The fifth day did not just belong to Kael and the others who had gone beyond the Walls, recruiting tribes that they once considered their enemies and changing the very history of the Heights that hadn’t changed for more than twelve hundred years—
It belonged to sothing else too.
Sothing... that was quieter but, at the sa ti, had the potential to have a far stronger effect in the long future.
Faith.
After the bombing incident, after the Stormcallers cowardly attacked the Stonefangs, after the Stonefang children cried in pain while their blood mixed with the snow beneath them—
The Stonefangs changed.
At first, they were angry.
Their anger flared, their eyes craved blood, but the fact that the Stormcallers were far away and their territory was impossible to attack made them feel... helpless. Even the strongest Stonefang Warriors were no different.
But everything changed when Kael made a move.
When he moved into the storm, attacked a territory that was impossible to attack and did exactly what they did to them.
A perfect, clear revenge.
Sothing that all the Stonefangs desired but none could get.
When the Stonefangs found out what he had done, there was a shift.
A shift large enough that last night, when the Dawn of the Dragon gathered under the Faith Tree like they always did—
It was no longer a ’eting’ anymore.
It had beco a mass gathering.
Stonefangs ca in packs, warriors with hard eyes, mothers with children tied to their backs, elders with shaking hands.
There were so many that the people living in the nearby quarters were startled by how many bodies were moving through the streets at once.
For a mont, it almost turned into a panic. So believed the Stonefangs had shown their true colors and were launching an attack—
The panic began to spread.
Fortunately, Vandra noticed it and predicted what chaos it would cause if this continued, so she made a move herself.
She sent people ho.
The most surprising part was that the Stonefangs actually listened to her. Maybe it was because the other Stonefangs who were already part of the Dawn of the Dragon did, or because they believed she represented Kael—
Whatever the reason was, the people listened and they left.
However—
This didn’t an Vandra let it go. This was the first ti she had seen so many people flock towards her. She couldn’t possibly let this chance go.
So she made a decision right there.
Just two etings in one day was inefficient. It would only gather more crowd and cause panic, so she... split it.
She created slots and decided that instead of doing it two tis a day, she would preach from morning to night, letting people co in waves so no one felt like a stampede was coming.
So when morning ca, while Kael was still far away, Vandra was already under the Faith Tree.
The people flocked to her. This ti, the number was much more manageable because the slots Vandra prepared last night were already spread throughout the city.
The first batch that morning was mostly the Velmourns—workers with tired faces, soldiers who had been off duty for a few hours, two old won holding hands so tightly their fingers had turned pale.
Then, ten minutes later, the Stonefangs ca.
There were about thirty of them, a mix of warriors and elders, and one mother who kept adjusting the fur over her child’s head.
Even now, even when the other Stonefangs that were already part of the Dawn of the Dragon told them, they were unsure whether this "gathering" was a trap or if it was truly what the Velmourn elders had told them it was.
They were nervous, especially those who were coming here for the first ti, which was... almost all of them.
Vandra sensed their nervousness and smiled.
"Co closer."
She spoke in their tongue.
Her mastery over their language was still rough, but it was enough for her to form a connection with them and that was all she needed.
The Stonefangs hesitated at first, but as the two Stonefangs that had brought them here in the first place kept pushing, they joined, forming a half-circle with the Velmourns.
Vandra nodded, then she personally nodded at the two Stonefangs who made it possible, showing her gratitude. The Stonefangs smiled in return and nodded back.
Then—
Vandra turned to the people and said the sa thing she had been saying for days now.
"Before Lord Kael ca, our people were... dying."
She spoke, first in the Velmourn Tongue, then in the Stonefang tongue.
"We were living, yes, but we never truly understood what it ant to... live.
Our children went to sleep hungry, mothers pretended they weren’t hungry so their children could eat more, however pitiable that ’more’ may be.
Our old smiled so no one would see their fear, and the Council...
The Council counted the grain we would receive. They couldn’t be blad either, after all, they too were starving with us, only that they were ensuring that even as we starved... we... lived.
A pathetic excuse of life."
Vandra paused, almost feeling disgusted.
But then, her expression changed.
"Then he arrived."
She smiled.
"And that changed everything."
Vandra then went on to talk about how Kael’s arrival changed the city for the better. He defended the Wall when it was at its weakest, he gave food to not just those who were starving, but the entire city, even those who did not accept him. He erased corruption, he made people feel safe, then, he turned the very people who attacked them just days ago into allies and brought them in.
And he did all that in a matter of weeks.
She then went on and started talking about the tree, how Kael had brought it here, how since its arrival, the production of the Divine Tree had been stable.
Vandra did not have a limited number of topics. After all, every single day, sothing new happened, sothing where people realized Kael’s importance.
Vandra just understood it far better than others. This was the reason so many ca for the sole purpose of hearing her and strengthening their Faith in Kael using her as their anchor.
Vandra also ntioned ’yesterday’s incident’.
That was when the Stonefangs raised their questions.
If Kael was who she said he was, why didn’t he do anything to avoid it?
Why move only for the sake of revenge and not stop it from happening in the first place?
Vandra smiled at that question. It was well within her expectations.
"Your interpretation is mistaken."
She answered with a gentle smile.
"Lord Kael isn’t omnipotent.
He is strong, yes, but his influence does not expand all over the World. If it did, the world wouldn’t be such a cruel place to live in.
He cannot control what those who do not believe in him do.
In fact, he does not even control those who do believe in him. It wasn’t him who told to gather all of you here and recount his feats again and again. He never even ordered people to pray to him, he only requested it of us, that too, because the energy our prayer produces helps in the production of the food that we eat.
Our Lord Kael is only a selfless man who does what he believes is best for the people around him, without expecting anything in return."
"So he no God."
A Stonefang Warrior comnted.
Vandra looked at him and smiled—
"You can say..."
She nodded, answering in his tongue.
"He no God, he better man than us."
"Why pray to man and not god?"
The sa Warrior asked again. He didn’t have a condescending tone when he said those words, he only asked out of pure curiosity and Vandra welcod that question with open arms.
"Because god no answer.
He does."
And that changed the warrior’s expression. Not just his, even the Velmourns felt those words.
The Velmourns did not believe in God, but when pushed to the situation they were pushed to, even the strongest break. Velmourns were the sa, they too drifted to Faith.
They prayed to the God they couldn’t see for days, months, years even, but their situation never changed.
But now, it did.
And it did in the form of Kael, so man or not, he was the one they were going to believe in.
"The World we live in is a cruel space, the food is rare, and even walls cannot promise safety."
Vandra raised her voice, placing her hand on her chest.
"And in such a cruel place,
People need sothing that does not move."
She spoke as she pointed at the tree behind her.
"This tree does not move."
Then she pointed outward, like Kael was standing right there.
"And he... does not move."
Silence.
A long, complete silence spread over the place.
And it wasn’t because the people didn’t know what to say, or that they were nervous or awkward—
It was because they were resonating with Vandra’s words. They too... were starting to believe in a man nad Kael.
Maybe he was God’s answer to their years of prayers.
Or maybe he was God himself.
Whatever it was, one thing was clear—
He was here.
And even today—
He was out there, helping them prepare for the worst that was about to co.
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