“Merfolk bride?” Solus looked at her hair which bore solely the silver and orange streaks and realized the misunderstanding.
“Already?” Kamila furrowed her brows, her voice holding much more annoyance than Solus’.
“No bloodline can survive with just one member.” Rem was puzzled by their reaction and even more by the hostility toward such a basic concept. “Having more than one spouse is the quickest way to spread the Tiamat species and tap into the potential that each different race can grant it when they are mixed.
“I assume Magus Verhen has a merfolk bride due to the wonderful color of his children’s hair.” She pointed at Valeron’s emerald head and at Elisya’s six elemental streaks.
“I think introductions are in order.” Lith stepped in, feeling Kamila’s fury rising.
She already had a bone to pick with those who after seeing Solus’ true hair mistook her for Elysia’s mother. With those who kept pushing Lith for sleeping with women of other races, she had another bone entirely.
“This is my wife and mother of my child, Kamila Verhen. For the record, she’s a human.”
“Hi.” Kamila kept her arms crossed and exuded enough hostility to make her words sound like an insult.
“Child?” Rem was flabbergasted by the singular.
“This is Elysia Verhen, my daughter.” Lith took the baby girl’s hand, making her wave at Rem.
“Dya!” Elysia said with a giggle.
“She is Solus Verhen, my partner…” The use of different terms to describe the same role puzzled the merfolk but she blamed it on her lack of knowledge about the Kingdom’s traditions.
“And mother of your son.” Rem nodded, completing the phrase for him.
“What? No?” Solus blushed, turning around to not face the merfolk.
“And also a human.” Lith rolled his eyes and pretended to have not heard anything. “And this is Valeron Griffon the Second. He is the son of my fallen brother Jormun and a direct descendant of Tyris’ lineage. He’s an orphan and I’ve adopted him.”
“What? Two humans? I mean, what about the babies’ hair? No human can have such bright or diverse colors. That’s exclusive to merfolk.” Rem pointed at Valeron first and then at Elysia.
Her voice was filled with disbelief at those words as much as her face.
“Jormun was an Emerald Dragon, so you’re wrong about that.” Lith pointed at the baby boy who said: “Dya.” With a sad tone. “As for Elysia, her hair is like that because she’s an Awakened and is attuned with all six elements.”
“An Awakened baby?” Rem’s disbelief turned into shock.
“Both of them are, actually.” At a gentle scratch under their chins, the babies shapeshifted into their respective Divine Beast forms and exuded an orange aura.
Rem’s knees buckled at the sight and she fell butt-first on the ground, followed by the merfolk who had come ashore to help the humans. Those still at sea forgot how to swim and sunk like bricks.
“Damn, no matter how many times I see this, it’s always funny.” Orion and his daughters laughed whereas everyone else from Garlen wore a grimace on their faces.
The fact that Elysia was Awakened in the womb and that she had six streaks was known for long enough that people had the time to swallow their pride and eat their liver.
Valeron’s Awakening, instead, had been kept a secret until that moment. It made everyone gripe in hindsight for not having demanded the baby as compensation for Thrud’s war crimes.
‘It’s not like I can talk my way with Leegaain. Even if I could, I’d have to deal with Tyris first.’ Raagu and everyone else who had witnessed the God of Wisdom taking the baby and the Arthan Set for himself thought.
‘Taking the baby by force would only get me a closed-casket funeral.’
“I see.” Rem stood up as soon as her legs stopped wobbling. “Congratulations, then. The young Lady Verhen looks as talented as she is beautiful. May the gods bless with the same gifts your many future children.”
“Thanks.” Lith nodded, but he could read between the lines and so could Kamila.
Saying that she wasn’t happy was an understatement.
“Guys, you want to watch this.” Orion stepped in to defuse the situation before the members of the welcome committee got themselves ripped into shreds. “Rhak Wam Shusa!”
On his command, the magic crystals studded on the wagons of the Wayfinder detached from one another and started moving each on its own. The twenty wagons arranged themselves into a small village of silvery houses, forming three rims like the Kingdom’s cities.
The armed forces were stationed in the outer rim, people like Lith and Orion who had both power and leadership roles had their quarter in the middle rim, while the inner rim was reserved for the cargo wagons and the members of the expedition who had little battle prowess but a vital role to play.
“Why not a circle like when we took a rest on the isl-” The pieces of the Wayfinder started to pulse, cutting Lith short.
In the village formation, the magical runes inscribed on the different wagons were aligned so as to form the same arrays that protected the Wayfinder in its train form, but also to expand their area of effect.
Several concentric energy fields expanded from the inner rim of the village, growing in power, size, and brightness as they collected the runes and power from the other wagons.
The barriers were over 300 meters (985′) across, protecting the entire camp and its outskirts, giving everyone enough space to move around without feeling trapped. The most external barrier was made of solid light, giving the guards the time they needed to assemble in case of attack.
“This is amazing.” Lith studied the array field, recognizing the various defense measures he had implemented for the DoLorean but used in a way he hadn’t thought of.
The Light Mastery array was the only one covering the outer rim so that the people on guard duty could use magic freely to scout their surroundings. The elemental sealing arrays covered up to the middle rim so that even if a spell broke through the first line of defense, it wouldn’t hurt anyone.
The dimensional compressing array, instead, was focused on the inner rim, to keep anyone from taking away resources or materials without supervision. Also, it prevented enemies from reaching the core of the village and killing its weakest inhabitants with a Spirit Steps.
“Thanks.” Orion nodded. “This is why. The ring form amplifies the arrays by stacking them but it also restricts our strength. This way, instead, we have the same level of protection of a middle-sized city and we can adjust the arrays based on the circumstances.”
Meanwhile, the merfolk had recovered from the shock and stared in awe at the magical city. More emerged from the ocean, bringing food and offering to help with unloading the Wayfinder.
“Thanks, but no thanks.” Orion gave Rem a polite bow. “We aren’t going to take out anything but food for now. We’d be honored to share what little we have with you, though.”
“With pleasure.” Rem gestured to her people to start making fires and bring fresh water.
