Belius's Warp Gate led Lith to Derios, the capital city of the Distar Marquisate and from there reaching Protector's home took him just a few minutes.
The moment Lith saw it, nostalgia almost broke his heart. His old friend had shaped his own house as an almost perfect replica of Lith's. It was a lovely two-story cottage entirely made of stone with a spacious yard overlooking the Trawn woods.
He almost expected Elina to open the door and welcome him home. Selia's reaction, however, didn't differ much from what his mother would do.
"Oh, Lith! I'll never understand why beasts call you Scourge. You should be named Bearer of Gifts." She pulled him down with a strength and an enthusiasm that surprised him quite a bit.
She kissed him on the forehead and both cheeks before giving him a huge hug.
"I beg your pardon?" Lith was still processing the situation, whereas Solus was laughing her ass off.
'Well, oh great Dark Lord, you just need to trick a powerful Forgemaster to craft a few power rings to deserve such title. Should I get jealous?' She thought.
'Been there, done that. Am I not wearing the legacy of the greatest Forgemaster on Mogar on my finger along with her heir, oh Bright Lord?' He replied.
"Thanks to you, my life has never been easier." Selia said. "Come in. We're about to have breakfast, feel free to join us."
Lith understood what she meant only when he entered the living room. Sitting at the rectangular table there were Ryman, Nalrond, Lilian, Leran, and a floating crib made of hard-light near Selia's chair.
Judging from the giggles and child noises it emitted, Lith guessed that it was filled with the new member of the family. Several constructs shaped like small fish swam in the air in front of the crib, keeping the child entertained.
At a wave of Selia's hand, the cradle floated between her hands.
"Guys, you all know uncle Lith. Uncle Lith, meet the little Fenrir. We named her after Faluel because of all the help she gave me with childbirth and because she offered to be my daughter's scaly godmother." Selia offered him the barely eight months child with pride.
Lith smiled while rocking the baby between his arms, even though to him all newborns were equally ugly and annoying.
"It seems you did a great job, Selia. She's a healthy child." Lith performed a full check-up out of habit.
"This time I can't take the full credit. If not for Faluel, things could have gone badly." Selia said, making Protector turn pale. "We'll talk about this later, I don't want to upset the kids."
"Hey, I'm not a kid, I'm the breadwinner." He grumbled.
"Yeah, right. You're a big bad wolf that has no trouble hunting down monsters yet you faint at the sight of a little blood." She chuckled.
"It's a completely different matter! I'm a good Healer but you are my wife. I was afraid of losing both…"
"As I said, I don't want to upset the kids." She placed her forefinger on Ryman's lips, hushing him.
Lilia and Leran were staring at their father with their little faces full of curiosity. Ryman could see all the questions about Selia's health and where babies come from that were starting to form in their young brains because of him.
"It's always a pleasure to have you here, Lith. Did you bring new toys for the kids?" He said, grateful to the gods for the children's short attention span.
"Toys!" Lilia said dropping her spoon to run and tug at Lith's pants
"Presents!" Leran followed her lead like a good little brother.
The kids had grown a lot since the last time Lith had seen them. According to Solus, they weren't Awakened, yet they were as tall as Lith had been at their age. It was the sign of perfect body development.
'I wonder if it's because of Protector's genes or Faluel is doing for them what I did for my sisters.' Lith pondered.
Luckily for Ryman, during his free time, Lith had copied the most popular toys in the Kellar region. He had also enchanted them with weak spells to make them safer and funnier.
"Thanks, uncle Lith. You're best." The kids said enthusiastically.
"Not like uncle Nalrond. He always nags at us."
"That's because he's never here, whereas I have to clean your mess on a daily basis." Nalrond said, generating several constructs at once. Boxes of light took the toys away from the kids' hands while tendrils forced them back on their chairs.
"You'll get your new toys only after finishing breakfast. Show some respect for all the hard work your Mom put into preparing your meal." He ignored their screams of outrage, making a new spoon appear in their hands.
Only then did Lith notice that plates and silverware weren't normal. Until that moment, their dull color had made him fail to notice that they were all constructs.
"See what I mean?" Selia looked at the hybrid with eyes full of gratitude. "I'll never thank you enough for sending us such a priceless aid. One day you'll make an excellent househusband, dear Nalrond."
"You're too kind, Selia." He replied. "Back home we used to say that it takes just two people to make a child, but a whole village to raise them."
In the Fastarrow household, they didn't use pots, only cauldrons. Ryman ate a lot and so did the kids, leaving plenty of food for seconds or unexpected guests. Even Lith's appetite was a drop in the sea of their servings.
During the meal they made small talk about the situation in Lustria county. The undead invasion had reached every corner of the Kingdom, forcing Count Lark and his heirs to invest a lot of money to set up a local army base.
Local constables and militia were powerless against anything but small-time criminals. The county needed the presence of permanent troops just to keep the order and prevent mass hysteria at the slightest sign of undead activity.
'I must pay Lark a visit. I don't see him in over a year.' Lith thought.
'I doubt there's much we can do, but we should at least offer him our help. He's an old friend, after all.' Solus thought.
Luckily for everyone, Lutia was one of the safest places in the Distar Marquisate, some even said safer than the capital itself. Between the presence of the Queen's Corps, the Kings of the Trawn Woods, and Faluel keeping a close watch on Lith's house, anyone looking for trouble would soon fit in an ashtray.
Lith told them an abridged and embellished version of his missions in the Kellar region, giving Nalrond his due credit to make him look cool in the eyes of the kids.
"Wait. You two met three months ago." Leran had a focused expression while counting the passing of time on his fingers. "Yet uncle Nalrond is here for less than a month. Was this Snack Torch…"
"Snake Tongue, you dummy!" Leria corrected him.
"What she said, really far away, or is uncle Lith much faster than you? It took him less than a day to get here." Leran asked.
"I didn't come here straight away, Leran." Nalrond replied. The adults already knew his story and Lith wasn't stupid. He could read between the lines.
