‘On top of that, what if the Hands can really lead to Solus? After all, Menadion gifted the four artifacts that comprise the set to her most loyal students.’ Phloria said.
‘It’s possible, but unlikely.’ Solus replied once she noticed the prolonged silence following Phloria’s words and that all eyes were on her.
‘Menadion wouldn’t give away her location so easily and even if she did, my energy signature is different from the original tower. Even the artifact she had entrusted Silverwing to find the tower in the case something happened to us didn’t work.
‘Last, but not least, I didn’t feel any pull to my consciousness ever since we got here. Even if once the Hands had a link with the tower, it’s likely to be broken now.’ Yet she accessed the tower’s logs to make sure that no one had attempted to make contact with it, just to be safe.
Even though the mind link allowed them to speak quickly, it still took time and three people spacing out in the middle of the road were just a tad bit less suspicious than three people doing the same in the middle of nowhere.
There were too many sentinels near the barrier and without a distraction from the merfolk, there was no safe zone.
‘We need to get out of here and tell Rem everything we’ve learned. Maybe she can point us in the right direction. At first, it was a blind mission, but now that we know that we can hold on for much longer than four hours, the situation is different.
‘On top of that, I’m eager to check if the effects of the Forbidden Sun on Solus and I are temporary or long lasting.’ Lith said.
He didn’t experience Death Vision anymore and Solus’s mana core had quickly evolved to bright cyan. The both of them had never felt that good. After sending the convened signal to the merfolk, the group returned to the city of Zhen.
“Whatever this is, it better be good. I don’t’ have many air pockets with me and you got out after only two hours. Too long for your pins to not work but too short to find something relevant. Did you mess up and need a change of ‘clothes’?” Rem asked.
Before making them start their report, she opened a channel with Aren Dolm, the leader of Jiera’s beast Council. Once Lith’s group was done, all traces of nervousness were gone from the room, replaced by a mild optimism.
Yet the same couldn’t be said for Lith. He could see Rem drown in her blood, rot as a corpse, and die out of deep stab wounds. As for Solus, her mana core couldn’t hold the stored energy and was quickly going back to deep cyan.
“Glad to hear that the pins work and that Lith can prolong your stay for over four hours. This is a one of a kind opportunity.” Aren said. “As for the information you provided, I’m sorry but it’s nothing new.
“We already know that the tower isn’t a mage tower from our past failed attacks, just like we learned that the current ruler has the power to control the geyser. What we need to know is if it depends on their bloodline or if it relies on an artifact.
“In the past, we sent squads of violet cored Awakened who in exchange of their lives managed to kill the ruler, yet Kolga didn’t fall.”
‘It’s no surprise. The owner of the arrays and the sun can be switched and as long as another person gets the Hands, everything goes back to square one.’ Everyone thought.
“Do you have any idea why there are no schools and why everyone seems so protective toward the children?” Tista asked.
“No. The language barrier prevented us from reading the signs, let alone ask questions.” Aren replied.
“If my sister is right and this body belonged to someone important, I could use his authority to find out more. I need to know where you captured him and an escape route in the case someone exposes me.” Lith said.
“It’s a great idea, but now we can do much better than that.” Aren said. “No matter who you are, there are some questions that you can’t ask because of the law and others that you’re supposed to already know the answers.
“To overcome this problem, a sacrifice is needed. Your alias was on sentinel duty so if he manages to capture a merfolk, we’d finally get to learn what happens to our people after every failed raid and maybe even give you the opportunity to witness to the ritual.”
At a snap of his fingers, Khalia, the merfolk who had courted Lith on the day of their arrival, stepped forward. Her human form was paler than a ghost, yet her body stood steady. Her hands didn’t tremble, her lips didn’t quiver, nor did her eyes betray any fear.
Then, Aren explained how sentinels sounded the alarm and focused the power of the arrays on a specific point of the barrier to capture an intruder.
“I ordered Ren to capture people living in the most external ring because they can perform sentinel duty from the windows of their own homes. Each one of you will go to their alias’ respective home and find out as much as you can about their lives.
“Once you are done, Lith will capture Khalia with your help. Don’t let anyone else get close to her, or her sacrifice will be pointless.”
“Why didn’t you tell us all those things earlier and how can you send one of our own to die or worse?” Phloria said in outrage.
“Because we didn’t know if the pins worked and interacting with the merfolk hybrids was a pointless risk. Only the pins and Lith’s unexpected ability to relieve the effects of poisoning make this desperate plan worth trying.
“Otherwise I wouldn’t bet both Lith’s and Khalia’s lives on a maybe. Once they take her, her life is forfeit. If Lith is discovered while under the effects of a single elemental sealing array, the same will happen to him.
“Without dimensional magic, there would be no way out. Be careful and don’t enter inside any array even if you think that your cover is intact. Khalia is replaceable whereas you are one of a kind.” Aren said.
The group spent the remaining time before the air in the enclosed room ran out in silence. The girls needed time to heal their bodies without wasting any more uses of Invigoration and even Lith didn’t feel like ruining Khalia final moments.
Rem and Mal quickly hugged her, shedding a few tears before leaving the room to make space for her parents and friends. People entered in groups of two, never saying a word.
At least, not in a way that humans could hear. Merfolk communicated with vibrations and each embrace lasted long enough for everyone to say goodbye to her. Khalia’s parents had to be forcefully dragged out of the room while they screamed unintelligible words of pain.
Once the air became thin and everyone started to feel dizzy, Khalia took Tista’s hand to help her breathe underwater. Yet once outside the room, instead of going toward Kolga, Rem led the group toward Zhen’s central plaza, where a monument that looked like a huge seashell rested.
