Chapter 2649 Not A Smile (Part 1)



"Okay, I'm done. Thanks for your hospitality." Lith said when he was too sick to keep looking at the monster.

"Slow down, child, because I'm not." Mogar approached him until she could put her hand on his cheek, another familiar gesture typical of Elina. "Now look me in the eyes."

Lith obeyed, suddenly feeling dizzy and confused like someone waking up from anesthesia.

"Now look around you." She let go of his face and moved away.

Lith didn't even need to turn his head to see how dramatic the changes in the Mindscape were. Yet he took a step back out of shock to both assume a defensive stance and make sure that the hellish world he was seeing wasn't just an unfortunate patch of land.

The ground was now charred black by either lava or some kind of heat so intense that it had evaporated rivers and turned the sand on their banks into molten glass. There was no trace of living beings or vegetation except for piles of bones so tall that for a moment he mistook them for dwellings.

The blackened earth was full of deep wounds that bled lava, its gurgling the only sound that broke the silence of the dead plains. The wind was dry and it carried a mix of wormwood, sulfur, and the unmistakable smell of burned flesh.

The air was thick with vaporized body fat from the corpses that formed a greasy layer in the humidity of his mouth, making him gag.

Away from the lava, the ground was caked with brown stains that Lith recognized as blood. It took a lot of people to drench the soil like that and even more for it to last for however long had passed since the cataclysmic event.

In the distance, Lith's Tiamat eyes could see what looked like either the remains of a still-burning enormous tree trunk or a small forest whose trees were packed together. The air around him crackled, as if reality was kept together by a thread about to snap.

Amid that destruction, only one oasis remained. There the grass was green and there was a spring gushing fresh water. There were few trees and even fewer animals, all scared and malnourished due to the lack of resources and the constant fight for survival.

"Is this what would happen if Meln masters Void Magic?" Lith couldn't get the thought of his disowned brother being the creature of the final answer out of his head.

"Who?" Mogar-Elina needed a moment to remember about Orpal's existence. "Why would he do that? More importantly, why should I talk about someone else when you are right in front of me?"

"Are you telling me that this is my doing?" He asked in shock.

"For starters." A snap of her fingers caused the crackling air to crumble, revealing that they were in a Fringe-like isolated space and that the rest of Mogar was safe.

Lith had barely time to sigh in relief when he realized the meaning of Mogar's words and the destruction spread like a disease, drying lakes and flattening mountains.

In just a few seconds, the charred ground extended as far as the eyes could see and the sky was covered by black clouds carrying acid rain.

"How could I possibly do this?" Lith asked. "I'm just a violet-cored Awakened."

"Yes, you are." Mogar-Elina waved her hand, giving him a quick tour of the new reality. "But here is where I contemplate every single possible outcome and this one that cannot be ignored. There will be a time when you'll have to make a choice and choices have consequences."

"Is this a threat?" There was something familiar in the place Mogar had suddenly moved them as she spoke. Lith could swear that they were now in Lutia, but the monotone wasteland made it hard to be sure about it.

"I don't make threats, I give warnings. The greatest the power, the direst the consequences." Another wave of Mogar's hand returned the Mindscape to its original state, an endless white void.

Lith opened his mouth to talk, but his mind was still jumbled and he could feel the magic circles protecting his mind becoming weaker by the second. He had only the time for a few words left and he had to make it count.

"Solus has tribulations as well and her power is no less than mine since we are one. Then why didn't you tell her anything?"

"Because we aren't as close as you and I." Mogar looked at him straight in the eyes. "And because it's not her choice."

"Wait, wh-" A finger snap broke the mind link, sending Lith's mind back into his body despite his resistance.

According to his estimates, there was still time for a couple of questions, maybe three if he kept them short and the answer was just as brief.

It took him a few minutes to recover from the forced transition and regain enough clarity to share with everyone the things he had witnessed in the Mindscape.

"I think I know why Mogar kicked you out like that." Solus said. "Hadn't she stopped you, you would have left right after examining the last question. She prolonged and ended your meeting on her terms."

"It makes sense." Lith had too many things to think about and had a hard time deciding from which to start.

"Thanks for saving me the trip." Ajatar said. "At least now we know that going from a Lesser to a full Dragon is a blood-related matter. Yet this doesn't change the fact that the final vision was beyond unsettling.

"Be honest with me, child. Is there any way that among one of your prized secrets there's some lost, forbidden weapon that might cause what Mogar showed you?"

"No. If I had one, I would have looked for a way to destroy it. I couldn't live in fear that someone might steal it from me and end life as I know it. I wouldn't trust it even to a Guardian.

"Aside from Grandma, of course. But only after every other attempt failed and only after she promised me to dismantle it with Creation Magic without making a copy." Lith replied.

The only part he had kept out from Morok and Ajatar was the phrase about him and Solus being one.

"Okay, now what?" Morok asked.

"Now we wait." Faluel replied. "We have learned the answer to our main questions and are ready to leave as soon as the Parliament of Leaves makes its decision. I allowed Lith to commune with Mogar because it was one of the main goals of this trip, but we can't afford more.

"Without a distraction, the elves might notice the sudden influx of world energy. If they find out our base and learn about the ritual, things might get nasty very quickly. We won't open the channel again until we have the Parliament's answer.

"After that, and if we leave Setraliie on friendly terms, we can talk with Mogar again since we'd have nothing to fear even if we were to be discovered."

***

City of Setraliie, at the same time.

Just as they had feared, Lith's prolonged interaction with Mogar had drawn quite some attention.