“Are you sure you aren’t hurt, dear?” Elina patted Solus’ arms, chest, and then face in search of injuries or malnutrition.
“Yes, Mom. I was away for one night, not a month!” Back when she was trapped inside her ring and watched Lith undergoing Elina’s check-ups, she found them wholesome.
‘I stand corrected.’ Solus thought. ‘Having a loving Mom is not wholesome, it’s the best.’
After Lith was done with Elysia, Elina checked him up as well, earning an eye roll.
“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me, young man. You’ve put your life into danger and as your mother, I have every right to be worried. If you don’t like it, you can always change your career to something less dangerous.”
“Mom, I’m a Magus. What am I supposed to do for a living? Write books?”
“Sounds like an idea.” Elina nodded. “And teaching. You won’t find undead assassins in a classroom of the White Griffon.”
“I am teaching at the White Griffon already!” Lith countered.
“Among many other things whereas I mean exclusively! Your daughter deserves to grow up with a father.” She rebuked him.
“Let me get this straight. First, you pestered me to find a girlfriend, then to get married, then to give you grandkids, and now that I’ve done all of the above you want me to retire? What is this, some kind of long-term evil masterplan?”
“Just a long-term plan.” Elina weaved her finger under Lith’s nose the same way she did back when he was little and she scolded him. “I’ve never been fond of your so-called adventures.”
“So, should I have let Thrud or the Undead Courts have their way? Should I just turn down the Royals whenever they request my help?” Lith asked.
Elina opened her mouth to reply but quickly realized she had no way to argue that. She pursed her lips, squinting her eyes in annoyance before saying: “You win this round, but this is not over.”
“It never is.” Lith sighed, shapeshifting into the Voidfeather Dragon as a warm-up, then into the Tiamat, and finally into his Abomination form.
Elysia followed his lead, shapeshifting just like her father did with less than a second of delay.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Elina had no problem with her son and granddaughter having multiple forms, except for one.
She didn’t like the Abomination because even though it resembled Lith, it actually was his appearance as Derek McCoy. The fact that the Abomination bore his son’s eyes and smile yet everything else was different creeped her out.
On top of that, in that form, both he and Elysia were cold to the touch. They had no heartbeat or pulse, feeling like a corpse. Prolonged contact with their dark bodies was painful for anyone but Kamila and Solus.
“Because I must make sure that Elysia can control all of her powers and forms.” Lith replied. “Back when I was at the deep violet, taking my Abomination form was dangerous for me.
“At the violet it got easier, but the Chaos still threatened to consume me. The hunger I experienced back then drained my strength quickly and I could sustain my Abomination form only for a short while.
“Now everything is fine, at least for me, but I’m still made mostly of darkness whereas Elysia has a lot more of Chaos. I’m checking for side effects as she develops but so far, I’ve found none.” The baby girl’s giggle sounded like a high-pitched howl yet everyone found it adorable anyway.
“Thank the gods.” Elina sighed in relief. “You do your thing then. I’m going to check on your sister. Call me if you need help.”
“Do you need a hand, Mom?” Solus asked.
“No, dear, but I’d love to have some company.” Elina entered the nursery where Surin was sleeping, followed by Solus.
Sitting on a chair in the living room, Raaz looked at the scene with a fatherly smile mixed with worry.
“What’s the problem?” That day it was Leegaain’s turn to keep an eye on Elysia.
The Father of All Dragons was dressed in the black livery of a butler and had taken one of his favorite human appearances. He looked like an albino man in his mid-thirties,1,75 meters (5’9″) tall, with snow-white hair and skin.
His eyes were purple and had a vertical pupil. Multiple spots of his skin were halfway turned into scales, making Leegaain look like he had tattoos.
“Can you silence us?” Raaz asked.
“Sure.” A wave of Leegaain’s finger and words stopped coming out of Raaz’s mouth. “Anything else?”
Noticing the smug grin on the Guardian’s face and the sass in his tone, Raaz exploited the situation to tell Leegaain everything he thought about the Father of All Dragons and his pranks.
“Great Mother almighty! I can’t believe you kiss your wife with that mouth.” Leegaain was appalled by the crude language and the vulgarity of his host.
A cruel smirk appeared on Raaz’s face as he doubled down and gave color to the Guardian’s pale skin.
“Why? What is he saying?” Unlike the Lord of Wisdom, Lith couldn’t read lips.
“I’m not going to repeat any of that in the presence of children.” Leegaain replied. “Or adults, for that matter.”
A snap of his fingers gave Raaz his voice back.
“Lith, how is that spell you use whenever you ‘talk’ with Kamila in your room called?” Lith could literally see the air quotes since Raaz used them to avoid misunderstandings.
“Dad!” Kamila said, blushing no less than her husband.
“What? The whole Kingdom knows you two ‘talk’. How do you explain that child? Am I supposed to pretend to believe that a Griffon left Elysia on our doorstep?”
“It’s called Hush. Why?”
“No reason.” Raaz turned to Leegaain. “Can you Hush us now, please?”
“That’s for amateurs.” Another snap of his fingers and apparently nothing happened. “To the rest of Mogar, we are making small talk. You know, cultivated fields, grandkids, and stuff. No one will ever know your questions or my answers.”
Raaz trusted the Guardian as far as he could throw him so he first commented heavily on Leegaain and repeated his earlier speech. When no one so much as looked at them, Raaz finally believed the Dragon.
“Was that really necessary?” Leegaain furrowed his brows in annoyance.
“After knowing you better, yes.” Raaz nodded. “That said, are you sure that’s my son?”
“I beg your pardon?” Leegaain blinked several times in confusion. “Are you implying that you don’t think your wife was faithful to you or that a Doppelganger took Lith’s place and no one noticed?”
“Yes.” Raaz nodded.
“Are you insane? How many times do you have to witness the Blood Imprint conjuring the feathers of both of you to convince yourself that Lith is your own flesh and blood?” Leegaain said with a glare.
“Not that!” Raaz angrily replied, yet his rage was quickly replaced by a guilty expression. “Actually, I questioned Lith’s paternity a few times in the past, but after witnessing the Blood Imprint so many times, even the most obstinate doubt I had has been cleared.
“That’s my son’s body and my blood runs through his veins, that’s for sure.”
