The battle against Ruugat of the Earth had taken place at sunrise and lasted a few minutes, but it was past midnight in Lutia. Despite the late hour, the Verhen family and their guests were all standing in front of the Warp Gate of the Mansion when it opened.
"Mom! Big Brother!" Garrik was the first to reach his loved ones thanks to his wings, hugging the Tyrant and Ryla at the sa ti. "Welco back!"
"I’m so proud of all of you-" Elina had yet to take one step forward when Lith doubled over in pain, cutting her short.
"I’ll take care of him, Kami." Tista helped Lith to sit down slowly. "You bring Elysia and Valeron to safety."
"On it!" She bolted away with the utterly confused toddlers at the sa ti as Solus pretended to Warp away to set the tower into place.
"Mom, Dad, please, there’s nothing to be afraid of." Lith raised his hand with his palm out to keep them at a distance.
"Why should we be-" Before Raaz could complete the sentence, Lith started to pant heavily, his breathing becoming more ragged by the second.
Soon, he needed to put his free hand on the ground to balance himself, and his body started to shapeshift from human to Tiamat every ti Lith drifted in and out of consciousness.
"I’ve activated all the healing arrays at our disposal." Solus reappeared a few seconds later. "You should feel better soon."
Lith clenched his head in reply, trying to resist the pain that threatened to split his skull open.
"What’s happening to our son?" Elina grabbed Raaz’s hands in fear, looking at Solus first and then also at Kamila once she walked back through the door.
"Lith might have awakened a lot of new bloodline abilities today." Solus replied.
"Isn’t that a good thing?" Raaz asked.
"Not if your body isn’t capable of handling them." nadion shook her head. "To make matters worse, Lith activated seven bloodline abilities at the sa ti right in the middle of the fight..."
The First Ruler of the Flas’ voice trailed off as she rembered she was talking with worried parents. They didn’t need a battle report, but to be reassured of their son’s condition.
"Lith got hurt more than once while he fought the lost city." Kamila chid in. "He treated his wounds with Invigoration every ti, but the repeated healing process took a toll on him."
"Then why is everyone standing there instead of helping him?" Rena asked as she watched the color drain from her brother’s face.
"We are helping him." Solus replied. "The mana geyser and the arrays should help Lith to recover. If it doesn’t work, I’m ready to Warp him outside before he loses consciousness, shapeshifts into a full Tiamat, and squashes everyone into a pulp."
***
A few minutes later, Lith was still pale and panting, but he was no longer on the verge of fainting. The tower had full control of the geyser below the Mansion, not just a fraction like during the fight against Ruugat.
The constant flow of world energy and the healing properties of the tower accelerated Lith’s recovery process. They also alleviated the burden his body had suffered due to the grievous wounds and the activation of his newfound bloodline abilities.
"So that’s why you left Jiera so quickly without saying so much as a goodbye." Elina said after witnessing a doctored version of the battle via a mind link.
"Yes." Solus’ pupils flashed black, marking a telepathic communication from Lith. "We stayed there only long enough to defuse political problems for Vladion and... ensure we hadn’t operated on a loss.
"Lith acted strong for as long as he could, but it was only a matter of ti before he collapsed. We- I an, he can’t afford anyone to know how weak he is right now. Lith wants everyone to think that his human bloodline abilities are sothing he can master safely, not a one-ti, burdenso event."
"It’s a very good plan." Jirni nodded. "Narchat wouldn’t attack this place anyway. He’s too scared of angering the babies. Yet with the Oga Pri down and Lith in this condition, he would be easy prey for any of his many enemies."
"Like that Guun guy from Verendi." Solus nodded as her eyes flashed black again.
"There’s one thing I don’t understand, though." Jirni narrowed her eyes.
"Which is?"
"Why are you the one speaking for him instead of Kamila?" Jirni asked. "A mind link consus the sa amount of mana and causes the sa burden, no matter who you establish it with."
’Shit!’ Lith, Solus, and Kamila thought in unison.
Jirni didn’t know about the tower and the bond between Lith and Solus that made the telepathic communication effortless. The problem now was keeping things that way.
"Mom, you are so smart, yet at tis you ask the silliest questions." Quylla snorted, drawing everyone’s attention. "Kami wasn’t on the battlefield with Lith. He and Solus must have discussed everything the mont the fight was over.
"He just needs to give Solus a cue for each topic, whereas he would have to explain everything in detail to Kami."
"That’s right." Kamila nodded, making sure not to appear too eager to confirm Quylla’s lie.
"Lith and I prepared all sorts of contingency plans before and after the fight." Solus knew she was a terrible liar, so she told the truth. "Kami isn’t powerful or skilled enough as a Healer to take care of his wounds, while I am."
"It makes sense." Jirni replied, but she could still feel that sothing was off.
"Let’s go back to the important stuff, Mom." Quylla glared at Jirni, shutting her up for good. "Did you guys really unlock human bloodline abilities? Do you think it’s sothing my babies will be able to do as well? Can you teach my twins how to use them?"
The thought of her grandchildren moved Jirni’s questions from the front row to the peanut gallery of her priorities, but they were still seated.
"First, we must understand exactly what has happened." Solus said. "We know that Ryla’s eyes resonated with Lith’s through the world energy, but that’s it."
"About that." Ryla walked in front of Quylla. "Can you please take a look at my life force? Lith says nothing has changed, but he isn’t my Healer. You are."
"Of course." Quylla was glad to allay Ryla’s fears, compile more data for her research, and most of all, pull the wool over her mother’s eyes.
She used her breathing technique, Guiding Light, to examine the Fomor. Yet she didn’t stop at the surface like Lith had done. Quylla had studied Ryla in both her Fallen and Unfallen states so many tis that she had learned how to ravel or unravel one into the other in her head.
"Lith is right, Ryla, your life force is just as he rembers it." Quylla said, making the Fomor groan. "Yet he’s also wrong. Your life force has changed for the better since the last ti I examined you."
"How is that possible?" Solus asked while Ryla and Garrik hugged in joy.
"Easy." Quylla shrugged. "The appearance of Ryla’s unfallen Fomor form is the result of her Harmonizer twisting and compressing her life force by using the vigorous flow of world energy that cos from the geyser."
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