‘Solus! I missed you so much. Are you alright?’ The shadows wrapped around her in a tender embrace while the thoughts that passed through the mind link now that they had made physical contact were filled with heartfelt longing.
‘I was expecting a “status report” or “Solus, analysis.” We are surrounded by enemies and we didn’t see each other for a few hours, not days. Did you take a blow to the head or what?’
‘That’s mean of you. Do you have any idea how worried I was?’ The Voidfeather said while pouting.
‘Since when do you pout? Never mind. There’s no time for shenanigans, look!’ She elongated her form so that she could look past the balcony and share her vision with him.
Right below them, there was a circular room in the center of which there was a semi-circular table with several thrones where the representatives of each fallen race sat. At the extremities of the table, there were those like goblins and ogres who had reverted but failed to evolve.
According to Solus, they held the least authority, and their opinion was heard last since it carried little weight. The closer one got to the center of the table, the greater the importance of the representative.
‘The Fomor sits on the right side of the King and in turn the Balor’s representative sits behind the Fomor.’ Solus explained. ‘Based on what I understood so far, they are in charge of the equivalent of the Royal Army.
‘Fomors possess the greatest physical strength, have access to all tiers of spells, and their eyes gave them plenty of bloodline abilities. They are the generals of the children of Glemos and their leader is called Warlord.
‘The orc shaman sits on the left side and his species holds the same authority as the Mage Association and their representative is called the Warsage. Even though the orcs failed to evolve, they are the only ones among the fallen races who can Awaken.
‘They have no elemental restriction and thanks to their ability to manipulate crystals the shamans have nigh-infinite mana and can control the world energy even better than the Fomors.’
‘That I can understand, but I sure wasn’t expecting a Hati to be the King.’ The eyes of the Voidfeather went wide in surprise when he noticed the furred figure standing in the middle of the semi-circle.
The King was smaller than the Fomor on his right and his magical aura was insignificant compared to the orc shaman to his left. Yet everyone looked at him for permission before they spoke and once he nodded, they kept looking at him to make sure to have his attention.
At first sight, the King was no different from the rest of the Hati that Lith had met and slaughtered in Faluel’s crystal mine and during the raid in Ne’sra. After a while, however, one would notice that even though his body still suffered from the constant shapeshifting of his species, it was limited to minor physical features.
His ears would change in shape, size, or number, the number of his fingers and toes varied as well, and his snout would become more and less pronounced. The number of his tails and limbs, instead, remained fixed.
No change in his body took place that would ruin the luxurious clothes of his office. A peek with the Voidfeather’s Spirit Eye revealed that the Hati’s life force was actually no less chaotic than that of his peers.
The difference was that the King had learned to feel its flow and somehow controlled it with sheer force of will.
‘When did you learn this… Spirit Vision?’ Solus asked.
‘Five minutes ago. When did you learn all this stuff?’ The Voidfeather replied, enjoying her company and cutting Lith out of the conversation.
‘This place is their governing organ and it’s called the senate. It was already in session when I arrived. The various representatives spent over one hour throwing at each other’s faces the past merits of their respective races.
‘It was like witnessing a heraldry contest where the winner gets to live.’ She gave him a short summary of the events via mind fusion.
‘I can see why they did it and why the women I met were so upset. Basically, they are using their respective worth as an argument to justify culling fewer members of their species than the others.’ He pondered.
‘Yeah. Ogres and goblins are in a tough spot. Someone wants to save just ten people from their races and slaughter the rest since they are “useless”. As you can imagine, orcs, Balors, and wargs are already set to take the lion’s share of the food collected during the raids.’
‘I get orcs and Balors, but wargs?’ The Voidfeather was utterly confused. ‘They were more followers than leaders and their bloodline abilities aren’t that much. How the heck did they gain so much authority?’
‘Because they can use all elements as well and they are actually the strongest amongst the reverted races. Sure, on the battlefield their power is limited to the number of pack members they brought, but here?
‘Here the King holds the entire physical and magical might of his community. They can pass him mana, spells, strength, mass, and even the power of their cores. I’ve caught just a glimpse of his power earlier when the representative of the Undead Courts angered him but I can tell you this.
‘If there’s someone that can kick even your ass, it’s the King. He is the champion of both his species and the colony.’ Solus replied.
The Voidfeather Dragon remembered how easily the Queen had overpowered a Fomor and nodded in understanding. Then his eyes went wide in realization.
‘What representative of the Undead Courts? What are they doing here?’
‘Now I recognize you.’ She chuckled. ‘There you go.’
Another partial mind fusion showed Lith that after Glemos’ disappearance, the underground city had been left to itself. The children of Glemos had waited for months, hoping that their god would return and give them new instructions.
Yet with the passing of time and the dwindling of their resources, panic had slowly started to rise like an ever-increasing tide. In Solus’ memories, Lith could see how the Traughen and the orcs were working together to infuse mana crystals with light energy and create sunstones.
So far, they had failed, but by combining their efforts with the ogres, they had succeeded in developing underground cultivated fields. They also grew their cattle, but neither was enough to sustain the city without outside provisions.
Plants’ growth could be accelerated, but it impoverished the soil and every harvest would give fewer crops unless the field could rest. Animals developed and conceived at a speed too slow for the enhanced metabolism of the fallen species.
The senate had started rationing the food, then moving outside from time to time to forage and hunt, and lastly, the culls had become a regular occurrence. At the end of their rope and not knowing what to do, Glemos’ right-hand men had contacted the Undead Courts.
The fallen species needed food and the Courts needed the Harmonizers to fix the flaws in their own life force.
