“The people from the Empire are going to leave alright, but not before we are done here.” Orion pointed at the disassembled Gate. “There was no point bringing more than one Gate since we can’t lend the Wayfinder to someone and hope they kindly return it without even taking a crack at it.
“First the Kingdom builds its private Gate. Then, we bring the necessary for the fortification of our first outpost while the Empire brings the material for their own Gate.
“At that point, we help them carry everything and keep guard until they are done. And when I say keep guard, I mean to their encampment and the Wayfinder.”
“Makes sense.” Lith nodded. “See you soon.”
“I entrust everyone to you.” Tista gave Bodya a kiss. “Also, I entrust him to you, girls. Protect this puny deep violet-cored Nidhogg in my absence.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on him for you.” Quylla said.
“Not that you need it, Bodya. People at the deep violet like us are a cut above the rest.” Friya patted his shoulder and glared at Tista.
Bodya squinted his eyes in annoyance, but it lasted only one second. He hated being reminded that somehow a bunch of kids had surpassed him but he had long since learned that there was no point in being angry with reality.
“Are you sure I can’t come with you? You can trust me with a secret.” It was a simple question, yet it made Tista shift Awkwardly on her feet.
“I’m sorry. It’s not up to me. It’s a family matter.” She replied while nodding at Lith.
‘Now I understand how Lith felt before opening up to Kamila.’ She actually thought. ‘I’ve never had to hide anything from Bodya because I had no secrets. Being an Awakened is normal in the Council and Lith took the brunt of the public reaction after revealing he was a hybrid.
‘I know that Bodya cares for me. He showed his selflessness to me countless times. The problem is that I have no idea how he would react seeing the tower. It’s a huge secret and it’s not mine to share.
‘I can’t ask Lith and Solus to risk everything for me, even if it means hurting Bodya’s feelings. Let’s hope that after meeting his relatives I can understand him better.’
The Nidhogg didn’t like being left behind or the clear divide that still separated him from Tista. Yet he could also see how uneasy she felt and how guilty she looked.
‘Judging by the way she keeps looking at Lith, she must be following his directions.’ Bodya thought. ‘I know that he has many secrets and that he must have his reasons for this but Tista is supposed to be her own woman, not an extension of her brother.
‘I guess we’ll have to talk about this when she gets back.’
He simply nodded and let her go.
Tista waved him goodbye as Lith opened a Warp Steps leading dozens of kilometers away.
“I’m sorry, Tista.” Solus said with a sigh. “But even with the Sage Staff, I’m starting to feel weak and we didn’t stay over Yhen’s geyser long enough to replenish my energy reserves.”
“No need to apologize, Solus.” Tista replied. “This is my problem, not yours. I trust Bodya, but not so much to feel safe that he would keep silent about the tower even in case we break up. People like Kamila are rare.”
“Thank you.” The compliment brought a warm smile to her face.
She still remembered the heartache from learning about Solus’ existence and his relationship with Lith. Yet such bad memory was eclipsed by the good ones they had built together and the happiness that her weird extended marriage brought to her.
Kamila knew how Solus had worked hard from behind the scenes to teach Elysia the word mom while showing the baby Kamila’s hologram. Also, Solus had been a great help to deal with Kamila’s depression.
She had taken care of the baby and forced Kamila to take a break from the practice of magic every time she was overwhelmed. Solus had not only built their home inside the tower but was also helping Lith and Kamila to keep it together despite their respective struggles.
“Come on, I want to visit Mom and Dad. Which direction is the nearest geyser?” Tista asked.
“Good question.” Lith looked at Solus, like everyone else.
“Gods, how can you guys live with the memory of a Lich?” She conjured a holographic map of the coastal region that had been explored by DoLorean with the discovered mana geysers marked by blinking dots.
The Awakened of the expedition had found more than one but they were either located in areas hard to defend or that bore signs of recent activities. Orion couldn’t risk being discovered by a monster tide or starting a feud with a city of locals.
The conflict would drain their limited resources and delay the construction of the Gate indefinitely. Lith had no such problems. Building the tower took but a second and after that, the Watchtower would tell him everything he needed.
They reached a particularly powerful geyser that was surrounded by a thick forest. It was a terrible place for a settlement since the trees would cut the line of sight of the sentinels and there were enough blind spots to hide an army.
All things that were a plus for Lith. The trees would cover for the tower and the blind spots were perfect for his Demons to stalk the area and make sure that no eye witness would survive.
Lith threw his stone ring on the ground, seeing it disappear under the mud and grass. Yet nothing visible happened. He had the tower stay underground so that he and Solus would gain its powers without anyone noticing.
Then, after the life sensing arrays and the array detecting spells of the tower confirmed that no one was around, Lith conjured the power of the Warp Mirror to bring everyone inside.
“Can we jump back to Garlen?” Kamila asked.
“Not yet.” Solus replied. “I’m still recovering and building up the power for such a long-distance Tower Warp takes time. Also, that.”
She pointed at the images collected by the Sentries and shown in the mirrors.
A few creatures emerged from the shadows of the forest and approached the location of the Mirror Steps to study the remnant dimensional energy.
Or rather, they looked like different creatures until they merged into a single Empowered Abomination. The creature lived above the geyser and fed off it. He had hidden the moment he had perceived the arrival of the intruders and was now trying to assess if they were a threat or a meal.
The Abomination had started weaving a spell to reopen the dimensional door when a voice coming from behind made him jump in surprise.
“Are you allied with the Master?” The Demon of Locrias asked while wielding his sword, Pride.
<"What did you say?"> The Abomination’s reply was in an unknown idiom which was an answer by itself.
“I’ll ask you only one more time. Are you allied with the Master’s Organization?”
<"Enough with the gibberish!"> The creature snarled in annoyance and released a tier four Chaos spell, Void Howling.
The spear of Chaos was faster than a bullet, as wide as a small tree, and it disappeared soon after being conjured.
