Supreme Magus - Chapter 3172: Wrong Tower (part 2)

“How am I supposed to believe someone I’ve never met?” Derek’s paranoia ran rampant, making him doubt everything. “How can he expect me to believe such blatant lies? Someone entered my body last night just like Larry entered my mind now.

“I’m not amnesiac. I know who I am. I’m Derek McCoy.”

“Wrong.” Ragnarök said. “You Lith. You master.”

Derek wanted to question the blade’s loyalty, but that name sounded awfully familiar.

“Lith.” As he spoke it out loud, the Void could almost see his house back in Lutia, the smiling faces of his parents and siblings.

Then, more pressing thoughts drove those images away.

“What did he mean, no resurrection and who’s Kami?”

***

The search for Lith and Solus never stopped, but aside from Lith’s encounter with the family of traveling farmers, there was no trace of him.

Kamila always kept her communication amulet at hand, hoping for good news. Elysia and Valeron cried more and more often, not used to miss their father for so long.

“Is there any chance I can use Elysia to track Lith?” She asked Leegaain who was on baby duty that day.

“I’m sorry, child. I can’t help you. My vow is only about protecting Elysia’s physical well-being. Not her feelings” He replied.

“So you know where my husband is. You know what happened to him. You know how to rescue him and yet you just sit on your scaly ass?” She clenched her fists, suppressing the temptation to punch the Guardian in the face.

“And what do you want me to do? Fix all the bad things on Mogar? Rescue all the people who are dying and suffering right now? Do you realize how privileged you are just for talking to me?” Leegaain replied.

“If you don’t like my presence, I can always go back to the Empire. I’ll protect your daughter from a distance and leave you alone. Forever.”

“Please, don’t. I’m sorry. I’m under a lot of stress right now.” Kamila wanted to cry, but it would do her no good. “Gods, I wish Solus was here. She’s the smart one. She’d know what to do.”

“She wouldn’t.” Leegaain shook his head. “Without their bond, Solus would be panicking just like you and she would be terrified at the idea of not finding him before the lack of a host compromises her memories.”

“That’s not true.” Kamila replied. “She can bond with anyone and Grandma can undo it with Creation Magic the moment we find Lith.”

“Yeah, right, because I’m sure that Solus would be thrilled at the idea of having another person in her head and potentially exposing all of Lith’s secrets. Would you share your body with her?

“Let her feel what you feel, share with Solus your most intimate thoughts and moments? Experience hers?”

“When you put it that way, no.” Kamila swallowed a lump of saliva. “I doubt even Tista would.”

“My point- Answer that!” Leegaain pointed at her communication amulet one second before Zoreth’s rune lit up.

“Please, tell me you’ve found him.” Kamila said.

“I wish.” The Shadow Dragon sighed. “I’ve lost Lith’s traces the moment he took flight. He must really be amnesiac because his movements make no sense. He’s going in random directions.

“Yet I found his trace back after meeting a pack of wolves. It took me a while and lots of meat to convince them to trust me but I did it. They met Lith and brought me to the banks of the Osha River.

“I’ve picked his scent again, but after a while, I’ve lost him again. Lith travels by flight during the day when his hunger is at its lowest and on foot at night.”

“Thanks, Zoreth.” Kamila sighed. “This is not what I hoped for but it’s better than nothing.”

“I wasn’t done yet. Look at what I’ve found.” The Shadow Dragon widened the hologram, sharing the view of the clearing where the Void had fought. “We aren’t the only ones looking for Lith. Someone tried very hard to kill him.

“Someone wearing these.” Zoreth showed multiple fragments of Darwen left from the broken armor. “Any idea to who they might belong?”

Kamila looked at Leegaain for a second, meeting a stone mask before replying:

“I’m a Constable, I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s Darwen. It’s a rare material considered very hard to craft. It matches the pieces we’ve found near Vidun’s cabin. It means that we aren’t dealing with a single individual but with a well-equipped organization.

“I’m bringing it home to see if someone recognizes the design. Zoreth out.”

“Dammit.” Kamila wanted to yell and cry, to crack the table with a punch and smash the chair with a kick.

Instead, she kept her voice low and suppressed her emotions to not scare the children.

“Mama?” Elysia asked from Leegaain’s arms.

“Don’t worry, baby. Everything is alright. Mommy is alright.” Kamila lifted Elysia and hugged her tightly to find the strength to not fall apart.

“Dya?”

“Daddy is alright too. He’s busy with work but he’s always thinking of you. He’d do anything to be here with us but he just can’t.” Kamila replied, fighting tooth and nail to keep her voice from cracking.

Elysia was utterly confused. On the one hand, she perceived her mother’s sincerity. On the other hand, she also felt Kamila’s distress. The two things didn’t make sense together.

The baby girl focused really hard, trying to tap into the bond she shared with her father.

No matter how much Elysia tried, her Tiamat blood remained still. Then she shapeshifted into a small Voidfeather Dragon, garnering a response so faint that she could barely notice it.

“Elysia!” Kamila pulled the baby away, feeling the baby becoming deathly cold. “You gave me a heart attack and my hands are hurting. Why did you turn into a…”

The baby girl now had black ebony skin, long fangs, and empty white eyes but Kamila couldn’t call her an Abomination. The word itself sounded like an insult that if it were to escape Kamila’s lips even once would taint the love she felt for her daughter forever.

“This is weird. Elysia never turns into… this unless Lith does it first. What does it mean?”

Elysia didn’t care much for questions. After days of separation, she could finally perceive her father clearly. He was very distant, but the small Abomination could see his blackness as clearly as she could see her mother.

“Dya! Dya!” She flailed her small arms in Lith’s direction, begging her mother to turn around and look.

Kamila’s heart clenched at the word and she did turn around, hoping that somehow Elysia’s transformation was a sign of Lith’s return.

“No, baby girl. That’s the wrong tower. Daddy isn’t there.” Kamila kissed Elysia’s forehead, trying to reassure her.

A medium-sized hunting cabin had just reached the Verhen Mansion running on giant chicken legs. It stopped at a safe distance from the arrays in order to let the lords of the house confirm the identity of the cabin’s occupants and not trigger the automated defenses.

“What’s this story about Lith’s disappearance?” The Bright Day stepped through the wooden door, wearing a sunflower yellow day dress that emphasized her albino-white skin and pitch black hair and matched her shining golden eyes without pupils.