Chapter 4002: A Fellow Predator (Part 1)

Serfs, male and female concubines, servants, and the survivors of the Black Stork tribe looked at her group not with fear, but with hope. To them, Friya and Nalrond were heroes who had come to rescue them from their oppressors.

Where the Yellow Wind tribe saw merciless butchers, everyone else saw champions of justice and freedom.

"Gods, this is so messed up." Friya said. "I mean, I know that the Yellow Wind tribe is the bad guy here, but what about the children? What about the elders? How can we judge who deserves to live and who dies?"

Lith opened his mouth to answer, but Friya stopped him.

"Maybe you can live with that burden on your conscience, but I can’t." She said. "I won’t hurt anyone without reason."

"I wasn’t about to suggest anything cruel." Lith replied. "I wanted to point out that’s the reason we need a justice system. This is too big for us. I mean, without its slaves and warriors, the Yellow Wind tribe will collapse.

"They will be slaughtered by the first criminal outlaw tribe they meet. If we leave them here, it’s the same as killing them ourselves."

"What do you suggest?" Nalrond asked.

"To call in an expert." Lith shrugged. "I’m sure that Grandma will make an exception to the rule when she learns that Meln has entered the Desert and planted his Upyrs without her knowledge."

A quick call to the Overlord put his theory to the test.

"Don’t be silly, Featherling." Salaark dismissed the idea with a sweep of her hand. "I’m very busy, but there’s little that happens in the Blood Desert without my knowledge. If Meln had dared enter my turf, I would have noticed it, and he would be dead."

The Guardian was swamped in the mountain of paperwork she had to deal with every day to keep things in the Desert running smoothly. Dozens of pieces of paper orbited around her as Salaark signed, amended, or scrapped the single legislative proposals.

"Do you think I would waste your time with a prank?" Lith asked.

"I don’t think, I hope so." She replied. "Because I don’t like the alternative one bit. I’m coming there right now."

Salaark appeared so fast that she seemed to materialize out of her own hologram.

"Where’s the Upyr? I don’t feel or smell anything off." She said while sniffing the air and spreading her breathing technique, Mother Sun, through the ground.

"It’s easier if you read my mind." Lith offered her his hand. "Everyone’s mind, actually."

From so close, the Overlord didn’t need physical contact, but she took Lith’s hand nonetheless, not to miss a single detail. Her bronze skin went pale as she witnessed the recollection of the fight and the powers the Upyrs had displayed.

"This makes no sense." She said after a few seconds of stupor. "I didn’t perceive anything aside from the spells everyone used, and I was still at the Starry Lagoon village. How could I miss the Upyrs and their bloodline abilities?"

She knelt near Hassar, probing his unconscious mind for answers. Salaark tapped into his memories with subtle suggestions that conjured the details of his meeting with Orpal in the form of a dream.

"Are you sure the Usurper won’t notice?" Hassar would have never trusted a stranger, but he had no choice.

Orpal had come in his Vurdalak form, offering the chieftain to take his blood or face the annihilation of the Yellow Wind tribe.

"My presence here is all the proof you need. The old hag you call the Usurper is not as strong as she thinks, or she would have sensed and killed me when I crossed the border." Orpal nodded. "I’m not asking for much. We both can greatly benefit from this relationship."

"Is this all you want? Rumors and information about the Blood Desert?" Hassar asked, and the Vurdalak nodded. "Most of the things you asked me are public knowledge. Any merchant or traveler could tell you about it."

"Sheep and cattle are of no use to me, Hassar Fellhand." Orpal replied. "I’m only interested in the point of view of a fellow predator. Where others see mundane events and gossip, we see opportunities. Don’t we?"

The rest of the meeting was of little interest to Salaark.

Hassar had Tarek drink Orpal’s blood to make sure it had no adverse effect before taking it in himself. After that, the Vurdalak had taught the two Upyrs only about Thunder and Frost Soul before leaving.

"You weren’t pulling my leg, Featherling, yet I wish you did." Salaark blinked several times to shrug off the remnants of Hassar’s filthy thoughts that still clung to her mind. "Meln was here. Just once, but he still made a fool of me."

"What did he want?" Lith asked.

"Information." Salaark replied. "He asked many questions about life in the Desert and the most recent events. Nothing about you or me, and that worries me. He has plans for my turf, and he plotted them right under my nose until this moment."

She stood up, slowly, her eyes burning with mana and rage.

"I need to warn the other Guardians. I doubt I’m the only one who suffered Meln’s unwanted visits, but I’m the one who keeps the strictest control over her turf. If he managed to slip out from under my nose, there’s no telling what Meln might have done in the Kingdom and the Empire.

"There’s not a moment to- Yes, Featherling?" Salaark had turned around to Warp away, but Lith grabbed her arm.

"What do you mean, once?" He asked. "Meln wouldn’t give away his blood like that."

"Oh, right." In her rush, the Overlord had forgotten that Lith couldn’t access her mind like she did his. "He left his blood as a token of trust. Meln never returned, but his Upyrs came regularly for updates.

"Hassar used his Upyr powers a few times in the past, but was never offered another dose of Vurdalak blood or informed that his condition was temporary."

"So, Meln never meant to make this man a real Upyr. He was just a pawn." Solus pondered.

"One of many, if my suspicions are correct." Salaark nodded.

"What about the Black Stork tribe?" Friya asked, needing an answer before she asked his mother questions. "Who sold them to the Yellow Wind?"

"Not who you think." The Overlord replied. "The Black Stork developed an ingenious method to increase their mining operations, and every one of its members kept their mouth shut.

"The merchants of the Golden Sand guild to whom they sold the resources, however, noticed the sudden wealth of the Black Stork and informed the Yellow Wind in exchange for a cut of the loot."

"Thank you." Friya sighed in relief. "What are you going to do to them?"

"The Golden Sand guild? Nothing." Salaark shrugged.

"What? Why?" Friya asked in confusion.

"Because they didn’t engage in the slave trade, nor did they know about the dealings between the Yellow Wind and Meln." The Overlord replied. "The Golden Sand guild didn’t break my law.

"They only harmed non-people, which makes me non-interested."

Friya was still reeling from shock when Salaark turned towards Lith.

"As for your question, Featherlings, my answer is yes. I can take this mess off your hands."

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