“No. Only the heir of Glemos can access to the key to the vaults that hold the Tyrant’s legacy. I won’t allow anyone but a member of the family to learn about its nature.” Ryla said.
“I can be killed and my Harmonizer stolen, but if no one knows what to look for, they can never find it.”
There was a fervor in her voice and a determination in her eyes that told the Tyrant that he had no other choice. He extended his hand and the moment it made contact with the Fomor’s the marble isolated the wall from the arrays of the city, allowing the crystals to form a Gate.
‘Shit! We are not just going past the wall, we are going somewhere else entirely. Not even Nalrond can follow me wherever our destination is.’ Morok thought as Ryla pulled him through the dimensional corridor.
He was expecting to walk into an exotic harem filled with gorgeous women of all the fallen races, a luxurious bedroom, or anything that he believed would suit his late father’s overinflated ego.
Instead, Morok found himself in a playroom filled with enchanted toys and all kinds of tools that a child could use to learn magic safely.
And that wasn’t all.
“Mommy?” A young six-eyed Fomor, barely five years old, was looking at them from around the corner of the door, in a childish attempt to hide from the alleged intruders. “Mommy, you are back!”
The child ran to Ryla’s legs who lifted him up in a hug.
“I told you to not wait for me by the door, you little rascal. What if it was a bad guy?” Her tone didn’t match with her words as she kissed the boy’s head and gently caressed his hair.
“Daddy would have smitten him.” The boy said with a very serious voice, puffing his chest out with pride. “He’s a god. Dad is never here because he has so many people to protect, but he always watches over us.”
“Dad?” Morok echoed as something inside him froze in horror.
Not only was the young Fomor’s skin white instead of blue like every Fomor and Balor Morok had ever met, but his eyes moved along his body so as to always look at Ryla and the newcomer at the same time.
The boy also wore a model of Harmonizer more advanced than those of the other members of the senate. Even the Queen’s Harmonizer was of lesser quality. Morok had seen an identical model only around Echidna’s neck.
Suddenly the high priestess’ earlier attentions and words assumed a completely different meaning, going from creepy to mind-blowing.
“Do I have a brother?” He said while pointing at the kid.
“Half-brother, but yes. Garrik, this is your big brother, Morok. Lord Morok, this is your little brother, Garrik. He was named after your father.” Ryla turned the child toward the Tyrant.
“Hi, big brother Morok, nice to meet you.” Garrik’s mouth shapeshifted into the row of fangs typical of their species.
“Hi, Garrik.” Morok tried to give him a warm smile yet it turned out as awkward as he felt. “Let me guess, you said that this is a family matter because your Harmonizer just leads here. Only Garrik’s can open the door to Glemos’ lab.”
“You are right.” Ryla nodded. “Lord Glemos didn’t trust with his life’s work anyone but his own blood. I only pretended to have access to the lab in order to keep my son’s existence a secret.”
“Are you telling me that no one knows about Garrik? That he’s never been outside of this house his whole life?” Morok was flabbergasted, and the nod in reply he received shocked him even more. “But why? He’s the child of your god and his life force is perfect.
“He could give hope to your people. Garrik is the tangible proof that my father’s grand plan works.”
“Or he could end up being the scapegoat to their fury.” Ryla replied. “Someone upon whom vent their frustration after a rite of passage or, like in this case, after Glemos’ disappearance and the culls it has caused.
“Garrik isn’t like you. He can’t run away until he becomes an adult. Were the inhabitants of Zelex to learn about him, what do you think they would do?
“They would see his Harmonizer as an unfair advantage and resent Garrik because he can have a regular childhood while everyone else is forced to suffer from aging and hunger.
“I know that it’s hypocritical of me, but I couldn’t risk the senate forcing him to take part in the Warlord selections. Garrik has a chance to have a real life and be free. I won’t let that be taken from him, no matter the cost.
“Which makes you-”
He couldn’t finish the sentence as the bad memories of his childhood trampled over his mind and many questions he didn’t want to ask popped to his mind.
“Lord Glemos never bestowed upon me the title of his wife, but as the latest of his high priestesses he blessed me with his child.” Ryla replied.
“Latest? As in there were others before you?” Morok wanted to scream and curse at his father’s name, but he had to hold it in to further Lith’s plan and not scare Garrik.
“Yes, just like there have been other potential heirs to Lord Glemos’ legacy before Garrik.” Ryla nodded, shivering at the mention.
“What happened to them?”
“The priestesses also undergo the rite of passage when they are found wanting.” Ryla replied. “As for their faulty offspring, they were sent to the battlefield and died to in glorious battles to honor their father.”
“Was it the same fate that would await Garrik if Glemos was still around?” Morok cupped the boy’s ears, adding a Hush spell to keep him from hearing such a grim topic.
“No. According to Lord Glemos, Garrik’s life force will stabilize after puberty. He’s not as perfect as you but he will be.” Ryla replied, giving him a warm smile and a deep bow of gratitude for his kindness toward her son.
“I’m the only one who managed to give him an heir that inherited both the Fomor and the Tyrant bloodline.
“That’s why he kept me around. Garrik was supposed to assist you in the endeavor of bringing the Tyrant’s bloodline to the next evolutionary step or to take your place were you to refuse to join his cause.
“Glemos said that he had reached his limit and that Garrik is the apex of his research. A new species of Tyrant born from the perfect Fomor. He did everything he could for our child and then he left to look for you.
“The perfect Tyrant born from the perfect human. Glemos believed that after Awakening, you would have surpassed him, and he was right!” She tenderly caressed Morok’s multi-colored scales but he stepped back as if her hand was a weapon pointed at his throat.
“So he experimented on my mother as well? Were we just a science project for him?” He said in outrage.
“Everyone was a science project to him.” Ryla said. “He never cared for any of us. That’s why he Awakened the poor Echidna before her life force stabilized.”
