Supreme Magus

"Shut up." Irslak sounded hoarse as if he had a mountain down his throat. "I already feel guilty enough without your ramblings. I need to pretend this is all the Yggdrasill's fault. At least until I get back home."

While the Elder Dragons mourned and the young ones looted, only a few people bolted to Lith's position.

Menadion arrived first. Bytra's speed was unrivaled under normal circumstances but guilt gave her an extra edge over her competition.

"Epphy! Where is Epphy, you oaf?" The First Ruler of the Flames demanded. "Is she okay? Talk to me!"

The Tiamat was down on one knee, panting. Double Edge was struck straight in the ground and Lith used it as a crutch not to fall forward. He glared at Menadion while he brought one hand to his heart where Solus was.

The wound inflicted upon him by the stone bullet was still visible but it wasn't lethal anymore. A stone slime seeped out of the scar and shapeshifted into Solus' human form.

"I'm fine, Mom, and for the third time, I told you to call me Solus! Don't make me say it a fourth time."

"Anything you want, baby." Menadion hugged her daughter with the strength of a bear trap and the tenderness of a mother.

The embrace lasted until Solus' steady heartbeat reassured Ripha. Then, Menadion let go of her daughter and took her armored gloves off. Ripha caressed Solus' face, feeling her warmth and using Invigoration to check that everything was fine.

Solus' mana core was as depleted as Lith's but her body was perfect like the day Ripha had left her in the tower.

"You really need to cut back on the sweets, dear." Menadion hiccupped, seven streaks of tears streaming from her eyes. "You've gained a lot of weight in the last seven hundred years."

"Mom!" Solus embraced her mother, crying with her. "We've just been reunited and you're already pestering me. I'm on a diet and I've actually lost a few kilograms."

"Good gods, how much did you eat in my absence?" Ripha half laughed and half cried.

The two women cried harder and harder, falling on their knees but never letting go of the other.

Lith looked at the scene in silence, letting them talk about all the silly things they wanted to tell each other after being separated for so long.

Bytra respected their privacy as well. She wanted to leave and not ruin that moment with her presence, but was afraid of angering Menadion and obtaining the same result she hoped to avoid.

The Raiju shapeshifted into her human form and patted the Tiamat's leg, hoping he would establish a mind link.

'Thank you for everything, Bytra.' Lith said. 'I wouldn't have rescued Solus without your help.'

'Don't mention it.' The Raiju replied. 'It's the least I could do. By the way, why is there still a semi-open wound on your chest? Do you want me to heal it for you?'

'What? No!' She could hear the clicking of wheels in his head. 'That's needed for later. Remember, whatever bullshit comes out of my mouth, I need you and Zoreth not to act surprised and back me up.'

'What bullshit?' Before Lith could explain, the five under the When All Are One array reached Lith.

Solus and Menadion stopped talking and composed themselves. They put some distance between them, but remained close enough to hold hands.

"Okay, someone has to explain to me what the heck is going on here." Orion said. "Why is Ripha Menadion back from the grave? How did you survive that blast, Lith? What was that thing you turned into and what was that spell you cast earlier?"

"I don't have the strength to repeat myself." Lith put emphasis on each wheeze without sounding dramatic. "Let's wait for the others to join us. Then you will have your answers."

After decades of lies and deception, Lith employed all of his creativity and imagination to come up with the lines for his best performance to date.

"What others?" Orion had yet to finish talking when the Dragon patriarchs, Ayleen, and the Eldritches-hybrids joined the family reunion.

"Okay, now you have to explain to me what just happened here, Hatchling." Quashol said and everyone nodded. "I'm glad for your help in avenging Valtak's death but he died to follow you in this crazy mission.

"I demand to know where that power came out from and why you didn't use it earlier. Had you taken that form from the start of the fight and used that weird spell from the beginning, my Brood brother might still be alive."

"Who gets the Ears of Menadion, brother?" Tezka chimed in, drawing the disgruntled glares of the patriarchs. "I don't give a damn about your secrets and I want to point out that without my help no one would have gotten inside the Fringe.

"My contribution is quite substantial."

"Speaking of Menadion, how is she back?" The Maker of All Liches asked.

"One at a time, please." Lith raised his hand to silence them and give meaningful nods to Baba Yaga, Surtr, Sinmara, and the leader of the Dark Phoenixes. "I'll start by answering the easiest question.

"I don't know what that form is and I have no clue how I achieved it. It must be one of the still-hidden abilities of the Tiamat bloodline that I activated out of survival instinct."

"How very convenient." Quashol scoffed. "You unlocked a power you didn't know to have at the precise moment you needed it. Do you take us for fools?"

"Yes." Lith nodded, enraging the Elder Wyrms and making the Eldritches laugh. "Only a fool can say something that stupid. Do I look like a white core to you?"

He pointed at the scar on his chest.

"Do you think that if I had such power, I wouldn't have used it when Thaymos almost killed my wife and children? Or when Hogum kidnapped my father? Or when my friend Phloria was kidnapped and I almost died at the hands of Thrud's Generals?"

Lith's outrage was genuine as he mixed lies with truth.

Quashol was taken aback by the Tiamat's righteous fury and was forced to admit Lith had a point.

"If you don't believe me, just examine me or ask any of the white cores here if their power is something you can turn on and off at will."

"You can't." Ayleen shook her head. "The white core is no different from regular core progression on that regard. Just like a blue core can't regress to the cyan without dying, there is no way to go back to the bright violet core but death.

"Lith is quite alive and the development of his pseudo white core made no sense. Going from the deep white to the bright white takes years and that's the end of the road. His aura started flaring up at the end and that's never happened to me."

"Or to me." Baba Yaga nodded, soon followed by her complicit white cores.

"I'm going to use my breathing technique on you, then." The Father of All Ice Dragons said.

"Fine by me." Lith nodded. "As long as you don't take a peek at my equipment now that the cloaking runes are down."