In her human form, Zagran looked like a bulky woman in her mid-twenties, over 1.8 meters (6′) tall, with shoulder-length blue hair, deep purple skin and eyes. She wore a sleeveless monk’s garb that left many of the scars on her arms, hand, and neck visible.
There were even more under her clothes but all of them were nothing that even a regular Awakened couldn’t easily heal, let alone a Guardian. Zagran conserved them because she considered them honor badges.
Those were wounds inflicted upon her during the most intense battles of her life and she used them as mementos of her past mistakes and the lessons she had learned from them.
“You look like a good kid, but the lack of feathers here is disheartening.” A tap on Lith’s forehead forced him to shapeshift into his Tiamat form. “Too many scales for my taste and what’s that? A crown? The old lizard’s blood ruined you, kid.”
“I know.” Salaark sighed and shrugged. “But you are wrong about one thing. He doesn’t look like a good kid. He is one.” She pointed at both babies, leaving Zagran perplexed for a second.
“I see. He gave you a grandchild and he also adopted Tyris’. A good kid indeed. What happened to the baby boy’s parents?” Zagran asked the Griffon.
“They are both dead.” Tyris lowered her gaze. “And it’s all my fault.”
“No, it’s not. Once a bird flies off the nest it’s not our responsibility anymore.” Zagran shrunk to 1.7 meters (5’7″), making her muscles and scars disappear in order to appear less threatening. “Can I hold her?”
Solus looked at Salaark who nodded.
“Sure.” Solus handed Elysia to the Garuda who examined her with her breathing technique, Celestial Vault. “Oh, my. We are precious, aren’t we?”
Zagran offered Elysia a finger and when the baby girl grabbed it, it shapeshifted into a taloned bird finger. Elysia giggled and bit it playfully.
“She’s adorable. Also, I can see why you and the old lizard vowed to protect her. I’ve never seen anything like her.”
“I resent that.” Salaark snorted. “I did it out of love and the old lizard did it only out of peer pressure. How dare you put us on the same level?”
“My bad.” Zagran raised her hands in surrender and moved on to Valeron.
Her lips curled up in disgust when she perceived the lingering traces of Forbidden Magic on his life force. Yet the baby was clearly a victim, not the culprit so her expression softened and she played with him as well.
Valeron smiled brightly as her feathers reminded him of his mother and held to the Garuda with all the little strength he had.
“Gods.” Zagran’s eyes turned watery as she felt both the baby boy’s joy quickly followed by despair when Valeron realized that he had once again been mistaken. “Poor thing. How could Fenagar threaten him? If you hadn’t given him a lesson already, old finch, I would!”
She turned around with a snarl, noticing that the merfolk had surrounded Tyris and were kneeling at her feet.
“Have you returned to us, Great Mother?” Rem asked while kissing the hems of Tyris’ dress. “You know how much we have suffered since you turned your back on us. The humans-”
“I haven’t turned my back on you.” The Guardian raised her hand, cutting the merfolk short. “You turned your back to me when you decided to disregard my warnings and discard all my teachings.”
“What do you mean?” Rem was flabbergasted.
“Didn’t my children keep visiting you even after the rise of Fenagar?” Tyris asked and the merfolk nodded for her to continue. “Didn’t I teach you the importance of communicating with the other races?
“Didn’t I gift you all with a common language that you ignored in favor of pride and secrecy? How are the consequences of your decisions my fault? If you hadn’t supported the elves in their war for conquest and instead sided with beasts, you wouldn’t be exiled to the bottom of the sea today.
“You can’t try to wipe out an entire race from the face of Mogar and then blame them when they try to return the favor after you fail. The humans have many flaws but they have learned to cohabitate with the plant folk and the beasts.
“Merfolk would have been invaluable allies and assets back when traveling with dimensional magic was an exclusive of Awakened and coast cities depended on boats for survival.
“If not for your bloodthirst, today your people would live on the surface along with the humans, mixing their blood and sharing the same resources. You are no different from the elves.
“Your prolonged isolation and lack of progress is the consequence of your hubris first and of your shame later. Centuries have waxed and waned from the War of the Races, yet you’ve made no diplomatic effort to earn your spot on the surface.
“Do you deny it?” Tyris’ smile disappeared and her eyes became cold.
“No.” Rem lowered her head further. “You are right. Until the plague crippled the humans of Jiera, we were too afraid to face our retribution and too prideful to ask for forgiveness.
“But that’s changed. We have changed. We have stepped forward to help the survivors and we are learning your language again. Our presence here is proof of our goodwill.”
“It’s a start. Tainted by opportunism but still a start.” The Guardian nodded.
She could easily read between the political lines.
The merfolk had no way to stop the people from Garlen so they had preferred befriending them. On top of that, they knew and trusted Lith which gave them grounds to obtain fair conditions in future mediations.
After all, the humans were going to need scouts and information while exploring the ravaged lands of Jiera and the merfolk could provide them both. For a price.
“Wake up, you moron. It’s over.” Raagu shook Inxialot’s skull until the red light of undeath shone from the empty sockets of his eyes again.
“Well, at least I didn’t feel a thing.” He sighed while rebuilding his body and looking around. “This is sad. The afterlife is just like the world of the living. A boring place filled with morons. No lab, no ingredients, nothing.
“I knew I would get punished for my actions, but this is too much. By the way, what did you do to end up here as well, exactly?”
“We are not dead and this is not the netherworld. Even if it was, I would never end up with you.” Raagu snarled.
“Negation is the first step of grief and rage is the second.” He dismissed her words with confidence. “There’s no point playing innocent. Since we are stuck here forever, we might as well exchange stories. I’ll start…”
“Meow.” Nero pulled at his robe again, to stop the Lich King before it was too late.
“Nero! If you are here, it means that I’m with the good guys but that’s impossible. There’s only one rational explanation for this…” Inxialot took a pause as he put together the pieces of the puzzle.
“That we are still alive!” Raagu said.
“That since you carried my phylactery, my soul was mistaken for that of a cat!”
