2568 Blood Bonds (Part 2) "First, the sun is already high in my country so everyone will be able to take a good look at you without the need for spells. Also, you need privacy." The Guardian pointed at the bright sky and then at the vast empty space around them. "Everyone knows you live in Lutia and there are bound to be scouts and spies everywhere around your house. There's no point in revealing your new forms and powers to the rest of Mogar unless it's absolutely necessary. "If people keep thinking of you as Tista Verhen, so will your enemies. The moment they make a move, they'll discover that they are facing the Bigger Redder Demon and be unprepared to face your wrath." "I agree with your logic and appreciate your concern, but I swear to the gods that if that name catches on, I'll disown all those who said it." Tista shuddered, cringing at the idea of her species being branded with such an obnoxious title. andasnovel.com First, she focused on her life force as a whole, growing into a 20 meters (66") tall scaled humanoid creature covered in thick red scales and with two sets of wings. The first was covered in silver-veined red feathers while the second set bore snow-white feathers. "Cool!" The kids said in unison, running over Tista's foot to get a feel of her talons and knock on her scales. "Are you naked?" Raaz felt awkward looking from below to the lumps on his own daughter's chest. "Do you want me to turn around?" Tista lowered her gaze in panic, afraid of having flexed the retractable scales again. Both her sets of wings went ablaze in embarrassment. "Dad! You gave me a heart attack" She sighed in relief and her feathers returned to normal. "I'm just like Lith. This is how I normally look now. My scales cover me at all times." "Almost at all times." Lith said amid a fit of pretend cough so that only Kamila and the Guardians could hear him. "You didn't tell your parents?" She whispered in his ear. "Would you discuss your anatomic details with yours?" Lith whispered back, obtaining a firm no in reply. "Remarkable." Leegaain was already an expert in such matters and could easily distinguish the fixed scales from the rest. Yet such silly details were of no interest to him. "You both have inherited my scales and Salaark's feathers plus one set of wings from each one of us. "I'm a bit disappointed that your beautiful Dragon wings are covered with pillow stuffing, though." "And I'm a bit disappointed she hasn't a beak nor enough feathers, instead." Salaark said with a snort. "With those horns and tails, she's more Dragon than Phoenix." *Do you really need to ruin this for me with your measuring contest?" Tista snarled. "I could use a little more appreciation and a little less disappointment." "Sorry." The Guardians said in unison while elbowing and shifting the blame on each other. "I'm in no mood for training and there has been no change in my human form so I'll move straight to answer the question in everyone's mind." Tista closed her eyes, using her breathing technique, Abyssal Gaze, to listen to the melody of her life forces. She focused on the deep violet of the Divine Beast, going deeper and deeper in search of any indication that it was comprised of two different tunes. She listened for a while, studying her beast side in search of the familiar traits of her Dragon and Phoenix half. "Damn, it seems I have only three sides." Tista said. "My Divine Beast life forces merged into one and I'm afraid that any attempt of splitting them would undo whatever I've become." As she focused on her beast side, her whole body burst into silver flames while shapeshifting into a new form. The creature in front of the Verhens stood on all fours like a Dragon, but it had bird claws and feet. Its body was covered in silver scales and had two sets of blazing-red feathered wings coming out respectively of its shoulder blades and hips. A long silver tail extended from the small of its back with golden train feathers on its end identical to those of a Phoenix. On its snout, there were seven eyes alight with the power of the elements and a blood-red jagged beak. "Not what I was expecting." Tista tried to stand up on her hind legs but failed to balance herself with the tail, crashing on the ground with a boom of thunder. "Mostly because I've never seen anything like this. What am I?" "I have no clue." A wave of Leegaain's hand scattered the sandstorm that the impact had caused and helped Tista to get up without triggering another with the flaps of her wings. "I've never seen a four-legged Phoenix either." "I'm so proud of you, darling!" Salaark joined the kids in hugging Tista's foot. The Overlord also activated her Blood Imprint bloodline ability, turning the silver scales into feathers and covering the entire Verhen family but Elina and Senton in feathers as well. "Now you are perfect." Salaark said with a sniffle while Elina stared at Leegaain who in turn looked at Senton. "Don't worry about me." The blacksmith shrugged and hugged Rena. "I made my peace with this. I prefer spending my life with a gorgeous Phoenix than wasting my time wishing I had wings." Rena returned the embrace and tried to kiss him, but her feathers tickled him so much that Senton burst into laughter which spoiled the romantic mood. "Thanks." Leegaain took Elina's hand, covering one-third of her skin with a mix of red and yellow-veined orange scales to not make her feel left out like after the Dragon Dance. "Wait, why does Kamila get feathers while I don't?" Elina pointed at her daughter-in-law and then at herself. "How can my baby not have a drop of Phoenix blood?" Raaz and Elina had never witnessed the effect of Blood Imprint on Kamila so they had always assumed that it didn't work on unborn babies. Now that they knew the truth, however, they were afraid of the answer to that question. Elina knew to have never cheated on Raaz so it could only mean that something was wrong with the baby while her husband was worried by both hypotheses. "She has Phoenix blood alright." Salaark rolled up Elina's sleeves, revealing a few tiny little golden feathers that could be easily mistaken for body hair unless one looked very up close. "The problem, so to say, it's you, dear." "What do you mean?" Raaz asked, more scared than ever at the idea that his wife suffered from an illness that not even Salaark could heal. "Is it the Strangler? Can't you fix her?" "Please!" Salaark poked at his chest in outrage. "Do you really think so poorly of me that you believe that I've kept you under my roof and lived under yours for so long without taking care of *my* blood?" "I'm sorry, Mom." Raaz raised his hands in apology. "I was just scared." "You better be. Sorry, I mean. There's no reason to be scared." Salaark softened up immediately, reminding herself that he was a young, ignorant baby. "When I said there's a problem with Elina, I wasn't referring to her health but her blood."