"No, Feela out." The Behemoth ended the call and felt like a massive burden had been lifted off her head. "Well, that was easier than I t- What are you doing, Mom?" Feela's hologram had yet to fade yet Kalla was already working again. "I'm archiving the scolding for the next time you deserve one and picking up my research from where I left it before this ordeal started, dear." "Mom, the Fire Dragons want to talk to you. Call them right now." Nyka's nostrils flared in annoyance. "Sure thing." Kalla smiled, still afraid of being punished for some minor misunderstanding she didn't quite remember, but she knew it still loomed over her head. "Who is this?" A voice on the other end curtly asked. "That's my line!" Kalla replied. "Who are you?" "You called me." The fiery image of Erghak the Fire Dragon appeared from the white gemstone. "How did you even get my rune?" "Good question. Nyka?" Kalla looked at her daughter, not knowing the answer herself. "Oh, for the love of-" The young vampire wanted to strangle her mother, but the contempt in Erghak's gaze stopped her. 'No one can insult Mom but me!' She thought. "Greetings, venerable Fire Dragon." Nyka gave Erghak a deep bow. "I'm Nyka Dragonborn, adoptive daughter of Vladion, Firstborn Vampire, and undead daughter of the here present Kalla the Wight. "Beast Representative Feela gave us your contact rune, and we called you per your request." Many thoughts crossed Erghak's mind upon hearing the explanation, and none of them were kind. 'I've heard many bad things about this wannabe-Lich yet after barely one minute of conversation, I can already tell the reports of her shaky sanity are greatly understated.' He thought. "Greetings, young vampire, and thank you for your assistance." He actually said. "I'm Erghak, the new patriarch of the Fire Dragons. I requested an audience with your mother in the hope of establishing a business relationship that will greatly benefit my clan and your mother's research." "Go on." Kalla chimed in, her blank stare turning sharp and focused. "The Fire Dragons have recently acquired the Ears of Menadion, and from what I understand, you possess the Eyes. Is this correct?" Erghak asked. "It is." Kalla nodded for him to continue. "Despite Magus Verhen's help, we are having trouble mastering the Ears, and what little we've learned has yet to bear any fruit we can apply to our Forgemastering arts. Here's my offer. "You'll help us study the Ears with your Eyes, and in exchange, we'll lend you the Ears for your research." "It doesn't sound much of an offer." Kalla looked at the Dragon like he was an idiot. "What my mother means is, why do you think she'd benefit from the use of the Ears?" Nyka said. "I'm sorry, this is my fault." Erghak decided to play it nice. "I assumed that due to your familiarity with Magus Verhen, he had already explained to you how the Ears work. It allows its master to listen to the flow of all kinds of magical energy. "Mana, world energy, artifacts, everything." Seeing that both Nyka and the Wight were still unimpressed, he continued. "To become a Lich, one must harmonize their own life force and mana core with a crystal in order to turn it into their phylactery. "The biggest obstacle to achieving Lichhood is that every individual possesses a unique energy signature, and so do the crystals. A failure to perfectly attune them results in a deadly wound since you have to crack your core in order to split it into two and transfer one half inside the crystal." "I already know all that." Kalla tried and failed not to sound condescending. "Then you should also have realized that if you can listen to the beat of your core and the crystal with the Ears, you can know with certainty how close you are to success and recognize a mistake the moment you make it." Erghak's eyes narrowed, but his tone remained polite. "By the Great, Red, and all kinds of mothers!" Kalla blurted out in amazement. "That's great news. Thanks, and bye!" She was about to hang up the call, but Nyka stopped her. "What my mother is trying to say is that yours is a very generous and interesting offer, but she needs some time to think about it." Nyka said. "I thank you for your patience and promise you I'll let you know as soon as my mother makes up her mind." "Thanks." Erghak gave her a polite nod. "Do you have an amulet, Vampire Nyka? I'm convinced that communicating with you would make any further contact between us much less frustrating." "I'm sorry, I only have a standard amulet." She replied. "It can't exchange runes without direct contact." "It's fine, I'll make one for you. Just tell me where I can leave it or to whom I can entrust it until you pick it up." Erghak said. "Give it to Lith, I mean, Magus Verhen, please." Nyka said. "Is there anything else I can do for you, Patriarch Erghak?" "No, thank you. Just take that amulet, please. Erghak out." "Mom, what were you thinking?" Nyka snarled the moment the Dragon's hologram faded. "You can't just hang up on someone like that! Especially when dealing with Dragons!" "Why not? I always do that." Kalla shrugged. "You do what?" Nyka's shocked expression told the Wight she might have made a few hundred mistakes in the past. "I was joking." Kalla sounded as genuine as a three-dollar bill. "Also, I don't need that guy. If he's got the Ears of Menadion, so does Scourge. Let's go visit him. We can check if the Ears are as good as Hawkspat says…" "Erghak." Nyka corrected her. "And borrow the real Ears from Scourge. Maybe even get a few lessons from Menadion." "That's brilliant, Mom." Nyka was shocked. "An actually well-thought-out plan. Aside from the hanging up part, of course." "Why so surprised? Not to brag, but I'm considered a gen-" The moment Kalla stepped out of her lab, a vicious light scorched her eyes. The poisonous air flooded her nose, throwing her into a coughing fit. Her whole body burned and ached so much that she couldn't tell which one of her limbs hurt the most. "Sunlight is killing me!" Kalla panted in quick, shallow breaths. "Even though you betrayed me, Nyka, I'll always love you. Please, share the Eyes with your brother." "Mom, I'm the vampire and you are an Emperor Beast." Kalla couldn't see Nyka's eyes, but she could tell from her daughter's stone-cold voice that she was angry. "I moved to Lightkeep for you. We are deep underground in the Empire. "The light comes from Vladion's Sunstones, and it doesn't hurt the undead, let alone the living." "But, my eyes! My body! My nose!" Kalla whined. "That's what you get for not moving your ass from that chair for three months!" Nyka snarled. "Your eyes hurt because you are not used to light after so long in the dark. As for your body, it hurts because you got cramps." "Really?" Much to Kalla's surprise, the pain faded as her vision adapted to the Sunstones and new darkness flowed in her atrophied limbs. "Then why can't I stop coughing and panting?"