Warlock Ch 446. They Want a Target
From behind them, Evelyn's voice cracked through the tension. "Damian, no—"
He turned to look at her, and the mont their eyes t, it all just hit again. The way she held herself—half angry, half terrified. She had seen him taken away. She wasn't ready to gamble again
"You can't go," she said, stepping closer. "Not without knowing if you'll co back. They don't want truth—they want a target."
He gave a tired smile. "I know."
"Then why are you doing this?" Her voice shook. "You just saved a city, rebuilt an entire damn district, and now you're going to walk into their den and hope they listen?"
"I'm not hoping," Damian said softly. "I'm making sure they see. They don't get to rewrite this story again."
"I just got you back," she whispered.
His fingers brushed hers briefly, his touch warm despite the cold wind. "And I'm not going anywhere permanent. Promise."
The tribunal mage cleared her throat loudly. "If we're done—"
"No. You're not," ca the sharp voice of the fae king.
Every head turned.
He stepped forward. "If this is a Grand Tribunal matter, then I will attend. As ruler of the Western Glades and guardian of fae interests, I need answers."
"You're not invited," the tribunal man grunted.
"Too bad." The fae king's voice sharpened. "There was an attempted assassination of Selena Delyanis during your S-Rank exam. A sanctioned Tribunal test, if I recall correctly. And that's not even counting the fact that my son, Cedric, was captured, nearly sacrificed in a demonic ritual, and not one of your agents noticed until after he was bleeding on the altar."
"I'm fine, by the way," Cedric muttered.
"Your permission is irrelevant," the fae king went on, ignoring the tribunal's tight-lipped fury. "I'm coming."
Selena stepped forward beside him, arms crossed. "Sa here."
Alric grinned faintly. "Oh, definitely not letting Damian go alone."
Cedric adjusted his coat and gave the tribunal mages a calm, composed nod. "As a prince of the fae, it is my duty to ensure that the truth is heard. I will accompany them."
The lead tribunal woman's eye twitched. "This is unnecessary—"
"And yet," Victoria said, gliding down from her perch on the ruined chapel balcony, "it's happening. As queen of the Scarlet Dominion and witness to this farce, I will accompany Damian as well."
The tribunal mage's expression was now drifting sowhere between constipation and seething rage.
Lysandra grinned, arms crossed. "You think I'm letting you walk him into a courtroom without dragon protection? Please. I'll bring the whole flight if I have to."
"You're all violating inter-faction protocol—"
Cassius clapped his hands loudly, cutting her off. "And I'm going because soone needs to docunt this train wreck when it crashes."
Evelyn nodded fiercely, standing her ground beside Damian. "And I'm going because if any of you even try to pull what you did fifty years ago, I will turn every single one of you into ugly frogs."
Another tribunal knight coughed awkwardly.
The lead mage glared at them all, fists clenched tight. "This isn't how the Tribunal operates."
"No," Damian said quietly. "But maybe it's how it should have."
There was a long silence.
Then the tribunal reluctantly nodded. "Very well. You may accompany the accused. But any aggression will be grounds for—"
"Yeah, yeah," Cassius waved her off. "Just point us to your ugly airship already."
Turns out, the Tribunal didn't ride carriages or cars.
No.
They used flying constructs that looked like floating cathedrals crossed with giant armored beetles. It hovered just above the eastern ridge, humming with old magic and judgntal vibes.
As they walked toward it, Damian couldn't help but glance back.
The tree.
The graves.
The people.
They'd barely begun to rebuild. And here he was—leaving again.
Aria must've caught the hesitation. She bumped his shoulder lightly. "They'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
"No." She smiled faintly. "But I believe in them. Just like I believe in you."
Damian nodded once.
And stepped into the beast.
The airship doors sealed shut behind them with a deep thud, and the light shifted.
The Tribunal hadn't even started asking questions yet.
But the trial had already begun.
The inside of the Tribunal transport was exactly what Damian expected—cold, sterile, and way too self-important.
Stone and gold paneling lined the walls like it was trying too hard to look sacred, but all it really did was remind him of the waiting room before a bad surgery. Rows of narrow, high-backed seats bolted to the floor, arcane sigils glowing softly at the base. Defensive wards pulsed gently above them, casting a faint bluish sheen across the curved ceiling, like the whole place was made of frostbitten glass. Everything slled faintly of old parchnt and incense burned out hours ago. Even the air felt recycled—clean but… empty. Like it'd been filtered through too many lies.
The thing moved fast. It barely made a sound, gliding through the sky on invisible ley currents like a floating court summons wrapped in divine bureaucracy.
It only took an hour. Which was honestly kind of funny, considering they could've teleported them in seconds.
Damian leaned his head back against the seat, arms crossed, staring up at the ceiling with that half-lazy, half-suspicious look he wore like second skin. The others had taken up various spots in the chamber. Victoria sat regal and quiet, her presence a calm storm. Lysandra stood, arms folded, too large for the seats and too proud to sit anyway. Her armor glead like she was daring the walls to try sothing. Cassius had fallen asleep sideways in two chairs like a cat with attitude, and Evelyn sat cross-legged beside him, sharpening a dagger she wouldn't need unless soone got really stupid.
Aria sat beside Damian, her face unreadable, posture perfect. But he noticed her right hand resting on her thigh—two fingers rhythmically tapping against her leg. A subtle nervous tic.
Outside, through the open rune-screens, dragons flew in formation alongside the transport. Majestic and impossible to ignore. Silver scales, bronze wings, so red as burning dusk. The wind whipped around them like thunder. The sky cracked with the force of their wingbeats, shaking the light clouds that dared to drift too close.
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