2576 Two Magi (Part 2)
The battle claw emitted energy pulses that somehow resonated with Br'ey's crystal.
Bytra shared her wife's concerns but she was also fascinated at the idea of studying a marvel of Forgemastery like the Harmonizers. She was wearing plain clothes under her deep violet Rune Magus robe and the Absolution was hung to her hip.
As for Solus, she was currently exploring Zelex on her own, testing the tower's abilities. While Lith's group drew attention to the senate, she confirmed that the tower could take its full form and Warp despite the space-compressing array.
Lith was close enough to keep their full bond, informing him via Soluspedia the moment she discovered that they could take Garrik to safety in case things went south.
Lith had yet to disclose the truth about Solus to Morok, and he had no intention to do it unless strictly necessary. It was one of the reasons he had brought the Eldritchs-hybrids. They would buy them the time to fall back to the tower if the negotiations broke down.
"Queen Syrah, I've brought my friend, Lith Verhen, as per your request." Morok gave her a deep bow to which she replied with a nod of the head.
"Thanks for coming on such short notice, Lord Morok." She replied. "Yet I would have liked to be informed of the presence of your guests in advance."
"So that you could better prepare an ambush?" Lith replied. "On behalf of the Kingdom, Queen Syrah, we are sorry for your predicament, but the transgressions of your people against us are neither forgiven nor forgotten.
"You have invaded our cities, slaughtered innocent civilians, and robbed them of the few provisions they had left to survive until the harvest. I have no more reasons to trust you than you me."
Syrah gritted her teeth but gave him a small bow in apology nonetheless. She knew that after Eryon and his unit had tried to kill Verhen, he had no obligation to follow her requests blindly. It threw a wrench in her plans yet it also reassured her.
An honest enemy was better than a fake friend.
"Also, these people are here on the Council's behalf." Lith continued without missing a beat. "Allow me to introduce you Bytra the Raiju, Rune Magus, and Fourth Ruler of the Flames. She's the greatest Forgemaster in the Kingdom and beyond.
"She can reassure you of the Council's honest intentions and its capabilities of crafting more Harmonizers. Given time and your cooperation, of course."
"Your Majesty." Bytra kneeled in front of Syrah, offering her the Absolution with both hands in a sign of friendship.
The Hati Queen studied it for a few seconds, feeling her skin crawl at the raw power coursing through the hammer. Then, she returned it, hoping to never be at the wrong end of the Absolution.
"This is Xenagrosh, daughter of Leegaain, Bytra's wife, and my older sister." Lith continued the moment Bytra stood up. "She's here because I don't trust you further than I can throw you."
"Give me one reason." Zoreth turned into a humanoid Eldritch Shadow Dragon, flexing her fingers and releasing jolts of mana. "It doesn't have to be a good one."
Syrah nodded with a growl while also increasing the security alert of the army stationed outside via the hive mind with the warg.
"Excuse his rudeness, Your Majesty." Morok said. "I couldn't stop Magus Verhen because he has no interest in our deal and this was the only way to ensure his presence as you requested."
"I understand, you don't have to apologize." Syrah regained her cool. "The honor of having two Magi at my court makes this surprise pleasant. I read in your amulet that the presence of two or more Magi in the same era marks a golden age for their home country.
"It gives me hope that our deal will truly answer the prayers of both our people. Yet before making a final decision, I still have one question for you."
"Anything." Morok gave her a small bow.
"I want you to show me the final moments of Lord Glemos with a mind link." Her lips curled up in a smile. "It's the only way to corroborate your story and prove to us that he really entrusted our best interests to you."
Thoughts couldn't lie.
Pushing fake memories meant having to improvise a colossal number of details, making them a blurry mess at best. On top of that, sharing a memory also meant sharing the feelings associated with it.
Syrah would make sure of Morok's sincerity and check if Lith and the crowned demon were the same person in one fell swoop.
She hadn't thought about it on their first encounter because the grief from the rites of passage and fatigue from the battle with the demons had clouded her mind and those of her court.
"If he had pressured me back then, I would have accepted the deal. We've gotten to this point because he gave me time to think. I want to believe in Morok's good faith.' She extended her hand and the Tyrant took it without hesitation just like she hoped.
Br'ey activated the mind link and what they witnessed answered every single one of their questions and even a few they hadn't even thought about.
Morok shared with them the memories about the crystal mine where he had met the children of Glemos for the first time and witnessed the abhorrent experiments that the old Tyrant conducted on his subjects after leading them out of Zelex.
Every time that Glemos brought a new version of the Harmonizer, he claimed to be the fruit of his divine power but the images of the deformed bodies of the monsters that were chained to the wall in Morok's memories told a much cruder story.
Then, she witnessed his meeting with Typhos, the envoys of the Undead Courts, and Thrud's servants inside Faluel's mine. Syrah burned with rage hearing the Vampire calling her people freaks and seeing the spite with which the Courts treated the fallen races.
She stared in horror at Typhos' death and then froze in shock when she saw Echidna's misery and Glemos' ruthlessness toward his own son. Morok shared with the Queen's court and Ryla everything about his capture, Glemos' plans for the people of Zelex, and his rescue by Faluel and Ajatar's hands.
The Hati Queen drew grim satisfaction from the fight. Seeing someone as arrogant as Glemos being utterly beaten and humiliated before being killed like a dog brought a smile to her face.
Echidna's death, however, didn't amuse Syrah in the least. She could feel the Awakened Fomor's hope and joy at the death of her jailer turn into despair when faced with the Lesser Dragons' greed.
Then, the memories shifted to the present.
The raids, Lith's plan, and how its various phases had been staged were laid bare in front of her eyes.
She lived the events from Morok's perspective, from Tista's trauma from being cannibalized by a Hati to the fear of what would happen if the Harmonizers fell into the Undead Courts' hands and the war started anew.
Urhen fell to her knees while Br'ey fainted but Syrah remained still, waking her friend with chore magic.
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