The baby boy had a full head of emerald hair that reminded Lith of Jormun, but he also had silver eyes that resembled Thrud’s too much for comfort.
Holding Valeron was still a struggle for Lith but the Dragon scales made it much easier. Just like Elisya, the baby boy followed Lith’s lead and shapeshifted by instinct. The feelings they shared during those moments broke Lith’s heart every time.
Valeron was sad. He missed his mother and whenever Tyris took care of him, he burst with joy because he mistook the Guardian for the Mad Queen. The disappointment that followed was just as deep and the worst part was that the child was still waiting for his mother to return.
He also missed his father dearly and was afraid of being the reason Jormun was gone. Valeron the Second felt alone and guilty, believing that his parents had abandoned him.
Only the constant presence of his handmaidens, Ophya and Vyla, and of his brother Protheus, Father of all Doppelgängers, gave Valeron hope that maybe it wasn’t his fault.
That maybe his parents were just busy, dealing with one of those things he still couldn’t understand.
The Dragon scales allowed Lith to understand how the baby boy was nothing like his mother and to feel how sorry Valeron was every time he perceived Lith’s grudge. The baby boy had no idea what he had done to deserve so much hate but he tried to make up for it to the best of his abilities.
“It’s not your fault.” Lith rocked Valeron while feeding him. “You did nothing wrong, little man. I’m just a piece of s- work. Definitely work.”
He noticed Salaark’s glare and immediately shifted to a family-friendly language.
“Is it normal for babies to poop so soon after a meal?” Solus had just sat down after returning with Elysia when the baby girl’s cries and pungent smell forced Solus to stand up again.
“What goes in sooner or later has to go out.” Salaark chuckled.
Shargein had no such problem since he had already reached a size and skill to comfortably use the bathroom on his own. Dragons grew slowly but learned quickly, a trait that all the hybrids in the room shared.
“Why does she do that?” The moment Solus touched the cloth diaper, Elysia started crying harder, kicking her away.
“She’s jealous.” Lith and Salaark said in unison, one drawing his intel from Dragon scales and the other from the Blood Imprint.
“Jealous of what?” Solus was flabbergasted.
“That I took care of Valeron. Let’s switch.” The moment Lith took Solus’ place, Elisya started to giggle and Valeron to cry.
“What did I do wrong now?” Solus whimpered.
“Nothing. He just feels abandoned. Valeron is begging Lith to return.” Salaark said, making Lith curse under his breath.
“If not for Creation Magic being a secret, I would ask Tyris to come here.” Lith grumbled, changing Elysia and putting her on his back inside a baby carrier before moving on to change Valeron as well.
“Why don’t you just ask her to come and leave once we are about to start practicing again?” Solus asked in confusion.
“Wow, and I thought to be a heartless monster.” Lith threw her a reproachful gaze. “Would you really kick her out so soon, ignoring both her and Valeron’s feelings? Giving him his grandma just to take her away like that is plain cruel.”
Solus felt like an insensitive jerk, but her own self-loathing took a back seat when she noticed Valeron’s serious expression. Solus followed his gaze, discovering that Elysia was looking down on him from above Lith’s shoulder with a smug grin on her face.
“What the farm?” She blurted out in shock.
“Sibling rivalry.” Lith sighed, feeling the emotions of both kids through the Dragon scales. “It seems that I’m the prize.”
“Dya!” Elysia pronounced the Dragontongue word for dad with pride.
Valeron needed to shapeshift into his Divine Beast form as well to say:
“Dya?” It was a question about Jormun since Valeron knew that Lith wasn’t his father.
It triggered Lith’s guilt for killing the Emerald Dragon and for treating Valeron like he was some kind of devilish spawn instead of an innocent child.
“Your father is not here right now, but he loves you from the bottom of his heart.” Lith said and the Dragon scales delivered the message. “Don’t worry. He asked me to take care of you and I will.”
“Dya.” Valeron nodded, feeling relieved.
“Dya!” Elysia had somehow crawled out of the baby carrier and onto Lith’s back after shapeshifting into Tiamat form, clawing at his face with pride.
“Yes, thank you, Elysia. Yet if I’m going to be a good parent to Valeron, I expect you to be a good little sister. Are we clear?” Lith lifted her in front of his eyes, making her pout.
Then, he put her right next to Valeron and the contact between their scales made her share his sadness and insecurities. Elysia started to cry at the top of her lungs until Lith Warped to Kamila, reassuring the baby girl that her parents were still there and that they weren’t going anywhere.
From that moment onward, the rivalry between Elysia and Valeron continued, but she never rubbed her parents in his face ever again.
“Damn, time sure flies when babies argue.” Lith grumbled after going back to the Forge. “I’ve regained my strength yet I haven’t gotten a single minute of rest.”
“That’s a parent’s life. Deal with it.” Salaark said while placing her left hand on Lith’s back and her right hand on Solus’.
The procedure was identical to the one she had used a few months prior to teach them Phoenix’s Forge and turn War into Ragnarök.
“I’m sorry to tell you that for something with even a shred of sentience like Ragnarök Dismantle isn’t an option. It’s the reason I offered you to reforge it myself every time you guys made a breakthrough.” Salaark said.
“Removing ingredients, pseudo cores, and Spirit Crystals would be the same as performing surgery on a patient with no anesthesia. It would be an excruciating experience made even worse by the fact that you pull his organs out and mess with his insides before putting them back in.”
“Actually, I was thinking of adding a little something.” Lith conjured one of the ampules from the Spark where his tissues had been refined since the day the tower had gained its new floors.
“I know that I’ve gained my hybrid life force only for four years now and that I’ve just reached the bright violet, but thanks to the Spark, my blood has undergone a refinement worth two more years.”
“It’s not really worth much anyway.” Salaark shook the vial, using her breathing technique, Mother Sun, to check on the potency of the ingredient.
“I know.” Lith nodded. “That’s why I keep more vials in the Spark and I plan to replace the amplifier with something better in the future. Yet for now, it’s still an improvement. Since Ragnarök and I share a blood bond, I believe that adding my refined blood as an amplifier is going to make a big difference.
