All the councilmen visibly jerked at the sight of the crux, some of them even stumbling to run out the door.
"Everyone calm down," Shavak's voice boomed, silencing the commotion that had begun. "Havon, please explain," he continued.
"One of my spells purges the effects of the necromancer's decay. I'm not sure why, but it seems the decay itself is like a sort of injury to the environment," Lucius replied thoughtfully.
"Which could mean that I can also purge the necromancer's undead... we may not need to even fight these creatures to win," he continued, realizing everything just as it got out of his mouth.
"What? Are you saying that your spell is capable of healing?" Avankor asked, snapping Lucius out of his near trance-like realization state.
"Huh?" Lucius murmured, noticing that everyone in the room was looking at him as if he were crazy.
"Yes, it's primarily a healing spell," he explained.
Silence.
"Could demonstrate this spell of yours?" Shaviki asked, the first to move a muscle among the others.
At this, Lucius used his claws to draw a line across his palm, causing sap to drip down from it.
~Solar cleanse~ he chanted silently, and with that, the wound began to slowly close.
Yet even still, silence filled the hall, some of the councilmen looked to Avankor as if in question,
"Havon, where did you learn this technique?" Avankor asked.
"That will be a difficult question to answer," Lucius responded.
"Can it be taught?" Avankor asked after some thought.
"Sadly it can only be taught to members of my commune," Lucius replied after some thought. It wasn't as if he was lying anyway.
"Then all your children are capable of it?" Shavak asked this time.
"That is correct," Lucius replied, though not everyone could use it, it was true that they would be able to soon enough.
"Then it is a shame," Shavak whispered to himself.
"And why is that?" Lucius asked, to which Shavak froze for a moment before replying, "It is a shame that there are not here with you."
"H-Havon, if you don't mind... my youngest daughter is ill. Could you try to using your powers on her?" It was one of the councilmen who had spoken against Lucius earlier, the irony of it all.
However he was not alone, it seemed that everyone in the room had at least one person that they wanted to be healed, including Shavak himself.
"How good is this spell?" Shavak asked, silencing the pleas that had filled the room.
"It isn't the best spell I've seen, but it works for most injuries," Lucius responded, noticing the sadness in Shavak's eyes.
"My wi--The queen has been ill for some time now. Would you mind having a look at her... of course I will pay you appropriately."
~I see, so that's why I haven't seen the Queen around here,~ Lucius thought to himself.
"If time allows us I'd be more than willing," Lucius replied.
~I can leverage this,~ he thought to himself, almost with a smile. With this, the people who sided with him versus those who didn't would be tipped into his favor.
"My lord needn't pay, let us not forget that we have already saved Havon from near-certain death," the oldest of the councilman said out loud.
~This one might need to die,~ Lucius thought to himself. He was showing to be too much of a hindrance to progress.
"Enough. Havon, you weren't done with your presentation. You said you needed a team to head to the clan lands," Shavak interrupted, his eyes still far away.
"I'll need the fastest and strongest warriors you have. It's mainly going to be recon to figure out viable hunting routes, but I also want to gather a few resources and some food," Lucius replied.
Though it would probably be faster if he went alone, he would need some men to become familiar with the routes, as he didn't plan on being a main part of this task force for long.
His main goal was to find safe routes toward the clan lands, and from there find a way to the Immaculate Forest to get all his children.
"That will be a problem," Shaviki replied. "Our fastest and strongest are still to return, the only warriors that remain are the inexperienced who have never been on a single hunt," he continued.
"Shaviki!" the oldest councilman shouted in indignation.
"Would you have me lie to him? You realize that if Havon falls in battle because of your petty pride then we are all done for, right?" Shaviki responded.
As unbearable as the old councilman was, Lucius could understand his annoyance with Shaviki. It was a little more than embarrassing to reveal that the den basically had no real warriors left and would have to rely completely on Lucius.
Though it was a good thing that Shaviki had exposed them, otherwise the warriors they would've appointed would cause the mission to fail.
"These inexperienced men, can I see them? Perhaps they can be trained?" Lucius asked.
"Trained? We cannot take them on hunts now, it's too dangerous," Shavak replied, afraid that the young men of his den would also fall in battle.
"There are methods of training that do not require them to be on the ground," Lucius explained.
Shavak looked at him with an unconvinced expression, but still obliged to have them sent to Lucius.
"With that, we call this meeting to adjourn," the oldest council man announced after having given another ceremonious speech before everyone began exiting the room.
"You did pretty well for a fighter," Shaviki said as he moved towards Lucius.
"Shaviki," Lucius said in greeting. He couldn't deny that today Shaviki had been the one to have his back today, but he couldn't get past just how slimy he felt.
"Are you busy? There's something I want to discuss with you," Shaviki replied, "In private if you don't mind Lord Avankor," he continued, bowing politely to Avankor.
~This might be important,~ Lucius thought to himself. As much as he would've liked to escape the guy, he owed him at least this much.
"Perfect, follow me to my tunnel, we can discuss there," Shaviki said before leading the way,
As they walked through the tunnels, Luicus realized that none of the councilmen seemed to be going to the main cave. Each of them branched off towards another tunnel.
"You guys have your own private room?" Lucius asked.
"Yes, each council member is awarded a private room for them and their family. A thinking space... though I'm sure you understand what's actually going on," Shaviki replied.
