The Velmourn Wall stood like a giant shadow against the white world. Its stone was dark and old, carved and stacked so tightly that snow couldn’t slip between the cracks. Thick layers of frost clung to the edges. Ice hung from the higher ledges like teeth.
On one of the watch posts near the main gate, two Velmourn soldiers stood there, their cloaks pulled tight, spears resting against the stone. Their breath rose in pale clouds as they stared out into the forest ahead, scanning the white land out of habit.
For a long ti, it was only wind and trees.
Nothing moved.
And then—
One of them frowned. He leaned forward, squinting into the distance, his eyes narrowing.
"Do you see that?"
He muttered.
The other soldier followed his gaze. At first, it looked like shadows drifting between the burnt trees. Then the shadows beca shapes and the shapes beca... people.
Then in an instant, the two soldiers froze—
The Stonefangs.
They were here.
The soldiers’ blood went cold. Their hands tightened around the edge of the watch post and their faces turned solemn.
"They’re here."
One of them whispered.
Then, without waiting, the other raised his voice and—
"Stonefangs!"
He shouted as he spun toward the inner side of the wall and yelled even louder, pointing with his spear.
"Stonefangs at the gate! They’re coming!"
The shout echoed along the wall and the mont the other soldiers heard him, their heads snapped in the sa direction. For a mont, no one moved, like their bodies needed ti to accept what they were hearing.
A few of them quickly brought out their Flying Beasts from their Sanctuaries to rise and look at the Stonefangs themselves, and when their eyes saw it...
They had no choice but to believe it.
And when the truth finally set in...
The murmurs began.
"They... they are actually here..."
"So many..."
"The Stonefangs..."
Then suddenly, one of the soldiers turned toward the gate and frowned.
"Why are the gates still closed?"
And in an instant, another one of the soldiers snapped.
"T-They can’t co in!"
"Yes! My brother died to them!"
"This is madness!"
Just like that, fear, panic, anger, anxiety—everything spilled out at once.
Yes, the soldiers were inford before, yes, Kael had announced it in front of everyone today but...
But hearing sothing and seeing it with one’s own eyes was different.
Seeing the enemy tribe walk toward your ho... that did... sothing to the heart.
It made old wounds open again. It made hands shake. It made people... forget reason.
The soldiers on the wall gripped their weapons tighter. So stepped back from the edge, as if the sight alone could pull them into a fight.
One of the younger soldiers swallowed hard, then he turned and ran. He rushed down the stone steps inside the wall and ran right into the Commander’s room.
"Commander!"
He shouted as he pushed inside.
Inside, Kayden stood near a table. The Commander was there as well and beside them stood Morvain, the Matriarch, wearing her fur-lined cloak like armor.
All three people turned at once.
"They’re here,"
He said, still breathless.
"The Stonefangs.
They are here.
They are almost at the gate."
For a mont, the room went silent.
Kayden’s jaw tightened. The Commander’s face turned grim. Morvain didn’t change much. She only closed her eyes for the briefest second before opening them again and turned toward the other two.
The three looked at one another.
No words were needed.
After all, they knew this mont was coming. Kael had already inford them through the communication crystal.
"Co,"
After a short pause, Morvain commanded as she stared at the Commander and the Vice Commander.
Kayden and the Commander nodded and followed her out. The group climbed the inner steps to the gate platform. The sounds outside grew louder as they approached—the murmurs, the shifting boots, the weapons clinking, the nervous breathing. It was apparent that this was a heavy mont—
For everyone.
The three stepped out onto the watch platform. Morvain walked to the edge and her eyes finally fell on the Stonefangs.
They were close now.
A thousand huge warriors that did not resemble normal humans, and at the very front, a single figure walked ahead of them.
Kael.
Korvath’s eyes flickered with complex emotions. Kayden’s hand hovered near his blade, and Morvain... she watched for a long mont.
And then—
"Open the gates,"
She ordered.
The instant she said those words, the entire wall went silent.
