Chapter 3891: Deep Scars (Part 2)

"They’ll stay with me here until I’m done with my business. After that, it’s up to them to decide whether they want to stay in the Blood Desert or return to the Gorgon Empire with me. Either way, I’m going to help them start a new life."

"Nice to meet you, Milady." Aryk and Lilax bowed as deeply as they could, feeling like dirty rags dropped in the middle of a throne room.

Salaark’s imposing figure, her office, the magnificent dress she wore, everything spoke of a wealthy, noble ruler who probably bled blue instead of red. Lilax and Aryk, instead, were illiterate orphans who owned nothing but their worn and torn clothes.

"The pleasure is all mine." Salaark replied while giving them a perfect curtsy. "Make yourself comfortable. You are my honored guests, not my servants. If there’s anything I can do to make your stay in my realm more enjoyable, you only need to ask."

The two youths opened and closed their mouths with their eyes wide, yet emitted no sound, performing a remarkable impression of a couple of goldfish. Once they realized their blunder, Aryk and Lilax bowed repeatedly in apology.

"Guys, if you don’t start talking, this will take all day." A snap of Leegaain’s fingers switched the tattered clothes for the cotton robes of the Desert.

The new and soft clothes made wonders for the youths’ self-esteem, promoting them in their minds from dirty rags to servants.

"I think I have a solution." Salaark Warped everyone to the dining hall, where the young mages of the Verhen Household were having their morning snack.

Leegaain and Zoreth had disappeared, sent by the Overlord inside Lith’s tower.

"Aran, Leria, these are Aryk and Lilax." Salaark said. "They are friends of your grandfather. Introduce them to your friends and be nice to them. Okay?"

"Yes, Grandma." The kids replied in unison while Onyx, Abominus, and the Fastarrows sniffed at the newcomers.

Leegaain’s potions gave them a powerful aura that contrasted with the evident weakness of their bodies.

"Great." The Overlord nodded. "Please, don’t disturb me, your grandfather, and Lith unless it’s a real emergency. Your auntie Zor is sick and needs our help."

"What happened to Aunt Zor?" Aran jumped from his seat in worry.

"Good question. You can ask Lilax and Aryk. Bye!" Salaark Warped away, leaving the kids alone and confused.

A long, awkward silence fell over the room until Leria took charge of the situation.

"Hi, my name is Leria, and this doofus is my uncle Aran." She introduced everyone and offered their guests a seat. "Would you like some ice cream while you tell us how you’ve met Grandpa Leegaain?"

"What’s ’I scream’?" Aryk asked with a coarse voice, his throat drier than the Desert.

Even away from Lutia, everyone still wore their everyday clothes, and Aryk and Lilax were the oldest in the room. Yet, hearing Leria call a mighty Dragon "grandpa" made the two youths from the Empire tense as bowstrings.

***

"What happened to Zor?" Lith asked as Leegaain appeared in the middle of the Forge.

Shock and surprise snapped him out of his daze. Bonding with so many tormented souls at once and experiencing their agony had left a deep scar in Lith’s psyche that had yet to start fading.

Salaark’s Guardian aura allowed him to act like everything was fine, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Lith questioned his role as Mogar’s so-called Lord of Destruction every day, and the fact that the Bleed possessed a similar kind of Forbidden Magic device made things worse.

Yet the moment Lith observed Zoreth’s condition with the mystical senses of the tower, his mind shook off such stray thoughts and focused on the situation at hand.

Seeing the familiar look of the tower and hearing the voice of her little brother, the Shadow Dragon’s eyes regained a little of their light. Tears streaked down her cheeks, mixing with her saliva into sticky runnels that ran down her jaw.

"The worst things you can possibly imagine." Leegaain replied. "Zoreth was subjected to the Unwavering Loyalty array for most of her capture, and her life force has been ravaged by an Eldritch called Raum the Wonderer.

"He performed brutal experiments on her, and what you see is their result."

"Raum?" Solus echoed. "Is that Azith’s Abomination name?"

"Yes." The pain in the Guardian’s voice was palpable. "He’s dead now. I killed him with my own hands."

"I’m sorry for your loss, Grandpa." Lith said while he and Solus took turns studying Zoreth’s mangled life force with the Eyes and Ears of Menadion.

"Don’t be." Leegaain shook his head. "Azith died 40,000 years ago. The being called Raum was nothing like him. That Abomination must be a dreg born out of Azith’s darkest thoughts and flaws when his good soul left his body.

"I refuse to believe they were the same person. If that were true, it would mean that I never knew my son. That my beloved Azith was nothing but a mask that Raum used to hide his presence.

"Now, please, stop worrying about me and focus on Zoreth. I’ve already lost a son today. I don’t want to lose a daughter as well." Leegaain cleaned her hair with a darkness spell and combed it gently.

"Her life force is damaged almost beyond recognition, but nothing that a Guardian can’t fix." Lith Warped everyone to the Heart of the tower and activated the Immortal Body array, focusing it on the Shadow Dragon. "Why didn’t you treat Zor yourself, Grandpa?"

"Let me show you." Leegaain used a mind link to share Raum’s now-broken plans and ambitions with Lith and Solus. "That’s why."

"Fuck me sideways." Lith raked his fingers through his hair. "That nutjob tore Zor’s troll and Eldritch life forces apart to understand how her Dragon mana organs had adapted to the Chaos of her body."

"That’s not the reason she’s not healing." Solus said while sharing the readings of the two pieces of the Menadion Set with Lith and conjuring her Body Sculpting spell, Vital Flow. "Raum put barriers and separators to keep Zoreth’s life forces apart.

"The Forbidden Magic he employed feeds on her mana like a parasite, so the barriers have lost none of their strength after Raum died. Unless their connection with Zoreth’s life force is severed, she will stay like this forever."

"That still doesn’t answer my question." Lith joined Solus and activated his own spell, Healer’s Edge. "There’s no way you didn’t know all this already. Why did you bring Zor to me, Grandfather?"

"Because I find myself in an impossible situation." Leegaain replied. "Please, believe me, Hatchling, I wouldn’t burden you with this if I had a choice."

Zoreth gasped as the Body Sculpting spells undid the alterations on her life forces. Her fingers gripped the floating chair so hard that the armrests cracked, and her face twisted in a rictus of pain.

Her primal instinct made her run her hands over her chest. Zoreth checked the parts where Raum had poked, prodded, and cut her open, discovering she was whole again. The relief she felt, however, didn’t lessen her agony one bit.

Every inch of her body burned and froze at the same time. Pins and needles tormented her skin, while blunt knives twisted her flesh. The split life forces were finally free to meet again, yet they didn’t recognize each other any longer.

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