Chapter 4516: One Drop (Part 2)
Chapter 4516: One Drop (Part 2)
"For this reason, I offer you hospitality, Althika." Lith continued. "You’d be my honored guest at the Mansion until the baby is born. After that, we’ll have to find you a different arrangement.
"You have my word that whatever you decide, you’ll have my full support and I won’t let anyone interfere with your plans."
"You and me both, Hatchling." Leegaain snorted, releasing thick puffs of black smoke from his nose. "I won’t let a bunch of arrogant Fae and plant folk abuse the little miracle that Erkin is.
"If they snuff out his flame, I’ll snuff out theirs. I will not rest until everyone involved is reduced to a pile of ashes attached to just enough flesh to beg for a mercy they won’t receive!"
"Order and Chaos, you’re so sexy when you act all romantic." Salaark said, blushing like a maiden.
How Leegaain’s oath to bring searing death and agony to the Redleaf clan could be considered sweet talk was a mystery that no one wanted to solve.
"Also, you’d better not forget about me, you worthless pieces of rotten wood." The Overlord’s smile turned upside down as she stared right into the surveillance mirrors. "Touch that child, and I’ll make you sworn enemies of my Nest. This I vow.
"As for you, sweetie, you can come to the Desert with me, if you want." Salaark moved to Althika’s bedside and took her hand. "Don’t get me wrong. Lith is a perfect host and a great cook, but his life is messy and dangerous.
"Nobody would hurt you in my house, instead, and no harm can befall those who carry my blood under my roof."
"I offer my hospitality as well, but in your shoes, I’d accept Salaark’s proposal." Leegaain said. "You might feel lonely in my home since there’s only me most of the time, while despite all his power, Lith is just a Divine Beast.
"In the Desert, instead, you’d be surrounded by people and protected by the most powerful Guardian on Mogar."
"Stop it." Salaark giggled like a little girl. "You’re making me blush."
"I agree with Leg- Grandpa." Lith said. "Meln might try to target you if he learns of what happened here, and I can’t always be there to protect you. Moreover, you’d always be one Gate away from my Mansion and family."
"I accept your offer, Overlord Salaark. Please, protect my baby." Althika tried to stand up despite her exhaustion, but her legs failed her.
Baba Yaga had to support her and conjure a floating chair for her with Light Mastery.
"No need for formalities, child. Salaark is enough." The Overlord pointed her finger at the Dryad’s forehead and released a spark of light. "You’re under my aegis now, and any enemy of yours is mine until our agreement is rescinded."
"Excellent." Lith took a deep breath to test his strength, discovering it had fully recovered. "As for you, Lotho, and you members of the Redleaf clan, I have a message I want you to relay to the rest of your kin.
"I know Meln. He would never be content with just one woman. There must be at least a handful of other Althikas out there."
"You’re right." The Dryad nodded. "There were four more women with me, and they all got pregnant with Meln’s baby. Three of them were plant folk and Fae. I know their names, but not their clans. We consider each other rivals and didn’t talk much."
"This is my message." Lith said. "If you need my help saving the babies, call for me, and I’ll come. Keep the babies a secret, or let the Vurdalak’s curse take its course, and I’ll become your sworn enemy.
"I’ll find and kill anyone who has sacrificed the infants for their own gain, and I won’t have any mercy for their mothers if, unlike Althika, they gave in to their lowest impulses. The Vurdalak bloodline is a disease that must be cleansed.
"How I must do it and how many people will have to die for it is up to you. Did I make myself clear?"
The Guardians and Baba Yaga released their pressure, and the Fae replied, "Crystal."
"Then we have no reason to stay here any longer. We’ll take our leave. Lady Yaga?" Lith asked, and the Crone delivered, Warping him and Althika to Bloodhaven.
The Crone didn’t move from the medical ward, holding Naphila’s flower in her palm and wondering what to do.
"I’m really tempted to kill you and the rest of your people for what you planned to do to Lith, Naphila." She said.
"What about me? They wanted to kill me as well!" Lotho snarled.
"I don’t care." The Crone shrugged. "You’ve let yourself be manipulated like a seedling and brought us here. You deserve everything that happens to you, Lotho. On the other hand, I don’t want to taint this auspicious day with blood.
"Scum like you aren’t worth my time." Baba Yaga tossed the flower at the Plant Representative, and he caught it. "There. Now you have control over her and the arrays of this place.
"I hear you plants are petty, vengeful, and cruel. I hope you fit the bill. Whatever you do, record everything and deliver the footage to Lith. I’ll collect it and save it for a day I’m sad and in need of a good laugh."
She disappeared as well, leaving no witness to whatever Lotho decided to do to erase the humiliation Naphila and her elders had put him through.
"Petty, vengeful, and cruel?" Lotho quoted Baba Yaga. "She had no idea what an understatement that is. You, instead, my dear Naphila, know better. Now, imagine our roles were reversed, and you were the one holding my Root.
"Imagine what you would do in my shoes. I’ll give you five minutes. After that, I promise you that whatever you pictured, I’ll do much worse to you."
***
"Is this really a mage tower?" Althika found herself in a comfortable bed in a room where the floor had been replaced by extraordinarily fertile soil. "It looks so ordinary."
"Appearances can be deceiving, child." Salaark replied. "This is indeed Yaga’s tower, Bloodhaven. Feel free to feed off the ground. You and Erkin underwent a major procedure and need to eat to recover your strength."
The Dryad had started feeding when Baba Yaga joined them.
"I’ve done everything I had to. Are you ready to leave, Lith?" Solus’ ring moved back on his finger, and Starforge joined her a moment later.
"Yes. Bring us to the Verhen Mansion, please." Lith nodded. "Althika, there’s someone I want you to meet before you go to the Desert. Grandma, Grandpa, I’ll need your help to introduce her to the adults of my family."
"You can count on me, Hatchling." Leegaain stared at the Dryad’s womb with the loving gaze of a grandfather eager to meet the newest member of the family. "Anything else?"
"Actually, yes." Lith sighed. "Althika, do you mind if we leave you alone for a second? There’s something I need to-"
Lith turned to the Dryad and noticed she had fallen into a deep sleep. Between the pain, the fear, and the exhaustion from the multiple procedures on her life force, Althika had held on for so long only thanks to the adrenaline rush.
As soon as she felt safe and protected inside Bloodhaven and surrounded by Guardians, her body gave out.