Supreme Magus

“How are you feeling, Althika?” Raaz had it harder than anyone else, but he led by example.

He smiled at the Titania and asked to check on the baby as often as his nerves allowed. Raaz was slowly warming up to her and the idea of a new grandchild, and the rest of the family was, too.

“I’m getting better by the day, thank you.” Althika replied in embarrassment.

Being surrounded by people who cared for her without a hidden agenda felt awkward for her almost as much as the shame of her relationship with Orpal. Fae treated each other as tools, political allies, or food.

The kindness with which the Verhens treated the Titania bewildered her, and she often sounded cold because she didn’t know how to react.

Elina in particular spent quite some time with Althika, telling her stories of Rena’s and Orpal’s early years.

“We treated them the same way, but they grew up so different.” Elina sighed. “I don’t know what we did wrong, but I hope that maybe you can figure it out and don’t repeat our mistakes.”

“Thank you, Elina.” Althika took Elina’s hand, struggling to find words that expressed her gratitude without sounding simpering. “I’ve already made a lot of mistakes on my own, but I promise I’ll do my best to raise Erkin right.

“I’m going to need a lot of guidance, though, and I’d be honored if you could find the strength to overlook my shameful past for my son’s sake.”

“It’s not just your son, dear. He’s also my grandson.” Elina replied. “Of course, I’ll be there for him and you.”

Aran and Leria visited Valeron the Second as soon as they were relieved from their duty with the Titania. The young boy was playing in the sand near the oasis’ lake with Shargein and Elysia.

Raldarak was too small, so he just watched and giggled while the others built their castles with earth magic. The Wyrmling had conjured the construct of a floating fortress of the Empire, and the younger kids gaped at his creation.

“Val, can we speak for a moment?” Leria asked.

“Yeah. What-” Before he could finish the phrase, Aran lifted him with air magic and dragged him to a safe distance.

“I’m sorry, Val, but this is important.” Leria had such a serious expression that the young boy feared something had happened to his parents. “Can you please do for us what you did for Erkin?”

Valeron the Second sighed in relief, feeling as if a huge burden had been lifted off his chest before asking, “What?”

“The life forces thing.” Aran cleared his throat. “Can you boost our bloodline awakening chances?”

“What?” All those words were beyond Valeron’s understanding. The more he heard, the more confused he became.

“Let me do the talking.” Leria chimed in. “Your golden flames, Val. Can you use them on us without hurting us?”

“Oh, that.” Valeron smiled. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?” Aran was flabbergasted and a bit offended. “Are we not good enough, or are you angry with us?”

“No!” Valeron shook his head, having no idea how to answer.

He was used to conveying difficult concepts with Dragon Scales, but Leria and Aran couldn’t use them.

“Dad?” He called. “Dad!”

“What’s the matter, son?” Lith Blinked there as if he had been magically summoned.

Aran and Leria mumbled fanciful excuses that Lith ignored. He used Dragon Scales with Valeron and then frowned at the older kids.

“You’ve been reckless.” Lith didn’t raise his voice, but spoke sternly. “You’re lucky Val is a smart kid, or you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“I’m sorry.” Leria and Aran gave Lith a deep bow. “Thank you, Val.”

“You’re welcome!” The young boy had no idea what was happening, but he loved it when his father complimented him.

“Why reckless, Big Brother?” Aran asked. “We just wanted to awaken our bloodlines.”

“Yeah.” Leria nodded. “Aren’t Val’s Life Flames a healing bloodline ability? How could we have gotten hurt?”

“Life Flames are a variant of Origin Flames that can be used to heal, but they are still flames, you silly imps.” Lith conjured enough chairs for everyone and sat down. “They heal if there’s an illness or wound to treat, whereas you two are perfectly healthy. Val’s Life Flames would have just burned you.”

“Why?” Aran asked. “I mean, what’s the difference between us and Erkin? Aren’t our human sides identical?”

“Val’s Life Flames aren’t some kind of miraculous power, Lil Bro.” Lith replied, and Valeron nodded. “They are an excellent tool for healing and nurturing a life force, but to do that they need something to feed off.

“Life Flames burn something that’s of no help for the patient’s body and convert it into pure energy that is used to strengthen a wounded life force. In Erkin’s case, the Life Flames burned his wounds and the lingering effects of my Dread Flames.

“In Leria and your case, however, there’s nothing Val’s flames can feed off aside from yourselves and your life force. Hurting you just to heal you would be pointless and cruel.”

“I have one question, Uncle Lith.” Leria pondered. “Can Val’s Life Flames burn at least the wall between our life forces and improve our chances of bloodline awakening as they did for Erkin?”

“No, Leria, because that’s not what happened.” Lith shook his head. “Aran is right when he says that your human life force and Erkin’s are identical. The three of you have a human side with one drop of Phoenix blood and another of Dragon blood.

“There is no wall separating them, though. The Divine Beast bloodlines are so weak that there is no rejection with the human side. They grow and develop together as one, and will continue like that until your Phoenix and Dragon sides become strong enough to stand on their own.

“When and if that happens, then you’ll become Wyrmlings like Tista and me at the blue core, and a protective wall will form to separate your human and Divine Beast life forces. Val’s Life Flames didn’t burn the wall between Erkin’s Titania and human sides.

“They simply fed and nurtured both, and since the Dragon and Phoenix bloodlines are part of his human life force, they have been nurtured as well.” Lith paused to let the children understand his words and then furrowed his brows.

“What do you mean, improve the chances of bloodline awakening, Leria?” He asked.

“We… used the Warp Mirror to open a small Steps to the Infirmary and pressed Althika’s hand on the crystal tank while she slept.” Leria shifted her gaze awkwardly.

Lith checked the tower logs and found the records of the Titania’s scans confirming the young girl’s words.

“This is interesting, but what you did was stupid and reckless, Aran, and you shouldn’t cover for him, Leria.” Lith said sternly. “The tower is not a toy. What if Althika woke up?

“What if she moved in her sleep and severed her hand against the edge of the dimensional opening? How would you have explained to her what you were doing, and what if she examined the tower through her missing hand?”

An embarrassed silence fell over the room as Aran realized the foolishness of his actions.