Treius Clein

**Treius Clein** was an Awakened youth from the Blood Desert who sought the Black Star's powers. He and the Black Star are killed fighting Lith.

## Appearance

### Human Form

Treius was a youth that appeared in his 20's dressed in a white long wool robe and a tagelmust (a cotton indigo veil/turban). He had dark bronze skin and colorful makeup around his eyes.

### Dragon Form

He could shapeshift into a twelve meter tall (40 feet) red dragon with flaming red scales the size of a buckler shield and a tail as thick as a SUV.

## Personality

Treius was an arrogant but ambitious youth. He sought the Black Star's powers for himself, believing he could become stronger than through ordinary Awakened means. He was also lazy, having done the bare minimum in every field he had every applied, using true magic as a crutch to compensate for his laziness. He believed that no price was too great to achieve his goals as long as he wasn't the one paying for it.

## Background

Treius had been Awakened by his uncle Glamus Clein when he was nearing the end of his lifespan.

When Lith observes the Lost City of Kaduria, he notices a detector array. Brigadier General Vorgh explains that the array has three layers of runes - the outer one to insulate the others to avoid triggering the alarm and the middle one to drain the mana from the army's power lines only when it spikes during the shadow phase. When the Black Star attacks the barrier and the barrier activates, the amount of power siphoned is easily hidden. The opening of the city barrier activates it, signaling to its owner Treius. Treius reveals that he had bribed or killed the previous Rangers assigned to Kaduria to leave the Black Star alone. He ignores his uncle's warnings of messing with Tyris' turf and leaves to confront Lith.

Lith subdues the Black Star with the failsafe Forgemastering spells that the Clerics of the High Sun imparted to him, when Treius arrives and intervenes. However, Lith's expertise and cunning overwhelms Treius, forcing the latter to seek the Black Star and coerce it into merging with him. The artifact agrees with great reluctance, promoting Treius' core to blue and allowing the Awakened youth to access the Black Star's energy and some of its abilities, such as a powerful crystal armor and enchanted longsword that formerly belonged to the king. Treius' lack of ability puts them on the back foot, until the artifact finds in Treius' memories the ability to shapeshift, which Treius' uncle had tricked him into learning as a way to get stronger. The duo shapeshift into a large red dragon, with the Black Star supplying the body with life force. Lith undergoes this third world tribulation, angered by their perversion of his and Solus' bond as well as the suffering of the Kadurians at their hands.

As the shadow phase begins again, the Black Star's will takes physical form as a black rain, ripping the life out of the Kadurians. Lith and Treius become part of the hive mind and are forced to experience the Kadurian's centuries of memories, and the Kadurians experience theirs in kind, finally enabling the Shadows to recognize the red dragon as their enemy. Lith utilizes a mix of Origin Flames, Yurial's Hexagram and the life forces of the Kadurians to cripple and kill Treius before finishing the Repentance spell, shattering the Black Star.

## Quotes

* *"Madness is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."* (Chapter 384)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 384
2. ↑ Chapter 397
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 400
4. ↑ Chapter 405
5. ↑ Chapter 386
6. ↑ Chapter 395
7. ↑ Chapter 399
8. ↑ Chapter 402