"Then what does the Flying Man say we do?
I think Stormcallers being fooled.
But what do we do?
What does Flying Man say?"
The Stonefang Chief asked, and both Freyal and Zakaar, who understood his words, frowned in confusion.
It would be an understatent to say they were shocked; what they felt was... beyond that.
Especially for Freyal—to think the man who was talking about recruiting Kael just now was now... seeking advice?
Didn’t he seem certain that the Velmourns would fall? That the tribes would win? Then... where did his confidence just now go?
And it wasn’t just Freyal who thought that. Zakaar, too, could not understand what his Chief was thinking.
He wasn’t there when the Stormcallers visited them to ’talk,’ but he still heard their conditions. He even heard they were given enough food to last them an entire week just because the two tribes agreed to talk. It was also said that the Chief himself saw and inspected the amount of food the Stormcallers had. All of that alone was more than enough to understand that the Stormcallers indeed had the intentions and the ans to win.
Then...
Why was the Chief so... suspicious?
Who was fooling the Stormcallers?
Was it about... the source of food?
Because that question did bother him as well, but as they say—soone starved for months doesn’t differentiate even between food and shit.
As long as they were getting food, the source of it did not matter.
After all, to them, even surviving another winter was a win, and after their loss against the Velmourns... it didn’t seem like they were going to win, not unless they joined the Stormcallers.
"Zakaar."
While Zakaar was thinking all of this, Gruumak called out, his eyes piercing through him with a dissatisfied look on his face, and the instant he saw that look on his Chief’s face, Zakaar’s body flinched.
He quickly brought himself together and translated the Chief’s words for Kael, doing what he was brought here for in the first place.
And when Kael heard him, the way he looked at Gruumak changed.
The Stonefang Chief...
He was different than what he had expected.
It was a surprising find, and Kael decided to dig deeper.
"What do you an?"
He asked, wanting more clarity into Gruumak’s thoughts, and the Stonefang Chief did not hide anything.
"The food Stormcaller have co out of nowhere.
No source.
Heights not have this much food.
I thought, and..."
Gruumak’s face beca grimr the more he spoke.
"Outsiders."
He said the word.
The word that, once again, got a reaction out of the translators, and Kael, when he heard the translation.
"Outsiders?"
Kael narrowed his eyes, and Gruumak nodded.
"Food co from outside.
Outsiders, not Velmourns, helping Stormcallers.
But why?
I not understand."
Gruumak explained his thoughts, and as he spoke, Zakaar, too, agreed with his thoughts. After all, he too had thought this far, but in his desperation, he had ignored it.
But then—
Gruumak continued.
"Long ti, these outsiders never helped.
Tribes starved. Tribes dead.
These outsiders not care.
Then...
Why now?
Why outsiders move now?
What changed now?
Winters colder? No.
Outsiders show interest in Heights.
Sothing must have happened or..."
Gruumak then looked right into Kael’s eyes, and without waiting for Zakaar to translate, he completed his sentence.
"Soone."
Once again, Zakaar blinked, staring at Kael with a changed look. Admittedly, he hadn’t thought this far. While he did believe outsiders were involved with the Stormcallers, that was the limit of his thoughts.
As for why the outsiders were moving—he did not care.
But...
If he connected the dots with... Kael’s appearance...
Then it changed things.
Then... he got the answer he had not been thinking about.
The outsiders, who had never once interacted with the tribes, were now actively participating in the matter regarding the Heights, even making such big changes around; then it must an there was sothing they wanted, sothing that had attracted their interest.
And the only one who could attract their attention was...
The Flying Man.
Did it an... the outsiders were here for him...?
Zakaar thought about it, but this ti, he did not forget his duty and translated everything clearly.
And when Kael heard his words, he directly raised his eyebrow, looking at the Stonefang Chief in a completely different light.
This man... he wasn’t the muscle-headed brute he thought he was.
He was... quite a thorough thinker.
Of course, coming up with all this wasn’t a huge achievent; anyone with a functioning brain could do it but... to do it while you and your people have been starving for months...?
To choose to think instead of ignoring everything around and enjoying the food their bodies have been craving all these years—and actually act on your thoughts?
That was entirely different.
"So what do you want from ?"
