‘What do you mean?’ Kelia blinked so much that Harun offered her a handkerchief to clean her eyes.
‘I’d prefer we split up, if that’s what you want, but only after I’ve regained my powers. Of course I would love for my host to be a Divine Beast like a Tiamat or a Vurdalak, but the choice is yours.’ Dusk shrugged, feeling a bit sad.
‘If you consider me baggage, we’ll never merge and if we don’t, I’ll never be whole again. So I’m not going to pressure you into anything.’
‘I see.’ She pondered.
‘If we succeed in merging, even if you were to fail to awaken your dormant bloodlines, there’s still a lot we can learn from each other. If you don’t see our relationship as mutually beneficial, however, I’m going to dump you.
‘I’d rather have a regular host who’s willing to work with me than fighting every step of the way. You want your freedom but so do I. If our interests don’t align, I’m not going to sacrifice myself for you.’ Dusk said.
‘Thanks.’ Kelia preferred an honest business partner to a dishonest friend. ‘When do we move to meet Verhen?’
‘After the departure. Once they are bored and we have a reason to be bored as well, they’ll welcome the company. Otherwise we would seem desperate or nosy. One step at a time, kid.’
While the soldiers put their baggage on the racks below the couches and above the entrance, Kelia kept breathing while fiddling with the controls of her compartment until she activated the projector.
On the outside, people were still boarding the Wayfinder, the line slow due to the thorough checks. The cargo had been loaded in advance by the Royal Guards, making repeated scans pointless.
“All set.” A Royal Guard wearing the stripes of a captain raised his right arm and spun the index and middle finger in the air.
Four soldiers wearing the Royal Fortress armor assumed a square formation in front of the Wayfinder, each one of them looking like a humanoid prancing Griffon. Dimensional energy departed from the hands of the Guard on the lower left corner, connecting with the one above, then right, below, and left to close the circuit.
“Great Mother almighty!” Harun and the other members of the White Sword Corps said in unison. “That’s one huge ass Warp Gate, not a Steps!”
Kelia could only tap her knee and nod, almost losing her breathing rhythm from the gasp.
On the other side of the Dimensional corridor, she recognized the harbor of the city of Zalma. It was located at the edge of the east side of the Kingdom, thousands of kilometers away from the city of Valeron.
Even from inside the Train, she could smell the salty breeze coming from the Arsman Ocean that separated the Garlen continent from Jiera.
The Wayfinder started to move yet there was no jolt or shaking. The soldiers who had stood up to look in front of the train felt their feet still firmly rooted to the floor. If not for the images coming from the outside, they would have believed that the Wayfinder had yet to depart.
The metal wheels below the Train had been lifted and now were stuck to the sides as the gravity sheath lifted the Wayfinder off the ground.
The Train kept accelerating, moving from the underground facility to the open sea in a matter of seconds. Kelia turned around just in time to see a second four-man squad of Royal Guards on the other end of the Gate, closing it as soon as the last wagon crossed over.
The moment the Wayfinder moved from solid ground to water, the structure jerked and roiled. Those who were still standing fell butt-first on the floor, their seat, or their travel companions, depending on which one was the closest.
Lith hadn’t designed trains to fly, only to float. The gravity sheath needed to establish a perfect balance with the sea which took the power core several trials since every wagon weighed differently and required individual tuning.
After that, the gyrostabilizer would do the rest, ensuring that the passengers wouldn’t experience discomfort any longer while traveling.
The Wayfinder kept its pace steady, without further accelerating until the power core adjusted the output of its enchantments and found the combination that allowed it to proceed safely.
“Wow!” Quylla felt the shaking under her feet lessen to the point that only a low rumble remained.
“Wow indeed.” Orion felt both proud and envious of the fruits of his own work.
Proud because he had contributed to crafting it and turning Lith’s blueprints into reality. Envy because it was still Lith’s blueprints.
“Now you’d better sit down.”
“Why?-oah!” The Wayfinder went from gallop speed to dozens of kilometers per hour and then hundreds.
Once again, the various systems needed time to find the perfect balance necessary to neutralize the effects of the increasing kinetic energy and the violent roiling of the ocean on the passengers.
Quylla flew into Orion who caught her on the fly.
“This brings back a lot of memories.” He hugged her, stinging her face by brushing against her cheek with his beard.
“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a married woman!” She said, grateful that aside from Friya there was no one in their compartment.
Orion snarled at the thought of Morok and didn’t let go of her until everything quieted down.
“What about me?” Friya asked, her arms open.
Orion had expected mockery for his overbearing father routine, not jealousy.
“My babies!” He hugged her, lifting Friya from the ground like she was just a child. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Not again.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. We are not going anywhere.” She caressed his shoulders, knowing how Phloria’s death still pained him.
“This went way better than I expected.” Lith said half in pride and half in annoyance.
Pride because it was his creation, annoyance because Orion had pushed it beyond Lith’s expectations.
“Don’t be a sourpuss.” Solus scolded him. “We Forgemastered the power core down to the last rune. We might have underestimated its prowess but Orion couldn’t have done anything if the power core wasn’t already capable of such feats.”
“Fine.” He grunted.
“Is he always like this when something goes well?” Kamila was flabbergasted.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Solus sighed. “Lith doesn’t belong to the ‘glass half empty’ tribe. He’s the chieftain of the ‘who the farm drank half my water while I wasn’t looking’ tribe.”
“A whole new level of complaining.” Kamila chuckled.
Having no valid counterpoint, Lith ignored them and focused on the babies. He knew they would experience discomfort so he had kept Elysia and Valeron floating in mid-air to keep them from puking and crying in fear.
“Come to papa and defend him from the mean ladies.” Lith pouted and Elysia and Valeron quickly followed suit.
They had no idea what slight he had suffered but they were indignant nonetheless.
“Gods, they are so cute.” Solus laughed hard. “When they are so close it’s hard to understand who’s the bigger baby.”
“Ba!” Elysia pointed her small finger at Solus. “Ba! Ba!”
“Bad? Am I the bad guy?” Solus was flabbergasted.
