Lith Verhen/History/Volume 12

## Chapters 1367 - 1460

### Eclipsed Lands

Kamila reprimands Haug for his duplicity, but recommends Lith hear his mission proposal. Haug asks Lith to investigate the disappearance of undead children from the Eclipsed Lands, offering contact with someone who knows Lark's killer, as well as his secret to the violet core. Kalla deduces the disappearances as the work of Forbidden Magic, since undead children are universal donors of life force, and has Nyka convince Scarlett to accompany the two of them and Lith to the Eclipsed Lands as the Scorpicore is the best tracker. Lith informs his parents, Jirni, and Mirim of his mission, to give them the time to adjust the security detail before his departure, leaving Kamila for last.

The group travels to the Gorgon Empire to meet with Haug and the Firstborn Vampire, Vladion Dragonborn. Though initially reluctant to allow Scarlett and Lith into his city of Lightkeep, Vladion is convinced by Nyka to permit them entry in order to find the missing children. After explaining the situation, Vladion offers as rewards a white crystal to Kalla for her experiments, the secret of Vampire Awakening to Nyka, and the name of the one who sent the Balkor-cards to Lith. Vladion informs him the culprit is a powerful and influential figure among the Sunwalkers and promises to provide sufficient proof to justify Lith's retaliation.

Baba Yaga appears with Nandi and Vladion's hybrid son Radusk, and Nandi greets Lith. Suddenly, the city's arrays are sabotaged and the Second Life Academy attacked. Vladion, Scarlett, Nyka, and Lith rush to interrupt the kidnappings. They intercept a Hydra, Roc, Harpy, and Pretion the Sphinx before they can escape. Though the lesser beasts are unexpectedly able to use the bloodline abilities of their greater cousins such as Origin Flames and Life Maelstrom, Lith's group kills all but the Sphinx and Harpy, whom Vladion mind-reads to learn they were test subjects.

Upon returning to Lightkeep Lith meets Vladion's wife Lysa and the Firstborn Banshee Ilthin Demere. Lith and Solus witness Baba Yaga use Creation Magic to upgrade Lightkeep's arrays. When Scarlett volunteers to use her prince-nez to examine the prisoners, Baba Yaga reveals it is actually the Eyes of Menadion. When Lith touches the Eyes, it triggers a spark between the artifact and Solus' tower half, unlocking the full capabilities of her mana sense and allowing her to assume a glasses form to mimic the Eyes. They listen closely to Baba Yaga teaching Scarlett how to use the full mode. They discover traces of an Ambrosia in the altered Emperor Beasts' blood.

Ilthin privately thanks Lith for having exposed Dawn's callous nature of experimenting on her subjects and having led many of her kind to abandon the Undead Courts and flee to the Eclipsed Lands by killing countless undead at the Battle of the Feymar Mines and during Night's attack on Lutia. She warns him of her Banshee kin since Lith's life force is a rare delicacy for them, him having never been unfaithful in his life, and gives her business card for help in the future when he reveals his "big secret" (Solus) to Kamila.

Baba Yaga meets Lith in private asking to see Elphyn, revealing herself to be Solus' young adulthood best friend Malyshka. However, Solus refuses to let Baba Yaga examine her, wary of an incident like with Silverwing occurring again. Baba Yaga then helps examine Lith, giving him advice about embracing the great power within him without letting it consume him. Lith attempts to shamelessly ask her to teach him Creation Magic to no avail. Lith theorizes to the others that the Emperor Beasts behind the kidnappings are dissidents of the current order seeking the power of their Guardian ancestors and Awakening to take over the Awakened Council.

Sunrise is accompanied by mass attacks on the other undead cities, prompting Nandi to summon the Master for help, who Lith learns is Professor Zogar Vastor. Vastor reintroduces himself as the Master and gives Lith the instructions on how to use his device embedded in the orc shaman's violet crystal and study the orc shaman's technique. He informs Lith that the war with the undead has escalated, with the Three Horsemen leading attacks on the Kingdom's major cities and that Vastor has been summoned for his duty as Highmaster.

Lith shares with Haug the news of the three battles before informing him of his plan to find the kidnapped undead. Jirni contacts Lith with news of Marchioness Mirim Distar's murder by the Balkor copycat, leaving him politically vulnerable. Lith's fury spills over, manifesting in Jirni's home in the form of shadows and flickering lights. Scarlett mourns Mirim's death as well and explains how she knew Mirim. The Scorpicore advises him to stay calm until the right time to unleash his anger. Lith poses the suggestion of Vladion or Scarlett teaching him the secret to the violet core but they refuse, saying that self-enlightenment is what will make him unique.

