"My thoughts exactly." Vladion nodded. "That’s why I needed to warn you, Lith. No one should be dumb enough to take up Meln’s offer and attack your family but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Also, I wanted to give you the time to prepare for your brother’s return." "Thanks, Vladion, but I’ve never stopped preparing for that or reinforcing the defensive measures that protect my family." Lith replied. "Meln’s scheme adds a few more variables but no unknown factors." "Except for one." The Firstborn Vampire replied. "The Chosen had five flames floating above his head in a makeshift crown. One more than Meln had during his attack." *** Jiera continent, Arutha region, inside a hidden underground cave. Meln Narchat screamed in agony as he tried and failed for the umpteenth time to fuse the shards of Dusk’s red crystal with Night’s black one. He learned something new with every attempt but that didn’t make the ongoing process any less painful. He was bleeding from his eyes and ears non-stop, his hands and knees dipped in a pool of his own blood. Only four flames burned above his head, the same he produced during his attack in Zeska. ’Our plan was a resounding success.’ Night severed her connection with his body not to be bothered by the pain. ’Those idiots bought your crap like it was gold. The fake fifth flame was a stroke of genius. ’The Night Court has no Awakened and amid the chaos of the battle, no one discovered it was just colored fire. The only questions I have are why did you put a bounty on your family and why right now? Couldn’t we have waited until we had reached the next evolutionary step?’ Night devoted her full willpower and focus to putting her latest theory for merging the crystals into practice, dumping all the side effects and consequences of her failures on Orpal. ’I don’t want my family to die.’ He replied. ’I want them to cry and beg for my forgiveness when they realize they kicked out the wrong son all those years ago. I want them to suffer for as long as I did and regret what they did to me. ’The bounty is just to weed out the idiots from my future army and keep Leech on his toes. He has no right to enjoy his life while I suffer like a dog. I want him to look over his shoulder day and night for my assassins. ’I want him to spend his days in worry, spreading his resources thin and wasting them before I take the first real strike. I want him to be as miserable as I am.’ ’It makes sense.’ Night tried a new combination that made Orpal bend his back in pain so much that his spine snapped. ’As for the timing of the messenger, I know that until you are done, I can’t work on my bloodline abilities or mana core.’ Orpal said as soon as the burning agony plaguing his mind eased enough to allow him to think again. ’But I’ve already reached the bright blue.’ ’You mean, we’ve reached the bright blue.’ Night hadn’t missed how unlike it happened for her sister and Lith, she was growing farther instead of closer to her host. ’Of course. We’ve reached the bright blue.’ Orpal lied through his clenched teeth. ’As I was saying, I sent the messenger now to set a goal for us. Despite all your mistakes, the fusion between the crystals is slowly progressing. ’Once we are done, we’ll turn our lie into reality and Leech’s life into a living nightmare.’ *** After studying the footage of the attack on Othre’s Night Court, Lith asked Baba Yaga to bring him back home. She opened a Warp Gate to her tower, Bloodhaven, and Vladion followed them. Once upon the mana geyser, Solus conjured Starforge and Tower Warped the Firstborn Vampire to Lightkeep, leaving no trace or record he had ever left his dominion. "I must say, this is one of those few moments I’m glad you are an only child, Solus." Menadion said. "I can’t help but wonder what would have happened after my death. I had the means to build only one tower and the thought your brother might have killed you for my inheritance chills me to my bones." "My brother?" Solus asked in confusion. "Your father and I wanted to have at least a boy and a girl." Ripha sighed. "Or at least, that was the plan. We would have loved another girl just the same and could have always tried again once you two were older. "We sorely underestimated how busy I was with my work and how much care raising a baby requires. I was too dumb and stubborn so we ended up delaying our second child until…" Menadion failed to find the strength to continue. "You know." "Your regrets are well-founded, Ripha, but your worries are not." Baba Yaga shook her head. "It’s not a matter of how many children you have but how you raise them. Even then, there’s nothing you can do if someone as crazy as Meln or Night is born. "It’s not on you, it’s just dumb fate. What’s on me is not recognizing my daughter’s madness before it was too late and not putting her down like the rabid dog she is." "Not to be judgmental, Malyshka, but I never understood how you could tolerate Night’s existence for so long." Solus said. "Why didn’t you take action sooner?" "Your question makes sense, Solus, but only to someone like you who only knows Night’s current incarnation and has a narrow perspective." The Mother replied. "At this point, you might as well ask me why I created the undead. "After all, they prey on the living and have no qualms about abusing their talents to achieve their goals, correct?" "Correct." Solus nodded, receiving a fierce glare in return. "Wrong. All living beings prey on other living beings and have no qualms about abusing their talents to achieve their goals. Do humans not kill plants for food or warmth, animals for food, and other humans for the pettiest of reasons? "Do plants not feed upon everything else just to spread and multiply? Whenever you enter a forest, Solus, there are thousands of wars taking place right under your nose. You don’t notice them only because they are silent and very slow, but they are still there. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 "I will spare you the wolf and deer speech because that’s something every parent teaches their kids." Baba Yaga said and Lith and Solus nodded. "Creating the undead wasn’t cruel. It was an act of love. It was me giving fellow miserable creatures a way out of their fate and a second chance at life. Undead do bad things because they are powerful and they are powerful because otherwise their second life would be no different from the first. "I give my children a chance, Solus, I give them the means to do what they want with their lives. Just like any other parent does. Whether they feed without killing or go on a feeding spree it’s their choice. "If they add to their world like Vladion does or take from it like every petty criminal on Mogar does, it’s always their choice.