"Don’t lose hope and focus on the energy flow, my children." Ryman said.
"What energy-" Protector syphoned the golden lightning, cutting Lilia short.
It left her feeling heavy and weak for one second before Ryman passed the extra energy on to his children again. He repeated the cycle several tis, allowing Lilia and her siblings to feel the energy flow as it ebbed and flowed in their bodies.
’If Dad can do it, so can I.’ Lilia thought as she stopped trying to manipulate the golden lightning and started offering less and less resistance to it.
Leran quickly caught up with her, making the transition from weak to strong quicker and smoother. The younger Skolls were less experienced, but bloodline abilities were more about intuition and instinct than understanding, and the children had plenty of them.
As Lilia and Leran mastered the basics of Life Eater, the golden lightning’s flow strength increased. That and the resonance between the Skolls’ bloodline ability allowed the babies to mimic their older siblings without even understanding what they were doing.
’That’s good.’ Syrah thought. ’Skolls and Hati are indeed similar. We can also take from our alpha, but only negative things like wounds. Yet I’m not going to ntion sothing like this to children this young.’
Her train of thought derailed, and she yelped when sothing attacked her most vulnerable spot in a ruthless ambush.
Solkar had gotten bewitched by Syrah’s waggling tail and exploited the power of the golden lightning to catch his quarry by surprise.
The baby Skoll was biting and clawing at the Hati Queen’s tail, trying to pin it to the ground in what was supposed to be a submission hold. Syrah tried her best to stay still, but she had little control over her tail.
She was still infused with the golden lightning and was afraid of hurting the baby. Luckily for her, fear froze her and her tail still.
"What are you doing, you rascal?" Selia jumped out of the window to stop the attack. "I’m so sorry, Queen Syrah. I knew it was a bad idea to let a small baby take part in your training."
"Please, call Syrah. No honorifics." The Hati Queen said. "Moreover, you have no reason to apologize. A playful pup is a healthy pup. It’s the most wonderful blessing a parent can ask for."
"Except he is no pup, he is a natural disaster." Selia picked Solkar by the scruff of his neck, and the baby Skoll fell limp, afraid of hurting his mother as much as Syrah was of hurting him. "Bad Solkar. Why did you do it?"
Solkar yelped, barked, and whined in reply.
"What do you an, you saw a chance of victory and you seized it?" Selia asked. "Syrah is no enemy, and there is no fight if your opponent can’t defend itself. How is a tail supposed to bite you back?"
A short howl and a bark followed.
"What do you an, an easy victory is still a victory?" Selia was horrified. "Lith, what are you teaching my baby boy?"
"I’m innocent." Lith replied while playing with Elysia and Valeron. "Think about it. When was the last ti I babysat Solkar? I’ve been quite busy recently."
"You have a point." Selia nodded. "Then, who is responsible? I refuse to believe Ryman would teach such a thing to our children."
"And you’re right." He nodded. "I’m not above ambushes, but only when it’s needed, not for glory for its own sake."
"Lilia, Leran, did you teach Solkar to do that?" Selia asked.
"No, Mom!" They replied. "We are honorable warriors."
"Fenrir?"
"I’m hungry!" The baby girl replied.
"I’ll take that as a no." Selia sighed, giving Fenrir a snack just to be pestered for seconds as soon as the baby girl swallowed it. "That leaves only one possible explanation. No one taught you anything. This is all your idea!"
Solkar took the accusation as a complint and barked with pride, his tail waggling.
"Do you understand beast speak?" Syrah had remained speechless until that mont, needing ti to overco the shock.
"Yes, Syrah." Selia replied. "It took a while, but having my babies tell what they wanted or where they were hurting repaid for all my efforts."
"I see." Syrah nodded, sighing in envy.
’Protector is a wonderful specin of his race and a noble warrior.’ She thought. ’There is no telling how powerful the combination of our species would be. Too bad he is already taken.’
Hatis ca from wolves and were as monogamous as their progenitors. A year after the death of her late husband, Ikara, Syrah was done mourning and felt the need for a companion.
Yet there were few of her species left in Zelex and she couldn’t bear the thought of damning more children to a life of imprisonnt inside their own bodies.
Even with the Harmonizers and after generations spent as Glemos’ test subjects, the Elder Beasts’ tabolism was still accelerated and their lifespan shorter than a non-Awakened Emperor Beast’s.
"Dad, if Solkar is tired, can you give his share of your power?" Lilia asked. "I feel I’m on to sothing."
Protector looked at Ryla, who studied the young girl with her yellow eye before nodding. Lilia was young and strong, while Garrik’s golden lightning was weak and diluted.
"There you go." Protector gave Solkar’s share to Lilia and Fenrir’s to Leran. "Who knows, maybe bards don’t lie after all. I believe in you kids. You can do it."
The baby girl was still busy wolfing down a roasted chicken, and she didn’t need extra power to do that. Her sharp fangs cut through the tender at with ease, leaving only clean bones behind.
"Thanks, Dad!" Lilia tensed her body, focusing and amplifying the golden lighting by adding her own mana. "Gods, I think I am... close..."
She took a deep breath and released a guttural howl of triumph as a golden pillar erupted from her body.
"I did it! I Awakened!" Lilia jumped up to her feet and howled again.
The bright yellow of her aura quickly turned to a dull green as her mana core broke through and refined her body by removing the excess impurities.
"Lilia, I told you no Awakening!" Selia was still cursing at the gods and the gods glaring at her from the patio when things took a turn for the worse.
The golden pillar ant that the young girl was receiving Mogar’s help and that her first breakthrough would be painless.
"How did you do it, big sis?" Leran asked.
"It’s easy." She replied. "Just move the lightning to your core and-"
A sudden retch cut her short. Lilia started puking the impurities out of her body and beca incapable of talking.
"Thank the gods!" Selia sighed in relief. "Ryman, shut that thing off or I swear I’ll-"
"Got it!" Leran nodded, and soon a second golden pillar erupted from his body while a bigger one descended upon him from the sky.
"No!" Selia howled in despair.
Solkar and Fenrir joined her, but theirs was a celebratory howl filled with pride for the success of their siblings.
"I’m sorry, dear, but I’m with them on this." Protector shrugged and joined the celebrations with a howl of his own.
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