“I don’t want you to take unnecessary risks. We have interacted with all three undead Courts in the past, so I can at least help you by not letting them catch you unprepared.” Sylpha continued.
“Don’t trust anyone unless they have offered you their hospitality. It’s their most sacred vow and the only one they won’t break. Only ask questions, never for help. Otherwise it would make you indebted to them.
“Do not bring with you anything that you are unwilling to part from. As your hosts, they may request a gift of their choice. Refusing would instantly end the negotiations.
“Always emphasize that you are speaking on behalf of the Kingdom, so that if they require compensation for their services, they will not be able to ask anything from you. Ponder every word and say as little as possible. Do you have any questions for me?”
“If the Griffon Kingdom knows about these Courts, why are they still standing?” Lith asked.
“I have no idea about the scope of their power or agenda, but they seem powerful enough to represent a threat. Having a country inside the country looks dangerous to me.”
“For the same reasons every one of the three great Countries can’t destroy them.” Sylpha sighed. “Some of their members exist from the time before even our Kingdom was founded. Not only do they are powerful and wise, but they also have made secrecy a form of art.
“I know from experience that they have functioning Warping arrays even inside cities like Othre, where is supposed to be impossible. The second biggest reason that makes it hard to spot them is that they do not interfere in political struggles.
“They do not seek temporal power. Their interests and our own rarely meet or collide. Between their limited numbers and the discretion with which they operate, finding one of their safe houses is just a matter of luck.”
The more Lith learned about them, the less he liked the situation he was in. Undead on Mogar seemed to act more like an Earth’s secret society rather than the dumb monsters he was used to see in horror movies or in Dungeons & Looting rulebooks.
‘This is way worse than I thought. Even the Dawn Court sounds like a vipers’ nest. I need to tread with extreme caution.’ Lith grumbled.
‘Don’t you mean “we”?’ It was the first time since they had met that Lith excluded her from his plans. It was enough to shock Solus’s very core.
‘No, this time I’m alone. I don’t know who I’ll meet and the more ancient a being is, the more likely is for them to be Awakened or at least have artifacts that can grant them senses akin to Life Vision. I can’t risk bringing you along.
‘I can’t forget how everyone who learned about your existence reacted. Nalear, Scarlett, the Black Star. They were all either scared or anxious to study you. I’m more than confident to be able to kill a single undead, but a whole Court?
‘I doubt they can’t rip you off from my dead body once I run out of tricks. They have the advantage of numbers and experience. You have seen how powerful Kaelan is.
‘I’ve practiced true magic from barely seventeen years and learned about tier four and five only two years ago. I can’t compare with someone with centuries of practice.’
After the Queen ended the call, Lith didn’t wait for Kalla’s answer to prepare for his departure. He had the army give him a second uniform and entrusted everything he had on himself to Tista.
He only kept Solus’s ring. He was unwilling to part from her for even one more second than was strictly necessary. The memory of what had happened when Nalear had severed their bond was deeply etched in their minds.
Even though this time they would just be apart, the unbridled rage that possessed him whenever he was by himself scared him. Solus was more than his moral compass and his life companion.
She was the sun that marked the thin line between sanity and madness that he had walked along his whole life. Lith wasn’t a murderous brute, but the idea of having to fight alone against his inner demons while facing centuries old tricksters was far from appealing.
Kalla contacted him again a few minutes after he was done with his preparation.
“I’ve set you an appointment with Othre’s Dawn Court. Beware, though, I have no one I can trust among their ranks.” Kalla gave him the same advice Queen Sylpha did, before telling him the time and place where he would find her contact.
Lith was supposed to be on a small hill outside the city gates in less than five minutes. It was a safety measure to make it impossible for someone to follow him or to arrange a trap for the Court’s envoy.
Lith knew he had no time to lose, yet taking off Solus’s ring took him several seconds. He put Solus on Tista’s open palm, his fingers refusing to let go of the smooth stone surface that had become more familiar to him than his own flesh and bones.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.” He said to both girls while closing Tista’s fingers over the ring. Lith had already lost too much time. He left the Association’s building in a hurry and took off at full speed toward his destination.
Much to his surprise, his communication amulet drew his consciousness soon after he left Othre. Kalla’s rune was blinking again.
“One last thing.” She said after making sure he was alone.
“Don’t worry about hiding your nature of Awakened one. Most ancient undead just need a sniff of our blood or a gaze to recognize us. So I told them that you are one of us and as such you are protected.”
“Protected from what?” Lith asked. “Now that I think about it, it’s surprising that during your travels no one tried to force you to share the secret of Awakening. I can understand that undead have a strong sense of kinship, but bad apples are everywhere.”
“Protected from being kidnapped, forced to reveal your secrets, or having your family threatened. Just like the undead have their Courts, we Awakened ones have our Council.
“It doesn’t care if we live or die, but whoever tries to force their way to Awakening is bound to die. The Council doesn’t guard our lives, but treasures our secret. No one, no matter how powerful wants to cross the Council.
“Awakened ones are a race of their own and are merciless. Some of its members are almost as ancient as this continent. If they combine their efforts, wiping the Courts off the face of Mogar would require but the blink of an eye.”
“How do I contact them?” Lith asked.
“They’ll contact you when they will deem you ready.” Kalla hung up, leaving Lith more amused than worried by that piece of information. After studying the history of the Kingdom, he had always suspected the Council’s existence.
Over the centuries, too many mages had died or disappeared after announcing world shaking revelations about magic’s true potential.
