“You look awful. When was the last time you had a proper meal?” Kamila took his hand and dragged Lith to the table laden with food.
“I think I had a beer and a few meat skewers at the same time Mirim died.” He said with a guilty voice.
“Your dinner and her demise are in no way related, silly.” She hugged him, doing her best to put aside how tired she was after a sleepless night due to being forced to work a triple shift.
Despite all that, she had still found the time to go back home and change into her “lucky clothes”, those she had worn during their first date, hoping to cheer him up.
“You’re home now and that’s all that matters. Welcome back.” Kamila said while kissing him again.
“Thanks.” Lith knew that he sounded like a broken record, but his brain refused to work properly.
The thought that those might be the last moments they spent together made him feel as if someone was tearing his heart to shreds. Yet he managed to conquer his fears enough to use Invigoration on her, bringing Kamila back to her peak condition.
“Gods, thank you. We Constables could use a pot of Invigoration instead of that strong bitter tea we have to drink to stay up all night.” She said with a chuckle.
Kamila had no idea that Lith had done it not only because he worried for her, but also so that once he told her about Solus, fatigue, and stress wouldn’t impair her judgment.
In a way, he was just covering his ass.
After setting up another gravity array, the pleasant meal raised everyone’s spirits but aside from the kids, the mood was still heavy. Aran and Leria told Kamila all about their new Aunt and Uncles and how cool they looked, even conjuring some sketchy holograms of them.
“I’ll tell you everything after dinner.” Lith answered the silent question in her eyes. “Now just relax and enjoy our meal.”
After dinner, all that Kamila wanted to do was going to their room, listening to Lith’s story, and then cuddling themselves to sleep. She needed his warmth to dispel the horrors she had been forced to face in the last 24 hours.
Yet Lith insisted on taking a stroll in the Trawn woods and she respected his wish.
‘Maybe he needs some privacy away from his parents or maybe he needs to show me something that doesn’t fit in the house.’ Kamila thought, not knowing that both of her guesses were right.
Lith showed her the same hologram of the events in Lightkeep he had projected earlier. Yet this time he showed the whole truth. Also, when the story arrived at the part where he had reached his violet core, he shapeshifted into his full Tiamat form and lifted her on the palm of his hand.
“This is how I really look like now. This is who I am.” He said.
Kamila recognized the pain Lith’s voice had every time he revealed one of his secrets to her and he feared that she might turn her back to him because of that.
“Wow. You’re taller than most trees now. Aren’t you afraid that the Queen’s corps will spot you?” She tried to sound more excited than scared while she noticed not only the changes in his appearance, but also those in his personality.
There was some kind of cold detachment in his voice that she had never heard before, as if he didn’t just grow taller but also more distant. Lith had often told her that the alterations to his life forces made him feel more and less than human at the same time, yet she had never noticed it.
At least not until that moment.
Kamila could see him and hear him, recognizing in the Tiamat in front of her the man she loved, yet there was also something alien about him that scared her.
“Don’t worry about that. I made sure that we aren’t followed and that we’re alone for as long as we need.” Lith replied, moving through the woods with the graceful and silent movements of a predator.
“There’s more?” She asked in confusion.
“Yes, there is. Now that I’ve changed, I want you to realize that I’m not the man you knew anymore and to think carefully before answering the question you knew I’ll ask you when I’m done.” Lith said.
“Tiamat, human, who cares?” Kamila said. “You don’t even need to use magic to shapeshift, which makes you still a human. Even if you weren’t, you would still be the person I know and date for almost three years.”
She took a long pause, pondering her next words. Kamila was tired of lying to herself and to Lith so she clenched her fists tightly before speaking again.
“Scratch that. I don’t care if you’re human or not and you know it. What you don’t know because I’ve always been too much of a coward to come forward first is that I l-”
“Don’t.” Lith cut her short. “I’m the biggest coward here because I let us move forward while always dragging a huge part of my past behind, hidden in my shadow. Before you finish that phrase, I want you to know who I really am.
“Until then, you know only half the truth.”
Kamila felt her head spinning as she tried to make sense of Lith’s words.
“Half?” She echoed in astonishment. “You already told me you’re a hybrid, an Awakened, and even a potential Guardian. What more could be the other half?”
“Not what. Who.” Lith replied while putting her down in front of the mana geyser.
“Are we waiting for someone? Do you have to introduce me to Mogar, to your brother from a past life, or something?” She nervously asked.
“Or something. Did you ever wonder why I never brought you to my labs or where I disappeared with my friends for days at a time? There’s a reason I can move through the Kingdom faster than anyone else, and you’re about to find out.”
Lith shrunk into his human form, showing Kamila his stone ring before throwing it onto the ground. Before she could ask him anything, a broken tower erupted from below.
The building was over 12 meters (40 feet) high, with the floors from ground to second intact while the third had its roof covered in debris, but close to being completely fixed.
Even a non-mage like Kamila who had been in contact with enough powerful mages and artifacts could feel the tremendous power coursing throughout the tower. The mana in the area was so thick that it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
“Is this what I think it is?” She asked.
“Yes, it’s a mage tower and yet it’s far more than you can possibly imagine.” Lith opened the door for her, letting Kamila inside the lobby.
The entire floor was covered by the softest and warmest carpet that she had ever touched during his travels. The hand-woven tapestry depicted the shared history of Lith and the tower in a circular picture.
In the first slot, Lith was still a four years old kid picking up a rock. In the last one, there was the scene of him and Kamila walking through the door.
