If thatâs how little you think of me, why should I even get involved in this project?â
âBecause doing otherwise would be a breach of our deal.â Feela replied.
âWe have given the members of the Organization access to our Warp Network, IDs that allow you to walk in the Empire and the Kingdom without hiding like the criminals you are, and weâve pressured the Royals in their deal with Verhen per your request.â
At those words, Lithâs eyes went wide and he turned toward Zoreth.
âWe did what we thought best, little brother. We never told you about this because we didnât want you to feel indebted.â She replied with a shrug.
âThe Organization, instead, has yet to uphold its side of our bargain.â Feela continued to speak, ignoring the interruption. âWe are just asking you to do as you promised and refusing your services would force us to revoke the privileges we have granted to the Organization.â
âFine.â Bytra crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes blazing with black and yellow mana in outrage. âYou are lucky that I donât want to cause a bloodbath every time I go visit my goddaughter or this conversation would have a different ending.â
Being part of the Organizationâs price tag was already bad, but having his daughter used as leverage against Zoreth was even worse.
âFucking bastards!â Lith thought. âZoreth was sincere when she told me that she doesnât call me âlittle brotherâ lightly. She has always been by my side during the War of the Griffons and this is how the Council treats her?
âI donât know how, but Iâll find a way to make them pay.â
âExcellent decision.â Feela said with a huge victory smile on her face that matched Raaguâs. âThen the only things that remain to be decided are where to relocate your people before moving them to Jiera and the terms for our Forgemasters and Healers to study the Harmonizers.â
âNot so fast.â Ryla shook her head. âWe have a few demands of our own.â
âWhat more do you want?â Raagu rose an eyebrow in annoyance. âMore? The only thing you is survival in exchange for *our* granted us Harmonizers and putting our lives on the lines for *your* battle. Thatâs hardly a prize, especially considering that we and Lord Morok will become your test subjects in *your* experiments to further *your* evolution.
âWe are offering much, especially to the human Council, and receiving little in return so itâs only fair that we balance the scales a little.â
âSounds fair.â Raagu nodded. âTell us what you want and weâll give it to you. Within reason, of course.â
Lith could feel that after learning that humans could really evolve, her tone and posture had softened. Raagu was still a bitter old bat, but now she was a hopeful bitter old bat.
âFirst, my people need to be provided with food until our departure. It will allow us to increase our numbers and form balanced units comprised of all tribes that will ensure our survival when dealing with the monster tides.â The Fomor said.
âItâs reasonable. Continue.â
âAlso, we refuse to be relocated.â That request made the Council members wince. âZelex is our ancestral home and its arrays are our only defense against your overwhelming forces.
âBy staying here, we can preserve our traditions and use the self-destruct mechanism as a deterrent. If you break your word and try to enslave us, we will kill ourselves and the Harmonizers will be lost forever.I think you should take a look at
âOur last request is to give to every leader of a colony on Jiera a communication amulet. This way, if our runes disappear at the same time, they will know that our deal has been broken and Jieraâs Awakened Council will be on its own.â
That was the plan that Ryla had devised and shared with the senate after Morokâs group had left. The Undead Courts had fewer resources than the Council had had no interest in keeping them alive once they got the Harmonizers.
The Awakened instead, needed willing test subjects if they wanted to further their evolution. It gave the children of Glemos an extra bargaining chip that Ryla was using to not leave Zelex and keep control overthe Tyrant bloodlineâs legacy.
âAre you sure?â Raagu asked. âDo you really want to keep living underground? Wouldnât be better to live freely under the sun?â
âTo what end?â Ryla replied. âOnce in Jiera, our people will have a fresh start but here in the Kingdom, we are considered murderers, and for a good reason. We would still have to hide so itâs better to live in a place we love and that we can defend.
âNo offense, representative Raagu, but the moment we step out of here, weâd lose most of our powers and weâd be at your mercy. You canât ask us to trust you this much without giving us a single proof our your good faith.â
âYet thatâs exactly what you were willing to do for the Undead Courts.â Feela pointed out.
âTrue, but we didnât trust them either and we are assuming that the Council is better than them. Are we wrong?â The Fomor tilted her head, feigning incredulity.
âNo, you are not.â Raagu stepped between the two women, her hands raised to separate them. âWe accept all of your conditions but thereâs one problem on your side. The space-compressing array blocks dimensional amulets and passages.
âHow are we supposed to deliver the amount of food your people need without forming a line of hundreds of carriages that would end up exposing Zelexâs position?â
âThereâs no such problem.â Ryla replied. âUse dimensional amulets to bring the food to one of our cityâs entrances and weâll do the rest.â
Once both parties agreed on the terms of their alliance, the rest of the treaties went smoothly. The children of Glemos asked and obtained a few days to mourn their fallen before the Council was allowed access to the city and started studying the Harmonizers.
In turn, the Council required precise data about the growth speed of the various fallen races with and without the mana geyser to have an estimate of the time needed to deploy them and how quickly they could replenish their numbers in case of emergency.
Once everything was said and done, the Council members left, leaving only Faluel, Bytra, and Zoreth behind.
âI have upheld my word.â Morok said. âI didnât mention the existence of my bloodline legacy to the Council and I have exposed my race for you. Now itâs your turn.â
âThatâs really all you want? Safe passage for two of my people?â Syrah found it a cheap price to pay. âLet me guess, one of them is Ryla.â
The Hati Queen hadnât missed the tension between the two of them nor how they looked at each other.
âThe deal was no question asked.â Morok pointed out.
âThatâs hardly feasible.â Syrah replied. âIf you take her away, how do we access the Tyrant bloodlineâs legacy? Isnât it the same as locking us out of it and taking it for yourself?â
âFair, this one question deserves an answer.â The Tyrant nodded. âYou can either take everything out before she leaves-â
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