2259 Black Star of the Desert (Part 1)
To Lith, the lily pendant was a memento of his oath to Phloria and of his determination to save her.
To Kamila, instead, it was a memento of his past relationship and of all the risks that saving Phloria implied.
"I have three Guardians watching over my womb. I'm the last person on Mogar you should worry about." She said with a thin smile. "I meant that if you execute your plan, people will start asking questions. At first to themselves and then to you."
"What choice do I have?" Lith shrugged. "Thrud already knows everything. If she wanted to ruin my life, she would have already told the whole Mogar about Solus and Menadion's tower.
"She's going to instruct her army according to the information she has and if I keep playing dumb, they'll kill me in a jiffy. Holding anything back is pointless. I might as well go all-out and do everything I can to make sure that Thrud dies bringing my secrets with her.
"This is not only about saving Phloria, but also you, me, and the rest of my family."
"What about that, then?" Kamila pointed at the pendant.
"I've spoken with Quylla and Jirni about the effects of slave items. The victim can't break free from the spell, but they can fight it. My hope is that there's still enough of Phloria to react to the lily and make her hesitate.
"I need but one second to knock her unconscious and with a bit of luck, the pendant will do the trick." Lith replied. "I've lost so many people already. Carl, Yurial, Trequill, Mirim, and Manohar.
"I don't want to lose Phloria. I don't want to lose anyone anymore. Never again. That's what I promised myself."
"Never again." Kamila nodded, giving him a short kiss. "I believe in you."
***
Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, outside the city of Zeska, the day after.
The entire region had fallen into Thrud's hands right after the death of Krishna Manohar, the Mad Professor, yet the city of Zeska held a special significance to Lith.
It was the place where his friend and colleague had died. Taking it back meant not only weakening Thrud's hold, but also avenging Manohar and honoring his memory.
"I finally get to meet you again, kid." Crank the Hyperion was in his honey badger form, trotting toward Lith the moment he had recognized his smell. "Your damn trips to the Desert make you hard to find and no one wanted to give me your rune or address.
"Don't think that I've forgotten your promise. You still have to teach me how to conjure holograms with Light Mastery."
Crank was expecting a snarky remark or to be just sent off.
He was aware of how the kidnapping of Archmage Ernas personally affected Lith. Also, thanks to the authority bestowed upon him by the Council and the Royals, the Tiamat could have ordered Crank to go fuck himself and he would have been forced to obey.
'I don't know when we'll meet again and I must remind him of what he owes me. I did my job and deserve my pay.' Hyperions were stubborn and daring creatures, traits inherited from their primordial ancestor.
"Fine." Much to Crank's surprise, Lith stopped and took his communicator amulet out, offering to exchange his rune. "I don't have the time now, but we can set an appointment for a later date."
"Sure, mister…" The Hyperion didn't waste time looking the gifted horse in the mouth and took out his own amulet.
"Do you really not remember my name? It's Lith Verhen."
'The pot calling the kettle black.' Solus said with a sneer after reminding him who Crank was and when they had met him.
"Kid, I mean, Lith, I meet hundreds of people on every battlefield. Remembering them all is impossible." Crank wrote down the name on an IOU note that he stored in his dimensional item along with the communicator.
"Fair enough. If you are interested, I have another offer for you." Lith nodded.
"State the request and the reward. In that order." This way the Hyperion could assess the threat level before being blinded by greed from a great yet not-worth-the-risk prize.
"If you ever meet Phloria Ernas on the battlefield and you capture her alive, bring her to me. If you succeed, I'll make you a weapon suitable for you to learn Blade Magic." Lith replied.
"What?" Crank burst out in surprise drawing the attention of every Awakened present.
"You heard me. Bring me my friend and I'll make sure you can learn Blade Magic. This offer is extended to everyone. First come, first served." Lith's voice resounded through the camp thanks to air magic.
"Can you really do it? Blade Tier weapons are the stuff of Rulers of the Flames." Crank squinted his eyes and crossed his small forearms in disbelief.
"I can't do it quickly nor can I guarantee a weapon that will 100% support your mana flow, but yes. I can craft you a suitable training tool."
"What do you mean, training tool?" Qunkor the Wyvern, one of the Council elders asked.
"Do you really expect me to give you an Emperor Beast-sized or bigger weapon for free? To consume my ingredients and crystals?" Lith replied.
"What I'm offering is a human-sized weapon that can be used as a template to both learn Blade Tier spells and choose what kind of enchantments you want.
"Then, it's up to you to find a Forgemaster and provide them with the necessary ingredients to craft the real deal. Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it." Crank and Qunkor said in unison, quickly followed by others as those same words spread like wildfire.
Forging a powerful weapon was something any Forgemaster worthy of their name could do. Finding a pattern for the power core and the mana circulatory system suitable to learn Blade Magic was a needle in a forest fire.
Lith kept walking toward the tent where the commanding officers of the Council and the army had set up the headquarters. The battle for Zeska couldn't start without his authorization and he had a few instructions to impart.
The Generals and the Council elders didn't like the idea of taking orders from a youth not even twenty years old. To humans, Lith was a young man but to Awakened, he was a toddler.
Yet both of them had their orders and were curious to see what cards the Supreme Magus kept hidden in his sleeves.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'll go straight to the point." Lith said after giving them a brief salute. "I know little about the art of war and even less of how to conduct a siege.
"I'm just going to tell you what to do and trust you to determine the best course of action. Is that clear?" Lith asked and the officials nodded for him to continue.
"My plan consists of three phases. The first phase requires you to go all out from the very beginning. No holds barred." Many brows furrowed but no one rose objections. "The second phase will start on my mark.
"The moment I give you the signal, shift all of your troops to a defensive position."
