“I don’t see why not, dear.” Salaark turned around, more than happy of changing to a less awkward topic. “I name this form of yours Bloodwind Phoenix. I can’t wait to show you off to the rest of your relatives.”
“Bloodwind Phoenix, I like it.” Tista nodded enthusiastically while looking at her blood-red wings and beak. “What about this?”
She turned into her Demon form, obtaining a shrug in reply.
“Not a Phoenix so not really my field of expertise. Blood Demon, maybe? You know, to stay in theme?”
“Heck, no!” Tista roared. “I don’t want to pass for one of Lith’s underlings ever again. I want to be my own person. I deserve it.”
“You sure do.” Leegaain nodded, inwardly throwing the Stormfire Demon name in the gutter. “The problem with new things is that you have nothing with which to associate them. We need to make up a word.”
“And one that sounds cool!” Tista said
“We need to make up a word that sounds cool.” The Father of All Dragons sighed. “Rempa?”
“It has no kick.” Tista shook her head. “Next.”
“Grima?” Salaark proposed.
“Sounds like a disease. Next.”
“Hekate?” Lith said, drawing all eyes on him.
“Tista the Hekate.” She rolled the name on her tongue a few times before nodding in approval. “I like it. Where does it come from and why didn’t you propose it sooner?”
‘I would usually spout some bullshit about having learned it during my travels as a Ranger, but with two of the most ancient beings on Mogar present, my lie would be immediately exposed.’ Lith thought.
‘I can’t tell her that this name belongs to the ancient Greek goddess of magic nor that it came to my mind now only because just like Tista, Hekate was depicted with three bodies.
‘Even if I could say that, Tista would probably reject it, saying that reminds her too much of Baba Yaga.’
“It comes from here.” Lith tapped at his forehead, making his answer technically true. “And I didn’t think of it earlier simply because you were just a generic hybrid. I mean, I didn’t throw a fuss when everyone called me a ‘Wyrmling’ for over two years.”
“That’s true. I guess that’s fair.” Tista scratched her chin.
“Big sis, can you still breathe fire?” Aran asked.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You don’t have a mouth anymore.” Leria pointed out. “Do you spew fire from both sets of wings now? Also, how do you eat in your Hekate form?”
“I still have a mouth, silly.” Tista chuckled, but due to her size, it sounded like a rockfall. “It’s just covered by my scales like for Lith’s Tiamat form. Let me show-”
Tista felt all the scales on her body tensing, ready to slide off the parts they were supposed to protect.
“I mean, I’d better shrink first so you can take a good look.” After returning to human size, she covered herself with her Voidwalker armor to avoid further embarrassment. “See?”
A simple flex of her facial muscles revealed her mouth among other things, making her thank the gods for her foresight.
“Cool!” The kids said in unison.
“No offense, Grandma. Beaks are great but fangs look way better.” Aran said.
“None taken, dear.” Salaark would have liked to tell him that with such a short neck, fangs or beaks were equally irrelevant in a fight.
Tista’s arms and horns had a much greater reach and if an enemy came close enough to bite/peck them, she would be as good as dead. Yet such disturbing thoughts would only scare him so she just nodded and ruffled Aran’s hair.
Once they got back in Lutia, Tista called the Ernas sisters and Nyka to inform them about her new forms and their respective names. Most of her enthusiasm faded when her friends pointed out to her the amount of training she had to add to her schedule.
“Gods, why? Now I have to get used to controlling my strength while in human form, adapt my fighting style to my full size, practice using my tails and my new set of wings, and learn from scratch how to even walk as a Bloodwind Phoenix!” Tista whined.
“That and you must discover and master your new bloodline abilities. Also, you have yet to learn body casting up to tier five and you have to start using Accumulation again.” Quylla said with a pedantic tone that made her words even more aggravating.
“If you don’t condense new vortexes and Awaken them into auxiliary cores, your magical strength won’t be much different from a bright blue core. Don’t forget that now that you have all seven eyes, you have to start practicing earth and Spirit Domination.”
“I get it! I have to work myself to the bone more than ever. Can you please cut me some slack and let me enjoy this moment?” Tista said.
“Fine.” Quylla snorted. “I won’t mention your lack of progress in Light Mastery or the fact that you are in dire need of lots of materials for a decent armor, then.”
“Thank you very much. Much appreciated.” If her friend was there in person, Tista would have strangled her.
Thanks to Quylla’s words the Hekate was now self-conscious of being forced to fight completely naked with the risk of flashing her privates if she messed up or if an enemy attack damaged the retractile scales.
‘Let’s hope that nothing happens for a while.’ She inwardly cried. ‘Lith must have faced my same problem, but we moved to the Desert right after it happened. He had all the time he needed to get used to his new body during our vacation.’
“Do you need some time for yourself or do you want to pick us up and celebrate?” Nyka asked after Tista had zoned out for a while.
“I can definitely use some company, but no more talks about training or study.” She replied while staring at Quylla.
“Sorry, but I have to take a rain check.” Quylla said. “Morok is really upset. He feels guilty for the bloodbath Lith caused and the discovery of having a little brother made a mess of his mind.
“Don’t worry.” Tista felt guilty as well for her part in the massacre and how she had lost herself in the euphoria of acquiring her Hekate form, unleashing her new powers with no care for the consequences. “Tell him that I’m sorry and that if he needs help, he just needs to ask.”
“Thanks for the offer. Bye.” Quylla left the conversation and soon after it ended altogether.
Tista and Solus used the tower Warp to go to their friends, giving Lith a bit of privacy.
Meanwhile, now that he was alone in his room with Kamila, Lith could finally drop the mask. He had taken no pleasure from killing and deceiving the monsters, but he felt no remorse either.
He had done what was necessary in order to maintain the peace in the Kingdom and that was enough for him.
He sat down on the bed, noticing a yarn of white wool woven into what looked like a cylinder and a pair of crochet hooks. The wool was incredibly soft and smooth so he assumed it had to be something for Elysia.
