“Help me, Lith, you’re my only hope.” Orion had watery eyes and didn’t crack a single joke about the soap in Lith’s hair or about him answering the amulet while shirtless.
“I put both a tracker and an alarm spell in my daughters’ amulets so that whenever the communication amulets are not stored in a dimensional item, I get notified the moment the signal gets cut off by a dimensional sealing array.
“A few minutes ago, all of them went suddenly off the grid.”
“Are you sure…” Lith tried to say, yet his stomach already churned.
“Yes! First, I checked with their commanding officer who knew nothing about an attack or lockdown. Then, I tried to call every single member of the expedition whose contact rune I have and all of them are unavailable as well.
“Berion tried to reassure me since he received the last report less than an hour ago and everything was fine, but when he failed to contact anyone even through the camp’s secure line, we understood something is going on.” Orion managed to keep his words simple and his explanation linear.
“What can I do?” Lith knew Phloria’s location only by name.
Aside from the Kellar and the Distar regions, he didn’t travel the Kingdom ever since he worked for the White Griffon academy. Even then, Lith had only been to cities with their own Warp Gates.
“Your apprenticeship has yet to start, so you might not know it, but just like plants, Emperor Beasts have their own network of Gates.” Orion explained. “Your master can send you almost anywhere, whereas the closest City Gate is hundreds of kilometers from the caves.
“I’m in the middle of a mission for the Royals and I’m not even supposed to break the communication silence. Jirni is busy as well, but even if we weren’t, we’d never get there in time.
“The army and the Association will need hours to prepare a strike force big enough to face an enemy so powerful that it isolated the 1000 men battalion they sent a few days ago as reinforcements. Even once they are ready, they still have to get there.
“You are the only one who can get there quickly thanks to the beasts’ network and pull one of your miracles out of your ass. Please, I don’t care about how you do it nor about anyone else in that goddamn camp.
“All I ask you to do is to get there, find my daughters, and get them to safety. I would do it myself but…” The signal disappeared and so did Orion’s hologram.
In its place, there was a map of the Kingdom with a blinking dot where the camp was located. The moment Lith read the “crystal mines” tag, a shiver ran down his spine.
“Is everything alright?” Kamila approached him while wearing only a fluffy bathrobe.
She had never heard either of the Ernas couple lose their cool and even if the running water had covered most of the conversation, Lith staring at the amulet didn’t bode well.
“No, not in the least. Phloria, Friya, and Quylla just went MIA in a goddamn crystal mine!” A small burst of water magic dried his hair and removed the soap as the Skinwalker armor covered him.
“I never told Phloria about her Awakening. Prolonged exposure to such a massive a mana geyser could…” Kamila placed her forefinger on Lith’s lips, cutting him short.
“You can explain it to me later. Now, go. Your friends need you.” Kamila looked at him in the eyes, letting Lith know that she had complete trust in him.
“Thanks, Kami, you…” He kissed her finger before being cut short again.
“I said go! Kiss any of them and I’ll kill you.” She yelled while he disappeared through a Warp Steps leading to the resort’s lobby and its Gate.
“Ynca for one, now!” Lith slammed his ID on the counter to show that he had the privileges to go there.
Ynca was a military training camp in the Kellar region that had only one perk. It was built so close to a mana geyser that Lith needed a single dimensional door to reach it.
“Is it something wrong with your accommodation? The Flying Griffon would be glad to…” Losing an Archmage as a client worried the concierge, but the thick mana filled with killing intent that was strangling him didn’t leave space for conversation.
“I said now!” Lith’s eyes were bursting with mana while his body emitted sudden gusts of wind and generated enough pressure to make the furniture of the entire lobby rattle as if there was a quake.
“Have a safe trip.” The poor man managed to say with his last breath. Not even fear could put a leash on over two decades of impeccable work.
Only once Lith disappeared and the concierge had made sure that someone would cover for him did the man allow himself to faint.
“Solus, pick me up at Ynca. Prepare for Phloria’s omega protocol.” Lith said in his communication amulet the moment the desk Sergeant cleared him to leave.
“Omega?” The word made the drowsiness disappear from her voice. Unlike him, Solus liked to sleep at night. To Solus, slumber was a rare commodity that also gave her access to glimpses of her past through dreams. “I’ll be right there.”
Lith found the tower waiting for him and used mind fusion to bring Solus up to speed in the blink of an eye.
‘That’s extreme and sudden. Are you really sure?’ There was no time for words, even thoughts felt slow as she went back to Lutia and opened a Steps to Faluel’s lair.
‘Damn sure.’ Lith walked through the dimensional door while the tower shrunk.
They had yet to reveal to Faluel Solus’s tower form, so by the time Solus slipped back at his finger, Lith was already asking his mentor for help.
“I have no idea what’s going on, but your friend Orion is right. I can send you in the turf of Ajatar the Drake and then he can Warp you even closer to your destination. Just give me a second.
“I can’t use a mind link from this distance, so explaining the situation to him might take a while.” Three of Faluel’s heads were awake while the remaining four were asleep.
Hydras were among the few creatures that could rest and reset the effects of Invigoration while working non-stop, which in normal circumstances would make Lith green with envy.
Luckily, Emperor Beasts didn’t mince words nor were big on pleasantries.
“Ajatar, this is an emergency. My disciple needs help. Open a Gate and then send him to the following coordinates as fast as you can, please.” That was all the explanation Faluel gave while sharing the mines’ location.
“On it.” Either Ajatar’s curiosity was non-existent or the word “emergency” meant a great deal for Emperor Beasts.
The Drake linked the Warping array of his lair to Faluel’s without asking a single question until he looked his guest in the eyes.
“Is this a matter of friends, love, or family?” The Drake resembled an oversized lizard covered in sapphire-blue scales with a huge white horn coming out of his snout.
Drakes had the physical prowess of Dragons, but lacked both wings and Origin Flames. They could channel the power of the elements in their breath, giving it special properties that didn’t consume their mana.
“All of the above.” Lith had no idea what answer would get the lesser Dragon to give his all, so he went all-in.
