2269 The Fourth (Part 1)

"Right now, Lith is probably in a place where he can shrug off the madness that has infected him without having to deal with judgemental gazes and the burden of the questions that he knows you want but can't ask."

"Since there's no one like Lith, my guess is that he is taking his time talking with Trion and the other Demons. Veterans are the best support group he could ask for. They know his burden because they not only faced the same issues in the past, but they also fought at his side today."

Orion's words further increased Zinya's worries. They made it clear to her why Vastor spoke so little about his work and why he had sought the company of the Abominations.

Neither she nor Raaz had a clue about how to help their respective loved ones, feeling helpless in front of a divide that could only grow wider the longer the War of the Griffons went on.

***

Kellar region, underground Odi facility in the Serpent Tongue Mountain range.

Orion's prediction was spot on.

After leaving Bima, Lith had Warped in random directions to lose possible tails and then had tower Warped to one of the most secluded mana geysers he knew.

After the Kingdom was done sweeping the remains of Dawn's lab and the Odi machinery, they had left no surveillance device behind. With no magical resources and nothing left inside the caves, it would have been a waste of time.

Lith had picked that spot because it was close, putting little stress on the tower's weakened core. He would have gone to either Jiera or the moon otherwise.

He and Solus sat on a thick, soft fur carpet in front of the fireplace of their dream house. The wood popped and crackled as the flames spread their warmth.

Solus held a cup of hot chocolate in her hands and a plate of steaming cookies beside her legs, yet she had yet to touch either. Lith's arms wrapped around her from behind and both of them were covered by a thick blanket.

Yet none of it mattered.

Despite their bond soothing her nerves and the many sources of heat around her, Solus was trembling from head to toe. Her face was deathly pale and her hands kept shaking, spilling the hot chocolate that the self-cleaning enchantments cleansed.

As for Lith, his face was a stone mask and his body steady. Only the shadows on the walls betrayed his inner turmoil. They writhed in apparent agony, their shape and size changing non-stop as they depicted images from the recent battles.

Were Lith to turn around, he would see the silhouettes of people choking to their death due to burned lungs and those of flaming ruins. His Demons would put the shadow people out of their misery just for the scenario to start over again.

It wasn't the first time they had killed, but never so many. Never before had they brought whole cities to their knees and consequences be damned.

"Do you think we did the right thing or are we the bad guys?" Solus put the cup down and wrapped Lith's arms tighter around her, searching for warmth.

The cup was almost empty, its content spilled instead of drunk. The room was as hot as a sunny summer day, but she couldn't stop shivering.

"I have no idea if we did the right thing. That's something history will decide. What really matters is that we did what was necessary and that's enough for me." Lith replied.

"Are you sure?" She turned around to look into his empty, dull eyes that reminded her of a shark. "I mean, I love Phloria as well, but is it really worth bringing so much death and destruction for a single person?

"To sacrifice so many lives for maybe saving one?"

"Yours is an excellent question, but to understand my answer, let me rephrase it for you." Lith's eyes went back to life, staring at her with a cold gaze. "What point has saving Mogar if in exchange you have to lose everyone who makes your life worth living?

"Why should you be the only one making sacrifices so that a bunch of strangers you'll never meet nor care about can be happy? I don't know you, but I'm no saint. If I had to choose between my happiness and the rest of Mogar's, I'd pick mine in a snap."

"Are you telling me that if you had to choose between me and Mogar, you'd sacrifice an entire planet just to save me?" Solus didn't know whether to be flattered or terrified at the idea.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration." Lith shrugged. "Saving you would be pointless if we didn't have a place where to live but I'll answer anyway for argument's sake. First, I'd save you no matter the cost. Then, I'd salvage whatever I can of Mogar.

"I don't care about others. I would just rescue my family, the Ernas, the Fastarrow, and the Vastors. We would all live in the corner of paradise I protected and from there we'd just have to repopulate the planet.

"Worst case scenario, we move to the moon."

"How can you say that?" Solus was shocked, but kept clinging to his arms. "What about the hypothetical people who just died because of your actions? What about the real people who died today when you issued your challenge?"

"Again, let me rephrase." Lith's tone was now full of contempt, but it wasn't aimed at her. "What about the Guardians, the Divine Beasts, and even Thrud's citizens? They knew what was about to happen and that I won't stop at anything to get Phloria back, yet they did nothing.

"Those hypothetical people should have moved their asses and protected what was theirs instead of hoping for my mercy. Those real people should have either surrendered or begged their Queen to release the hostage.

"They choose to fight and lost. Always remember Solus. There are billions of people on Mogar. If there was even a single scenario where the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of a single person, then it would be a planet not worth saving."

Lith took a pause to let his words sink into her head and bury his face in her shoulder.

The warmth of her body and the sweet scent of her hair were everything he needed to remind himself about who and what he was fighting for.

"I've already lost too many people. I'd rather die than lose another one." He said after a while.

"Me too." She turned around, wrapping her arms around him.

The thought of living in a world without Lith, Tista, and the others, of being once again alone for hundreds of years, scared her so much that Solus would sacrifice Mogar itself to keep it from happening.

***

Lith and Solus arrived in Lutia a few hours after Orion. He conjured Valia and Locrias, sending them back to their families. Ever since Lith's return to Lutia, the Royals had upheld their word and built houses for the families of his Demons who now were his neighbors.

When Lith and Solus walked through the door, there was no trace of the shock from their own actions.