Too many. When you take into account the sheer quantity of realms that have suffered similar fates, the toll to be paid for that knowledge often outweighs its benefits, Ryfon replied with a solemn glance before turning to look at the others.
"Widner Jera is his true name, and as it currently stands, he is the last remaining dragon of that clan, since they were nearly annihilated during the time of the Great Partition," Ryfon added, causing their expressions to shift into ones of sadness, but Anwill raised his hand and began to speak.
"I-I'm sorry for their losses, but how did this Widner survive?" he asked, but his question caused Ryfon's expression to sour. "He made a deal with Mideia. In exchange for his survival, he was forced to help him wipe out the hegraphenes that lived in Kavrass at the time," he began, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth and becoming harsh on everyone's ears.
"I do not blame him for it, after all; survival is any life form's primary directive. What I do hate, however, is the fact that Mideia's manipulation of a handful of the Eyes was so utterly complete that he was left with no other choice," he said through gritted teeth, tightly clenching his fist atop the table.
"After the events of the Great Partition, he was forced into hiding, but sometime during his self-imposed exile, he was able to use his Word to place an extra means of protection where Mideia was imprisoned while awaiting his trial," he said, prompting everyone to stare at him in pure shock, but Aurae quickly snapped out of her momentary daze.
"Wait a moment. If you knew where he was all this time, why did you help Thoma and Syldir find him?" she asked, prompting Ryfon to give a half-chuckle. "To prove he was coerced into aiding Mideia, of course," he said with a knowing smile.
"My duties to the Twilight Sea are to protect it at all costs. If he had truly been guilty of the crimes they say he committed of his own volition, I would have hunted him down myself. But the fact that he snuck into one of the most secure regions of the Twilight Sea and risked discovery spoke volumes to his character," he continued, with everyone giving him a nod of understanding.
"As for why he snuck into Aen Silar, I'm sure you can guess at it, but the fact remains that whatever Words he used prevented us from being able to put an end to Mideia, though I suspect he wanted to be the one to do it himself," he concluded, finally leaning back in his chair a little.
His words hung in the air momentarily, as the three others did their best to digest the mental buffet of information presented before them. The silence was so devastatingly loud that one might have even heard a spider crawling along its web.
However, it was Elhael who broke the silence first after clearing his throat.
"Well, we know what he's after, but we still do not understand how this Cry could be used, at least not fully," he said, prompting Aurae to take the lead. "I think he might try to do something similar to what happened with Athar. If he could find a vessel powerful enough to house such a core, Mideia might be able to unseal the powers of the Jera clan," she said, having taken a moment to parse her thoughts.
"I agree with my daughter. It is certainly something he would do, but I do not currently know of any creature capable of doing so," Ryfon added, putting a hand to his chin pensively, but he shrugged when no answer presented itself.
"In that case, are there any records in Polarion's halls that might house that information?" Anwill asked. "I believe there might be, though it could take me some time to find them. I don't suspect he will make his move in the meantime, but that does not mean you should lower your guard," Ryfon said as he rose from his seat.
"I will return as soon as I have an answer, but you should all remain vigilant until then," he said, creating another portal with a wave of his hand. "We will do our best, Father. Thank you for your guidance and assistance with this matter," Aurae bowed respectfully, but was soon met with a large pair of pale hands cupping her cheeks.
"You don't need to be so formal around me, daughter. I've spent enough time with Thoma and Bernar to know how you feel about them, and I would ask you not to treat me as such a stranger when compared to them," he said, pulling her into a tight embrace as he kissed the top of her head.
"You will always be my little girl, regardless of how the years may pass," he said, feeling a slight tremor flow through her body. "Of course, papa," she said, feeling a tear race down her cheek.
Elhael and Anwill smiled warmly as they watched the exchange, but said nothing so as not to ruin the moment.
He released her from the embrace and traced his index finger across her cheek to wipe away the tear. "Remember: stay as safe as you can and avoid leaving Myrdin until I return. Do you understand?" he asked, getting a silent nod in response.
"May the Hynafol Arboraneth guide and protect you all," he said to the others, giving them a proper Caegweni bow before stepping through the portal.
