As for those who do not believe —
You are welco to go wherever you desire, you can return to your lands which you will find empty, or you can camp with others—
As long as you do not join the army that is marching to my ho, once this is over, you can all move inside the Wall."
Kael announced, then, his eyes turned colder just like they were when he arrived here and—
"And if you do decide to join the army that once abandoned you—
You will leave no choice.
I will kill every single one of you."
He declared as the air around the area turned heavy again.
"I will be watching."
The mbers of the hunting party trembled at those words.
Watching...
None of them doubted it.
This was the man who knew about every single one of their moves before he even ca here, he knew where they were hidden, he knew where the traps were set.
This wasn’t possible even if they had a traitor in their group, even a traitor wouldn’t be able to give such a detailed report, especially when everyone would be watching each other.
This was only possible if he was watching himself and...
If he was watching every single one of them.
He...
The Flying Man was dangerous, the hunting party did not doubt it.
As for doubting whether he was saying the truth or not—
Were they truly abandoned? Were they truly discarded as tools? Was there really an Army marching towards the Wall, an army they were not part of?
They had all these doubts in their heads, honestly, it was difficult to believe it. Just the thought that the people they spent their entire lives with abandoned them without a second thought felt unbelievable.
But...
If all of that was a lie, if there was no army marching towards the Wall, why would the Flying Man say it?
Why would he let them go?
Why would he keep them alive?
Such questions strengthened their doubt.
As for Kael—
He watched the mbers of the hunting party begin to leave. Where they would go from here, it was no longer in his hands.
He had done what he could, he had planted the seed of doubt that he needed to plant.
And now...
Now he needed to drop this matter entirely and focus on what was more important.
The attack.
It seed... too strange.
Too sudden.
His Ants had been watching the tribes for a few days now, all this ti, every ti they interacted with Stormcallers, the Tribe Leaders never accepted the alliance because of the countless doubts in their minds even though the rewards offered in return were quite generous.
Then...
How did they move so suddenly?
What happened?
According to what Imperia said, suddenly, an Artifact that all the Leaders of the Tribes carried, the Artifacts that the Stormcallers gave to them for communication, suddenly buzzed.
The Leaders paused for a mont, then they began shouting orders, collecting their armies. All of it was so sudden that even the armies were confused. The people were even more confused.
So of these tribes usually never completely abandoned their lands and families, fearing the enemy territories nearby, but today, the leaders ordered all warriors to move, seemingly unworried about those enemies.
Of course, since the leaders had ordered it, the armies gathered and moved out. Every single tribe of the Heights had one thing in common, and that was belief and trust in their leadership.
And Kael saw the live example of it today.
Then, according to Imperia, these separated armies seamlessly ca together, forming one big giant army that they now saw.
It was all efficient, effortless even.
As if they had practiced it for years.
And the more Kael heard about it, the more he frowned.
He couldn’t understand.
Who was leading this operation?
Was it the Stormcallers?
But all the Stormcaller Leaders were here, they couldn’t possibly lead from here.
Then...
Had the outsiders taken control?
But even if that was the case, for a movent this coordinated, they would need prior communication, but his Ants didn’t see anything like this.
Does that an the outsiders communicated with them and ford an alliance before his ants arrived?
If that was true, then why would they continue using the Stormcallers to try and form alliances?
If they could already move other tribes, why not make them move together with the Stormcallers?
Was the story he ca up with actually true?
Were the Stormcallers and the others truly used as a distraction?
Then...
Did that an he was the one who fell for their trap?
Kael couldn’t help but think of that possibility.
But even in that scenario, all of this made no sense.
Sure, it was highly likely that the outsiders had already turned other tribe leaders in their favour but...
Kael was the one who made the first move.
He was the one who made Ravon contact the Stormcallers and feed them false information, it was his plan. If the outsiders wanted to counter it, they would still need to contact the other tribe leaders and send their ssage one way or the other.
When did they do that?
His Ants did not see anything.
Was it...
That Artifact that buzzed?
Was that one simple buzz enough for the leaders to understand the entire situation and march at the exact ti, perfectly coordinated enough to join the raiding army with such efficiency?
Or was the buzz always the signal for the leaders to make a move?
If that was the case, then why use such a thod?
Why not communicate?
Did they... know about his Ants?
Had they been contacting each other in secret with these signs Kael had no clue about all this while?
Then...
How much was it that Kael did not know...?
What else had they planned...?
And...
What was the Twilight’s part in it?
All these questions made Kael freeze for a few seconds, yes, just for a few seconds because Kael knew the truth.
Whatever it was—
What mattered now was that he needed to return, no matter what.
So he—
He looked at his n and raised his hand.
"Return."
He commanded.
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