Supreme Magus

2582 Frail Alliance (Part 2)

If that's how little you think of me, why should I even get involved in this project?"

"Because doing otherwise would be a breach of our deal." Feela replied.

"We have given the members of the Organization access to our Warp Network, IDs that allow you to walk in the Empire and the Kingdom without hiding like the criminals you are, and we've pressured the Royals in their deal with Verhen per your request."

At those words, Lith's eyes went wide and he turned toward Zoreth.

"We did what we thought best, little brother. We never told you about this because we didn't want you to feel indebted." She replied with a shrug.

"The Organization, instead, has yet to uphold its side of our bargain." Feela continued to speak, ignoring the interruption. "We are just asking you to do as you promised and refusing your services would force us to revoke the privileges we have granted to the Organization."

"Fine." Bytra crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes blazing with black and yellow mana in outrage. "You are lucky that I don't want to cause a bloodbath every time I go visit my goddaughter or this conversation would have a different ending."

Being part of the Organization's price tag was already bad, but having his daughter used as leverage against Zoreth was even worse.

'Fucking bastards!' Lith thought. 'Zoreth was sincere when she told me that she doesn't call me "little brother" lightly. She has always been by my side during the War of the Griffons and this is how the Council treats her?

'I don't know how, but I'll find a way to make them pay.'

"Excellent decision." Feela said with a huge victory smile on her face that matched Raagu's. "Then the only things that remain to be decided are where to relocate your people before moving them to Jiera and the terms for our Forgemasters and Healers to study the Harmonizers."

"Not so fast." Ryla shook her head. "We have a few demands of our own."

"What more do you want?" Raagu rose an eyebrow in annoyance. "More? The only thing you is survival in exchange for *our* granted us Harmonizers and putting our lives on the lines for *your* battle. That's hardly a prize, especially considering that we and Lord Morok will become your test subjects in *your* experiments to further *your* evolution.

"We are offering much, especially to the human Council, and receiving little in return so it's only fair that we balance the scales a little."

"Sounds fair." Raagu nodded. "Tell us what you want and we'll give it to you. Within reason, of course."

Lith could feel that after learning that humans could really evolve, her tone and posture had softened. Raagu was still a bitter old bat, but now she was a hopeful bitter old bat.

"First, my people need to be provided with food until our departure. It will allow us to increase our numbers and form balanced units comprised of all tribes that will ensure our survival when dealing with the monster tides." The Fomor said.

"It's reasonable. Continue."

"Also, we refuse to be relocated." That request made the Council members wince. "Zelex is our ancestral home and its arrays are our only defense against your overwhelming forces.

"By staying here, we can preserve our traditions and use the self-destruct mechanism as a deterrent. If you break your word and try to enslave us, we will kill ourselves and the Harmonizers will be lost forever.I think you should take a look at

"Our last request is to give to every leader of a colony on Jiera a communication amulet. This way, if our runes disappear at the same time, they will know that our deal has been broken and Jiera's Awakened Council will be on its own."

That was the plan that Ryla had devised and shared with the senate after Morok's group had left. The Undead Courts had fewer resources than the Council had had no interest in keeping them alive once they got the Harmonizers.

The Awakened instead, needed willing test subjects if they wanted to further their evolution. It gave the children of Glemos an extra bargaining chip that Ryla was using to not leave Zelex and keep control overthe Tyrant bloodline's legacy.

"Are you sure?" Raagu asked. "Do you really want to keep living underground? Wouldn't be better to live freely under the sun?"

"To what end?" Ryla replied. "Once in Jiera, our people will have a fresh start but here in the Kingdom, we are considered murderers, and for a good reason. We would still have to hide so it's better to live in a place we love and that we can defend.

"No offense, representative Raagu, but the moment we step out of here, we'd lose most of our powers and we'd be at your mercy. You can't ask us to trust you this much without giving us a single proof our your good faith."

"Yet that's exactly what you were willing to do for the Undead Courts." Feela pointed out.

"True, but we didn't trust them either and we are assuming that the Council is better than them. Are we wrong?" The Fomor tilted her head, feigning incredulity.

"No, you are not." Raagu stepped between the two women, her hands raised to separate them. "We accept all of your conditions but there's one problem on your side. The space-compressing array blocks dimensional amulets and passages.

"How are we supposed to deliver the amount of food your people need without forming a line of hundreds of carriages that would end up exposing Zelex's position?"

"There's no such problem." Ryla replied. "Use dimensional amulets to bring the food to one of our city's entrances and we'll do the rest."

Once both parties agreed on the terms of their alliance, the rest of the treaties went smoothly. The children of Glemos asked and obtained a few days to mourn their fallen before the Council was allowed access to the city and started studying the Harmonizers.

In turn, the Council required precise data about the growth speed of the various fallen races with and without the mana geyser to have an estimate of the time needed to deploy them and how quickly they could replenish their numbers in case of emergency.

Once everything was said and done, the Council members left, leaving only Faluel, Bytra, and Zoreth behind.

"I have upheld my word." Morok said. "I didn't mention the existence of my bloodline legacy to the Council and I have exposed my race for you. Now it's your turn."

"That's really all you want? Safe passage for two of my people?" Syrah found it a cheap price to pay. "Let me guess, one of them is Ryla."

The Hati Queen hadn't missed the tension between the two of them nor how they looked at each other.

"The deal was no question asked." Morok pointed out.

"That's hardly feasible." Syrah replied. "If you take her away, how do we access the Tyrant bloodline's legacy? Isn't it the same as locking us out of it and taking it for yourself?"

"Fair, this one question deserves an answer." The Tyrant nodded. "You can either take everything out before she leaves-"