Once she was done, Baba Yaga felt the need to sit down and drink something strong. She gulped the first two glasses of Red Dragon like it was water, starting to sip at the third.
Only then did she regain enough of her cool to speak without throwing a tantrum.
“Gods, I hate you so much.” She said while inhaling sharply and holding her temples. “I spent millennia trying and failing to achieve what it took you a single night of passion to make.”
“I’m very sorry. Now, if we are done coddling your ego, is the baby fine or not?” Lith asked and Kamila nodded, holding their hands tight.
“Fine?” Baba Yaga echoed, looking at him like he was insane. “Can you believe it? The jackass dared ask if she’s fine with you standing there right by his side!”
Tyris just shrugged, showing no sign of whatever made the white cored Awakened upset.
“She’s more than fine, you numbskull. If it keeps up like this, your daughter might be the first living creature on Mogar who can safely practice Chaos magic!”
“She would?” Lith and Kamila asked with a dumb expression on their faces.
“Yes!” Baba Yaga gulped more Red Dragon, but her annoyance levels kept raising. “Unlike you, her life forces are in perfect harmony from birth. The living side is growing up nicely with the Abomination side, developing resistance to the effects of Chaos that in the future might become immunity!”
“Why did no one has ever mentioned this?” Kamila asked Tyris.
“We wanted it to be a surprise. Also, we didn’t want your husband to dabble in Cursed Magic with the excuse of preparing to teach your daughter.” Tyris replied.
“Thanks.” Kamila gave the Guardian a deep bow before turning to Lith. “You heard her. Do that and I’ll drop you like a bad habit! Chaos is dangerous and I already risk losing you on a daily basis. If you dare endanger yourself, I’m gone.”
“But, babe, if what Baba Yaga said is true, our daughter might use Chaos along with the other elements the moment she learns chore magic. Someone needs to teach her how to control her powers. Also, you’ve seen my memories, it’s not like I have much of a choice.” Lith said.
“What do you mean?” The Red Mother asked, gulping what was left of the bottle for good measure.
Lith established with Baba Yaga a mind link, showing her how his Voidfeather Dragon’s scales would get covered in Cursed Flames and how they had joined the Origin Flames to form an unknown bloodline ability.
“Thrud’s baby and Protheus have shown to be able to use golden flames so my daughter should be able to use the silver flames just like-”
“Get out!” Rage and envy twisted the Mother’s usually kind face to the point of making her unrecognizable. “Get out of my house now, or I swear to the gods that I’ll kill you myself.”
The door of the hut opened, revealing that during their talk, Baba Yaga had brought the tower in front of Lith’s house in Lutia. She literally kicked him out, sending him sprawling on the bare earth and opening a small crater on impact.
As for Kamila and Solus, the Red Mother just flailed her arms at them, shooing them away like pigeons.
“Sorry for upsetting you, Malyshka.” Solus said while leaving. “Please, Kalla, tell Nyka that I’d like to visit her or that you two visited me. We need to talk about a lot of things, Eyes included.”
“Don’t worry, Elphyn. It’s none of your fault.” Baba Yaga replied, her voice and face reverted to their usual kind, motherly features. “I’m sure that Kalla will deliver the message.”
Then, before the Wight could confirm or deny, the Mother’s face twisted into a grimace of anger again.
“Now get out, before I make you!”
The approaching hut had terrified Raaz’s farmhands and put the squads of the Queen Corps protecting the house on high alert. Baba Yaga left as quickly as she had arrived, turning the situation into chaos.
The new Captain yelled orders to reinforce the perimeter while informing the Royals of what had just happened while the poor farmhands who were still conscious fainted the moment they could finally relax.
No matter if not addressed to them, the killing intent of a white cored Awakened inside her tower was more than any average human could take. Those with the highest mana perception had fallen first while the others had just tensed up too much.
Now that Baba Yaga was gone, their blood pressure dropped as fast as their bodies.
“Thank the gods you are alright, son.” Raaz said while checking the humanoid Voidfeather Dragon for injuries. “For a moment I failed to recognize you and I thought that Baba Yaga was attacking us.”
He wasn’t the only one. The crater was surrounded by members of the Queen’s Corps pointing their wands and weaving their spells at the semi-conscious Dragon, thinking he was some monster that the Red Mother had unleashed against them.
“Don’t worry, Dad, she is still our friend. She was just upset. As for me, you have nothing to worry about.” His voice lacked conviction, sending a cold shiver down Raaz’s spine.
‘I don’t know if it worse having a Baba Yaga for an enemy or my son’s lifespan getting shorter again.’ He thought.
“Excellent news. Come inside, we can all use some rest.” He actually said, his voice calm and reassuring, his smile warm. “I doubt we’ll get more work done today anyway.”
The moment the members of the Corps recognized Lith, they dropped their wands and provided assistance to the farmhands. Most of them were just unconscious but a few had experienced a mild stroke and were in need of medical assistance.
***
Ernas Mansion, on the night of that same day.
The recapture of Belius meant a lot for the Kingdom, but also for the Ernas Household.
Phloria had been one of the decisive elements during the all-out attack. She was not only in charge of the Awakened corps she had trained but also one of the few mages who can cast Blade Spells in the entire army.
Her soldiers had kept Thrud’s Forgotten busy while she charged up her sword, Reaver. The hail of spells had countered most of the enemies’ and the ensuing Omnislash had blasted the city gates open.
As soon as Thrud’s loyalists had been driven out and Belius fortified again with the help of the Empire, Phloria had been recalled to Valeron. The soldiers had no idea why they had risked their lives, the matter of the Golden Griffon’s power core was a state secret.
To both justify their actions and raise the morale of the citizens, the Royals declared that the recapture of Belius had been their goal all along. Since Vastor’s presence was a secret as well, Phloria received all the credit and received the title of Archmage.
As for Quylla, her efforts on the battlefront as both a Light Master and a Healer had racked her lots of merits. Also, it was only thanks to her treatments that Meron’s life force was getting stable again.
