"A Sapling is no Yggdrasill but it’s still as big as a city. If this is a trap, all the plant folk and Fae will fight for Esor. I’ll face arrays powered by a mana geyser and perfected through centuries if not millennia!" "Excellent question." Solus pondered. "First, we need a surefire exfil plan. Second, we need reinforcements. We can’t walk inside Esor alone. Your Demons are not enough. They all depend on you." "The tower isn’t an option either." Ripha cursed. "The Sapling has their roots all over the geyser and there won’t be enough world energy to conjure the tower, let alone do it without getting noticed. "What about the Awakened Council?" Valia proposed. "You are a member and so is the Yggdrasill. You could ask for a mediation." "Been there, done that." Lith remembered when Inxialot had supervised his meeting with the Undead Courts in Othre. It was enough to make him shudder. "Lotho never loved me. I trust him less than Inxialot." "What if you bring Elysia or me with you?" Kamila said. "With my deep-gree core I’m not much of a fighter but I’m a terrifying insurance policy." "Well, yes but actually no." Leegaain appeared in the room uninvited. "One thing is if danger comes to you. Another is you walking into danger knowingly. I can’t allow that." "That’s the best you have to offer?" Lith groaned. "No. As a Council representative, I suggest you ask for Feela’s help. This is no longer a matter between a rogue Awakened and an external faction. This involves two members of the Council belonging to two different factions. "Or, if you want, three. You can also call Zoreth. The Organization is still a probatory member of the Council but they can pull their weight in matters like this." "If Feela has the time, she can deploy an entire army of Emperor Beasts and lay siege to Esor." Lith pondered. "If Zoreth comes, I bet that just the threat of me and Tezka standing side by side will make the Sapling piss their roots after what we did to the Tree." "Sounds like a plan." Kamila nodded. "You’d better start calling." "One second." Lith tapped into his connection with the tower and brought Elysia and Valeron to his arms. While the babies still cooed in joy and surprise, Lith moved his seat as close to Kamila as humanly possible without making her sit on his lap. "I told you, no cheating." Leegaain grunted. "I’m not going to take them to Esor with me." Lith replied. "I’m just putting up barriers to keep Zoreth from giving me an earful until tomorrow." *** Feela the Behemoth, the Beast representative of the Awakened Council was shocked by the news and happy to offer her help. ’Even though Lith is a member of the beast Council and a Divine Beast at that, he rarely asks for anything. This is a great opportunity to show him the value of the faction I represent and establish a more solid relationship. ’With his Void Magic, Creation Magic, and Origin Flames, there’s no limit to the benefits that being friends with him can bring me.’ She thought. As for Zoreth, she had many things to say and none of them was nice. ’So all that story about the elves taking his time was bullshit.’ She inwardly grumbled. ’Lith did have the time to contact me, he simply forgot. Again! Yet now that he needs my help, he has all the time in the world. ’If the children weren’t there, I would rip him a new one. I can’t show hostility without making Elysia and Valeron afraid I don’t like them or their dad. That damn cheat is shamelessly muzzling me.’ "Say hi to Auntie Zor, children." Lith said with the fakest smile ever while moving Elysia’s and Valeron’s small hands. "Hi, Zor." Valeron the Second waved at her, making the Shadow Dragon squeal with joy despite her best efforts to give Lith the cold shoulder. "Hi, Ioh!" Elysia giggled, extending her little arms to Zoreth’s hologram to be picked up. "I can’t do it from here, sweetie." The Shadow Dragon’s heart melted like a candle on the sun and the worst part was that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get angry with Lith. "Auntie loves you so much and is visiting you soon." Before she could recover any of her composure, Lith dealt the finishing blow. "The little Raldarak is happy to see his auntie too." He waved Kamila’s scales-covered hand. "You named him Dragon Heart? Oh gods! Byt, come here! You have to hear this." The pure joy in her voice made everyone turn at Lith, looking at him with eyes full of reproval. "I thought Eldritches were heartless masterminds but Tiamats are much worse." Ripha sighed. "You know this is textbook emotional manipulation, right?" Kamila said. Enjoy new tales from empire "Yes, I know." Lith replied without ever breaking his warm smile to the camera. Bytra and Zoreth gushed at the babies and the name of the unborn baby for several minutes, forgetting about everything but the wish to go to the Desert. "When did you pick the name?" Bytra asked. "A couple of days ago." Lith lied through his teeth. "You are the first people outside the family to know." That part, at least, was true. ’Good gods! Here I am criticizing Lith yet I forgot to tell Zin about the baby’s name. She’s going to kill me and I’m going to let her.’ Kamila inwardly whined. More gushing and groaning due to distance ensued until Lith revealed his hand and made his request. "Can you put Tezka on standby?" He asked. "Even one tail would be enough. I need him as a deterrent." "Making Tezka come in person will be hard but a tail should be feasible. Let me ask him." Zoreth walked away from the amulet, leaving Bytra to coo and make faces at the babies. Less than a minute later, a furious clicking of heels could be heard approaching. "Royal Constable Kamila Verhen!" Zinya never used Kamila’s full name except when she was angry but that wasn’t enough to express her outrage. Kamila had no second name so Zinya called her sister by her working title as well. ’Good gods, Zin must be foaming at the mouth with anger.’ Kamila shuddered. ’What would Lith do?’ "How dare you leave me out of the choice of my nephew’s name and let me know your decision days after you made-" "Say hi to Auntie Zin, babies." Kamila had taken Elysia and Valeron from Lith’s arms and was holding them in front of the camera. "Hi, Hin!" Elysia said, waving her hand. "Hi, Zin! Zin!" Valeron repeated the name to show how good he was. "Hi, sweeties! Oh, gods! You know my name already." Zinya’s rage burst like a bubble, her eyes misting from emotion. "Auntie loves you so much." "Hi, Auntie Zin." Kamila made a baby voice while shapeshifting her face and hands into black scales. "Filia, Frey, come here!" Zinya started to gush and sob while everyone in the room looked at Kamila no better than they had done for Lith a few minutes earlier. ’I’m sorry! I panicked and acted like a Lith.’ She whined via a mind link.