novelno Chapter 612: War.
Chapter 612: War.
Kael watched as the hunting party left, his ants continuing to inform him what they were talking about, their mood, their expressions, giving him a general idea as to what they would decide.
Once they were far enough to make it impossible for them to launch a surprise attack, he raised his hand and—
"Return."
He commanded.
The moment they realized that an army was marching towards the families they had left behind, they had been waiting for this order.
So his army moved.
They had already wasted enough time dealing with the so-called ’hunting party’; they couldn’t waste more.
Sanctuaries opened, the fastest beasts came out and the march back started with Kael leading the fray.
Six hours.
That was all they had.
If Kael was alone, covering the long distance wouldn’t have been difficult, he could have done it in two hours without breaking a sweat, but his army was different.
The Stonefangs weren’t known for their speed, other tribes weren’t fast either, not compared to Kael. It took seven hours when they came here, of course, this was when they were moving covertly, with ample rest.
But this time?
They were pushing to their limits in order to protect their families.
They only hoped that they made it in time.
And as they moved, Kael, who was leading them, pulled out a communication crystal and activated it.
"Commander Korvath."
The answer came instantly.
[Kael?]
Kael didn’t waste time.
"Where’s Aurelia?"
He questioned directly.
The sudden question made Korvath frown. Wasn’t he supposed to be at the North West Shore dealing with the enemy who took the bait he selected right now? Was the battle already over? Did they win? Why was he asking for Aurelia all of a sudden?
Korvath however, sensed the urgency in Kael’s voice, so he answered.
"She is instructing the armies to make them work together."
[Bring her.]
"I’ll send someone."
Korvath nodded, then, he sent one of his men to bring Aurelia and only when Kael was silent for a few moments, Korvath asked the question he wanted to ask.
"What happened?"
[We are returning, hopefully in six hours.
Enemy is marching towards the Wall.]
Kael informed him and the moment he heard those words, Korvath paused.
"How large?"
He asked directly, suppressing his shock and asking the more important question.
[Seven hundred and thirty-eight. All mounted.]
The answer came back instantly.
"That isn’t a raid."
Korvath spoke with a solemn look on his face.
[It is not.]
Kael shook his head.
[It is War.]
For a moment, the two remained silent.
[Where is she?]
Then Kael asked.
"She will be here anyti—"
Before Korvath could answer—
Knock Knock
A knock was heard.
"Come in."
He ordered.
Aurelia came in, and it wasn’t just her, Lavinia and Morvain came in as well.
"What happened?"
Aurelia asked.
It was rare for Kael to call her all of a sudden, so she came as soon as she could. Morvain and Lavinia just happened to be there, so they came as well.
[Enemy is coming.]
Kael answered.
And that made every woman in the room freeze for a moment.
"How?"
Morvain narrowed her eyes.
The question was simple. The Stormcaller Leaders should be there with Kael, Kael confirmed it himself.
Then...
Who was leading the charge?
How could they move without a leader?
Kael hesitated for a fraction of a second, after all, he too, did not know the proper answer to that question.
[I don’t know.]
He answered honestly.
[We trapped the hunting party like we planned but one Stormcaller leader escaped. Five minutes later, the enemy army began moving like it had already been preparing it all along.]
"Five minutes...?"
Lavinia narrowed her eyes.
[Yes.]
Kael nodded.
"Are you alright?"
She asked with a worried look on her face.
[I am. Nothing happened here.]
"What about the hunting party? What did you do to them?"
[I killed the leaders and let the rest go.]
"You did well."
Aurelia nodded, seemingly satisfied. Korvath nodded as well. Both of them could see how difficult that decision must be, especially when Kael had just learned about the incoming attack. Seeing that Kael came up with that at that particular moment was indeed impressive.
"Did you get any information from them? Who is leading if not them? Is it the outsiders?"
Lavinia asked.
She wanted to know more.
Kael however, shook his head again.
[That is what confuses me.
They did not know.
Neither the Stormcallers nor any others, they didn’t even know the Stormcaller Leader that escaped had a teleportation crystal.]
"Teleportation Crystal...?"
Both Lavinia and Aurelia raised their eyebrows at those words, they knew how expensive those were.
[Yes.]
Kael nodded.
[And that’s not even the strangest part.]
"What do you mean?"
[It all happened suddenly, the Tribe Leaders moved together and began commanding their tribes to prepare for the raid, even the higher-ups of the tribes seemed confused...]
Kael told them everything that happened.
How it all seemed strange, how no one knew what happened till it did and everything.
Then, with a solemn look on his face, he spoke of the matter that was the most troublesome.
[The beasts they’re riding... they seem corrupted.]
And the instant he said those words, there was a reaction.
"...Corrupted?"
Aurelia’s expression changed, becoming much more solemn than it already was.
[Yes.]
"Twilight...?"
She asked with a dangerous look on her face.
[I don’t know.]
Kael shook his head.
[I am not even sure if the beasts are actually corrupted, their movements just... seem strange.]
Aurelia did not judge him. She didn’t even doubt his suspicion, she still remembered how Kael was the first one to point out Aurendor’s Corrupted Beasts back in Drakthar.
"If it’s Twilight corruption, then this is no longer a ’tribe matter.’"
Aurelia spoke in a solemn tone.
[Yes, this is why I wanted to talk to you.]
Kael nodded, then, after a moment of hesitation—
He asked what mattered the most right now.
[If Twilight is involved... does the treaty still stand?]