Vladion’s charming smile and handsome features would have made any woman disregard the long fangs he had in place of canines. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 "Thanks." Solus giggled. "As for your second question, Lith, I asked Mother to bring you to Nightingale for the same reason I didn’t call you directly. Secrecy." Vladion turned to face Lith again. "Our allegiance is public knowledge among the undead ever since you helped me to free the Eclipsed Lands from Thrud and Xedros. "Anyone who wants to keep an eye on you would plant spies in Lightkeep. No one would suspect Ilthin, instead." "Are you sure?" Solus asked. "I mean, she has hit on Lith in the past and she participated in both missions. How is she different from you?" "Oh, please. She’s a flirt. To keep an eye on all those she hit on it would take you a massive army." Vladion snorted. "Hey, I resent that!" Ilthin said in outrage. "Also, in both cases, I was the one who answered Lith’s call." The Firstborn Vampire continued, pretending not to have heard her. "Ilthin, instead, joined us only because Mother asked her, just like the other Firstborns. There’s a big difference." "Secrecy from who and who could have the resources to plant agents inside your court, Vladion?" Lith pressed on, even though he had already filled most of the blanks on his own. "Who do you think?" The Vampire sat down with a defeated look on his face. "Your mad brother, the Dead King, has reared his ugly head again." "Meln is back?" Lith would have liked to be surprised but he was just disgusted from being forced to speak that name again. "Are you telling me he never left Garlen after attacking me in Zeska?" "I said your mad brother, not your suicidal brother." Vladion replied. "I wish you were right. I would have already found and killed him. Between my brethren in the Eclipsed Lands, the Undead Courts, Mother, and Dawn, we’ve scoured Garlen and I can tell you for sure Meln is not here." "What about Verendi?" Solus asked. "It’s close to Garlen and torn apart by wars. It’s the ideal breeding ground for a new undead faction." "It would, if not for Mother’s influence and the Master’s." Vladion shook his head. "With the Guardian of Life defeated, no one dares oppose him. "The Master made his hate for Meln clear and without the interference of the local Guardians, he doesn’t hesitate to massacre anyone who so much as sympathizes for the Dead King’s cause. "Your brother is still in Jiera. There are no undead there and as long as he keeps himself away from the few remaining settlements, he could hide for centuries." "Then what reason do you have to take so many precautions?" Lith asked. "Because even though Meln failed to kill you in Zeska, the attack gave him the perfect stage to show off his newfound powers and immunity to Mother’s self-destruction spell." Vladion replied. "A few days ago, the Night Court in Othre received a visit from someone who called himself the first of the new Chosen of the Dead King. Imagine their faces when a single Ghoul managed to force dozens of undead elders to bend the knee. "A single Ghoul, but completely immune to darkness magic and capable of using the most powerful bloodline abilities of Garlen’s Guardians. To make matters even worse, the bastard shapeshifted into a combat form that made him even stronger. "The first thing the elders tried was Mother’s destruction spell. The prism is just a lessen version of Night’s crystal and its powers depend on it. They hoped to kill the intruder and that maybe the spell would also affect Meln, but nothing happened." "It should have worked." Baba Yaga nodded. "It would have had no long-lasting effect on Night, but the spell was still supposed to shatter the prism and inflict her great pain." "Did one Chosen really manage to destroy an entire branch of the Night Court and slaughter its members?" Solus was flabbergasted. "Of course not." Ilthin scoffed. "The guy got defeated and would have been captured and interrogated if his prism hadn’t self-destructed the moment the elders subdued him. "The problem is that he had the time to pass on Meln’s message and demonstrate that for once his words aren’t just hot air." "What was the message?" Lith asked. "It was a very simple one." Vladion replied. "Meln claimed that his return to Garlen is nigh. That he no longer has weak points anyone can exploit and is close to achieving the deep violet core, unlocking the full power of his Vurdalak bloodline. "He said that he is willing to share his blessings with those who will prove to be his loyal followers. He asked the undead of Garlen to join his cause in exchange for the same powers Meln bestowed upon the Chosen." "Let me guess, they should prove their loyalty by attacking me." Lith said. "Wrong." The Firstborn Vampire shook his head. "Meln wants to keep you for himself. The bounty is on the magicless members of your family and the elders of the Undead Courts who betrayed the Dead King, luring him into the ambush where Thrud captured him. "The offer is one head for one prism. Those who succeed will become his Chosen." "Doesn’t sound like a tempting offer to me." Solus shrugged. "It actually is." Baba Yaga sighed. "The power showcased by the messenger was incomplete, yet he held his ground against an entire branch of the Night Court. Imagine what he could have done were Meln already at the violet or if he had mastered Dusk’s abilities. "Everyone now knows that Meln is strong enough to kill Lith, possesses Davross equipment, a mage tower, and the powers of two Horsemen. He has already defied me and survived. My spell doesn’t affect him anymore. "He sounds like a leader worth following. Especially because in the final part of the message, Meln said that both the Undead Courts and the Eclipsed Lands have only until his return to pick a side. "Right now, he lacks followers, resources, and trustworthy allies but if he ascends into a Divine Beast, he’ll have no need for them. He’ll just take what he wants since he has already proven that the Undead Courts can barely stop one of his lackeys. "Meln promised that after he kills Lith, it will be the turn of everyone who didn’t bend the knee to him. That he and his Chosen will destroy the kingdom of the undead first and then the humans’. " "It’s a smart move." Lith pondered. "Meln has merely sacrificed a pawn to sow discord and fear. If someone takes his offer, the undead will be caught in a civil war and his faction will provide him with the information and resources he needs when he comes back to Garlen. "Even in the unlikely case no one takes the bait, the undead now look at each other with suspicion. Every incident that happens from now on will be blamed on his followers and grow his reputation even if he doesn’t have anything to do with it. "Meln is letting the storm brew so that when he actually strikes, the ensuing panic will create the opening he needs to decapitate the enemy leaders and force the survivors into submission."