"No, never. Hybrid children can instinctively judge another person's strength and react accordingly. They are no stronger than a human child and the worst they have ever done is snarl at me when they have a temper tantrum." Selia said.

"Can I see your other form?" Kamila was tactful enough to not ask for the 'real' form, since it would imply that Protector's human form was just a lie.

"The hybrid form, the Emperor Beast, or both?" Protector asked.

"You're a hybrid too?" Kamila was flabbergasted, but this time she wasn't scared, just surprised.

"No, I'm an Emperor Beast to the bone. Yet our huge bodies make it really hard to move whenever we are not in open spaces, so I needed a hybrid form to be able to fight at the best of my abilities in any environment."

"I would like to see them both if it's not a rude request. Is it rude? Sorry I have no idea…"

"Stop panicking over the small things, Kamila." Selia said while pouring her a shot of Phoenix Plume. "You're not rude, just curious. It's normal. Back when I learned the truth, right after I stopped being angry at him for not telling me sooner, I had Ryman shapeshift for the most trivial reasons, just to enjoy the show."

"What show?"

"First, I have to get naked. Second, it's quite a flashy process." Ryman replied, making both women blush.

'Why do I keep painting myself like a pervert? I need to get out more.' Selia thought.

'Gods, Selia is such a character. I wonder who seduced who exactly, but I had enough of hot details for one night.' Kamila pondered if she could ever be as daring as the huntress.

Selia handed her the drink while Lith held her hand, making Kamila wonder if the transformation process was so ghastly that it required such care or if her earlier fainting had scared them to death.

"I'm ready." Kamila said, leaving the drink on the table, to not spill it in case of shock but still at arms length in case of need.

The transformation was so fast and seamless that she had just the time to emit a single yelp. Protector's body was now covered in a flaming red fur, his head had turned into that of a wolf with fangs instead of teeth.

Yet neither his eyes or voice had changed. They were still calm and wise.

"To see the rest, you have to get outside." Protector started to undress since the transformation had gotten rid of the embarrassing bits.

Once out of the fence, Protector turned into his full Skoll form while emitting a pillar of light, as if his body held a small sun.

His shoulder height reached two meters and a half (8'3"), with a flaming red fur with shades of white and yellow. His whole body was enveloped in a deep blue flame, that erupted more intensely from his neck, almost looking like a mane.

Protector now had two curved horns coming out of his forehead, right in front of his ears. Eagle-like feathered wings came out from his back and his tail was made out of dancing flames.

"It's amazing!" Kamila said in awe, not feeling intimidated by the feral apparition. Her hands ran on his soft fur, starting from the head and them moving towards the wings. "Can you fly with these?"

"Yes, but it took me practice since I wasn't born with them. Also, I'd like to remind you that despite my appearance, I'm not a pet." He said while Kamila was playing with his big ears, making her blush.

"Hands off the merchandise, sister." Selia laughed while giving Protector a dog treat and making him snarl.

"Gods, this never gets old. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She kept ruffling the fur on his neck and behind his ears while Kamila laughed her ass off.

Protector flared his nostrils before reverting to his hybrid form. Then, he collected his clothes and went back into the house to get dressed.

"How do you feel about our evening with my friends?" Lith asked while giving Selia the signal. It meant "give us some space but be ready to get back in case something goes wrong."

"So far it has been interesting. Very different from what I had expected. It has been quite shocking, but mostly interesting. I wonder how many Emperor Beasts live among us, hiding in plain sight." Kamila said.

"Them, the undead, and the plants." Lith said with a sad smile. Kamila had no idea how big Mogar was, nor she knew about Guardians. He could've shared his knowledge with her little by little, but it would've taken a time he didn't have.

"Plants? That's why you forgemastered me the Camellia? Are you so paranoid that you're afraid a flower might spy on us?" Kamila gave him one of those smiles of hers that gave Lith's heart a pleasant sting.

He really wasn't used to be happy. The moment he got attached to someone, he would lose them. It had happened with Carl, with Yurial, and, in a way, with Phloria as well.

Staying away from his family for long periods of time was also a way to protect them. Lith had so many enemies already and he had no idea how long the Griffon Kingdom would protect them in his stead.

He kept worrying, planning, and getting stronger to seize control of his own life, but he knew it was just an illusion. No matter how strong he was or how far he planned, good and bad things would still happen, like the woman he was embracing.

Lith hadn't planned on getting this attached to Kamila and yet…

"Then the next time that a Dryad hits on me, I assume you'll not be jealous if I accept her offer, right?"

"Come again? Did you really meet a Dryad and she hit on you?" Suddenly she didn't find the idea of sentient plants funny anymore.

"I met two of them but only one hit on me. Twice." Lith materialized the Dryad's hologram between his palms, doing his best to depict her properly.

"Okay, seriously, why there are so many hotties around you? There's Friya, that strange woman a few days ago, Constable Griffon, and now even Dryads?" The woman in the picture was so gorgeous that she could cause a traffic jam simply by crossing the street.

"First, Dryad aside none of them hit on me. Second, you're the one I choose to stay with, so there's no reason to be jealous." Lith replied while hugging her. Kamila returned the embrace, making him wish for the best.

"Do you know why I wanted you to meet Protector so badly?" He asked, receiving a shook of her head in reply.

"Not only is he one of my oldest friends, but there's a deep bond between us…" At those words, Kamila started to fear that Ryman was actually Lith's uncle, but the truth sounded much worse than that to her.

He told her the rest of his story, of how saving Protector had crippled his life force and given the Emperor Beast part of his memories.

"Are you serious? Is your life really going to end prematurely?" Kamila was on the verge of tears.

"I could live another hundred years or maybe just twenty more, I don't know." He couldn't explain to her about Awakening without sending Kamila into a nervous breakdown. There was only so much information a human brain could handle.

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