The female assassin jumped forward, unleashing several tier five spells at the same time and then performing a perfectly timed Spirit Blink to change her position under the cover of her own spells’ mana.
Yet nothing worked. The spells remained frozen in place and her Blink never opened.
‘What?’ She landed in front of the Void Demon Dragon who had not bothered moving during her jump. ‘How did he do that and why he is not attacking?’
The seven eyes were all fixed on her, reading with Life Vision the movements of her mana as soon as she conjured it and then neutralizing her spells with Domination.
Narant discovered the answer to her second question the moment she tried to feint at Verhen’s head with one hand while the real attack aimed at his left lung. It would seal his breathing technique and open a wound close to the heart enough to make the poison on her blades lethal.
Lith extended his open hands in an attempt to grab the blades.
‘Fuck no!’ Narant had to stop herself so abruptly that her nimble maneuver turned into a clumsy tumble that sent her amid trash bins.
Lith’s hand were ablaze as well and Winion’s weapons were reduced to pools of molten metal that were slowly evaporating. As for the male assassin, he tried to use Invigoration to heal his wounds.
The problem was that the world energy burned the moment it entered his body. His flesh was burning and so was his blood. Everything was burning. Winion’s whole body was now a blue torch that tossed around, screaming in endless agony.
‘That’s why he has yet to attack. Verhen wants to take me alive and Winion is a warning of what’s going to happen to me if Verhen touches me.’ Narant thought and she was right.
“I… hate… you.” Lith extended his clawed hands as if he were trying to grab her.
His voice was strained, stuttering every word due to the strain that making sense inflicted upon him.
“He’s trying to tell you that either you talk or you’ll end up like your partner.” Leegaain translated for her.
“If I tell Verhen what he wants, will he let me go?” Winion’s wails were slowly dying out, making them even more horrifying.
“I don’t know but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t, he’s going to make it really, really slow.” Leegaain took his glasses off to clean them. “As you said earlier, my grandkid loves his mother and brother very much.”
Narant hesitated until Lith snarled and took a step forward. Even from a distance, she could feel the heat of the blue flames hungering for her life. She tried a new volley of spells and when they failed her again she said:
“What do you want to know?”
“I…ha-”
“Try with everything. Starting with who sent you here, why, yada yada. Make it quick.” Leegaain said as Lith advanced further.
“I’m here to avenge the slaughter of Verendi’s Council!” Narant said with what little pride she had left. “Because of you, the entire continent has fallen into chaos! Without the Awakened putting a leash on those power-hungry morons, all countries are now at war.
“Because of you, those Abominations have invaded our territories, and our Guardian of Life, Ileza the Bastet, almost died at their hands!”
“They what?” Leegaain was flabbergasted at the news.
Sure, Tezka had proven to be powerful, but nothing compared to Salaark. Yet they had fought one on one whereas if the Master’s hybrids attacked together, the fight might have ended differently.
“How is it possible and why didn’t she call for help?” He asked.
“Ask Tyris, Dragon.” Narant cursed the Great Mother’s name. “When she came to slaughter us and Ileza stood up for us, Tyris beat her so hard that she couldn’t stand. Her wounds refused to heal, making her easy prey.
“The Eldritches let Ileza live solely because she was a good punching bag and they wanted to study her bloodline abilities.”
“I could argue that’s your fault for putting a Guardian’s patience to the test.” Leegaain snorted. “Enough with your chatter. Who put a bounty on Kamila Verhen and her baby?”
“No one.” The female assassin looked at Leegaain as if he was insane. “Tyris made sure we learned our lesson. No one wants her to return to Verendi. Why do you think we were targeting Verhen’s mother?”
“So are you telling me that you are not involved in the ploy to replace his spouse?”
“Is there really someone so delusional that they think they can fool a Guardian?” Narant blurted out in surprise. “Don’t they know what has happened to Verendi? Of our continental war?”
“It seems not.” Leegaain sighed. “She’s telling the truth, Lith. She knows nothing.”
“I hate you!” The Void Demon Dragon’s hands clenched around the assassin’s throat, filling her mouth and nostrils with blue flames.
He let her burn as slowly and painfully as her companion, enjoying every cry and whimper of agony of the assassin.
His snout opened in a big, savage smile of cruel joy comprised of two rows of pristine white fangs.
Leegaain didn’t say or do anything, remaining a spectator as Mogar’s prophecy came one step closer to fruition.
***
Only after the assassins from Verendi were dead and Lith had collected their equipment did Leegaain Warp him back to the tower. Not before putting Tyris to look after Elina, though.
“I’m sorry, pretty finch. I’ll take her out of your hands as soon as I’m done here.” Leegaain gave Tyris a deep bow in apology for dragging her out during her rest day.
“Don’t worry, little lizard.” She chuckled. “It’s nice to see you care about someone for once. Take all the time you need.”
“What happened and why did you drag Lith away?” Solus asked and Kamila nodded.
“I have bad news and I have worst news.” The Father of All Dragons replied. “The bad news is that you were right, Solus. The vision Lith witnessed in the Fringe isn’t about Meln or anyone else.
“It’s about himself. The worst news is that, after the Dragon and the Abomination life forces found an agreement, now the process is much faster and requires no further bickering.
“I’m convinced that every time they fuse, the transformation will become worse and harder to come back from. I brought Lith away from you because you are his literal tether with humanity. I thought that without your presence, just like against M’Rael, Lith would fall on the wrong path.
“I’m sorry to say that I was right.”
“What can we do?” Kamila asked.
“You? Nothing. It’s Lith’s problem. The stronger he gets the harder it is for him to control his destructive impulses. You two can help him along the way but it’s up to him finding his path.
“Solus, try not to leave his side for any reason. I believe that Lith can still resist the fall if someone reminds him of what he’s fighting for.”
“What about me?” Kamila said, offended by being left out.
“Little girl, if you were bound to his hip, none of this would happen. With three Guardians protecting you, there would be no threat capable of stressing him out that much.
