“Hey, Nyka. Any news about the Ears?” The Vampire lived in the Eclipsed Lands and knew everything about Lith and Solus, including his past life as Derek McCoy and hers as Elphyn Menadion.
Nyka was his bridge with the undead who followed Baba Yaga’s teachings and his informant.
“Sorry, no.” She replied. “Believe me, if someone here knew anything, I would too. You have no idea how many wackos try to get in touch with Mom every day. If not for Vladion and Dawn, we would have died a thousand times over.”
Kalla the Wight, Nyka’s creator and adoptive mother, possessed the Apprentice Eyes of Menadion. Due to her role in the destruction of the Golden Griffon, the information was public knowledge.
It was the reason Kalla had permanently moved to the Empire and under the protection of Vladion Dragonborn, the First Vampire. Without the oath that bound him to protect the Wight, she and her children would have been forced to hide for her whole life.
“I’m calling you because I need a ride to the Blood Desert and an introduction letter. If I go there by myself, they’ll kill me on sight.” Nyka sighed.
“What business do you have in the Desert? I need to know for the letter.” He took out paper and ink, ready to write with water magic.
“I’ve heard that Aunt Scar lives there now. I miss her and I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Scarlett the Sekhmet? The Guardian of Children? That Aunt Scar?” Lith’s hand stopped in mid-air.
“In the fur.” Nyka nodded. “I never got to tell her goodbye and she never contacted us after her ascension to Guardianhood. I’ve been worried sick for her all this time but until now, I had no way to contact her.
“I mean, Leegaain was incredibly supportive but he warned me that Aunt Scar was struggling with madness. I didn’t visit her back then because I was afraid my presence might make matters worse.
“If Aunt Scar wounded me, or even attacked me, her sanity would have been further compromised. Then that cathead left without saying a word and I wouldn’t get anywhere near a Guardian of Jiera.
“Now Auntie is back to Garlen, but I’m afraid that Salaark is holding her prisoner or something. The two of them never went along. Aunt Scar swore vengeance on Balkor and Salaark while Salaark warned Auntie never to put paw back in the Blood Desert.”
“That sounds like something Grandma would say but I’m pretty sure she’s not holding Scarlett prisoner. Grandma is more the type to either kick an unwanted guest out or kill them on the spot.” Lith replied.
“You’re not helping!” Nyka snarled. “You are just getting me more worried. Can I get the introduction letter now?”
“I’ll do better. I’m coming with you.” The recent world tribulation had left Lith with many unanswered questions.
‘I doubt Grandma would answer them, but maybe Scarlett is still mortal enough to understand my point of view. Even if she has become a Guardian, she didn’t have millennia to come up with cryptic advice like Baba Yaga and the others.’
“Really? That’s awesome.” Nyka’s frown turned into a smile. “When are you guys coming to pick me up?”
Lith checked his pocket watch and the daily schedule before answering.
“After my training with Valtak but before dinner.”
“Who’s Valtak and what does that even mean?” Nyka asked in confusion.
“It’s a long story. I meant around six in the evening my time. Lith out.”
“You son of a-” Nyka wanted to complain about time zones but he cut her short.
He informed his family of his trip to the Desert during breakfast, asking if anyone wanted to accompany him.
“No thanks, little brother.” Tista waited for everyone to give their answer before speaking. “I already spend too much with you training my Flames and now also my eyes. I’d rather have a romantic evening with Bodya.”
After Lith’s, Ryla’s, and Morok’s first step forward in uncovering the secrets of human evolution, Tista had joined them in their experiments. She hoped that what she learned about controlling and enhancing her life force might also help her to master her bloodline abilities.
On top of that, her relationship with the Nidhogg had recently changed pace and now they were making up for the lost dates.
“I have something to ask you, though.” She said with a deep sigh that was born in equal measure from frustration and embarrassment. “Can you please look for anything I can use as an armor? Anything will do.”
Ever since she had evolved into a Hekate, her Voidwalker armor had become too small to cover her and she could use it only while in human form.
“I can try, but it’s not like I have enough Adamant to craft you one nor can I just kill another Dragon for no reason.” Lith shrugged. “If not for Syrook, I would be in your same boat.”
“I know.” Tista nodded. “I’ve been looking on my own for months now and you can easily imagine how it went.”
“Let me guess, the Royals asked for an oath of loyalty and Grandma for you to join her Nest.” Lith replied.
“Nailed it in one.” She groaned. “How could you go around naked until your battle against Syrook? Didn’t it feel awkward?”
“It did. I just had no other choice.” Lith lied through his teeth.
‘Poor Tista, I bet she’s still scarred from the time she exposed herself to me and Ajatar. I never made such a blunder in the presence of witnesses so I just had to be careful.’ Lith was right only in a small part.
Sure, the incident outside of Zelex still haunted her a bit, but the real problem was another. During her training in the Desert with the Phoenixes of the Nest, it happened again while trying to activate her bloodline abilities.
What worked for them failed for Tista and flexed her scales, exposing her privates. The silver lining was that she only had female sparring partners so there was no life-scarring humiliation.
Yet that didn’t make Tista any less terrified at the idea it could happen again and this time in public. Lith had never encountered such a problem because he trained in secret with Solus and his bloodline abilities were pretty straightforward.
‘I could make her some kind of enchanted bikini from the corpses of the Emperor Beasts stored in our pocket dimension, but that would be RPG-level ridiculous and embarrassing.
‘It would make her problem obvious and draw attention.’ He thought.
“I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.” Lith actually said.
“It’s all I ask.” Tista sighed. “Also, I’m not expecting freebies and I’m looking for ingredients myself. The problem is that the only way I have to get enough Adamant is to become a Council Elder and have my own turf.
“Too bad that I have no interest in politics and there’s not a single area that needs a Lord.”
The rest of the day was uneventful.
Lith and Tista spent the morning with the Father of Fire, had lunch with the family, and then Lith spent the afternoon with the babies, working on his projects when they napped.
