‘And you dare say that I’m the greedy one.’ Despite his reproachful tone, Lith’s voice lacked conviction.
He too wanted to discover what abilities the remaining two pieces of Menadion’s set possessed. Yet unless they managed to meet their current owner or found some clues about how they looked like and worked, there was no way to trigger the transformation.
Only once the tower regained its full power would Solus achieve the full scope of her skills and the memories related to the artifacts that she was capable of reproducing.
‘Yes, you are. I blame you for turning me into a Scrooge. You-‘
The Shadow Dragon swept down from the sky, interrupting their friendly quarrel and cutting Solus short. They were so caught up with studying their latest discovery to have almost forgotten about the reason they were in the middle of nowhere.
Luckily for them, Xenagrosh didn’t have Life Vision and Solus had made the Hands disappear the moment she had perceived the Dragon’s energy signature.
Had she been one second slower there would have been too many explanations to give.
“Sorry for the scare, but speed is of the essence.” Xenagrosh said to Lith while carrying him on her massive right hand. “Sinmara is on the clock and Salaark doesn’t seem to have told the member of her nest about our deal.
“I had to dodge a couple of Phoenixes on my way here and I can’t afford getting caught.”
She opened a Chaos Steps, piercing through space for hundreds of kilometers to lose the pursuers that were still on her tail.
“How long will the trip take?” Lith could use a bit of time to study the Sky Piercer glove that Xenagrosh wore on her left hand with the Eyes.
It resembled the Hands of Menadion a lot and if the two artifacts shared similarities beyond the mere appearance, then the Shadow Dragon might know something about the fall of the First Ruler of the Flames.
Yet Lith couldn’t introduce the topic without a good reason, otherwise he would risk exposing his knowledge about Menadion’s legacy.
“We are already to our destination.” She replied, making him inwardly curse.
‘I have good news and I have bad news.’ Solus said. ‘The bad news is that I have learned squat about her glove due to the lack of time. Also, I tried keeping both the Hands and the Eyes active at the same time, discovering that it causes a drop in their respective abilities.
‘The good news is that, once I took off the Hands, the burden on our minds while studying Xenagrosh’s equipment, her life force, and black core, is the same as when we split the Eyes into Monocles.
‘The tower core is now strong enough to act as an auxiliary brain. Which means that the next time we use the Monocles, their efficiency will be greatly increased.’ Solus said.
Sinmara, the Phoenix of the Darkness, was waiting for them atop a mountain clearing. She was currently in her human form, that of a stunning redhead about 1.83 meters (6′) tall with emerald green eyes.
She had cute little freckles under her eyes and on her nose. She wore a white cotton shirt over brown linen pants and leather boots, but to the Eyes of Menadion those simple clothes shone akin to a Royal Fortress armor.
‘I guess that the Skinwalker armor must be pretty popular.’ Solus said. ‘Everything Sinmara wears is actually Davross shapeshifted to resemble a regular attire. I’ve never seen such enchantments so studying them might take a while.
‘Another good news is that I can isolate and ignore an energy signature much more quickly than before which allows me to focus solely on one of them. Take your pick.’
The Eyes of Menadion were currently in their Contact Lenses form to avoid detection. Thanks to the artifact, Lith could see that the difference between Xenagrosh’s Orichalcum equipment and Sinmara’s Davross gear was like heaven and earth, making his choice simple.
‘Focus on Xenagrosh.’ He said.
‘Copy that.’ Solus replied.
Both powerful Emperor Beasts wore equipment capable of growing in size with them, but there was a good reason why Lith had decided to ignore Sinmara.
Her equipment had so many enchantments that their energy signature almost blinded the Eyes and to make matters worse, her Forgemastering techniques were nothing like Lith had ever seen.
On top of that, he had no clue how Davross reacted to powerful enchantments. There were so many variables that studying Sinmara’s gear might have taken a long while even if she just stood still, let alone during a fight.
Orichalcum, on the other hand, could withstand much fewer enchantments and it was a material that Lith knew inside out. Also, the crafting method used for Xenagrosh’s equipment had many affinities with Menadion’s works.
Lith had thoroughly studied the Hands, the Eyes, and the tower, gaining insight about the First Ruler of the Flame’s way of thinking. That along with Xenagrosh being his bodyguard would make the process much easier.
“Hello, little brother.” Sinmara ruffled his hair. “Are you ready for our field trip?”
“Yes. Do you mind explaining to me the nature of your mission? I can hardly imagine what kind of threat might require the intervention of someone as powerful as you.” Lith said.
“Sure, but since I’m in a hurry, we’ll do it via a mind link while we are on our way. Are you guys okay with it?” She asked.
Lith and Xenagrosh nodded, but he suspected that the Phoenix had actually asked for Solus’s permission as well. She stared at his eyes long enough to make Lith uncomfortable and stopped only when the word “Yes” appeared on his irises.
“Perfect.” Sinmara touched their cheeks with an open palm while also sending a thin mana strand to the Eyes from under his skin, to make it impossible to perceive from the outside.
‘Good gods, Elphyn. It’s really you. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you fighting the king of Kolga. I thought you were dead.’ Her lips curled up in a loving smile.
‘Sort of. I’m sorry, but I go by Solus now and I don’t remember ever meeting you. Except that at the Council and at your place, of course.’
‘Then it’s true what Silverwing says. You have completely lost your memories.’ Sinmara said with a worried look on her face.
‘Please, don’t take her words at face value!’ Solus hurriedly replied. ‘I’m not a slave and Lith never mistreated me. He’s the best partner I could ask for.’
‘You are still as cute as ever.’ The Phoenix giggled. ‘As for Lochra, don’t worry about her. We made clear to her that the Desert is off-limits for her and that she’s not allowed to bother either of you.
‘Mom might not like you much, but you are still Menadion’s daughter. The first thing she did when you first met her was to make sure you were alright. Otherwise she would have never acted so friendly with Lith.’
‘Why doesn’t Salaark like me?’ Solus inwardly became as pale as a ghost.
‘Back when we hanged out together, she considered you a bad influence.’
‘Does she still hold a grudge? I died almost 700 years ago.’ Solus was terrified at the idea of meeting one of the friends she had back during her rebellious phase and of what they could tell Lith about her past.
