Death Call, instead, was one of Lith"s personal spells.

It conjured four dense constructs made of darkness magic that he could move as if they were his limbs. Once they looked like tentacles, but after fighting Thrud Griffon Lith had learned how to alter their shape at will.

He had chosen to make them look like wings, as a cover in case he had to shapes.h.i.+ft and to not give out their purpose to his opponent.

"Calm down, I"m not here to fight." Athung said, swallowing a lump of saliva. "My name is Athung Soranot and I"m here on behalf of the Council. We need to talk."

She decided to go all out as well, spreading a blue aura that was just an aura and preparing her best spells in case she needed to buy some time to escape.

"Lith has interacted with Awakened more than once, he can"t be that much of a country b.u.mpkin anymore. Mentioning the Council should calm him. I can"t afford a fight.

"Not only because of Raagu"s orders, but also because if the Queen"s corps meddle with this, I"m as good as dead." She thought, hoping that Lith wasn"t the madman his personal file described.

A flick of Lith"s wrist Blinked Kamila inside his house, letting him free to speak or fight as he saw fit.

"I"ve nothing to say to the Council. The last time I dealt with one of you, I almost got killed!" Lith was referring to Inxialot the Lich, who had forced him to partake in a ritual fight to the death against a vampire, but Athung had no way to know it.

"I a.s.sure you that the Council was unaware of the deeds performed by the rogue Awakened you faced in Zantia. Forbidden magic is a crime and their masters" have been already been punished according to the Council"s law, so the issue can be considered as settled." Athung replied.

"Those six nutjobs too were part of the Council? And here I thought that the Griffon Kingdom was f.u.c.ked up. Guess the Council takes the cake." Lith thought, adding Zantia to his grievances with the Awakened community and wondering if Treius had also been part of such a viper"s nest.

"Settled my pale a.s.s." Lith said. "Every time I met an Awakened, I had a fight to the death. First, the idiot from the desert who tried to merge with the Black Star-" an almost imperceptible flinch in Athung"s eye corner confirmed his suspicions.

"-then that crazy Lich, and finally those idiots. I already have enough troubles abiding by the Griffon Kingdom"s laws, I"ve no reason to waste my time with another bunch of incompetent imbeciles. Scram."

Lith moved forward and several spheres of mana appeared in mid-air, surrounding his enemy. Athung was impressed, but far from scared. As far as true magic went, Lith was clearly a self-taught and had yet to show anything remarkable to her.

"How can you be so blind?" Athung repeated word by word the same pitch that Raagu had used over a decade before to entice Athung into becoming her apprentice.

"It"s your first real opportunity to meet other people like you. People that will live as long as you do and that have answers to questions that you probably have yet to think about.

"Our magical legacy is as ancient as Mogar itself, it"s greater than Silverwing"s or of that of any other human mage you"ll ever meet. Aren"t you tired of hiding who you are? To practice the humans" fake magic?

"I"m not offering you a cage, but a place where you belong. A place among people who can help you carve your path in life.

"Awakened are a tight-knit community with rules that are meant to protect you, not to imprison you. If you come with me, you"ll become part of something much bigger than the army of this insignificant Kingdom.

"Awakened have no borders, we live here as well as in the Empire and the Desert. With the backing of the Council, you will be able to travel ignoring all the political shenanigans and have access to many so-called state secrets."

Lith was long since aware to not be the only Awakened. He had stopped considering himself special after befriending the magical beasts, learning from them fusion magic and most of their knowledge about magic.

Since Athung nor her equipment seemed particularly powerful, he had no reason to believe that Awakened, just like humans, would give their secrets away for free. He had stopped believing in free meals and fairy G.o.dmothers back on Earth.

"Solus?"

"We"re alone. The members of the Queen"s corps are either cloaked or far away enough to not be a threat. Since we never had trouble spotting them in the past, I"d say they are not here." She replied.

"You are letting your prejudices prevent you from seeing the bigger picture." Athung continued. "Yes, Awakened have criminals among their ranks, just like humans, but without the Council, the undead would have taken you prisoner. You owe us."

"Also, if you follow me, you"ll have the opportunity to become a recognized member of our kin and deepen your understanding of how Mogar really works."

"I owe you nothing. You didn"t protect me so much as our common secret." Lith snarled, but after talking with Orion and Tyris, the part about the Awakened ones" legacy was almost intriguing. Almost.

"Plus, why should I follow you? Why should I trust someone I"ve never met before? You could easily lead me into a trap or best-case scenario get me surrounded by a bunch of pompous jacka.s.ses who think they are my betters. Thanks, but no thanks.

"Last warning, scram."

"Is there something I can do to earn your trust?" Athung asked. She felt as if she was talking to a wall and the worst part was that he was right.

If Athung could turn back time to when she had been offered her apprentices.h.i.+p, she would tell Raagu to f.u.c.k off and make the Council chase her, rather than begging for their favors like she was now forced to.

"To scram would be a good start and never returning would be even better." Lith snapped his fingers and Silverwing Hexagram appeared around them, suppressing only Athung"s spells.

"It"s impossible! No one can conjure this array so fast by themselves. I need to…"

Her train of thought was derailed by Lith"s hand closing around her neck and lifting her from the ground. The split-second of surprise had been more than enough to close the distance separating them before she could react.

Athung unleashed all the spells she had at the ready, making the six points of the Hexagram light for each element nullified, yet Lith was unfazed. Life Vision showed Athung that even though he had countered several tier five spells his mana was unaffected, whereas hers was almost depleted.

"What kind of monster is this guy?" She tried to loosen his grip, but it was like pus.h.i.+ng a mountain away.

The choke prevented her from using Invigoration and she knew that she wasn"t his match in a physical confrontation, so she simply stopped fighting back.

"That"s better. Are you ready to go now? You can either pa.s.s my message or become my message. Take your pick." Lith said, receiving a nod in reply.

"As long as I don"t expose our existence, I don"t break any law of the Council, correct?" He asked as more nodding ensued.

"Then we"ve nothing to talk about."