"I ca here to recruit your people and bring the Borealis Herd inside the Wall before it vanishes."
Kael spoke directly and the instant he did, the Borealis Leader narrowed his eyes and the warriors directly pointed their weapons at Kael, ready to sever his head for the disrespect. In response, Kael’s group also took out their weapons and the tension in the air rose—
That was when Kael realized it—
It... clearly wasn’t the best opening line.
But that didn’t make him change his expression, he just stared at the Borealis Leader, waiting for his response. Seeing his calm, the Borealis frowned.
They didn’t understand.
He was surrounded, did he not realize it?
The Borealis Leader looked into Kael’s calm eyes and felt sothing strange, he, instead of attacking directly, decided to talk.
"Explain what you said."
He ordered.
"I told you what I ca here for directly, just like you told to."
Kael answered directly, not taking his words back. The Borealis Leader narrowed his eyes, he couldn’t just ignore Kael’s disrespect but then—
"Don’t be ignorant."
Kael spoke again, this ti, his words were even more brazen.
"You know it as well, don’t you?
Borealis won’t survive the war, not in the position they are in right now."
Kael spoke, then he glanced at one of the younger Borealis warriors and the instant he looked at him, both the warrior and the Borealis Leader widened their eyes in shock as they exchanged looks of doubt.
The young warrior was the Borealis Leader’s son.
And just yesterday, the two of them were talking about how everything that was happening in the Heights might bring changes they weren’t ready for and how their... tribe wouldn’t be able to survive it alone.
It was a private discussion between father and son, no one, not even those who made decisions here in the Borealis Herd, knew about it.
Then how did... he know?
The father and son looked at each other with the sa question in their minds, then they looked at Kael.
Kael didn’t answer their doubt, he just continued—
"The war will devour everything.
Borealis Herd won’t be any different.
And let tell you sothing, even if you decide to give in to the pressure and join the Stormcallers and sohow survive the war.
The mont you outlive your usefulness, the mont the Stormcallers win the Wall, those outsiders who support them will no longer have a reason to, they will not have access to the resources those outsiders provided and they would need to rely on the Heights’ resources to survive.
Resources that are already limited.
After the war ends, the first thing they will do will be to reduce the number of heads they need to feed.
Your Herd will be one of their pri targets because killing you and taking your beasts for themselves will be far more beneficial than keeping you alive."
Kael’s words were direct. He already knew that the Stormcallers had visited the Borealis Herd before and it wasn’t just the Borealis Leader that knew about it, everyone did, the Stonefangs made sure of that.
They distributed rations, enough to last a week, and they left a ssage saying that if they needed more, they had to join them.
It was a tempting offer, especially to the mothers who got to feed their children, to the fathers who got to feed their wives, to the sons and daughters who got to feed their old parents—
Sothing they couldn’t ignore.
The only reason the Borealis Herd hadn’t yet done what the Stormcallers said was because they needed to understand what was happening.
The Stormcallers had revealed their plan of removing the Velmourns for good but...
The Borealis Leader did not like the sound of it. Giving all the power to the Stormcaller tribe and basically helping them... rule the Heights.
It didn’t feel right.
Actually, the Herd Leader had already considered what Kael said, and a lot more, this was also the reason he still hadn’t accepted the Stormcallers’ offer.
But...
The thing was...
If they didn’t join, this wouldn’t help them stay away from the war, it might... bring them closer. It was highly likely that the Stormcallers and the tribes with them might target them first before targeting the Velmourns.
It was also possible for the people themselves to give in to the Stormcallers’ pressure and betray the herd itself.
In both cases, and many others, it was clear that if Borealis didn’t join the Stormcallers, they would perish.
And if they did... they might perish then as well.
So what’s left?
What could they do?
The Borealis Leader looked at Kael and—
"Why should we join you?"
He asked directly.
He had no clue why he was talking to Kael regarding joining the Velmourns, when the Velmourn Matriarch was standing right behind him.
Kael, on the other hand, smiled.
He then glanced at Lavinia, who smiled knowingly. The sa tactic as before, she took out the Gel Ration.
She passed it to Kael, who then walked towards the Borealis Leader, the Borealis warriors stiffened, but the Leader raised his hand and stopped them.
He could see Kael wasn’t planning on attacking him, at least that’s what he believed and decided to trust his instincts. Kael nodded at that—
"Eat it."
He spoke as he passed the gel to the Borealis Leader. The Leader looked at him with a wary look on his face, Kael sighed and took a bite himself, showing it wasn’t poisonous.
The Leader continued to stare at him, Kael taking a bite didn’t an he could trust it completely, it was very much possible he already had the antidote.
Kael knew that as well, but there was nothing he could do.
There was no cure for paranoia, Kael knew it better than anyone.
In the end, the Borealis Leader gave in, the sweet sll was too tempting for him not to give in. His hardened face finally faltered and he slowly took the ration.
Then, he took a bite and the instant he did—
His eyes widened in surprise.
It was similar to how it happened with the Stonefangs, almost exactly the sa. The Borealis Leader couldn’t control himself, asked for more, Kael provided as many as he wanted, then he told him that if they joined him, he and his people could have as much as they wanted and the instant he said those words, the Borealis Leader couldn’t believe it.
It was an offer so tempting that he couldn’t resist it and Kael—
He was only making it better and better—
"These rations don’t co from the Heights, they aren’t dependent on the Heights’ resources, I am the one who creates them, and I can create as many rations as I want, I can feed the entirety of the Heights and it wouldn’t have any effect on .
So even when the war is over, I won’t need to reduce the number of heads that stood with when I needed them.
I promise you that."
"...how do I believe you?"
The Borealis Leader asked.
Even now, he was still srized by the Gel Ration’s taste, but this was about his people and their lives, he wasn’t weak enough to give in to food, even if he hadn’t filled his stomach in years.
Kael looked at the Borealis Leader and just sighed.
"There is nothing I can say that will make you trust , I can see that and I do not bla you, your decision decides the fate of your people. It is a big responsibility, even I would hesitate if I were in your place.
I might even be lying, saying all these sweet words in order to recruit you and your people, only to get rid of you later, that thought process makes sense.
But I will make the situation clear with you—"
Kael paused for a mont, taking a deep breath, his eyes staring at the Herd Leader.
"You have two choices right now,
One, you choose to believe the Stormcallers.
Other, you choose to believe , like the Stonefangs did."
The Borealis Leader frowned.
The mont Kael ntioned the Stonefangs, sothing in him changed, Kael saw that, and then he smiled.
"I ca to this place only a few weeks ago, I didn’t know anyone, not even the Velmourns, even you do not actually know who I am, but even then, the Stonefangs chose to believe .
There must be a reason behind that.
Think about it.
Think about why the Stonefangs did what they did."
"..."
The Borealis Leader turned silent. He looked at Kael, then he looked at the Stonefangs behind him, it was... a difficult decision.
So he...
He decided not to think about it and asked sothing else instead—
"Even if the Stonefangs joined you, it is just the Velmourns and the Stonefangs, your side is clearly the weaker one in this war.
What’s the point of joining you when I already know your people will perish?"
He asked and at that question—
Kael grinned.
"You truly think we would lose?"
He asked, then, he took out the crystal Aurelia gave to him and—
"This is what I did to the Stormcallers because they attacked my people cowardly."
Then—
The recording began.
User Comments
0 comments from readers