Using the Eyes of Menadion, the trio pursues the energy signature of the Ambrosia. They kill several more altered Emperor Beasts along the way until they enter the center of the Eclipsed Lands where they are confronted by Thrud Griffon, Jormun Nidho, and Xedros who has evolved into a Golden Dragon thanks to Arthan's Madness fueled by the residual essence of Leegaain extracted from different species of lesser Dragons, Sedra among them, as well as the essence of the kidnapped newborn undead. Thrud vows to kill the Balkor copycat for killing loyal servants to the Kingdom such as Mirim and Lark, and Jormun attempts to convince Lith to walk away. However, Vladion reaffirms his commitment to identifying the Balkor copycat, leading Lith to battle Jormun.

### Tiamat

Lith struggles against Jormun's centuries of battle experience and superior physical prowess. He reflects on his struggles with the violet core and realizes he has been treating magic as a tool instead of embracing it as part of himself. He realizes he had been closest to the violet core during his battle with Qisal because he had relied on himself, and changes his battle approach, summoning his Demons of the Fallen from the dead souls of the lesser Dragons. His mass starts increasing again and his vortexes spin faster than ever before, making their edges finally overlap. The vortexes form perfect bright blue spheres, becoming auxiliary cores that allow Lith's mana core to reach the deep violet level.

A silver pillar above and a black pillar below engulf Lith, this time merging into a single silvery black pillar instead of clashing. The surge of world energy turns his Demons into Demons of the Flames. His human, Emperor Beast, and Abomination sides cross the barriers separating them, each losing its respective nature and turning into something new. Solus regains control of the mana geyser and merges with War and the Scalewalker Armor into an appropriate size. Lith and Solus' unity as well as the union between her tower half and War allow them to cast their first Blade tier spell, forcing Thrud to Warp Jormun away to safety.

Lith discovers he can shapeshift without Body Sculpting by focusing on the human melody of his life force. With Scarlett becoming a Guardian, she gives him the Eyes which he in turn gives to Kalla back at Lightkeep. Nyka and Kalla decide to stay behind in the Eclipsed Lands to respectively safely Awaken and study the Eyes. Haug brings Lith back to Derios where he gives him two Davross ingots. Lith meets with Brinja, promising to catch the Balkor copycat soon and let her watch when it happens. Lith returns to his family and shows them his new Tiamat form, depressed from losing the last semblance of his humanity and expecting Kamila to break up with him after he plans to reveal Solus to her. He calls in the three Phoenixes Crevan Gershal, Jhet, and Lenanna as well as Tezka to tell them about his evolution while introducing them to his family. He also informs them, Salaark, Orion, and the Royals about Thrud, her successful experiments granting her access to the powers of the Guardian bloodlines, and regaining of Valeron's bloodline.

Lith brings Kamila to the Trawn Woods, showing her his Tiamat form. He summons the tower and introduces her to Solus as his other half. Feeling betrayed, Kamila breaks up with him and leaves. News of Lith's new single status spreads throughout the Kingdom and he receives advances from both humans and beasts alike (the latter interested in mixing with his Guardian bloodlines), leading him to seclude himself inside the tower to get accustomed to his new body. He shares his new ice cream invention with Faluel as they mourn their respective losses and learns about gravity fusion. He gifts her the Hands of Menadion and she advises him on his relationship with Kamila and recommends he develop a new breathing technique for his new physique.

After one tense evening, Rena convinces Lith to reveal the reason for the breakup, and he brings them to the Trawn Woods to reveal Solus and the tower to them. They take the revelation poorly, believing Solus to be a homewrecker. However, after seeing Solus' anguish at their reaction as well as Lith's expectation of their reactions, they rescind their initial judgments. He shares with them their memories in a mind link, including what Solus remembers from her previous life as Elphyn. The Verhens apologize and embrace her as a member of their own family.

Faluel resumes her lessons and teaches them gravity fusion (particularly to help Lith acclimate to his new form). Lith seeks Nalrond's advice about Kamila's reaction, who urges him not to invite her to his birthday and to give her space instead. Lith in turn gives Nalrond advice about his hybrid nature, suggesting he reevaluate his own identity. Faluel assigns Lith to purify her magic metals with Origin Flames per their agreement. Lith practices using Domination on Origin Flames for the purification process, though struggles in the beginning.

