Supreme Magus

"Shit!" Humans raised prayers to the Overlord while the members of the Nest increased the number and frequency of patrols.

The Awakened Lords of the Desert's regions, instead, decided to postpone their meetings and establish an emergency truce with their rivals. If anyone, for any reason, were to draw the attention of Salaark while the paper was black, they would face her true form and fury, consequences be damned.

***

Meanwhile, back at the woodshop, Lith, Trion, and Raaz continued their lesson.

"Dragons are such cheats." Lith sighed.

"He's just a baby." Raaz shrugged. "Shargein has no malice. He was just trying to impress his mother, like you did back when, well, you were way older than him. Dragons are such cheats."

"And they are not the only ones." Trion glanced at Lith, knowing his brother could have obtained similar results by wearing the Eyes of Menadion.

Lith, however, had left the artifact in the tower. His goal was to bond and spend quality time with his father and brother, not to show them up.

"On that, we agree." Lith replied while pointing at Trion's figurine. "Did you practice in secret to get that good?"

Among the three, he was the one who progressed faster and seemed to have an easier time getting the finer details right. Weirdly enough, his talent was limited to women's features.

"You mean you don't know?" Trion looked at Lith with doubt and surprise.

"Know what? I don't read the minds of my Demons. Heck, I didn't even know you were there until you saved Mom from that thrall. I mean, I can do it to a degree but I would never violate their privacy, let alone that of my brother."

The thicker the black chains connecting Lith to one of his Demons, the more information he could share or extract. The problem was that the Demon would notice, shattering their trust, and the process had side effects.

With someone like Locrias who loved his daughter and wife dearly, Lith would have to rummage through thoughts that he preferred to leave alone. Not only because he had no desire to witness Locrias' intimate moments with his wife but also because those feelings could affect him.

'I might end up loving them like my own family and I already have enough on my plate.'

He shuddered at the thought.

"Well, then you are in for a surprise." Trion sighed. "Back when I was in the military, I hated having free time alone or boring assignments like guarding the door of a superior officer. I always ended up thinking about home.

"About my childhood and how badly I broke things off with Mom and Dad. The only way I had to shut down those thoughts was whittling. The act of carving wood brought back the happy memories of the time spent in front of the fireplace with Dad.

"Useless to say, most of the times I ended up carving a figurine of Mom, especially after receiving and refusing one of her letters." Trion showed Lith and Raaz his current creation.

They finally recognized in its subject a much younger Elina dressed in the poor clothes she had back when Trion was still a child.

"It's not that I'm good at this, I just had years of practice. I could carve Mom's features with my eyes closed."

"Thanks, son." Raaz patted Trion's back.

"For what?"

"For never forgetting about us." Raaz replied. "Unlike your mother, I believed you had turned your back on us forever. I had given up any hope of having you back. I'm glad I was wrong."

"Don't thank me, Dad, I-"

"Shush! We are here to work, not chat." Raaz cut him short, saving his son from a long fit of self-loathing. "We can't hope to match Shargein, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give our all."

"But-"

"Save your breath, son. When you give your mother that figurine and tell her that story, because you will, she is going to cry. You'd better start thinking about what to say to console her because I can't help you with that." Raaz focused on his work, leaving his son alone with his thoughts.

***

"I've been thinking about your situation, Ripha, and I think I've found the best course of action." Elina said.

"Do you have any idea how little does that narrow it down? You need to be more specific." Menadion raised her eyes from the book she was reading.

The study of advanced magic required a tutor but recent history had no such problem.

Lith was incredibly ignorant about everything outside his interests. He knew nothing of the geography of the Kingdom and its main historical events unless they had any relevance to his life or magical research.

Menadion was appalled to see how much land the Griffon Kingdom had lost after Valeron's death and curious to learn about everything she had missed after becoming a wandering soul bound to Solus.

"I'm talking about your coming to Lutia as Solus' relative." Elina replied. "You know, the bringing you home with us without anyone thinking you and my husband are a thing?"

"Oh, that." Menadion closed the book and gave Elina her full attention, knowing how much the matter meant to Elina and Solus. "What about it?"

"I should introduce you to our neighbors gradually. This way it will seem like I'm trying to convince you to follow us instead of you suddenly popping out of nowhere and being familiar with us and our house."
Your journey continues at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

"It makes sense." Menadion nodded.

"The first things you need are a disguise and a cover story. Lutians are simple people, but even them would recognize you after the King broadcasted your face throughout the Kingdom."

"What about this?" Being a Demon, Menadion had no need for the finesses of Body Sculpting. She just altered the hologram giving her the semblance of life.

She now looked as old as Elina, with her skin bearing the dusky tan typical of those who had spent most of their lives in the Desert. Menadion had also altered the cut of her eyes, giving them a medio oriental look to prove that the blood of her ancestors had long been mixed with the people of the Desert.

Six of the seven streaks disappeared from her hair, leaving only the silver of light magic to appear across her golden hair.

"It's perfect but what about Solus?" Elina asked. "People will question why your skin and eyes are so different."

"Not if her father is from the Kingdom. Besides, Solus is a mage whereas I'm a normal human." Ripha winked at Elina. "We can just say she kept her skin light because she spent most of her time studying. Which is true."

"Good idea." Elina nodded. "About your husband, how do you plan to justify his absence? Don't get me wrong, I don't care about it but there is a big difference in the treatment you'll receive based on introducing you as married or single."

"Big how?"

"Ripha, you still look gorgeous and now you are also exotic. As a married woman you'll be the object of courteous admiration. As a single woman, of several dinner invitations." Elina chuckled.

For a moment, Menadion thought about aging herself more or reducing her curves.