2051 Joining Forces (Part 1)

'There's no time for explanations.' The Tiamat said. 'My partner is a renowned genius tactician so you just follow her instructions and ask no questions. We are going to take down that thing.'

He pointed at one of Thrud's generals, Ophius the Quetzalcoatl. Just like the Thunderborne, it was one of the evolutionary paths that the Guardians had ignored. In this case, Leegaain and Fenagar.

The Quetzalcoatl resembled a long snake over 50 meters (165') long covered with sky blue feathers instead of scales and with a set of feathered wings coming out of the middle of his spine.

Like a Dragon, it was capable of natural flight, but since its forefather was actually a Leviathan, it had developed the ability to mix the water element from the world energy with his life force to conjure the Blood Tide bloodline ability.

The creature was the leader of a seven-men unit and was keeping the Awakened at bay thanks to his ability to manipulate arrays at will. Elemental sealing magical formations blocked everything but Spirit Magic the Council soldiers used whereas the Quetzalcoatl's allies could freely cast magic.

Every time that an Awakened tried to use a Disarray spell to remove the formations, Ophius only had to rearrange the runes that comprised them to neutralize the threat at hand.

'What makes you think that the three of us can do better than seven Council elders?' Crank liked a good challenge like any other Hyperion, but suicide missions were just stupid.

All the gold on Mogar was pointless if he was too dead to spend it.

'We can't.' Lith replied. 'But that doesn't mean that we cannot turn the tables. How good is your mastery over the air element?'

'Not my favorite topic, but I can handle even natural lightning. Why do you ask?'

'Shut up and cover for me. The moment I give you the signal, you are in for a treat.' Lith's eyes turned golden while Solus' turned black as he shared with her his strategy.

'It should work, but it's very dangerous.' She replied. 'If anything goes wrong, we are screwed. Are you certain you want to do this instead of just biding our time like everyone else?'

'Damn sure because we are not everyone else. Your tribulation is still ongoing and there's no way I'm going to let you die just to save my skin.' The Tiamat replied in anger while glaring at the golden and white pillar that still enveloped her.

'Mogar doesn't care for excuses and whatever they want from you they won't settle for mediocrity.'

'I know.' Solus gently caressed a scale on his neck, moved by the heat that his worry for her produced. 'But if we don't take risks, at least you will be safe. There's no reason to put both our lives on the line.

'During your tribulations, even if you failed nothing would have happened to me. I would have just needed to find a new host.' She did her best to sound indifferent but just saying those words almost made her voice crack.

Almost.

'It's only fair that the same happens to me. There's no point in taking unnecessary risks. You have your family and Kamila waiting for you whereas I have no one. I-'

'Fair my scaly ass!' Lith cut her short. 'During every one of my tribulations, you stood by my side, risking your life to ensure my survival. Besides, it's not true that you have no one.

'You have me and our family. I've risked losing you once in Kulah and I'd rather die than repeat the experience. We'll face this like we do everything else, together.'

Solus nodded and made the Sage Staff return to its original size in her hand, using it to recover as much strength as she could while Lith started weaving Double Edge.

There was a rhythm to every battle and Lith had long since learned how to read it like a pianist with sheet music. He used the Mouth of Menadion to cast his Blade Tier spell, Ruin, as quickly as he could while never averting his eyes from the Quetzalcoatl.

Crank froze seeing the mystical weapon weaving runes, but it only lasted for a second. He activated a flight spell while splitting the earth mass he had brought along in two and infusing it with the darkness element.

Soon the platform's halves took the shape of semi-spherical shields that floated a few meters away from his fore legs and that were big enough to cover the Hyperion from head to toe.

Earth magic turned the soft ground into rocks and then into solid stone, purifying it from conductive materials. At the same time, darkness magic flooded every nook and cranny of the makeshift shields.

This way, any bolt of lightning couldn't pass through Crank's defenses and any spell that hit them would be severely weakened by the mass of darkness even before it could reach the sturdy rock beneath.

'Fuck, I should have flapped my gums less and dug more information about the runt.' He thought while deflecting stray arcs of lightning and spells to make sure that nothing messed with Lith's concentration.

'The Tiamat may be barely a hatchling but he has already mastered Light Mastery and can even use Blade Magic. I didn't see the Hydra using it which means that she probably exploited my ignorance to lead me by the nose.

'If I'm right and I sucked up to the wrong person, I'm screwed. This guy could be the next Ruler of the Flames yet I always treated him like crap. If he knows how to craft weapons attuned to the mana flow, I must become his friend or he will put my order on the bottom of the list.'

Suddenly his deal with the Kingdom became irrelevant and the Hyperion focused on protecting the Tiamat at the cost of his own personal safety.

'I wish Solus could use her own Blade Spell. Menadion's Wrath is the perfect tool against someone who heavily relies on arrays but the moment she uses it she'd be drained of energy and we'll become a target.

'Solus has already used too much strength and we can't afford the risk of her losing her human body counting as failing her world tribulation. I wish that crap came with an instruction manual!' Lith thought as the battle neared its apex.

The Council's unit was being slowly cornered and its members had weaved Silverwing's Annihilation as their last-ditch effort. The elders had already tried everything they could and failed, but they had no option left aside from waiting for death or surrender.

Every time they had attempted an Annihilation, Ophius had used Blood Tide to turn the elemental sealing arrays into barriers that along with the Bastion foiled the attack and created the opportunity for a counterstrike.

Lith could see with Life Vision that the Council's Awakened were pouring all the strength they had left into their spell while also preparing for a Warp Steps. The elders would rather retreat to fight another day than waste their lives for a losing battle.

'On my mark!' Lith said seemingly to no one.

'On your mark what?' Crank asked in utter confusion while a bolt of natural lightning hit his right shield with so much force to shatter it.