“All I can do is to keep your father with me and allow him to spend time with his family whenever I’m home. I’m sorry.” Lith said.
“Please, don’t apologize.” Gilly stopped in the middle of the dancefloor. “I knew that my request was unreasonable, but I still had to try. I couldn’t just accept that my father is dead and do nothing.”
“Locrias may be dead, but he’s not gone. There’s no need for you to mourn him yet.” Lith took and handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped her tears. “Enjoy the time you still have together. It’s what my parents and Valia’s are doing.”
He nodded his head at Trion dancing with Elina and at the other Demon in her human form as well dancing with her father.
“One last word of advice.” A warm smile appeared on Lith’s face. “You’d better learn to dance or your father’s feet won’t survive the experience.”
Gilly lowered her gaze, noticing how Lith’s black shoes had turned white after being stomped countless times.
“I will.” She gave him a curtsy and ran to the restroom, to not let her parents see her makeup ruined by snot and tears.
“Wow. Not even one full dance and Gilly ran away crying.” Kamila replaced his missing dance partner, looking at Lith with confusion. “What was that all about?”
“She wanted me to resurrect her father.” Lith replied with a sigh.
“Poor kid.” Kamila said. “I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.”
“Me neither.” Lith replied.
They kept dancing in silence until the minuet ended and the next song started, each worrying about how they would react if something happened to the other.
“Why so glum?” Surtr and Rethia were the first to join them, matching their rhythm to converse with ease. “This is a party, not a funeral.”
“He’s right. Smile a little.” Kamila gave Lith one of her dazzling smiles that rose the temperature in his heart by several degrees.
“By the way, little brother, I’m disappointed in you.” The Dragon of Light said.
“How so?” Lith asked.
“I heard that you decided to postpone your firstborn. I mean, you are the Father of all Demons. Mogar themselves gave the title to you and yet your Demon count is still a flat zero.”
“That’s not true. I have three of them and Tista.” Lith replied.
“They don’t count.” Surtr shook his head. “Aren’t you curious to discover if your children will be born as Tiamats or become their own Demon species? It’s something that you should check for science’s sake.
“I tried to pass down my abilities as Dragon of Light, but all my attempts failed. Rethia is my witness. I did all that I could.”
“I can vouch for that.” The Wind Griffon nodded. “He’s the worthy heir of a perverted lizard. If there was any scientific approach in what he did to me over the centuries, it must have been very subtle because I’ve always failed to notice it.”
“Darling!” Surtr blushed in embarrassment.
“I know.” Kamila chuckled. “Leegaain’s blood runs thick in Lith’s veins as well. If it was for him, I would never sleep at night.”
“Kami!”
“I’m not a perverted lizard.” Leegaain grumbled on the dance floor as he glided among the guests with Salaark.
“You are right, you are a perverted old lizard. They are two very different things.” The Overlord giggled.
“Very funny.” He clicked his tongue. “Now, if you are done with the jokes, I’d like to know the reason you brought me here.”
“Why, don’t you enjoy such good music and company?”
“First, I hate family reunions and you know it. Second, I wrote most of these pieces. What do you want, Salaark?”
“To ask you two questions without you ‘accidentally’ hanging up my call.” The Overlord replied.
“Shoot.”
“I’m thinking about building my own tower but I don’t think I can do it on my own. How much do you know about-”
“Everything” Leegaain cut her short.
“Wait, what?” Salaark couldn’t believe her own ears.
“Back in the day, both Baba Yaga and Menadion asked my advice. They made me promise to not use my breathing technique while visiting their labs but little did they know that one glance was all I needed.” The Father of all Dragons smirked.
“To think that the hungry cur always complains about Life Maelstrom.” The Overlord clicked her tongue. “Dragon Eyes are much worse. The most unfair and unbalanced bloodline ability of them all.”
“What’s your second question about?”
“Have you heard about what happened in Verendi?” She looked around, making sure that no one capable of spotting a Guardian’s Hush zone was nearby before speaking.
“You mean the Master’s hybrids decimating the local Council? It was hard to miss.” Leegaain shrugged.
“They have gotten their hands on the Mouth of Menadion and one of them fused with a Meneos. If they combine their new assets with their version of the Fury, the Orc-Minotaur, and Bytra’s expertise, how dangerous will they become?” Salaark asked.
Leegaain looked away, his smirk disappearing and his mouth opening only to sigh.
“Look, I know you care for Zoreth, but Mogar or not, I’m not going to sit on my hands while the situation snowballs out of our hands. Just tell me how bad it is.”
Then, the Father of All Dragons looked at her and spoke the most terrifying words Salaark had ever heard from him.
“I don’t know.”
***
The rest of the wedding party went without a hitch. Knowing that they would all go to the battlefield, Tista, Nyka, and Solus made plans for a trip on their own as soon as the War of the Griffons would be over.
They also decided that it was time to graduate from wine and move on to heavier drinks. Tista got drunk on whiskey and fainted from just sniffing the Red Dragon after removing the cork.
Nyka and Solus had a full glass each with no side effects. One was an undead and her body was naturally immune to alcohol intoxication while the other had the mass of a tower.
Yet after a few drinks, while Nyka was still as fit as a fiddle, the liquor distilled for Divine Beasts got the better of Solus. She started to laugh about nothing and sway with every step she took.
Yet the real problem arose when the tower got drunk as well. It produced blinding beams of light and loud music that drew the attention of many guests. Including the Ernas sisters and their boyfriends.
“That’s amazing, darling.” Morok pointed at the enchanted building that one moment wobbled as if it was made of jelly and the next bent sideways like a withering flower just to spring back into its original position. “How is that even possible?”
“It must be one of Salaark’s surprises for Lith’s wedding.” Quylla lied through her teeth, hoping that the Tyrant would buy it.
“Really? I would have expected something classy and romantic from her. That thing seems out of the mind of an old drunken sailor.”
The battle was clearly lost. There was nothing she could say to deny his statement without insulting him or his intelligence.
“I find it romantic.” Quylla drew him close, giving Morok a passionate kiss that lasted until he was out of breath.
