Supreme Magus

The Minotaur Abomination nodded, conjuring every bit of world energy that wasn't drained from the city's defensive systems until magic stopped working inside Lightkeep.

His body started to glow due to the power that he acc.u.mulated inside the organic gemstones growing out of his forehead, c.h.e.s.t, and hands. Then, Nandi drew in even the world energy from outside the city, generating a steady flow that he channeled into the wooden hut.

The tower added its power to Baba Yaga's, allowing her to weave a Creation Magic spell.

Suddenly, the network of arrays that surrounded Lightkeep became visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye, filling the air with countless runes perfectly spaced between them so that each one of them would perform its duty without interfering with the others.

"Nice job, but a little sloppy. You packed a few intersections too much, creating several weak points here, here, and here." As the Red Mother spoke, several strings of runes lit up.

"A competent mage with enough power and mastery over arrays can use controlled surges of energy to overload those strings, temporarily turning your defensive systems off.

"To keep that from happening again, you need to redistribute the energy load and create release points." Even though the arrays were still active and under Vladion's control, Baba Yaga erased the faulty runes and replaced them with new ones.

Even Lith and Solus with their limited understandings of arrays were capable of appreciating the mastery and ingenuity of her work.

"It's amazing." The Firstborn Vampire said. "You have not only further stabilized the overall structure, but also every attempt to overload or sabotage the arrays will actually fuel them and trigger an alarm."

"Exactly." Baba Yaga nodded, gesturing Nandi that he could stop and putting her hut away. "The release points divert the foreign mana and channel it into the energy reserves before it can reach the arrays' focus points.

"What was that? I've never seen any spell like it." Lith asked as Solus made sure to record the footage down to the last detail and replayed it several times.

"Creation Magic, the apex a Forgemaster can reach." Baba Yaga replied. "Now that the city is really safe and there's no risk for more kidnappings, I want to know what you have discovered and what is Ilthin doing here."

Vladion led everyone back to the living room before giving his mother a full report of the situation.

"Do you know someone or something capable to achieve such feats?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, no." The Red Mother shook her head. "In my long life, I've met only a few people that possess the necessary knowledge to alter a life force to such an extent.

"Menadion is dead, Silverwing would die rather than do such a thing, and the Master would have never allowed Nandi to come here if it meant compromising one of his schemes. Ilthin?"

"I came here to seek your advice, Mother. My city has been the victim of several disappearances as well and I hoped that you could shed some light on the matter or at least offer us some protection." The Firstborn Banshee said.

"First Lightkeep and now also Nightingale? I'm starting to see a pattern here." Baba Yaga called the Lords of the Eclipsed Lands below the Tremen region and received disturbing news.

All of them had cases of sudden disappearances of newborns, but they were much fewer than those of Lightkeep, so the Lords thought it was just the usual runaway syndrome.

No matter how much someone begged to be turned into an undead, most of them had troubles adjusting to their new nature and often needed some time alone before reuniting with their sire.

"I'll come with you to Nightingale to fix your arrays as well. If you have upgraded your defenses, then your Academy is probably going to be attacked before the security becomes too tight." Baba Yaga said.

"By the way, are these the altered Emperor Beasts you've been talking about?" She pointed at Scarlett's still unconscious prisoners. "Let me see what I can do."

Baba Yaga used every spell she knew to study the amazing changes that the two members of the lesser species had undergone, but to no avail. Body Sculpting found no trace of tampering and even probing their minds didn't pan out.

"They are just a couple of power-hungry morons. Their only worth lay in their nutritional value." She said.

"Maybe, and maybe not. Did any of you wonder how I managed to find Balkor in the middle of the Blood Desert?" Scarlett said while she shapeshifted in her human form to more easily move through the room.

"Each one of his thralls held both Abomination tissues and a spark of Balkor's life force. This little fellow here can pick up the faintest energy signature and follow it from half a world away." The now humanoid Scorpicore tapped her prized pince-nez.

"I suspect that whoever empowered those guys injected them with a special mixture. If I'm right, then by isolating its traces in their system, I can analyze the unknown substance that gave them their powers and track it to its source."

"Why are you telling us all of this instead of doing it?" Vladion scratched his head in confusion.

"Because everyone here is a talented healer that can help me. Faluel taught me a long time ago that many heads are better than one. On top of that, unlike normal artifacts, my pince-nez can be used by anyone who has my approval. I suspect it's-"

"The Eyes of Menadion!" Baba Yaga said in surprise.

"I was going to say, a teaching tool, but at this point, I think I'll go for: what?" Scarlett said.

Everyone looked at her with greed, especially Lith and Solus. The Scorpicore cursed her own big mouth for the second time in less than an hour and calculated her odds of escape if Baba Yaga, one of the Firstborns, or Nandi hunted her down.

'0%.' She thought.

'0%.' The Eyes confirmed after running several battle simulations.

'Thanks for nothing and f.u.c.k you, you useless thing. Of all the information you've given me over the years, how could you forget to mention your own name?' Scarlett asked in outrage.

'Define "name" variable.' The Eyes replied.

'I wish you were at least semi-sentient instead of a complete tool.' She inwardly w.h.i.n.ed.

"I'm so glad that the Eyes haven't been lost to time nor did they fall in the wrong hands as it happened for some of the other relics of Menadion." She said. "Don't worry, Scorpicore. I won't stoop so low as to steal from a child.

"You've put the Eyes to good use until now and you exposed their existence to help us. On top of that, if not for my slip of the tongue, I doubt anyone would have recognized them.

"You have nothing to fear from me and I hope that my children will respect my wish." She looked at both the Firstborns and Nandi.

They didn't look very happy about it, but they didn't complain either. They loved Baba Yaga too much to break their bond of trust for a single artifact, no matter how powerful.