otherwise you would have never offered me things that I didn’t request nor said words that sullied your honor.
“By offering me the Ernas legacy and the Royal Forgemastering, you have become a traitor both in the eyes of the Kingdom and mine. And I don’t work with traitors.”
“Are you insane? I’m offering you, an almighty Guardian, a treasure of knowledge that even the Awakened Council envies the Kingdom and all I ask you in return is something you’ve given away many times already.” Orion replied.
“Are you really putting something as insignificant as honor above my daughter’s life? Wouldn’t you do the same were our positions reversed?”
“Respectively, no and yes. Which is why I can’t accept your offer.” Salaark said with a sigh. “I’m a parent as well. I know what you feel because I feel the same way every time I risk losing one of my hatchlings.”
She held Shargein tight as if he could disappear at any moment.
“I respect you and your pain so I’ll pretend that the last five minutes never happened. Go away. There’s nothing for you here.”
“In the gods’ names why? Why won’t you help me?” Orion could feel Mogar splitting under his feet and plunging him into a bottomless pit of despair.
“Because I would be taking advantage of a cornered man and your loyalty would last only until the next crisis.” Salaark replied. “If in the future one of your children in the Kingdom were to be in danger, you would just betray me as well.
“Sure, I could hunt you down and kill you, but then what? Mogar would just lose one of its best Forgemasters and I would set a very dangerous precedent. The Kingdom would hate me. Your family would hate me.
“Heck, even my children would hate me. I’m sorry, Orion Ernas, but I’m not going to let you destroy your legacy in a moment of weakness.”