Lith discusses his birthday plans with his parents. He shows Faluel the salvage of Darwen he had obtained from Gremus the Rock Worm years prior hoping to make something with it, and Faluel explains its relationship with Davross as well as its extreme difficulty to use. Raaz scolds him for burying himself in work, leading him to spent time with Solus and the family in the tower. He brings them to the Verhen Mansion but they decline to move in, preferring their familiar family home. Lith and Solus study advanced breathing techniques to develop a new one for Lith.

### 19th Birthday

Lith turns 19 at the start of winter and hosts a private birthday party in the Verhen family home. The Ernas sisters bring raw mana crystals and magic metals while Faluel gifts him two Davross ingots. Salaark joins the party and is introduced to the family, revealing Raaz and Elina's ancestry as Phoenix and Dragon, respectively. She gifts him several days of protection for his family and the Balkor card recipients, visitors from the Nest bringing dance and music, and a lesson in Creation Magic by enlarging the interior of the living room. She also helps Solus manifest her humanoid form.

Salaark forces Leegaain to make an appearance after Aran and Leria ask about their grandfather, who declines to tell Lith the full story behind Menadion and Solus. Xenagrosh visits, introducing her girlfriend Bytra, and Lith introduces his half-sister to the Verhen family.

The winter solstice passes. Since Aran and Leria are close to turning six, he decides to teach them as well as Leran, Lilia, and Protector Tier 1 fake magic in order for them to blend in with human magic society. Faluel's Awakened academy resumes and he forgoes his Domination lessons for physical training in his new Tiamat form, mostly sparring with Faluel, Feela, or one of Faluel's Council friends. He becomes overexerted with the large amount of tasks. Faluel tells him about the changes to Council policy as well as the effect of Haug's legacy being released to the Awakened community, and tells Solus about Blade spells in order to not add more to Lith's plate. She shows them footage of Dawn vs Valeron's companions from the When All Are One Spirit array and reveals her mother-daughter relationship with Fyrwal.

Lith practices swordsmanship with Phloria, who spends an increasing amount of time with the Verhens. Elina reveals Kamila had been visiting to have someone to talk to. Lith and Solus use the Eyes to study both the orc crystal and perfect the energy tracking system that the Master planted into it. Over the following two months, Vladion regularly updates Lith on his investigation. Lith attends the Royal Gala with Faluel as his date and learns of Marth's marriage to Ryssa and her pregnancy. The Royals publicly commend Lith for the destruction of Kogaluga and the invention of the DoLorean, and Lith showcases a hologram of a maglev train for future development.

Lith is greeted by Great Mage Linden Gorth, revealed to be "Red" from their academy days. He is subsequently regaled with tales of how Lith inspired him to work hard to match his achievements, though is dragged away by his wife Phrenna after he stumbles clumsily around Lith's single status, for which Faluel teases him.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 1371: Quality Over Quantity (Part 1)
2. ↑ Chapter 1375: Living and Undead (Part 1)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 1380: Ancestral Powers (Part 4)
4. ↑ Chapter 1383: Eyes and Charms (Part 1)
5. ↑ Chapter 1384: Eyes and Charms (Part 2)
6. ↑ Chapter 1387: Awakened Chaos (Part 1)
7. ↑ Chapter 1404: Shared Misery (Part 2)
8. ↑ Chapter 1410: Awakened Blood (Part 2)
9. ↑ Chapter 1415: The Final Step (Part 1)
10. ↑ Chapter 1416: The Final Step (Part 2)
11. ↑ Chapter 1421: Kamila and Solus (Part 1)
12. ↑ Chapter 1426: Filling the Void (Part 2)
13. ↑ Chapter 1430: Ins and Outs (Part 2)
14. ↑ Chapter 1436: Davross and Darwen (Part 2)
15. ↑ Chapter 1439: Birthday Party (Part 1)
16. ↑ Chapter 1441: Birthday Party (Part 3)
17. ↑ Chapter 1443: Master Plans (Part 1)
18. ↑ Chapter 1452: Endless Training (Part 2)
19. ↑ Chapter 1459: Royal Gala (Part 3)
20. ↑ Chapter 1460: Royal Gala (Part 4)