Yan looked at the names etched into the stone wall of Mara, the city that the soldiers had defended with their lives. His jaws were clenched so tight his teeth were about to crack.
"What a damn waste!" He spat out in frustration.
They had won the battle against the Byuwil tribe. Compared to the Byuwil tribe’s losses, it had even been an overwhelming victory.
But that didn’t change the fact that the soldiers had died for an empty battle.
While the two sides were cleaning up the battlefield, another group had entered the scene.
The Nilma tribe.
Instantly, Yan had been prepared for another fight. It would be difficult against the Nilma tribe alone, and even more so if they joined up with the remnants of the Bywuil tribe, who were familiar with Yan’s tactics by now.
But the Nilma tribe came carrying white flags. White flags and a horrible message. Their timing couldn’t have been worse.
Yan didn’t know about the Children of the Hydra, so he couldn’t have even guessed about their involvement or existence. But in hindsight, it was so damn obvious that there were others involved in the war.
That was the best explanation to the Byuwil tribe’s behavior.
All the soldiers whose names were etched on the wall had died because neither the Empire nor the Byuwil tribe had realized that they were being played like a couple of puppets.
If even one of them had realized what was going on, they could have told the other side, exactly how the Nilma tribe was doing.
That was why Yan blamed himself. If he had realized that it didn’t make sense for the Byuwil tribe to torch their outposts, refugee camps, and supply convoys and treat them like they were doing the same, he could have saved a lot of lives.
Yan finally understood why Zach had chosen peace—why he was going around behind enemy lines with nothing but his maids and one Sesha doing his best to convince the Sesha to stay their weapons.
Death and war sucked.
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After finding out about the Children, Yan started thinking.
The higher-ups on both sides had been suspiciously inactive this war.
The Emperor hadn’t given much of any orders. Just superficial encouragements like don’t lose the border too much and stuff. He had not been active, even when the Evandiels, one of the most trusted families of the Empire, disappeared, leaving the East to suffer at the hands of the Sesha.
At the same time, the Ugri, Arlecch, and Maura tribes were also not seen on the frontlines. They had seized Ciel and then not made a sound.
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There was more to this war than the higher-ups were willing to share.
Yan was not on good terms with his father, the Emperor. But he knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t a heartless man. If he was doing something like this, it could only be because he thought it would save more lives than putting everything out in the open.
Yan couldn’t say he understood or wasn’t resentful, at least not without all the details. But he had to take everything he knew into consideration when planning his next moves.
Why would the Emperor not tell his generals or troops about another force interfering with the war?
How could that be beneficial?
The only thing it led to was an increase in the death tolls on both sides of the war…
Yan figured it out.
The only question he had left was if this was why his father had asked him to join the war efforts?
***
On the Labyrinth of Jira’s nineteenth floor, Borso and the group of Maura warriors were in a bit of a pickle.
They had stayed by Alzara’s side since it seemed like a good spot to hunt worms. Borso also wanted to find out what happened to Zach and Nora. But before they could finish on the nineteenth floor and move on to the twentieth, another tribe had found them.
The Arlecchs. Their deep blue clothes stood out against the yellow sand as they encircled Borso and the others.
Goro, one of the Maura warriors and the leader of their group wasn’t scared.
He stood with a ramrod straight back as he faced off against the Arlecchs. The Arlecchs positioning around them like this could only mean they were hostile.
Goro didn’t know why. But he wasn’t going to let that deter or scare him.
"What do you want, Arlecchs?" He asked in a loud voice
"Doesn’t it have anything to do with the fight between your tribes?" Borso asked upon seeing the confused Goro. That only confused Goro further.
"Huh? There’s no fight between our tribes," he answered. Borso was confused.
"What? Then what about the dead Arlecchs on the fifteenth floor?" Borso asked. They hadn’t seen any warriors from the other two tribes. Only the Maura tribe was strong enough to win against the Arlecchs in a skirmish like that without any casualties.
Goro frowned. The other Maura warriors did the same. They had not heard anything about a fight between their tribe and the Arlecchs. Either they were left out of it, which was unlikely, or something else was going on.
An older man with long grey hair hanging to the small of his back tied in knots stepped out from the Arlecch encirclement. He had a beard almost as long as his hair. The robes he wore and the staff he carried revealed his position as one of the Arlecchs’ stargazers. A position similar to but just below the shaman.
In a way, they were more powerful than the shamans.
The shamans of each tribe offered advice, guidance, and care for the tribe.
The stargazers were similar in that aspect. Their difference came from the fact that if they wanted, they were allowed to fight and use their powers for the harm of others.
"That would be our doing," He said with a gentle smile that didn’t reach his wrinkly eyes. He had overheard Borso and Goro’s conversation.