“What could you, or the Kingdom, for that matter, could possibly do? You don’t have the resources nor the time to set enough arrays around Zinya’s house. If I revealed the existence of the Future card, I would have given the Royals the means to put you on their leash and destroy your relationship with Kamila!
“From that very moment, the Kingdom would have used the Yehvals as leverage to make you do their biddings. And for what? You’ve seen what has happened to Lark and Mirim. What has happened here?
“The copycat would have just taken their time to set up a better trap, brought along even more troops, and maybe we would be grieving our dead instead of having this conversation.
“My lie made the copycat underestimate our forces, yet look at what they have achieved. Without Tezka, no number of troops or arrays would have been enough.” Vastor said.
‘He’s right.’ Solus said. ‘Once again, the timing of the attack was perfect. Even with many more troops and arrays, during a crisis, the forces of the Kingdom are always stretched thin.
‘The copycat had won the moment he sealed dimensional magic and cut off the reinforcements. Most of our trump cards are already known and static arrays can be studied with ease. Even if Vastor told us about the Future card, nothing would have changed.’
‘Unless I brought everyone to the Desert with me.’ Lith replied.
‘And what about another moment when you were simply away?’ Solus said. ‘Had your family been there, the Queen’s Corps would have had even more people to protect and fewer soldiers to spare for Zinya.
‘Not to mention how embarrassing it would have been to drag Kamila and the others along after your break up.’
“What do you mean with, destroying my relationship with Kamila?” Lith asked after being forced to admit the truth in Solus’s words.
“How long would you two have lasted after learning that the safety of her family depended on your compliance to become a loyal dog of the Kingdom?” Vastor replied. ”
“Be they Salaark, the Royals, or even the Awakened Council, no matter who you asked for help, their favor would always come with a price tag.
“After that, sooner or later your sense of guilt for dragging the Yehvals in this mess would have ruined your relationship. Kamila would have started to doubt her feelings, wondering if she stayed with you because she cared for you or just to protect her family.
“If I told you and Kamila about the card, you would probably be still together but there would be less affection between the two of you than that I feel toward my ex-wife. You would have stuck with her out of duty and Kamila out of need.
“This way, instead, you have been happy, living together because you wanted to, not because fear forced you to.” Vastor sighed deeply as his rage faded away and so did Lith’s.
“The copycat attacked at the worst possible moment, bringing along an army of elite troops. Even if you had the power to keep the Phoenixes here, he would have just waited longer.
“Let’s be honest. You lack the power and the resources to protect so many people and you already had a lot on your plate. I just did all I could to relieve your burden. Do you think that you might have succeeded where Tezka failed?”
“No.” Lith said as the air around them stopped crackling with thunder and the sky cleared from the storm clouds. “Thanks for your help, Professor.”
The two men shook hands, each noticing how stronger the other had become.
“Can I talk to Zinya? I owe her an apology.”
“She doesn’t have a home anymore so I brought her to mine.” Vastor turned pale as despair twisted his face. “She saw me fight, Lith. She saw the real me, Chaos and everything, slaughtering humans like cattle.
“Zinya and the kids are safe now, but I don’t know how long will it last. Once she learns what I did, she will be livid and demand to leave my place. You should contact Orion and ask him if she can stay with the Ernas until we find a solution.”
Lith’s stomach churned once more, knowing all too well how Vastor felt. It was the same situation that he had found himself in after endangering Kamila’s life time and time again.
‘Gods, if not for Vastor, at this point Kamila would already hate my guts. Ever since Night’s attack, her family has gone through a lot of hardships just because they were our neighbors, but this time is even worse.
‘The Balkor copycat doesn’t give a damn about our break up. Zinya’s life will be in danger until we find and kill that bastard. I bet that both sisters hate my guts at this point. It’s only my fault if they have a target on their back.’ Lith thought.
He and Vastor walked through the Gate in the barn, reaching the Professor’s Household with just one step.
The mansion was no way less magnificent or smaller than the Ernas’s. The floors were made of magic resistant gold-veined marble that, along with the many arrays they had been enchanted with, made them as sturdy as a mountain.
The gold-edged red walls were decorated with animated paintings depicting all the feats of the Vastor bloodline from its very foundations. Every single piece of furniture was a heavily enchanted work of art, making even flower pots a deadly weapon.
‘By my Mom! My mana sense is completely blinded. Vastor must have put his house on lockdown. The whole place hums with so much mana that it’s giving me a headache.’ Solus said.
Lith couldn’t care less about any of it. He impatiently tapped his foot, waiting for Vastor to lead the way, yet the Professor didn’t move.
“I’ve already contacted Constable Yehval and she’s coming here.” Vastor said in reply to the silent question in Lith’s eyes. “Zinya will need the support of her family to recover from the shock enough to tell us what happened.”
“What about Tezka?”
“Please, he was busy protecting your kids, keeping an eye on the situation, and getting rid of the traps around Zinya’s house that the copycat had laid before launching the attack. He’s a genius, but his attention was split into too many sides to be reliable.” Vastor said.
His reasoning made sense, but Lith’s stomach twisted into a knot anyway. Between the mental scar that might haunt Aran and Leria, the death of so many of his loyal magical beasts, and the guilt he felt for dragging Kamila into his mess, meeting her was the last thing he wanted.
The Gate flashed once more and Constable Yehval appeared, freezing for a second at the sight of the two Archmages.
“Thank you so much!” She hugged Lith tight while crying uncontrollably. “If not for you, if not for the magical beasts, Zin and the kids would be dead by now. I can never repay you for keeping them safe even after our break up.”
Kamila had done all she could until the Gate to Lith’s barn had been reopened, which amounted to very little. She had felt helpless, staring at her communication amulet the whole time while waiting for any news from the battlefield.
