Arad looked at Mira and then at Merlin, “Get her inside. She will get better rest sleeping on a proper bed,”

Merlin nodded, “You’re right,” She waved her hand, and Mira levitated, “You should get ready. We can’t have her keep drinking potions any longer. I’m linking her to you as soon as we get inside,”

“Linking her to me?” Arad looked at her, confused.

“Of course. The egg needs a lot of mana to grow. We’re going to use yours instead of having her drink potions. You have a lot that you don’t use, right?” Merlin started walking toward the front door with Aella and Arad to her sides.

Arad nodded, “It isn’t a matter of me using it or not. I need to give her mana, and that’s what I’m going to do,” He walked inside the house after them and sat on the couch as they carried Mira upstairs.

SWOSH! Zephyr emerged in front of Arad with Loci, “You’re still on edge, aren’t you?” Loci stared at his face. “I can feel it,”

Zephyr looked closer into his eyes, “You probably need to calm down a bit, take a nap, and drink some tea.”

Arad sighed, “You can say that,” He relaxed on the couch, closing his eyes. “It’s a strange feeling, fear of losing her, anger at the kidnappers. I don’t feel like I could relax or sleep for days.”

“You will feel better with time,” Zephyr sat on his shoulder, “You’re alert now. Take a deep breath of fresh air. It will help calm you down. Or ask Lydia to cast a calm spell on you.”

Loci smiled, “In fact. She’s coming toward here now with Jack.”

Arad looked at the door, “I can sense her at the city gate. Did something change in her magic?” He could feel something strange sticking to Lydia’s aura, something immense.

Zephyr looked at him, surprised, “You can tell from here?”

“She got a divine favor for taking her oath to the hells. It’s been centuries since the last paladin who fought devils in hell.” Loci sat on Arad’s head, “Everyone in the church felt it, and it was magnificent. I heard the church even made a mural of her in their main hall,”

Arad looked at Loci, “And what about Jack? Is he all right?”

“He got something else,”

***

A few minutes later, Lydia knocked on Arad’s door, “It’s me, Lydia,”

“Come in,” Arad replied, and Lydia opened the door, seeing him sitting in the living room with Tina, bringing tea with Serena in her arms.

Arad looked at Lydia’s face, noticing how weird it looked, sparkling without a single blemish or a scare. In fact, her skin looked so smooth you think it was sculpted from stone.

Jack walked behind her, The white of his left eye had turned back, and it was bright red. Faint black lines crossed his skin from the eye down to his palms.

“What happened to you two?” Arad stared at them, confused.

Jack sighed, walking past Lydia and sitting beside Arad, putting one leg on the other. “Nothing important, just consequences of going to hell.”

“You’re blind in one eye?” Arad stared at Jack’s eye.

Jack smiled, “No, this one allows me to see in the dark, both natural and magical. I also got attuned to hell, which gave me resistance to fire and acid.”

Arad sighed in relief, “For me, you won’t like what you’re going to hear,” Lydia smiled, sitting beside Jack.

“I got a divine favor. My smites have gotten stronger, and my divine sense has gotten sharper. I also received a divine presence that allowed me to frighten evil creatures and buff my allies.” Lydia waved her sword.

“How stronger are we talking with your divine smite?” Arad giggled.

“A lot. My divine cleaver now feels like I’m just using a holy smite. So I say almost double the power.

“Listen to this!” Jack approached Arad, “Last week we took a quest to slay a spined devil. We wanted to test how far she would go against a fiend, and guess what?”

“She killed him in one hit?” Arad looked at Jack. 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝘦𝘵

“Well, that’s at the end.” Jack scratched his head, “The whole village was infested with imps! But they all ran away the moment she stepped in. We had to track that spined devil for three days before we cornered it.” Jack stared at Arad’s eyes, “And even when we did, that fiend shat himself upon seeing her holy magic engulfed divine smite coming.”

Arad smiled, “Good to see you two still fighting well,”

^I better learn that spell that mixes holy and cursed magic as soon as possible. Doma, what are you doing?^

^It takes some time to make it safe to use. Let me study it in peace for now. I will tell you when it’s ready.^

Arad relaxed on the couch as Tina poured them tea, “Arad, you’re here,” Isdis and Eris walked down the stairs and approached them, “Glad you’re okay.”

Arad looked at them, “You were up. Did Merlin call for me?”

Isdis shook her head, “No, she asked us to ask Lydia to come up and cast a healing spell on Mira. They just finished patching her wound.”

“You will join them later when Mira wakes up,” Eris approached Arad and pulled a chair to sit facing him.

Arad looked at her face, and he could see it twisting a bit. She had something on her mind but wasn’t telling him.

“Speak up. What do you have in mind?” Arad looked at her with a gentle smile. Speaking with them like this quelled his rage, and his chest started to feel lighter.

Eris looked down, and then away, her eyes fluttered from one side to the other before gathering the courage to open her mouth, “Apparently, I’m your spawn now,”

Arad blinked twice, “What is a spawn? Do you mean pawn? That word I heard off,”

Eris sighed, “I admit, it’s kind of a disposable pawn. And we vampires usually see it as a short for a slave pawn. That’s a spawn.” She then explained what Ginger told her.

“So, in short, right now I’m your spawn, a bloodslave that you can command at will.” She waved her hand, “So, what should I call you now? Master? Lord?”

“Just call me Arad, and what need do I have for a spawn?” He sighed, “It would’ve been better for Ginger if she released you, right?”

Eris glared at him, “Remember? I’m your prisoner. Me standing here without chains doesn’t change that fact.”

Arad smiled, “Do you want to run?”

Eris looked away, “Probably, who knows?” She could feel the traces of the red dragon blood in her veins boil. The dragon before her is far stronger than her. A perfect candidate, but she doesn’t want to admit it.

“You’re a dangerous vampire, a half-dragon, and our hostage against your father. I can’t allow you to run,” Arad stared at her, “I would have to cage you down if you made any funny moves.”

Eris sighed, “I won’t. I would have already ran away when you was asleep,”