“Does my sister know we have arrived?” Lith asked.
“No. The last time I saw her, she was busy visiting our city. Lady Tista wasn’t willing to wait for you at high sea for hours so we didn’t push her. I’ll have someone look for her immediately.” Rem replied.
“Hours?” Kamila echoed, feeling a newfound respect for the merfolk.
“No need. I’ll inform her myself.” Lith took his communication amulet out of his pocket dimension.
The moment the runes of its surface lit up, he received several notifications and calls. Tista was among them.
“Welcome to Jiera, lil bro.” She said with a warm smile that was a bit creepy due to the fangs of her Hekate form. “Where are you now?”
“Rem led us to a shore three kilometers south of the planned landing point.” Lith conjured a hologram depicting their actual position on Jiera’s map. “We-”
“Gotcha. Be there in a minute.” Tista hung up the call and Lith checked the messages.
Most of them belonged to his family and the Royals asking him to update them about the status of the journey as soon as he could. The others were from the few people of Jiera he knew. Also, there were messages from both Vladion and Ilthin.
“Gods, no.” Kamila groaned. “Not Ilthin. I don’t have the energy to bear with her usual flirting. Not after such a warm and caring reception.”
She hadn’t missed how the merfolk setting camp for the expedition leaders were all slender females nor that as the water dried out of their bodies, the blue scales of the merfolk were slowly replaced by pale white skin.
The Merfolk women were paying Lith and the babies special attention, bending over to coo at the kids and arrange the food on a conjured stone table.
Orion was having a hard time not blushing and not staring at the naked supple forms of his hosts as they cooked the food and served him drinks. Even Inxialot seemed to be upset by the spectacle.
“I bet this is something you haven’t seen in a long while.” Raagu nudged him while she focused on the male population.
“You can say that.” He nodded. “Having so many precious specimens at hand and no plausible deniability for kidnapping a few of them is the stuff of nightmares.”
The King of Liches sighed and the merfolk within earshot of his complaints gave him a wide berth, moving in small groups whenever they were forced to approach his position.
“Welcome to Jiera, Lith.” Tista and Bodya landed outside the camp, shrinking and shapeshifting their bodies into their respective human forms at the same time. “How was the trip?”
“We ran into a snag on our way here but that’s it.” Lith stood up to escape the encirclement and greet them both. “When did you guys get here and what have you been up to until now?”
“We arrived yesterday. We got to Jiera quickly because we used Invigoration and flew almost non-stop. After we landed, we went to Reghia. I had no idea how to reach Zhen by myself or how to get in touch with the merfolk since we never exchanged contact runes.
“So, I asked for Xoth the Nue’s help. He arranged our meeting with Rem the last time we were here and I assumed he could do it again.”
“You did well.” Rem nodded. “We merfolk don’t keep our communication amulets at hand because they don’t work underwater. The air and light spells get scrambled underwater and even if they didn’t, merfolk would have no way to talk back.”
“Then how do you keep in contact with the human and beast cities?” Solus asked.
“Like this.” Rem pointed at a bracelet bearing a small green crystal the size of a pea that she wore on her right wrist. “When someone is looking for me, the ring lights up. At that point, I reach for the surface and take my communication amulet out.”
The amulet came out of the bracelet which turned out to also be a dimensional item.
“After Rem came to pick us up, I went to visit Kahlia’s parents first and see how the people of Zhen are faring after the destruction of Kolga.
“The last time we were there, we left in a hurry without looking back. I was worried that some of the horrors of the cursed city might have survived the detonation of the Forbidden Sun and found their way to Zhen.” Tista said and Lith nodded for her to continue.
“Luckily, things are going great for the merfolk and the city has become even more beautiful. I think it would do both you and Orion good to visit it as well.”
“Not to be that guy but I have no idea what you are talking about.” Orion said. “What’s Kolga? What’s Zhen? What am I supposed to visit?”
“Here, let me show you.” Lith activated a mind link, sharing with Orion the details of the mission in Kolga with the exception of Solus’ role and the power source behind the Eye of Kolga.
“That’s how you guys destroyed Kogaluga!” Finally, all of Orion’s questions about the lost city of the Kingdom and how Lith had solved a problem that no one else, not even the First King, had ever figured out. “Its weak point was here in Jiera all along.”
“What was where?” Kelia had come to join the other leaders of the expedition but she was at a loss for words.
She didn’t understand anything they were saying and the sight of the now-dried up merfolk made her blush up to her ears.
“It’s a long story, kid.” Lith replied. “One that I’m not willing to share. Sit down and eat.”
“Who are you calling a kid? When you were my age-” The temperature dropped by several degrees and thunderclouds covered the sky, turning it dark.
“Stay on guard!” Raagu had to yell and use magic to be heard above the rumble of the incoming storm. “Whatever this is, it’s not natural. Everyone to their battle positions!”
The units of the Hand of Fate Spirit Blinked to her side, weaving their spells with true magic. The arrays of the Wayfinder were holding the fury of the wind out, but Raagu could see the shoreline getting away from the beach faster and further than it was normal.
“Can this thing withstand a tidal wave?” She pointed at the energy dome after recognizing the early signs of the incoming disaster.
“No. Nothing can.” Orion replied.
“Can the Wayfinder outrun it?” Raagu asked.
“We have landed only for a while. The recharge process has barely started but sure. Everyone, drop everything nonvital and get back onboard. Code red situation. I repeat, code red-”
“Calm down. Everything is fine.” A dimensional opening as thin as a hairline appeared and Tyris stepped through it.
She was wearing a silk-satin golden evening dress embroidered in silver to form a feather pattern, exalting the grace of her every movement. A silvery black crown with eight elemental crystals rested on her head, bringing out the golden of her hair.
Tyris’ body exuded a golden aura that lit the whole area around the Wayfinder as clear as day, making humans and merfolk alike feel like the sun had descended from the sky to walk among them.
She was dressed like the First Queen and for the first time in a millennium, she wasn’t holding back.
