GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The Fledglings understand more than he said. They understand that they are not to eat at all until the defenses of the pack in the mountain has been breached. They understand that if they allow themselves to be distracted during the process of clearing out the sentries, then they will taught a very painful lesson worse than death. 

Xigger said to them. "Go now."

The five fledglings blurred away from him. They moved at speeds nearing the speed of sound. Their steps are also silent. Each one of them has the strength of Mana entities. The sentries were no match for them. They can kill any guard as easily as snapping the neck of a chicken with a single hand. 

But they didn't go around killing the guards with reckless abandon. They aimed for the Alphas in each squad first and killed them silently. Then they killed the Betas as fast as possible. That is the most effective way to get rid of the sentries without alerting the pack. 

It is very important for the Alphas to be killed first or the intrusion will be discovered quickly. As former Warrogs, they know that a squad is a close-knit group. They are closer to each other than family members. There's a bond between all of them so they will know when one of them dies. 

The Alpha in the squad is the glue that binds them together. Getting rid of the Alpha will stun every member of the squad for a time. This will render the Betas vulnerable for a short period of them. It will allow the Vampires to eliminate the Betas before they can raise an alarm. 

An Alpha is easily identifiable. They are bigger and stronger. They stand out in their squad. Their group also revolves around the Alpha. Each squad is spread around the mountainside. They are also camouflaged by the snow so it will be very difficult to notice them if one is not looking for them. 

A divine sense will be able to sense them but that's only at a close distance. They will also be able to sense any intruder through their divine sense if they get within range of each other. After all, a divine sense works both ways unless there is a disparity in strength. If you can sense someone of your level, then they can surely sense you too. 

The guards aren't relying on their divine senses to notice intruders. They stayed hidden while they use their sight to scan the mountainside. They have the advantage of being hidden and will be able to see unsuspecting Intruders.

Unfortunately for them, their advantage of sight did not work well against the fledglings. The five fledglings approached the squads individually and from upwind so that their scent would not give them away. They used their blood sense to spot the sentries no matter how well they camouflaged themselves. Then they struck the squads as quick as lightning after identifying the Alpha. Each Alpha glows brighter in their blood sense so they didn't make a mistake. 

The fledglings moved well and quickly. They did a good job. Xigger followed their progress by monitoring the disappearing signals of life on the mountainside. He wants to get the Iron Nail pack off guard so that none of them will be able to escape from him. He doesn't want word of his activities reaching Sauron so soon. For that, he needs the element of surprise on his side despite being overwhelmingly stronger than his prey.

Things were going well until they didn't. A fresh Alpha was acting as a sentry. This Alpha has just awakened so he is weak. He isn't as strong as some Betas and doesn't have the blood vitality that makes Alphas stand out. He shouldn't be allowed out at all but he is talented enough to be able to make a Beta submit to him already so he was deemed ready for active duty. That's according to the culture of Warrogs.

He was with another squad when they were attacked. The Alpha in this squad was to teach him how things were done until he could be on his own. He was rightly overlooked during the initial attack to eliminate the Alpha because he is weaker. The stronger Alpha was eliminated while he remained standing. He wasn't stunned as Betas should be. It was a mistake and it cost them their element of surprise. 

The young Alpha raised his snout into the air and howled. Air rushed out of his lungs and reverberated after leaving his lips. The sound of his howl echoed throughout the mountain. That is as clear as any alarm needs to be.

"They had one job." Xigger groaned and complained. "I guess it is my bad luck."

He rushed towards the mountain as fast as possible. He was noticed immediately after he got close enough to the mountain. The boundary of the territory of the pack is absent because of the muddled hierarchy of the Iron Nail pack. The pack doesn't belong to one person so no pack leader will know about an intruder. That's why they had sentries outside. It worked out well. They were warned before the attack. Unfortunately, that didn't make them prepared for the attack.

The Iron Nail pack has been on edge because of Sauron. They expected Sauron to attack them any day and were prepared for him. It is their bad luck that it wasn't Sauron that attacked. There is a large rock at the entrance that Sarock would have needed to spend time on to break before gaining access to the mountain. Xigger doesn't need to break this rock.

There are holes along the mountainside where lookouts can see from. That's all Xigger needed. He locked his gaze with the frightened gaze of the lookouts. They became frozen and their eyes glazed over.

"Open the door." He compelled.

His voice entered their mind without resistance. Their will shattered under the intrusion of his order they obeyed. Xigger commanded 5 lookouts that way and they obeyed him immediately. They all began to turn the mechanism to lift the heavy boulder at the door.