anwhile, just a few ters away, Tezka had just reached the children's bedroom.
He had walked his way there without. Warping to have the ti to think and cover his inner turmoil as best as he could.
I don't want them to see upset. This is the consequence of my actions and I won't let it spill on them and burden them with my pain. The Suneater thought as his expression turned as cold and hard as steel.
"Did anything happen during my absence?" He asked the four Eldritches stationed at the four corners of the room.
"No, Lord." Ghazul the Flesh Monger swallowed hard even though it was physically useless. "Not even insects were allowed access. It's been a quiet night."
"Good." Tezka nodded.
His snout was a stone mask and his voice deadpan but everything about him sounded like a promise of pain. The guards were loyal followers of the Master but they were scared nonetheless.
Every muscle fiber and blood vessel of the Suneater was as taught as a bowstring ready to release a dart and the Eldritches felt like a bullseye. Tezka was ready to pounce and they were eager not to beco his prey.
He wasn't even paying attention to the Eldritches. His physical and mystical senses were entirely focused on checking the structural integrity of the protective spells and that no one had tampered with them.
Yet the guards were scared.
Tezka's re heartbeat released a burst of energy, triggering not the Abominations' endless hunger but their instinct to kneel. Every breath he took exerted imnse pressure on the Eldritches, suppressing their auras like they were regular humans. "Why are you still here?" Tezka asked after noticing the four guards were staring at him in a daze. "Dismissed."
"Apologies" His voice snapped the Eldritches out of their fright and they rushed away. Only once he was certain to be alone did Tezka open the door and walk through it. Despite their age and no lack of space in the Vastor household, Filia and Frey still shared the sa bedroom. After being separated for years and being almost killed more tis than any child should, they drew comfort from each other's presence.
From that and Tezka's.
A smile ford on his lupine snout as he noticed the blue fox plushie Frey held and the red one in Filia's arms. Tezka had sewn them himself from his own fur as stand-ins for when he was forced to stay away from the children.
The stuffed foxes were the symbol of his promise. A promise he had co to fulfill. "The summoner clan." The Suneater lowered his gaze in sha. "I haven't heard that na in millennia and hope never to hear it again."
The part about Tezka creating dinsional magic was public knowledge since he had no reason not to brag about it. The summoner clan, instead, was an old legend that Tezka wished long lost.
It was part of a secret that no one, not even Baba Yaga or the Guardians knew. Tezka pre-dated them all and had no will to share or disclose his past, not even with his current allies.
Tezka was different from the rest of the Master's Eldritches. He had never been an arrogant youth. He had never failed to Awaken nor had he rushed his mana core's developnt too much.
He had been born a Fylgja, not the first of his species, a long, long ti ago. Tezka had self-Awakened soon after his mother had finished weaning him and his father had started teaching magic to the litter.
Tezka had then developed his masteries of the six elents and invented dinsional magic after becoming an adult Emperor Beast (around 70 years of age). The seventh tail had co later, after he had discovered the secret of the violet core, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that he had shared his discoveries with his clan. Tezka had taught them dinsional magic and developed for them training techniques that made it easier for every Fylgja to master the elents.
The first Tezka, the living one, was no different from the personality that had helped the mutated wargs back when Lith was still a Ranger. That Tezka loved his people and cared for them.
Under his guidance, the "summoner" clan had grown in power and influence. With no Guardians or Divine Beasts roaming Mogar, they had been considered the dominant species for almost three thousand years.
Under Tezka's guidance, his clan had prospered and he had countless children, grandchildren, and grand-grandchildren. Yet not even the mighty and wise Tezka could defeat old age.
He had long since reached the bright violet and despite all of his efforts and those of his entire clan, no one had figured out the secret of the legendary white core or how to prolong a life without. Forbidden Magic.
Unlike the other mbers of the Organization, Tezka had died of natural causes at the ripe age of 3126 years. Yet his passing hadn't been peaceful or serene.
Tezka loved his tribe too much and was afraid that with him gone, their enemies would have not hesitated to attack the Fylgja in order to put their hands on the secrets of dinsional magic.
Tezka had let his pride and affection beco an obsession that brought him back from the grave. He had returned with the best intentions and unleashed the most terrifying
consequences.
Blinded by his hunger and fury, Tezka had caused the fall of the summoner clan that he was so desperate to prevent. The Fylgjas had scattered to the four corners of Mogar, sharing dinsional magic with their fellow Emperor Beasts in exchange for protection from the insane ghost chasing after them.
As for Tezka, the mont he reeled in the hunger and regained his senses, the reality of what he had done hit him without rcy. The mories of the Fylgjas he had killed, devoured, and slaughtered drove him insane.
He needed soone to bla for what had happened, so he let madness take him so as not to shoulder the guilt for his actions. He had beco the second Tezka, the Abomination, the ruthless monster Lith had killed almost four years ago.
It had taken Tezka a long, long ti to snap out of his madness and be driven sane by the emptiness of his life. Yet countless millennia had to pass before he t the Master and
joined him.
The Suneater split his body in two and walked to the children's beds, gently caressing their hair as they slept.
"I'm doing this for you." His mouths moved in unison as he spoke and his eyes once again betrayed him. "I'm doing this to give aning to your deaths."
To him, Filia and Frey didn't look like human children but like the Fylgja pups he had failed to protect from himself. Ti couldn't fade his scars and his pain was hidden but
always present.
"If I beco strong enough, if this body of mine becos truly alive, I can give back at least part of what I took away from you. I can share my new knowledge with our clan and have children again, I can restore the Summoner Clan to its forr glory."
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