However, under the current circumstances, the slaves and slave masters were still not powerful enough.
There was a tiny city built with sandstone on the edge of the desert about one-tenth of the largest city in the desert. It was only suitable as a shelter from the elements.
The people of this tiny city had brown tattoos on their bodies to look like snakes wrapped around themselves. They were known as ‘Vipers’.
The Vipers were one of the more well-known groups amongst the desert robbers, led by a person called Black Sand. Black Sand used to be a slave but escaped with a portion of the slaves during chaos of war, broke free of his slave-master bond and founded the ‘Vipers’.
A group of one hundred people were approaching their city. After arriving before the city gates, they left their camels outside and a few keepers while the leader led the rest into the city.
They did not belong to the city or ‘Vipers’, they were from another desert robber group— “Blue Beetles”.
“Blue Beetle” was a unique group, one of the earliest amongst the other powers. When people were still escaping for their lives, they found a spot with a water well. When people were still using rocks as weapons, they already owned metal weapons. Rumours told that the ‘Blue Beetles’ had support from a slave master but after many years, anyone who studied them knew that there were no slave masters. Even their leader was a slave who broke free from his bonds, named Yiken.
Probably because they were established earlier than the rest, when the rest finally thrived, the Blue Beetles had already spread out their roots and recruited many people. Today, they were also very famous and as powerful as the Vipers.
Unfortunately, their name ‘Blue Beetle’ was just not as intimidating as other groups that used ‘Snake’, ‘Scorpion’ or ‘Eagle’ in their names. Even their symbol was amusing.
They were no longer tribesmen but a meaningful symbol was still crucial to building one’s own ‘tribe’. These symbols were the roots of faith, something to rely on during hard times and represented new beginnings. That was why they usually used powerful animals to represent their groups- just like the Viper, represented by a venomous desert snake that could kill with just one strike.
And the ‘Blue Beetle’? Their symbol was a blue bug.
They were probably the only group to ever use an insect as a symbol. Many people privately snickered at this, not understanding why they would ever choose a beetle. The leader must have had dung for a brain to make this decision.
Other than the leader, the rest were still enslaved. Not everyone could achieve total freedom, such determined and capable people were rare. These rare individuals had since founded their own organisations.
After being a slave for so long, ideas of rebellion started to grow after seeing some hope. They did not want to be slaves anymore, to be walked over all the time. They wanted to control their own lives.
This time, the person walking in front of the Blue Beetle troop was their leader, Yiken. He was here to negotiate with Black Sand.
Yiken was dark-skinned, similar to many slaves in the desert. He did not look very strong, being on the thinner side. On the other hand, the Viper leader Black Sand was a muscular, dark-skinned man who stood like a stoic tower. He was half-naked, exposing the viper tattoo wrapping around his upper body. Black Sand was terrifying indeed.
“It’s been a while, Yiken.” Black Sand strode over, his eyes filled with darkness despite a smile on his face. He was not in a good mood.
As if he did not see Black Sand’s face, Yiken maintained his walk, his tone calm and detached. “It’s been a while, Black Sand.”
Both of them slapped their palms together, cautious eyes locking.
On Yiken was an image of an upside-down beetle with a ball on top.
