2680 Death Wish (Part 2)

"Would you have fought us over a bunch of murderous, greedy bastards?" Quylla asked. "No." Solus shook her head.

"Then who cares? I mean, one of the things that helped me the most while I was recovering from my enslavement was knowing that Nalear and her accomplices were all dead. That they couldn't hurt me anymore." Quylla said.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I'm with Quylla." Raaz said. "Knowing that Meln is out there plotting the gods know what still gives me nightmares. I know that I'm still his father and he is my son, but I'd pay my weight in gold to have him dead."

"Dear-" Elina tried to say, but he cut her short, standing abruptly and pacing around the room,

"Don't you dear me! I'm the one who still looks over his shoulder every time I go out of the house, afraid of being kidnapped again. I'm the one who sees his mocking face in every shadow at night!

"I won't apologize for wanting Meln dead! It would make my life so much easier."

"I was just trying to say that I feel the same." She had walked behind him, gently holding his shoulders. "I have already disowned Meln after what he did to Lith. Yet what he did to Trion and you is even worse.

"I'm ashamed to admit that I've been praying for him to attack Kamila ever since we learned about her pregnancy."

"Why?" Everyone was flabbergasted.

"Because this way that shitspawn would fall into Salaark's hands and then we could take turns returning him all the bad he has done to us." Elina said with a cold expression on her face.

"Because this way I would be certain that the new life we are bringing into this world will grow safe instead of under the constant threat of her mad sibling. I'm afraid for Surin and I'll be until Meln isn't put down like the rabid beast he is.

"I don't want our baby girl to suffer for our mistakes." Elina held her swollen belly, having a hard time holding back her tears and keeping her voice from cracking.

Raaz inwardly cursed his temper and rushed to prepare one more tea, this time with leaves of a plant renowned for its soothing effects.

'Screw it. At this point, I'll make more for the girls and one for myself too.'

Once they were all seated again, they went from lively to silent according to the mood of the conversation. The pauses were never awkward, giving everyone the chance to put their respective thoughts in order.

Solus still felt a heavy burden on her conscience, but she found a thin smile creasing her face.

"Who would have ever thought that after Lith's murderers anonymous I'd have my own support group?' She thought, putting her pain and worries in perspective through the experiences of the others.

***

Blood Desert, Salaark's palace, at the same time.

Lith and the rest of the family had moved there in order to give Solus space and learn from Leegaain about the events that had taken place during Lith's absence.

"Today I really can't catch a break." Salaark grumbled, giving up on her projects for espionage against the Kingdome and the invasion of Jiera for the rest of the night.

"Okay, what did you want to tell me about?"

Lith asked while performing a full check-up on both Kamila and Elisya through every diagnostic means at his disposal.

The baby was as healthy as a Phoenix and as hungry as a Dragon. Kamila instead was hungry, cranky, and would soon need to pee. All information that Lith relayed to his wife.

"Why do you think I'm cranky? I'm tired of being hungry no matter how much I eat and going to the bathroom every five farming minutes! On top of that, my husband has the hobby to almost die on a regular basis." She replied with a snarl that turned her hands into claws.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait?"

Leegaain asked. "You've been through a lot."

"Why? Would the news get better with time?" Lith replied.

"No, that works only for cheese and alcohol in general." The Father of All Dragons sighed. "Since there's no way to sugarcoat the pill, I'll go straight to the point. In the past few days, there have been several attempts to kidnap Kamila."

"When?" Her eyes went wide in surprise.

"Good!" Lith said with a smug grin.

"You better rephrase that or I'm going to make your death wish come true." Suddenly her voice carried the coldness of an ice age while her breath the warmth of Origin Flames.

"I mean, I knew that something like this would happen." Lith raised his hands in surrender. "I made a lot of enemies in the past and this was on paper the perfect time for them to exact their revenge.

"I know that the Guardians are protecting you so with that 'good' I meant that I was happy they had taken out the trash for me. There will be less to be worried about in the future."

"Thoughtful intention but terrible delivery." She grunted, excusing herself for the bathroom break. "I'll forgive you, this time."

"We thought about that as well so that's not the weird part." Leegaain continued. "Some of the kidnappers were just humans, others were mages or undead, and only a few of them were actually Awakened."

"That's not weird at all." Lith replied. "I made enemies of all kinds."

"Can I please finish without being interrupted?" The Dragon grumbled and so did the ground.

"I'm sorry, please finish what you were saying."

"The weird part is that all of them knew the term of our oath word by word and that's something that only those who took part in the Council meeting to celebrate your bloodline should know.

"In fact, the plans of all the kidnappers revolved around capturing Kamila without hurting her. Things like making her lose consciousness or taking her away while she slept."

"Are you serious?"

"I know, right?" Leegaain was as baffled as Lith. "Those morons really thought they could twist my words with sophistry and semantics. As if a Guardian's oath is some kind of law school where they teach you to exploit the loopholes in the wording of a decree.

"How could they be so stupid that they really believed we would stick to the literal meaning of our promise instead of its spirit?"

"I don't give a farm about the kidnappers' stupidity!" Lith replied. "That's actually good news, there's nothing scarier than a smart opponent. Idiots are always welcome. What bothers me is how they could know about the terms of the oath."

"I have two theories about it." Leegaain said, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"You do?" Salaark was genuinely impressed. "I read the minds of those I captured but I discovered nothing."

"Did you... scold them?" Lith said while nodding at the kids.

"No, it would have been too light a punishment. I sent them to my Pits of Detention. They are still there if you want to 'talk' with them." Salaark winked mischievously multiple times.

"Grandma, you have something in your eye." Aran offered her a towel and a bowl full of conjured water.