Kael asked, no longer treating Gruumak as an honorable brute, but as a wise man who thought about his people and acted on those thoughts.
"Does Flying Man know outsiders?"
Gruumak, too, didn’t hide his intentions and asked directly, but this ti, Kael had no choice but to disappoint him.
"I have my doubts, but I cannot say anything for sure."
"Doubts on who?"
The Stonefang Chief asked.
"The strongest kingdom in the world, Drakthar."
Kael answered honestly, and unlike how he expected, the Stonefangs did not react to his revelation.
And soon, he understood the reason.
These people...
They simply did not know who or what Drakthar was. In their or their ancestors’ lives, they had never once had to deal with them.
"D-Drakthar...?"
The Velmourn translator, however, was different. When he heard that word, his blood boiled as he clenched his fists, and his eyes showed repulsive, undisguised hatred.
Kael nodded lightly, his face grim.
"Again, I am not certain about this.
But I do have reason to believe Drakthar is behind this."
Zakaar quickly translated Kael’s words for Gruumak, and the Stonefang Chief narrowed his eyes.
"Strong kingdom?"
He asked. The na did not matter, only strength did.
Kael nodded.
"How strong?"
The Stonefang Head asked another question, and this ti... both Zakaar and Freyal turned toward Kael for an answer. They both wanted to know what they were potentially facing.
And Kael...
His expression beca heavier and—
"Strong enough to wipe out Heights a few tis over even if the tribes and Velmourns all ca together and tried to stop them."
He told the complete truth.
There was no need to sugarcoat it.
Whatever it was, whatever it did, Drakthar’s strength was absolute. Especially compared to the ager strength of the tribes.
Yes, tribes had a few people who could take on Drakthar experts—Morvain, Gruumak, Korvath—all of them could face those strong Drakthar generals, but...
Winning was a completely different thing.
And... it wasn’t about individual strength to begin with.
The main issue was the numbers.
Total population in Heights, according to the data the Velmourns had, was... roughly about thirty to forty thousand, and amongst these, people capable of facing Drakthar soldiers wouldn’t be more than... five thousand.
Again, these numbers were rely estimations—calling them guesses wouldn’t be wrong, after all, the Velmourns did not have the resources to investigate and count the numbers present in different tribes when they already had too many things to deal with.
But...
Even if these numbers were a low estimate, even in the best-case scenario, the number of fighting n, even if they scraped together everything and everyone they could find, would never reach more than twenty thousand.
Against Drakthar’s hundred-thousand-strong army, this was... nothing.
And this was when they weren’t considering Drakthar dragons.
For the current Heights, to even think about going against the Drakthar Kingdom was... it was like trying to move a mountain by throwing a pebble at it.
It was... impossible.
And everyone—Zakaar, Freyal, and Gruumak—could sense it when they heard his words.
"Then... what do we do...?"
Suddenly, Gruumak asked.
He did not know about Drakthar, neither did he care; he just needed a solution, a plan he could follow.
And... the only one he could rely on was... the Flying Man.
Kael frowned at his question, unable to understand. After finding out how strong the enemy was, shouldn’t he... think about joining the Stormcallers instead?
Why was he still with him when he knew the ’outsiders’ were coming for him?
And as if he sensed his confusion, Gruumak—
"Outsiders only ca for Flying Man.
Once Flying Man gone, outsiders leave.
Food leaves. Tribes hungry again.
Outsiders using Stormcallers, not helping.
Flying Man rciful, Flying Man strong.
Stonefang will follow Flying Man."
The Stonefang Chief spoke with a determined look on his face, his words surprising not just Kael, but even Freyal.
"You... wish to follow ...?"
Kael blinked.
"Yes."
Gruumak nodded with a determined look on his face. Not just him—even Zakaar didn’t seem too surprised by his decision. He had complete faith in his Chief’s judgnt.
"Why...?"
Kael couldn’t understand.
"I am not strong enough to go against Drakthar..."
He tried to explain but—
"Outsiders strong but still using tricks.
Sothing stopping outsiders.
That sothing Flying Man.
So Stonefang follow Flying Man."
Gruumak spoke, placing his giant hand on his chest, and Zakaar, after translating his words, repeated his action.
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