Nalrond was a man in his mid-twenties about 1.84 meters (6′) tall, with a lean and toned body that no one in their right mind would associate with his hulking animal form.
He had raven black hair, green eyes, and an unkempt beard. His bronze skin was a clear sign that he wasn’t from the Gorgon Empire nor from the north of the Kingdom.
“Oh my.” Solus blushed, and with her all the lights in the tower.
“I guess you are right, Nalrond. Alerting the Kingdom would have been pointless.” Lith nodded. “Whether they believed your story or not, you’d have ended up as a lab rat. As for Acala even if they decided to kill him instead of exploiting his skills, Dawn would have simply moved to the next moron.”
“Now that you know everything, do I get a last wish after my last meal?” Nalrond asked.
“How many times do I have to tell you that wanton murder is not part of my plan?” Lith emitted a stressed sigh. “The plan is to avoid useless fights, contact the Beast Council, and have them deal with this mess.”
“What?” Nalrond couldn’t believe his own ears. He had noticed that Lith was capable of using first magic during their earlier confrontation, but he thought that just like Acala, his abilities originated from his bond with the cursed object.
“Are you really part of the Beast’s Council?”
“I am. I also guess it was them entrusting your tribe with the relic.” Lith said.
“That was centuries ago. We had no contact with the Council ever since. Otherwise I would have asked for their help instead of acting solo.” Nalrond said.
“Get some rest while you can. Dawn’s spawns could find us any minute now and I’ve no idea how to get out of here. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to fight our way out.” Lith sent the Sentries to patrol the area.
They would warn him as soon as the enemy approached, giving him the time to make preparations.
“You don’t need my help. Her powers rival those of the Bright Day.” Nalrond pointed at Solus, who was trying to eat while avoiding to look at their naked guest.
The hybrid didn’t believe in free meals and the whole situation still made no sense to him.
“I wish it was that simple.” Lith said. “We are against at least 15 spawns plus Acala. Do you know about a weak spot we could exploit?”
“Dawn has no weak point.” Nalrond shook his head. “But if you really want to escape, there’s a tunnel in the lower levels that leads outside.”
“Are you sure?” Lith asked.
“Absolutely. I investigated the area earlier while I was trying to understand Dawn’s endgame. It was my plan B in the case I failed to kill her host. Destroy everything she is working on and then bury her under the whole mountain.” Nalrond replied.
He told Lith about an ancient underground lab that the Living Legacy had worked hard to restore to its full functionality. According to him, there were a lot of tomes and a machine.
“The only reason I didn’t touch anything was to not lose the element of surprise.”
“A lab you say? We should pay it a visit before leaving.” Lith gave Nalrond some of his old clothes. The hybrid was less muscular and taller than Lith so their size was a bit off.
“Just a couple of questions before letting you catch some sleep. How can the undead possessed by Dawn survive sunlight and what can you tell me about her ‘siblings’?”
“It’s easy. It’s the abundance of the light element during the day that forces most undead to sleep. All Dawn has to do is to absorb the light in their surroundings to create an artificial night.” Nalrond replied.
“As for her siblings, I know only what legends say. The Black Night’s mission is to find a way to make the undead immune to darkness magic, while the Red Sun’s is to restore the undead’s ability to use all kinds of magic.
“As it is, they can’t become Forgemasters nor Dimensional Mages.”
“What about Liches?” Lith asked.
“They are not children of Baba Yaga. They are a man-made perversion of undeath. Dawn and her siblings are known as the bane of Liches. Not only because the three Horsemen consider them unnatural, but also because Liches make a mockery of what they consider their secret mission.
“Every time a Horseman meets a Lich, the latter dies. Sometimes even for good.” Nalrond sighed. Even though he was certain that one of the cursed objects would be the death of him, he wasn’t afraid, just sad.
Part of it depended on the awareness that he wouldn’t achieve his revenge, but mostly because he realized how foolish he had been. Ever since the destruction of his village, Nalrond had never reverted to his human form for long, letting his grief and animal fury drive his actions.
Now, however, he realized that he had been fighting a losing battle all along.
‘Even if I manage to kill Acala, then what? I can’t build alone the arrays to contain Dawn, nor would she give me the time to reach another tribe of werepeople. She would just kill me and then find a new partner. Gods, I’m so stupid.’ Nalrond thought.
To add insult to injury, even though he was surrounded by enemies, finally being able to hear a human voice that wasn’t his own, eating hot food, and wearing clothes were pleasant feelings he had almost forgotten.
They reminded him of his home, of all the people he had loved and lost. Soon his nostalgia turned into hatred, but this time, instead of giving him strength, his rage only made him feel helpless.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Solus said while conjuring a bed for their guest. “Killing Acala will not bring anyone back, but I hope that at least it will give you closure.”
Nalrond was shocked by the cursed object’s kindness. He considered Solus an enemy and wouldn’t hesitate a second to kill her or her human host.
Even in his human form, the hybrid could smell the subtle scent that only a Living Legacy could emit and it made him sick.
His face turned red from anger and he was about to lash out at her when he felt a cold gaze piercing his neck. Nalrond turned around, meeting Lith’s eyes that were brimming with blue mana.
“Say thank you and get to sleep.” The coldness of Lith’s voice smothered Nalrond’s rage, reminding him that his life was hanging by a thread.
“Thank you, Solus.” The hybrid fell asleep the moment his head touched the soft pillow. All of his inner turmoil crumbled in the face of the exhaustion he had accumulated during the months spent hunting Acala.
‘What are we going to do with him?’ Solus asked.
‘It depends on how useful he’s willing to be. First, we need to get out of here alive. We are currently outnumbered but not outmatched. No matter how strong a cursed object is, we’ve learned from the Black Star that once they bond with someone, the host is their weak point.
‘If we kill Acala, Dawn will lose most of her strength and that should create an opening for our escape. If by then Nalrond is still alive and willing to teach us offensive light magic, I might consider letting him live.’ Lith replied.
