“Fine.” Syrah grunted.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Queen Syrah.” Meron offered her his hand. “I hope our people can get along and work together to build our homes in Jiera. Care to introduce you to your entourage?”
After the presentations and a bit of small talk, the Royals were impressed by the degree of intelligence and awareness of the reverted monsters. They had expected barely functional bloodthirsty creatures whereas the members of Zelex’s senate seemed more rational than most humans.
“I’m sure our people will get along.” Queen Sylpha gave Rylah a polite nod of the head, but before she moved on to learn more about the fascinating orc and her crystal staff, there was a question lingering on her mind.
“Magus Verhen, you talked about inviting Emperor Beasts, but aside from the children’s friends, I see no one here.”
“Allow me to correct you, Your Majesty.” Lith pointed at her Faluel, Fyrwal, and Ajatar, the obvious guests she hadn’t mentioned to not betray their nature. “Also, those are Reaper, Lifebringer, and Sentinel. The Kings of the Trawn woods.”
The two men and one woman were placed in key points of the room, ready to intervene in case something happened. There were also Valia, Trion, Locrias, and Varegrave, but the Demons were spending time with their families, not standing guard.
“I’m sure you’ve already met Feela the Behemoth.”
“Howdy.” A very tall, muscular, and shapely woman who seemed to have a penchant for the ice cream said.
“Last, but not least, to put my guests from Zelex at ease and bring someone who has no problem showing his true self, allow me to introduce you to an acquaintance of mine that you’ve heard about a few times. Tezka, if you please.”
The Fylgja had given one tail to each of his clones and kept eight for himself, but one was just the Spirit Tail which was almost useless.
The creature that walked out of the antechamber was about 2.3 (7’7″) meters tall and wore a tailor-made evening suit that fit his body like a glove The black and silvery fur didn’t seem to bother the fabric and if not for his height, the clawed hands, the tails, and the wolfish head, he would have been quite dandy.
His chest was wide enough to play chess and still have plenty of space and each one of his arms seemed to be capable of uprooting a tree.
“Good evening.” He said with a wolfish smile while cutting through the crowd that parted in front of him like a parade in front of a king. “I’m glad Lith invited me over. Our meeting is long overdue.”
Tezka’s voice was calm and friendly, but those present couldn’t stop staring at his every movement as if he was going to attack them at any time.
“Tezka?” The King echoed, having a hard time not letting his voice quiver.
“The Suneater?” The Queen gripped her husband’s arm to find strength and the Saefel Sword just to be safe.
“The World Shifter?” Fyrwal dropped her glass in shock and put Faluel behind her, hoping that the Royal Fortress armor she wore would be enough to protect them both.
Sadly, she considered Ajatar as an expendable meat shield.
Many other names, most of which unflattering, filled the air but Tezka nodded politely to every one of them as if they were words of praise.
“Yes, I am. Yet I’m a bit disappointed that no one mentioned my original title. The First Dimensional Mage.”
“I beg your pardon?” Both the King and Friya asked in awe.
“You heard me. I invented and taught Dimensional Magic, but no one ever made me a Magus only because back then the title didn’t even exist.” Tezka’s smile widened, revealing even more of his white fangs.
“Maybe it’s a few dozens of thousands of years late, but being here with my dear friends, I can’t help but think that Dimensional Magus Tezka has a nice ring to it. Don’t you agree?”
“Sure.” The Queen said, but just because those were the only words she could muster.
She was a bright violet-cored fake Awakened who regularly sparred with Tyris herself, yet she felt small and helpless in front of the Fylgja.
“How did you two meet?” The King asked.
“I’m sure you remember the freak accident in Maekosh with the Wargs.” Lith had tried to talk but Tezka had beaten him to the punch. “I’m sorry, but that was my fault. Sort of. One of my… disciples went behind my back in the attempt to kill me and take my place.
“Magus Verhen stopped him for me and I hate debts. Once I learned about his involvement, I started to protect his house, like your Queen’s Corps surely has reported you.”
The Royals nodded, remembering all too well the day Phoenixes and a mysterious wolf/fox creature had entered Lith’s house after being invited.
“The problem was that between his and your protections, Verhen didn’t need me much, but his sister-in-law did. I knew Lady Kamila would have been devastated if something happened to Lady Zinya so I focused on her.
“When Thrud’s generals tried to kidnap her children, I disposed of them. I tried getting rid of the Mad Queen as well, but she cowardly ran away.”
“She ran?” Sylpha remembered both her own fight with Thrud and the sightings of the colossal creature on the day of the kidnappings.
The Queen was as scared as Jirni was envious.
‘If that thing followed Phloria instead of Zinya, my daughter would be still alive!’
“Yes, but it wasn’t a big deal. The Golden Griffon would have resurrected her anyway so I messed up with it as much as I could. It bought you a few days of respite if you remember.” Tezka spoke casually as if they were talking about his vacations.
The idea of someone capable of scaring Thrud and even dealing such a blow to an academy caused everyone a fit of abject terror.
Everyone but Syrah.
Even if she was still grieving the death of her husband, her whole body was screaming at her and her heart pounded so hard that she was afraid it would break out of her ribcage.
To her standards, Tezka was strong, handsome, and his Warg half made him godlike in her eyes.
‘This is not the smell of an alpha. More like of someone who eats alphas for breakfast. Like Mogar one day woke up and decided that alpha wasn’t enough and came up with a new word just for him.’
“I thank you for your help, Magus Tezka.” King Meron’s survival instinct told him that it was better to keep the Suneater calm and happy. “Yet it’s not enough to make up for all the people who died in Maekosh and the damage it sustained.”
“If you want money, I have plenty.” Tezka shrugged. “If you want a victim, I’ll give you plenty.”
“No, no. Monetary compensation will be enough.” The threat and the killing intent accompanying it were enough to make Meron’s courage take a leave of absence.
“Good, because now I’m even with Verhen and I don’t plan on staying around for long. I came here only to let him know that our debt is settled.”
