“Well, well, well. One little mystery explained, one hundred big mysteries unanswered. My daughters know all about Lith and yet they never mentioned his abilities to me for all these years.
“Kids these days.” Jirni said with a deep sigh while she changed her plans according to her latest discovery.
Meanwhile, in Haug’s tavern, Lith didn’t take the abrupt ending of the conversation well. He roared in fury and released his blue-violet aura since there was no point in hiding it anymore.
The arrays of Lightkeep were even stronger than Belius’s, but this time there wasn’t Kamila with him. Lith had no reason to hold back.
“That bastard! They are following their plan, killing the people close to me one after another. I’ve got no time to waste. I need to find who’s taking the undead children and have Vladion move his fucking undead ass!”
The Travelling Tavern started to rumble and Lith’s body to turn black.
‘Calm down, Lith.’ Solus said, trying to find the right words in the middle of her own grief. ‘Don’t you remember what happened in Jiera? Surrendering to your Abomination side takes much more than it gives.
‘No matter how much power you gain, there’s no one here deserving your fury. You would just become a monster that feeds on anyone just to survive. Have you already forgotten what you did to me the last time it happened?’
Those words froze Lith in place, allowing him to realize the madness possessing him. He wouldn’t hurt Solus again, no matter the reason.
‘We have to keep a cool head and predict their next target. If the culprit follows Balkor’s methods, then they must first clear all the Past cards before moving to the Present.
‘We must warn your Professors. They are the only ones left with the Past card.’ Solus said as his Abomination side subsided.
‘I’d like to see them try! As long as Marth is inside the White Griffon, he’s a god. Manohar is Manohar and Vastor is a monster. If Xenagrosh and the other Abomination hybrids live with him, attacking Vastor is suicide.’ He replied.
“Dammit, I need help.” Lith said the moment he noticed that, despite his and Solus’s best efforts, the Abomination side still run rampant, exploiting his emotional distress to escape from its bounds.
‘Fuck me sideways! The more often my Abomination side breaks free, the harder it gets to regain control and keep the Chaos from destroying my body. I can’t afford another slip up when I’m alone.’
“I’m on it.” Haugh cast the tier three Spirit Spell, Chill Area, something he had created to deal with powerful patrons too drunk to control their own actions.
The spell used darkness to sap their strength, light and earth to conjure a straightjacket harder than diamond, and water to make it flexible. Lith’s Abomination side didn’t like darkness and tried to hide under his skin to evade contact.
“Guys, we need a team effort.” Haug said once he noticed the damages that Chaos inflicted upon his spell every time they clashed.
Chill Area wasn’t meant to harm its mark, just to restrain them whereas Chaos had only one purpose, annihilation.
The waiters and kitchen staff joined the effort, feeding Haug’s spell their own Spirit Magic tendrils to boost its power. After permanently hiring someone, the bartender usually Awakened the strays he picked up and made them his apprentices.
It was the only way to exploit the Council to protect them from whatever past they were running away from and to get a reasonably waged workforce. Two birds with one stone.
Their efforts combined with that of Lith and Solus soon beat the Abomination side into submission. Once the balance between his life forces was restored, Lith made sure to be calm in both body and mind before leaving the Tavern.
“You forgot to tip dude!” Dryna said. “This asshole doesn’t pay me enough and because of you, now I need to take the rest of the day off.”
“How dare you? I gave you a home, delicious meals, I Awakened you and-”
“And you work my ass off every day for a measly pay!” The Wyvern snarled. “Once I’m done with my apprenticeship, I’d like to be able to afford more than a rat’s nest.”
Lith gave everyone a tip equal to the entire bill and left. His life was worth more than a couple of silver coins and, as a healer, he too liked to be paid for his services.
Once he returned to Vladion’s house, he discovered that the Scorpicore had a face as long as his own.
“Mirim is dead.” The Scorpicore’s voice was firm, but her eyes wept.
Nyka was now able to move thanks to Scarlett’s array and hugged her aunt without saying a word, just to let the Scorpicore know that she wasn’t alone and that Nyka was there for her.
“Did you know Marchioness Distar as well?” Lith asked.
“Since her first year of Academy.” Scarlett replied. “She was the future Lord of the Distar region and the person responsible for the White Griffon academy so her mother sent Mirim to me.
“We got along quite well. I helped her study as a student, as a mage, and I even trained her once she joined the Corpse. She was my friend and a good one at that.”
“Then you know what I’m about to ask you.” Lith said.
“I know and I understand your reasons, yet my answer is no.” The Scorpicore shook her huge head, licking Nyka’s face and enjoying her kind embrace.
“Why?” Lith clenched his hands so hard that his knuckles popped.
“Because that would mean playing into our enemy’s hand. I can’t rule out that the person who kidnapped the undead and killed Mirim is the same person. The timing is too damn perfect to not be suspicious.
“Mirim’s death happened while the both of us were away and the Horsemen attacked. They knew that her death would make our blood boil and probably expect us to charge forward like morons because of our grief.” Scarlett replied.
Her words made Lith and Solus snap out of their grief, realizing how impaired their minds still were.
“Your enemy is doing more than just killing. They are taking away everyone you hold dear, the people that make your life worth living. Your enemy wants you to become a blood-frenzied beast and to destroy with your own hands everything you have built.
“Don’t you ever forget that humans are nothing more than particularly cunning animals and that the reason why normal beasts lose to humans before evolving into magical beasts is that we lack intelligence.
“After the evolution, instead, humans lose to us because they get so obsessed with what they are that they forget who they are. Don’t let your enemy turn you into a mindless beast but never discard your feelings either.” The Scorpicore said.
“I strongly believe that evolution doesn’t make our races more different so much as it brings us closer. Evolution gives intelligence to beasts, conscience to plants, and, if I’m right, it tries to force humans to look beyond their own nose.
“To remind them that they’re not the only sentient species on this planet. The key to our strength is balance, the same that keeps your life forces together.”
