"Sit down." Salaark said and Shargein obeyed, shrinking to the size of a human child under her angry gaze. "I expected better from you. Mommy is sad."
"Sad?" The Wyrmling whimpered, exposing his belly in submission and extending his limbs in a silent plea for affection.
"Yes, sad. No Accumulation, no teaching to others, and no magic until I say so. Are we clear?" She asked and after he nodded, she picked him up. "Great Mother almighty, this is going to take a lot of work."
"What about us?" Lith asked.
"What about you?" Salaark furrowed her brow.
"What if Elysia and Valeron use Accumulation? More importantly, do they have Dragon Eyes or not?" Lith was both scared and excited at the idea.
Scared because dealing with babies with Dragon Eyes was a nightmare and he would need to be extra careful whenever he brought them to the tower. Excite because if Elisya could learn Dragon Eyes, then so could he.
'There are endless possibilities just from that. My daughter would beco the most powerful mage the Kingdom has ever seen.' Just the thought of how Elysia would breeze her academy classes, made his heart skip a beat.
"Sorry to burst your bubble but they don't have Dragon Eyes." Salaark replied, making Lith groan and Kamila sigh in relief. "Shargein only carries two bloodlines while Valeron has three and Elysia four.
"The Dragon blood is too diluted for that. I doubt even Shargein would have it if not for him being a direct descendant of two Guardians. Usually, new species are born from mortals. Shargein's bloodline is going to be unique.
"As for Accumulation, the concept should be too complex for the babies to grasp it and at this age, they have no discipline. They'd get bored of it after two breaths or get distracted the mont sothing interesting happens.
"Like a soap bubble, a butterfly, or any sudden noise. The problem is that Elysia and Valeron are not normal kids. They are not going to forget about it over ti.
"You need to tell them now not to practice it so that when they grow up, they'll rember that as well and co to you for guidance."
Lith nodded and shapeshifted his hands, using the Dragon scales and a mind link to convey his worries. He didn't want to introduce the concept of death so early in the life of the children, afraid to traumatize them.
Valeron the Second still believed that his parents were alive sowhere and that one day they would return. It gave him hope and Lith didn't want to take it away from him.
'I'll wait until he's old enough to tell him the truth. Doing it now would be just cruel.'
He projected in their minds images of them using the breathing technique quickly followed by Lith, Solus, and Kamila becoming sad and worried. The more the kids used Accumulation, the farther away from their parents sothing pushed them until Valeron and Elysia couldn't see them anymore.
"Bad, Dya?" Valeron was the first to grasp the concept, the idea of being left alone again was terrifying to him.
"Not bad. Danger." Lith explained, emphasizing how it was the colored wind generated by the breathing technique to create the distance. In all the images Lith tried to get close but Accumulation pushed him away.
"Dan-ger." Valeron nodded, swearing to himself to never use the weird thing Shargein had just taught him.
It took Elysia a bit longer to understand what her father ant, but when she did, she cussed Shargein out with every word she considered an insult.
***
A few days later, once the storm from Shargein's Awakening had passed and everyone had gotten used to life in the Kingdom again, Lith received several calls.
The first was from Friya and Quylla, informing him of the progress of the expedition in building the first settlent and exploring their surroundings.
The DoLorean pilots had already located abandoned crystals and magic tals veins but they too far away from the camp. The Kingdom would start the mining operations only after completing the base and establishing a safe route.
"Do a favor." Quylla said. "When you go visit my mother, give us a call, no matter the ti. She hasn't heard from us for over two weeks now and she must be lonely without Dad."
"Wait, I understand that not being part of the Council Nalrond has no Davross amulet, but what about Morok? He has one and he can call you whenever he wants."
"Morok is working with Ajatar on a project and even if he wasn't, Mom would rather wait for my return than share the sa air as him." Quylla sighed. "The worst part is that the feeling is mutual."
"Is it that bad?" Lith asked.
"No, it's worse!" Orion's voice roared from out the hologram's field of view. "Have you ever spent a whole day with the guy? And I an in his company, not just in the sa place."
"Dad! Morok is not… He isn't that… He has a good heart. Two of them actually." Quylla said.
Even though she loved him, she couldn't refute the fact that her husband was a bit rude and that, sotis, he could be obnoxious.
"Rember to tell Nalrond that I miss him." Friya chid in to save her sister from further embarrassnt. "Did we miss anything interesting?"
"Actually, yes. Selia is now Awakened and Shargein stole her breathing technique with Dragon Eyes. He's now Awakened as well." Lith nodded.
"He did what?" The Ernases yelled in unison.
"It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't also taught Accumulation to Elysia and Valeron. I have given them an age-appropriate warning about the dangers of using a breathing technique, but they are just kids.
"We have to constantly check on them and make sure they are just breathing-breathing. If you know what I an."
"Okay, now I'm sure of it. You must be shitting !" Orion barged in front of the amulet, demanding an explanation.
Once Lith managed to calm them down and end the call, he contacted Jirni to schedule a visit. She was back on active duty and with the odd hours of an Archon, it was rare finding her at ho.
"I'm swamped in the middle of sothing and I don't know when I'll be done with it." Only Jirni's voice ca from the amulet, making him worry. "I'll call you as soon as I'm ho at a decent hour."
"Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Thanks for you offer, Lith but this isn't a scene I would show to kids and the case is cut and dry. Bringing a Magus would be overkill. Jirni out."
"Did she sound normal to you, Kami?" Lith turned around from his work desk. "Do you think she might need help?"
"The lack of a hologram doesn't an much." She walked near the cribs, checking the readings of the array. "If she was in a dangerous situation her personal amulet wouldn't have been available in the first place.
"Jirni was either in a room containing classified material or evidence she can't disclose to anyone. She is fine."
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