Moreover, if the Undead Courts became able to freely move throughout Garlen, they would overcome their biggest limitation that until that moment had prevented them from being a real threat to the living.
Most undead couldn’t move during the day and some couldn’t even leave their deathplace for long. The Kingdom’s Gate system security made it impossible for them to use it without getting discovered and establishing one of their own was impossible for them.
Undeath made them lousy Forgemasters due to the inability to properly channel the light element. Creating a Gate, carving it with runes, and infusing it with a spell powerful enough to bend space through hundreds of kilometers of distance was more than any of them could do.
Their only hope was to get their hands on a pre-existing one.
After hearing Quylla’s answer Marth inwardly sighed in relief. He couldn’t order her to do anything and when he had tried to contact Jirni, she had refused to tell him about her daughter’s whereabouts.
“Quylla has just returned from the living nightmare Kulah was and she has yet to fully recover from her trauma of being the victim of a slave ring. She has already sacrificed plenty enough for the Kingdom.
“I will not allow you to bring her to a warzone.” Had been Jirni’s parting words with Marth and her tone had left no space for discussion, not if Marth liked his head where it was.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Phloria asked. “With all due respect, Headmaster, I can’t entrust my sister’s safety to a bunch of strangers. Especially when they are a bunch of weirdos.”
“If it is of any consolation, we are not here alone. Both the Blood Desert and the Gorgon Empire have sent their best Healers to find a cure as soon as possible.” Marth said. “The research teams have details from both our respective countries and Laruel. So far, things have gone smoothly.”
“Yeah, but that’s only because you’re nowhere near finding a cure.” Friya said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t risk asking for Quylla’s help. Only once you get a hold of the problem will the real fight begin. I’m with Phloria on this.
“It wouldn’t be a vacation spending my time worried for Quylla every second of the day anyway.”
Lith inwardly cursed and after asking to use the bathroom, he set up all of the necessary protections to make a call. He was eager to inform the Council about it and ask them to move their asses. Unfortunately, all of his amulets were dead.
Laruel’s arrays prevented any form of communication with the outside to prevent the city from being discovered. Lith returned to his seat, incapable of making up his mind. On one hand, he didn’t want to leave his friends alone, on the other hand, he was sick and tired of this kind of bullshit.
“You don’t have to worry about me. Do what you think is right.” Kamila took his hand, mistaking Lith’s silence for guilt because he was about to go away again.
“This is bigger than you and me. I’m not really okay with you spending so much time with your ex, nor staying in a city full of…” She didn’t mean to be rude to their hosts, so all Kamila could do was point her finger at Ryssa who kept caressing Marth uncaring of the presence of guests.
“But if this situation gets out of hand, it wouldn’t be just a problem for the big cities anymore. Any psycho could come and go at will, even to Lutia. No one would be safe, no matter where they live.”
Lith silently nodded. This time even escaping to the Empire or the Desert was pointless. For once the Griffon Kingdom wasn’t at fault and the problem was too big to leave it in the hands of a bunch of strangers.
“Thanks, babe.” He said. “When do we start?”
“Now is too late. I’ll have Lyta bring you back to Javvok and pick you up at the same spot at dawn tomorrow. By then your accommodations should be ready.” Before meeting them, Marth had no idea they were all together hence he had only prepared a room for Quylla.
To host so many people, they had to change location to a bigger tree. Magical or not, to grow them took time and they could use all the help they could get.
Back to the Golden Dragon hotel, everyone went straight to their amulets. The girls had to speak with their parents, Kamila with her commanding officers, and Lith with Athung.
The problem would involve mostly the human civilization since beasts didn’t have cities of their own, or so he thought, hence dealing with it was a matter for the human Council.
Athung picked up almost immediately, curious to learn why one of the hottest topics in the Awakened community needed her help. After Faluel the Hydra had verbally kicked Raagu’s ass, the human Council and the beast Council were at odds for the lack of respect that the Hydra had shown.
“This is all old news.” Athung said once Lith had finished ranting. “The Council doesn’t bother with human’s affairs. We have nothing to gain nor to be afraid of. Quite the contrary. Jiera has been a stroke of luck for its Awakened.
“Now all the resources belong to them, they managed to put their hands on most of the magical legacies from the fake mages, and what’s even more amazing, is that they can finally live in the open.
“The only inhabited cities are now populated either by Awakened or beasts. We consider it a great opportunity to see if having a country of our own can work and how we can get along with non-Awakened beasts.
“We are even considering claiming Jiera for ourselves if everything goes well.”
“You knew about the plague and you didn’t do anything about it?” Lith was flabbergasted, that was a level of douchebaggery beyond even him.
“Of course we knew, and so did the Guardians. Humans aren’t children that you can guide by the hand, we have tried and failed countless times. Sure, we could kill the King and those who had researched the plague, but what about the other states?
“They were researching magical weapons of their own as well. If we killed everyone involved in that kind of research, the void of power would have triggered wars that would have lasted decades and exposed our existence.
“Why should we risk our lives, our safety, for people who would burn us at the stake or experiment on us like rats to steal our secrets? We Awakened may be assholes, but at least we have rules and we abide by them.
“Humans, instead, are greedy for power and never think about the consequences of their actions.
“They made their choice and paid for it. We can only hope that the Garlen continent will learn from their mistakes. The local Guardian did everything he could. You can’t stop an idea with violence, only try to prove it wrong and that’s what he did together with the other Guardians.
“They warned the humans, but they didn’t listen. The Guardians even caused a small outbreak before the plague was unleashed, hoping that humans would realize the immense risks such a madness carried.
“They buried their dead and moved on as if nothing had happened. For the greater good, they said. For once, they were right. To us Awakened it was a great deal of good.” Athung smirked.
