"I still don't buy this. Shouldn't we be trying to find a more tangible way to win this war?" Shamira whispered.
"Shamira, I told you that I will not have my daughter talking about war!" Shavak shouted, apparently now completely sober.
"I just think that if we ask the races in the Immaculate Forest they'll be w-"
"Enough, Shamira!" Shavak interrupted. Before gesturing for her to leave the room.
She stared at her father for a moment, before bowing to Avankor and leaving without a word.
"Sometimes It's like she wants to go out and fight the battles herself," Shavak sighed, before getting up from his throne to approach Avankor.
"She might be right about the Immaculate Forest. It's closer than the Behemoth Mountains, and their prices are cheaper," Avankor said as Shavak walked past him.
"You know they'd never help us. Those snobs are worse than the forest council, they don't even judge based on tier," Shavak replied, before leaving the congress room.
Avankor knew this himself, but they were running out of viable options. The Immaculate Forest was one of the largest congregations of sentient beings, which was one of the reasons the necromancer's influence hadn't spread to that section yet.
Though to them, the necromancer and the creatures that lived in the Dark forest were one and the same. To them, the only difference was that the necromancer was baring its fangs.
Avankor took Luicus back to his room and placed him in the healing bath, before inspecting him. Even though Avankor was primarily a warrior, as a child he had been part of the healing clan of his den, so he had quite a bit of know-how in the healing arts.
"He's healing quite fast..." he commented. In fact, for a moment he believed that his vision was failing him as he couldn't see a single injury on Licius's body.
~To think that the descendants of the fae can heal faster than me,~ he thought to himself. And this was a big deal, as he was a guardian of a race that specialized in healing. Even if the fae were like gods, healing this fast was insane.
After inspecting Lucius, he began inspecting the substance in the bath, expecting to have to replace it.
"Has it stopped working?" he whispered to himself, noticing that there were no impurities floating around. For good measure, he closed his eyes and began breathing slowly, before excreating more of the white fluid from the palm of his hands into the bath.
~Who am I kidding, I need to call Nan, I have no idea what I'm doing here,~ he thought to himself as the white fluid overflowed, shimmering unnaturally.
~It's almost as if he's cleaning it himself,~ Avankor thought to himself before lying down beside Lucius.
*
"Ughh," Lucius groaned as he opened his eyes.
He found himself in the same bath that he had woken up in the last time.
For a moment he tried to remember what had happened before he blacked out, but found that sections of his memory were missing.
The last thing he remembered was being led to a congress room.
~Did I pass out while discussing with their officials?~ he thought to himself as he tried to get up from the earth bath.
"Oh, you're up," a voice whispered from underneath him.
Lucius peaked his head over the edge and found a massive salamander-looking creature lying on the ground.
"This is Chamen, Chame's territory," Lucius whispered, remembering Shaviki's words. "But you aren't a Chame," he added a moment after.
"You're right about that. I am a Zeldrave, a race from a neighboring den," Avankor said as he stood up, his eyes focused on Lucius.
"You're the one treating Alpha?" Lucius asked calmly as he got up from the bath and began stretching his limbs.
"That's right," Avankor replied, a bit uneasy by Lucius's sudden calmness.
"Sorry, I don't remember, but what exactly did we discuss? Before I passed out I mean," Lucius asked.
His instincts identified Avankor as a sort of ally, which was part of the reason why he was speaking so calmly.
After all, he had passed out in their congress room, and he woke up without any restraints, and only a single person guarding him. Anyone would think that they were on friendly terms.
"Then you don't remember anything?" Avankor asked in realization.
"I think I may have caught something while fighting the necromancer," Lucius lied.
Honestly speaking, he was well aware that his mind wasn't stable right now. Even as he spoke, he was sort of detached from reality. For him, there was no telling whether this was still the mindscape or not, so nothing felt real.
"We were discussing the situation on the outside," Avankor replied, before explaining what he had explained before. Going over how the necromancer's forces had conquered both the Green and the Dark Forest. And how its army had increased many more times than the last time they had fought against it.
"Then that means I've been out for quite some time huh?" Lucius whispered to himself. "The glowing tree in the Green Forest, has it been conquered?" he asked after a moment of thought.
Avankor paused for a moment, before saying, "The tree has fallen, but my scouts say its inhabitants retreated to the Immaculate Forest."
"Immaculate Forest? Ahh, the Pristine Forest... good thinking Hannibal," Lucius whispered to himself.
"Has the necromancer's influence spread there yet?" he asked after some thought.
"No, and it's unlikely it will. The Immaculate Forest is a hub for higher-tier creatures, I doubt they will just sit back and watch it be destroyed," Avankor replied.
"Good, then they're safe there. If you don't mind me asking, how is it that this den hasn't been conquered yet?" Lucius asked.
"We've destroyed the surface entrance. Even if the necromancer had terra-traveling creatures it would take them some time to find this place."
"So you've been lucky?" Lucius whispered in dissatisfaction.
"If you don't mind, I'd be more at ease if you brought my child here. I know I'm asking for a lot, but please make it happen," Lucius asked, staring at Avankor with the eyes of a worried parent.
"I-- I'll try to make it happen," Avankor replied.
"Perfect, then shall we start discussing a plan of action," Lucius said, a look of relief on his face. Though his eyes remained as vacant as ever.
"Plan of action?"
"Yes. You do want to reclaim your lands don't you?"