Then the gate chanisms began to move and slowly, the gates opened, heavy iron and thick wood scraping against frozen stone, as if even the Wall itself was resisting what was about to happen.
On top of the gate, Velmourn soldiers leaned forward, hands tight on spears and bows. So had their arrows already nocked—they were not aiming at the Stonefangs, but they were for sure ready for it.
Their hard and sharp eyes were watching every Stonefang face with suspicion.
Below, in front of the gate, more soldiers stood in a line, all grabbing their shields tightly. They were trying to look calm but...
But inwardly, it was clear that the very core of their bodies was screaming otherwise.
On the other side, the Stonefang tribe slowed. The mont they saw the Wall fully, their steps beca heavier. It was one thing to agree to an alliance. It was another to walk straight into the ho of the people you had fought for years.
Warriors near the front muttered in their rough language. They tightened straps, adjusted grips, shifted closer to their beasts as if ready to grab children and run if sothing went wrong.
A few Stonefangs looked at the Velmourn line and whispered with narrowed eyes.
"Trap place,"
One muttered.
"Maybe they close gate on us,"
Another added.
"Keep blade ready,"
Soone else growled.
The Velmourns obviously couldn’t hear them. Even if they did, they couldn’t understand their tongue.
They only saw mouths moving and eyes staring.
To them, it looked like a threat.
"They’re talking."
A Velmourn soldier near the front whispered to his partner.
"Of course they’re talking."
The partner snorted.
"About what?"
The other soldier didn’t answer. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but the thought was already in his head.
About how to kill us.
On the watch post above, the sa soldier spat again, clenching his fists.
"My brother died to those beasts,"
"Not now."
His partner shook his head. He knew this couldn’t go on.
"Hold your tongue.
Like you were ordered to."
The Velmourns held themselves back, and as for the Stonefangs, they moved again.
Kael walked first, and his presence...
It did sothing strange. While it didn’t manage to erase the fear, it stopped fear from becoming action. The Stonefangs kept their eyes on him. The Velmourns did the sa.
So stared at his back as if asking him silently—
Are you really going to keep us safe?
As Kael crossed the threshold of the Wall, the Stonefangs followed. They were tense, like wolves entering soone else’s den.
Kael kept walking until he reached the open space just inside the gate—wide enough for leaders to speak—then he stopped.
Behind him, the Stonefang line stopped as well.
The Velmourn soldiers tightened their line.
And then Morvain stepped forward. Kayden stood to her right, the Commander stood to her left.
Morvain and Kael looked at each other—the look of two people who understood the truth of this mont.
If this went wrong, it would not be a small mistake.
It would follow with... blood.
A literal war would break out.
The Stonefangs watched Morvain like she was a blade. The Velmourns watched the Stonefangs like they were beasts barely held by a chain.
Then Chief Gruumak moved, making the Velmourn soldiers tense. The chief understood their tension, so he too moved slowly, deliberately, making sure every Velmourn soldier could see his hands were empty.
The Chief stopped a few steps away from Kael, then turned his head and looked at Morvain. The two leaders stared at each other for a short while until Gruumak said sothing.
Morvain, again, did not understand him, so she began looking for Zakaar, the Stonefang who could speak her tongue, but then—
"He says... the Stonefangs ca as promised."
Kael spoke.
Morvain raised her eyebrow at that and Kael nodded. The single exchange was enough for Morvain to understand. So she answered.
"We received you,"
She said evenly.
"As promised."
Kael translated back.
Then, the conversation between the two leaders with Kael as a translator began.
"Many eyes. Many blades."
"That is natural. Your people are not walking into empty air. They are walking into the ho of those you once fought."
The conversation continued for a while. Hearing a few of Morvain’s words made the Stonefangs mutter angrily; a few of Gruumak’s words offended the Velmourns.
But for the most part, nothing happened until suddenly, Gruumak turned toward Kael, and this ti, his question wasn’t for Morvain—
It was for Kael himself.
"How?"
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