2952 Present Struggles (Part 2)

"He taught us Light Mastery and accompanied us to the Fringe. He is *our* friend and the fact that Friya loves him should make you appreciate Nalrond more, not consider him a liability to your friendship."

"Fine, you win." Lith raised his hands with the palms out in surrender. "But if we are going to do this, we'll do it my way."

"What do you mean?" Nalrond asked.

"I mean that I'm going to do everything I can to ensure your survival." Lith scoffed. "I'm not going to put Solus' and Friya's happiness at risk just to be nice."

"I still don't follow you." The Rezar was getting more puzzled by the second. "You putting the most effort into the procedure is a good thing. I want to live. It's the whole point of me asking you for help. Why are you talking as if it's a bad thing instead."

"Because when I say everything, I mean everything." Lith replied, his voice cold and his gaze stern. "You are going to swallow a very bitter pill and you are not going to like it."

***

Gorgon Empire, underground city of Lightkeep.

"Why are we here?" Friya had never been to the undead city and looked around in amazement.

The Tower Warp had brought them inside Vladion's house, a fine noble mansion that put even the Ernas household to shame.

"As I said, we're going to do everything we can to ensure Nalrond's survival. This is where the final pieces of the puzzle are." Lith pointed at the Hands of Menadion that they had borrowed from Faluel and the Mouth of Menadion that Tista had entrusted to them.

The Hydra had agreed to oversee the procedure.

She would wear the tower's Eyes so that her seven heads would take the full burden of the artifact. This way, she could study the data collected by the Eyes and relay the parts relevant to the procedure via a mind link, leaving the Healers free to focus on their spells.

Lith and Quylla were the only ones in the group besides Faluel to have reached such a mastery of the healing arts that they could hear the melody of the life forces. Having less skilled people like Friya or Tista around would just hinder them.

"I see." Friya nodded in understanding. "We have come to borrow the Eyes of Menadion from Kalla."

As if on cue, the Wight walked through the door and trotted toward them.

"It's nice to see you again so soon, Scourge." She was wearing a gold-rimmed pince-nez the size of a plate on her snout and a perfectly cut white crystal as big as an apple on her neck. "I love your company but you can't interrupt my work so often."

"Mom!" Nyka and Nok both slapped the back of the Wight's neck. "First, rude. Second, what do you mean, often? The last time you saw Lith was during the War of the Griffons!"

"My point exactly." Kalla grunted in annoyance. "He can't barge in here every other day and expect me to be happy. I can't drop everything whenever he feels lonely. If Scourge has so much free time, he should deal with Thrud or take care of his pregnant wife."

"Mom!" Nyka and Nok both slapped the back of the Wight's neck again while everyone else chuckled at their expenses. "That was over a year ago. Thrud is dead and Lith's daughter is five months old."

Nyka pointed at Elysia who was strapped to the baby carrier on Lith's chest.

"Really?" Kalla took the Eyes off her snout to clean them before taking a better look at her guests. "She looks pregnant to me."

Her claw pointed at Quylla who raised her finger, opened her mouth, and then remembered how the Eyes of Menadion worked. She fainted on the spot before anyone could recover from the surprise and congratulate her.

"Mom, that's Quylla, not Kamila!" Nyka slapped her own forehead so hard that it produced an echo. "Also, way to break the news to her. You should be more tactful."

"Don't lie to me." Kalla was outraged. "I know Scourge's wife, Kelpie. She is female, has black hair, and she's shorter than Lith."

The Wight waved at Quylla's unconscious figure that matched the generic description to perfection.

"Kamila, not Kelpie!" Kalla had still a long way before attaining Lichhood but Nok feared that her memory had already become that of an undead from overwork. "Also, you have just described half of the women of the Garlen continent."

"I see." It was only then that the scan revealed that the energy signature of the fetus didn't match those of the Tiamats and Kalla realized her blunder. "Well, congratulations young lady. He's going to be a healthy strong boy."

"It's a boy?" Quylla had barely recovered when she fainted again.

"Why the reaction?" Kalla was puzzled. "There's no reason to prefer a female. The important is that the child is healthy."

"Mom!" Nyka slapped the massive head of the Wight with all of her strength. "Please, shut up. Quylla doesn't care about the gender of the baby. It's just that you keep delivering her with big news with the tact of an avalanche!"

"I see." And Kalla was being literal.

She saw things clearly with the Eyes but had yet to understand the reason for all that fuss. She decided to do as instructed and shut her mouth until talked to.

Quylla had just regained consciousness again. When she woke up, she found herself to be lying on the marble floor with everyone giving her space while looking at her with a worried yet joyful look.

"It wasn't a dream, right?" She asked and when the others shook their heads in reply, she went into hyperventilation.

"Congratulations, sis." Friya took first place while offering Quylla a leather bag to breathe in.

"Thanks. I guess. I hope. I'm scared!" Quylla said in between breaths, glad that every healer worthy of their name carried such bags with them at all times.

'I knew it!' Kalla inwardly patted her own back. 'I knew I had to shut up. If this Kira is already scared as it is, I should tell her about the twin only once she calms down.'

"It's normal. When I learned that Kami was pregnant, I was terrified and I wasn't the one carrying the baby." Lith said. "Congratulations, Little One."

'Sis, little one, Karnak. How can people demand me to remember so many goddamn names?' Kalla looked at the scene in annoyance, longing to go back to her lab already. 'Can't they just pick one and stick with it?'

Everyone congratulated Quylla in turns and after a while, she was able to get back to her feet.

"Thanks, guys. Gods, I have to tell Morok. And Dad. And Mom!" Quylla shuddered at that word. "I don't know what to expect from her. To lock me in the house to protect me or send me out on a mission to exploit the baby's power boost."

"Babies. Plural." Kalla corrected her. The Wight had been distracted long enough to forget about the previous warnings, including her own.

"Babies?" Quylla echoed as blood drained from her face.