3039 Eldritch and Abomination (Part 1)
"Sort of." Lith shrugged. "I can control eight kinds of Flames right now. Immortal and Primordial Flames are still out of my reach while I have no clue about how to control the blue flames or what they are.
"If you are referring to the events that have occurred inside Mogar's Garden, then you must know about the peculiar circumstances I manifested so many Flames at once."
"Actually, I don't." Valtak scratched his head in embarrassment. "I delete Zoreth's messages without listening to them. My fellow Fire Dragons heard about it from the members of the Hand of Fate who took part in the mission, but I don't trust them more than that filthy Eldritch."
"I came here to ascertain the truth for myself and meet you all. Many birds with one visit."
"Zoreth may be an Eldritch and a black sheep of the Dragon bloodline, but watch your words while speaking about her under my roof." Lith snarled, turning in his Tiamat form and matching Valtak's height.
"Whatever she has done in the past, Zoreth has been a loyal friend to me. I consider her my big sister and she's the godmother of my daughter. That's way more I can say about you."
"Hatchling, you have no idea of the madness that's coming out of your mouth. Abominations are named as such not because of what they do, but because of what they are." The Father of Fire shook his head, sighing.
"Just to become one you must fail yourself and Mogar in the worst way possible. On top of that, to become an Eldritch you have to stoop so low that even the Great Mother denies you further mercy.
"The monster to whom you foolishly entrusted your daughter cast her Dragon nature away out of pride. Then, she turned into an Abomination because of her vanity. She murdered thousands in blind hunger before Mogar could tolerate her any longer and-"
Lith handed Valeron to Solus and took Elysia in his arms before shapeshifting into his Abomination form. The moment his body turned into pure darkness element, Valtak choked on his words.
When Elysia followed suit and her flesh changed into stable Chaos, the red in the Father of Fire's beard and hair lost its luster.
"What were you saying about Abominations and Eldritches?" Lith's voice was reduced to a raspy howl.
"It seems that I've rushed my judgment." Valtak studied them both with Dragon Eyes. "I owe you and Zoreth an apology."
"And Elysia." Lith shoved the baby in his face while she was sucking the shadows swirling around her thumb.
"And Elysia." Valtak nodded, giving them a deep bow.
The Elder Wyrm was old and his convictions firm, but he was no fool. He couldn't deny facts out of mere prejudice and Dragon Eyes gave him all the proof Valtak needed to change his mind.
The rumors were true.
Lith looked like an Eldritch yet he wasn't. There was no sign of Mogar's rejection. Quite the contrary, the world energy flowed into him freely and his essence bore the marks of his successful world tribulations.
On top of that, the darkness of his body carried a single spark of Chaos that was nurtured rather than contained.
As for Elysia, she didn't look like an Abomination, she was one. An Abomination who didn't suffer from hunger and was constantly fed by the world energy. The Chaos that comprised her body served her instead of trying to consume her.
"Ba?" Elysia asked, her voice a rumbling growl too deep to be cute despite her diminutive size.
"Not yet, baby girl. The jury is still out on that." Lith shapeshifted into the Voidfeather Dragon to pass the message and Elysia followed. "Gentor, do you share his opinion about Zoreth?"
"Most of us, do, little brother." The Golden Dragon replied. "When she chose her human side, it was a huge blow for all of us and what she did as an Eldritch… Well, I'd rather not say it in front of children.
"Aside from Surtr, few of us are willing to take her back into our fold."
"Interesting." Valtak studied the Void Sigils on the Voidfeather Dragons' wings and his scales burning with Cursed elements. "Very interesting. Coming here was the right decision."
Somehow, the Cursed Flames surrounding the scales were cleansing the lingering Chaos left by their previous form and life was thriving around them.
"What you can do, lady hatchling?" The Father of Fire asked Solus, catching her by surprise.
"Me? I'm fully human." She replied.
"Then why do you smell like a Dragon?" Valtak sniffed something underneath Lith's scent on her.
"I mean, I haven't awakened my dormant bloodline. Sorry." Solus said.
'By my Mom, that's why I have scales and wings in my proto-Guardian form.' She actually thought. 'Whether it's because my body is comprised of Lith's life force or because the tower uses him as a blueprint, I'm becoming a hybrid as well.'
"What about this dashing young fellow?" The Elder Wyrm neared his clawed finger to Valeron the Second who sniffed it before bringing it to his mouth. "I haven't heard much about him."
"That's because there isn't much to say aside from the identity of his parents." Solus replied. "If Valeron has already developed any kind of bloodline ability, he never needed to use them."
"Awakened from birth." Valtak muttered while studying the boy with Invigoration. "I always believed it was just an expression."
"Your intel is as inaccurate as it's outdated, old man." Gentor chuckled. "Elysia established a new record by Awakening from conception."
"Are you kidding me?" The Father of Fire's yellow eyes went wide in surprise.
"No, he's not." Kamila picked Elysia from Lith's hands and offered her to the Elder Wyrm to hold. "It's one of the many reasons she's a handful."
Valtak put the baby girl in the crook of his left arm with the gentle touch of a consummated parent. She could understand little of what they were saying so she used the Dragon scales to communicate.
"Order and Chaos! She did Awaken from conception and she's very smart. Almost Dragon smart." Without the language barrier hindering the communication, Elysia expressed and understood with ease concepts that were supposed to be beyond a six months old toddler.
"Really?" Lith asked in honest curiosity. "I could never communicate with a child before so I have no baseline."
"What's going on and who is this guy?" Tista walked out of the barn with a deep frown on her face.
Bodya had just left the Mansion, asking her some time apart to make up his mind once and for all.
'I thought that coming back to Garlen with me after realizing how deep the manipulation of his so-called family runs was the answer. Those fuckers didn't even want to warn Bodya about Thaymos' arrival.
'If not for Vothal, the lost city would have caught us by surprise.' The thought of Bodya's grandfather who had risked everything and betrayed his clan out of love softened Tista's anger and aroused her compassion.
'Gods, we never went to check if he was punished for defying the patriarch's orders. Vothal might have been imprisoned or even exiled from the colony. Maybe Bodya has just gone to visit his grandfather.'
