2245 Fog of War (Part 1)

Tyris liked everything about the tower, but the Crucible, the Mines, the Greenhouse, and the Workshop had a special place in her heart.

Collecting resources at an enhanced speed and not wasting any of them during her experiments was a dream come true. Especially since it would limit her dependence on Salaark and her Creation Magic.

"I'm going to offer Salaark my help in exchange for hers in crafting my tower. This is a joyous occasion. Millennia have passed since the last time the three Guardians of Garlen worked together."

***

Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume Palace, a few days later.

Lith was still waiting for the call from the Royals so the moment his body recovered from the strain caused by the mission at the Golden Griffon, he resumed his work in the tower.

His parents spent most of their time with him in Lutia, using the DoLorean to visit their friends like Lark and Brinja, or just to take joy rides alone. Kamila had gone back to work right after the forced truce caused by the Dragon Dance had ended.

Neither Lith nor Solus liked having Kamila away but knowing that there was always at least one Guardian protecting her put their minds at ease.

They were working on Awakening their weapons and training Blade Magic when they were summoned to the Overlord's palace for a family dinner.

"Again?" Lith rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Don't be a sourpuss." Solus scolded him. "Grandma wants you to spend time with Shargein and to bond with Grampa. You should be happy that she cares so much about making you part of the life of the baby."

"That or she's setting my baby up for an arranged marriage." He replied with a snort.

"You can't be serious." Solus was flabbergasted.

"I'm dead serious. New race meets new race. Heck, I'm surprised that Tyris hasn't mentioned anything yet. Maybe she's waiting to see if I end up adopting Valeron the Second. You know, to add Griffon blood to the mix." Lith shrugged.

Solus swallowed a lump of saliva and said nothing. Lith's rampant paranoia infected her mind and spread like wildfire.

Yet when they arrived at the Overlord's Palace, they found several unexpected guests.

Not only was the whole Verhen family assembled, but also the Royals, Jirni, Jiza, and the representatives of Garlen's Awakened Council.

"What the heck does this mean?" Lith asked, noticing that everyone was on edge.

"I'm sorry for the ambush, Magus Verhen, but this is a matter of national security that involves your family as well." King Meron said. "Summoning the Verhens at the Royal Palace would have raised too many questions whereas you visiting Salaark is hardly a novelty."

Lith nodded and took a good look at the King while giving him a small bow.

Meron seemed to have made a full recovery from his use of the Forbidden Array. The only traces left were the locks of grey hair and the age lines under his eyes.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I don't understand the reason you need the presence of my family. They are not involved in the war… Did Thrud threaten them?" The thought that the Mad Queen might have put a target on their back to avenge Jormun's death sent a shiver down his spine.

"No, but the news we've received involves them as well." Sylpha replied. "It's only a matter of time before Thrud's message gets disclosed to the public so we wanted you to hear it from us first. There's much to discuss."

"What about Lady Gernoff and Jirni?" Lith asked.

"They are our strategists. We need their advice in order to decide our next move." Meron said. "You'll understand everything once you see the message."

Salaark took care of making Elina and Raaz sit first, serving them a blend of tea with powerful nerve-soothing effects. Then, once everyone was ready, the Queen put her communication amulet at the center of the table.

The blue gemstone conjured the hologram of Thrud torturing the Dead King to her heart's content. Orpal and Night were fully equipped and fought tooth and nail against the Mad Queen who only wore a shirt and pants.

Yet their body would be ripped apart over and over. Whenever Night failed to regenerate their form quickly enough, Thrud used Baba Yaga's spell to attack the crystal's very core.

She brought the Horseman one inch from death before allowing them to recover. Orpal cried and begged but Thrud was relentless.

Elina turned pale at the gruesome show whereas Raaz grinned from ear to ear, biting his lips to not burst into cheers. Elina was no different from Baba Yaga. She knew that Orpal was a monster and wanted him to be put down.

Yet seeing him tortured like that still brought her great pain. Orpal was her son and she felt responsible for his crimes. As for Raaz, he considered his firstborn dead and regretted only the fact that Thrud never delivered the finishing blow.

Yet he loved Elina and respected her pain too much to let his own savagery hurt her more.

"You've got the gist of it." Raagu said while fast-forwarding the several-hour-long video to the ending.

"Baba Yaga. Verhen." Thrud looked straight into the camera. "You have taken a lot from me and I'm going to return the favor. I'll start with the Mother of all Undead and keep Tiamat for last, but make no mistake. Sooner or later you are both going to suffer."

The message ended like that, leaving everyone wondering what her next move would be.

"Was this really necessary?" Lith pointed at Elina who was as pale as a ghost, her eyes veiled with tears. "If Thrud's goal was to make my mother suffer, you have just helped her."

"Yes, it was." Meron nodded. "We relayed this message to the Empress as well since there's no telling what Thrud's words really mean. Even if we assume that she's going to attack you directly, I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

"You are a powerful Awakened and Baba Yaga is a legendary being. On top of that, she wants you to suffer before you die. Thrud is likely to target your mother since your spouse if off limits even for her.

"In the same way, the Mad Queen is likely to strike at Baba Yaga's Firstborns who are much weaker and easier to find than her. We summoned you here to make you aware of the threat and establish a joint protection detail."

Meron had no idea that, after seeing the message, Milea had alerted both Vladion and Kelia. The Empress feared that if Thrud learned about Dusk's weakened state, he would become her next target.

In turn, Vladion had warned the Red Mother who now never left Dawn's side.

"This is ridiculous." Baba Yaga had said upon reviewing the footage, barely holding back her tears. "My three Horsemen are supposed to be second only to white cores and now they are all weaker than a kitten.

"I released the plans of Night's crystal core to stop her before she caused any further massacre but this is too much."

"Why don't you unseal Dusk, then?" Dawn had asked, seriously considering Nyka's offer to become her temporary host.