His departure left a sense of emptiness around them as they watched the portal dissipate into thin air, leaving no trace of its existence behind. The barrier Ryfon had put up had also faded into non-existence, but with its final tendrils wisping away, a sense of dread immediately took its place.
"What is this overwhelming malice?" Anwill asked, though his question was never answered aloud, because within the time it took him to blink, his answer appeared at the door's threshold.
Nevesh, Aurae thought as she observed the beautifully terrifying dragon entirely engulfed in Leech mana.
"Ah, I was wondering when that old wyrm was going to stop talking. I couldn't hear a word he said, but I can tell by the looks on your faces that you already know why I'm here," she said with a toothy grin plastered on her fine, pale features that was accentuated by an intentional flare of mana in her eyes.
The weight of her presence nearly crippled them, just as it had during their first encounter, but the three of them did their best to stand their ground. Each strained against the weight of her mana, gritting their teeth and furrowing their brows in a unified struggle.
Upon seeing their reactions, Nevesh broke out into a cackle. "Aw, how quaint! Look at you, little bastards, fighting for your own survival any way you can. Oh, how I've missed that look on your slim faces, but I dowonder if the feeling is mutual," she said, tilting her head forward to stare at them with wild eyes.
"W-What d-do you want?" Elhael struggled to say, prompting her to move beside him almost instantaneously. "Don't you remember, darling?" she asked, tracing a finger along his sharp jaw. "I want the ring, and since you're the current leader of these pointy-earedmongrels, I assume you know where it is," she said, pushing her face right next to his as the finger she used suddenly grew into an elongated talon.
Don't give her anything. Not yet, Aurae sent with a look, helplessly watching as Nevesh traced her talon to the other side of his neck.
"I-I do not…" he halted as the pressure of her talon pressed into the side of his neck, drawing a small trickle of blood. "Careful now," she said with an almost whimsical chuckle.
"I would avoid giving me a hasty answer, or making any rash decisions," she said, turning to look at Anwill, who was in the middle of readying a spell and halting his movements.
Did she sense that? Anwill wondered momentarily, but quickly dismissed the idea of even pondering such a question's validity.
"Now, I want you to use that minuscule brain of yours to tell me where I can find it. If you can't, well…" she trailed off, increasing the pressure slightly to encourage an answer. Elhael felt himself trying to tilt his head back, but he noticed his wife shaking her head.
Not yet, she mouthed.
"I-I might be able to find it in the records of the Antiquary," he said in an attempt to stall for time, noticing Aurae's scarlet eye was glowing more intensely. "Wyrmshit," she spat, bringing the tip of her nose up to his cheekbone.
"Do you take me for some kind of fool? I know those scrolls you have scattered on the table have told you of its location, but when I went to look there before even considering coming back to this shitpit of a realm, I found nothing," she said, accentuating her final three words with tilts of her head.
"So tell me, King Elhael Phrys: Where. Is. It?" she asked again, spittle fleeing her jagged, gritted teeth and slowly increasing the pressure of her talon once again. As he opened his mouth to speak, he spared one final glance at Aurae, who nodded with slitted pupils.
Duck, she sent him, immediately unleashing a torrent of scarlet arcs in Nevesh's direction.
Elhael leaned back enough to remove the talon from the side of his neck, while he and Anwill leveraged the pressure Nevesh had been emitting to speed their descent beneath the mana-blades.
Dozens of them met their target, slamming Nevesh into the wall and spraying a number of bloodied arcs in all directions of where she landed. Her pressure decreased momentarily, allowing Anwill and Elhael the chance to move away and draw their blades in preparation for the retaliatory attack to come.
For good measure, Elhael commanded the walls made from the roots of the Arboraneth to close in around her, leaving a small enough gap for Aurae and Anwill to fire off a number of spells at her.
Charred bits of sharply cut roots flew out from the center of their barrage, but after nearly ten seconds into their attack, an outward blast of Leech mana took its place. Nevesh was healing the damage nearly as quickly as it came, but Aurae noticed something was different this time around.
She's not healing where my spells landed as quickly compared to how someone of her caliber might usually be able to. Is it because I used Wraith mana? How much of an effect can it truly have on a dragon? Aurae thought, but hardly had the time to form a hypothesis, as Nevesh focused her attention on her.