Supreme Magus

"Fine. Solus Menadion-Verhen I hereby invite you into your home in Belius." Kamila knocked on the ring as if they were speaking through a door.

"What do you mean, my home?" Solus took her human form, timidly looking around.

"I mean that you must stop feeling like an intruder. You are part of this family and of this marriage as well." Kamila replied. "I don't want you to think about this place as a sanctuary you're barred from.

"It's just like your tower, except that it belongs to me and has no special property aside from the happy memories it holds."

Before Solus could reply, Kamila took a step forward and embraced her.

"I want you to consider this apartment as your home. The three of us have no memories together here, but that doesn't mean that we can't make them from now on."

"Thank you." Solus held her tight, fighting back an insistent tear that wanted to be shed.

"Don't thank me. It's not me who's going to risk her life for Belius. I'm the one who should thank you. Lith's deal with the Royals doesn't benefit you yet you are shouldering its burden without asking anything in return.

"Thank you, Solus."

"You are welcome." Solus' voice almost cracked with emotion.

"I know that I'm being selfish, but I have to burden you with one more favor. Please, look out for Lith on the battlefield. I'm too weak to follow him and he always becomes reckless once he sees red. You are the only one I can count on." Kamila said.

"I will." Solus replied, taking a step back to look around with new eyes. "This place is a bit cramped for three, though. Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"We can take the bedroom and Lith can sleep on the couch." Kamila shrugged.

"Yeah, I can- Wait, what?" Lith said in confusion.

"You heard our wife." Solus wrapped her arm around Kamila's hips. "She's already tired of you and it's my turn now."

***

The breakfast went smoothly with lots of joke arguments about how they should have taken turns using the bathroom and doing the chores. Even with the Sage Staff hung at her neck, Solus could only keep her human form for a brief time so she returned in her ring form as soon as she finished eating.

Kamila had to leave a little less than one hour after her arrival.

"Why so soon?" Solus asked.

"Belius, Prode, and Vesta are all being evacuated." She replied. "There's no telling how the battle might go and in the case we lose, the Royals don't want to leave behind anyone or anything that might help the conquering army."

"Isn't that pointless?" Lith didn't agree with the decision. "If we win, Thrud just has to wait a few days for her Generals to be as good as new and launch a new attack. If we lose, what good there is in evacuating three cities if the enemy has entire regions to repopulate them?"

"It's far from pointless." Kamila shook her head. "If we win, the Awakened will use Invigoration on our troops. In just eight hours the Kingdom's army will be back at its full strength while Thrud's will be at its weakest.

"With the bulk of her army out of commission for days until the Golden Griffon restores their bodies, the Kingdom will have the perfect opportunity to launch a full-scale invasion and reconquer a lot of lands, if not even attack the lost academy.

"If we lose, without people to manage the cities, Thrud will be forced to spread her resources thin, and invading the rest of the region will take her much longer, allowing the Royal army to regroup and strategize."

Lith had to admit that it made sense. Infiltrating and recapturing an empty city was easy. To properly patrol and administer a metropolis the size of Prode or even Belius, Thrud would need to leave a lot of her troops permanently stationed there.

If all the three cities fell, she would need her entire attack force to keep them and her advance would be halted until she found a solution.

"I came here to cheer up both of you and to take a few things, just in case." Kamila needed help to bring the wooden chest and a few clothes through the gate.

"If only dimensional amulets worked this would be much easier." She said with a sigh.

"Yeah, and so would be conquering Belius." Lith replied.

After sending her off, he returned to the main hall where most of the Awakened were either asleep or gone for a stroll. The tension of the imminent attack weighed on everyone's nerves and they needed to unwind.

Faluel was among the former, buried under enough fur quilts to make Lith sweat just by looking at her.

"Are you sure there is going to be an attack today?" Lith asked the desk sergeant after two more hours of dreadful quiet.

"Today, no, but there will be an attack sooner or later." A man in his mid-thirties replied while activating a holographic map of the area. "In her advance, Thrud focused on capturing Bika, the closest city to Belius with a Warp Gate.

"Then, her army cleared the surroundings, ensuring a safe supply route in the case they needed to siege Belius. We have resisted the assault so far because the strongest fighters in the Kingdom have been sent as reinforcements when needed.

"Now, however, with Prode and Vesta under attack as well, our resources are limited. That's why you are here, Archmage Verhen." Those last two words held an awkward mix of gratitude and disappointment.

It was how most people in Belius felt about Lith. They couldn't forget about the many good things he had done as a Ranger, making the cruel life in the north safer and easier.

At the same time, they couldn't forgive him for abandoning them and betraying the country either.

"That's all the more reasons for the Mad Queen to launch a quick attack instead of wasting so much time." Lith replied, ignoring those eyes that kept asking him the same question: why?

"You would be right if Thrud's armies had gained the same foothold for the other two cities as well. Luckily for us, she didn't. Too bad she is also smart enough to know that she can't press her advantage, yet.

"If she were to attack now, we could receive reinforcements from Prode and Vesta, slaughter her troops, and then focus on protecting another target. She's biding her time in order to launch a simultaneous attack and cut us off from the rest of the army."

"I see, thanks." Lith returned to the main hall where he practiced Demon Grasp until Faluel woke up.

Then, he resumed his practice of Silverwing's spells. Much to his surprise, Crank joined them as well.

"My stomach is full, my body is rested, and my brain is bored to death." He said. "I'm not a team player, but since we are going to be friends, I need to protect my investment."

It was almost lunchtime when the alarm resounded. The human soldiers and the mages ran to their respective positions on the city walls while the Awakened used their wings or Spirit Flight spells to reach the battlefield.