Chapter 587: Borealis Herd.
Borealis tribe was different from most tribes that were in the Heights.
They had... meat.
They had beasts they could harvest. Their beasts weren’t particularly strong, so other than those they had formed bonds with, all the beasts existed for the sole purpose of being eaten.
But despite all that—
These people looked hungry.
Because winter in the Heights did not care what you owned.
It... took.
The extreme cold took away heat, forcing the body to produce more heat for the sake of survival, and that itself took energy, energy that these people did not have.
And once the cold became stronger than what their bodies could take—
It took lives.
It was the same for all the tribes in the Heights, the Borealis Herd was no exception.
And as he roamed above this place, Kael’s eyes scanned the entire settlement carefully. At this point, his ants had already covered this place, so Imperia had quite an extensive knowledge regarding them and how they lived.
Knowledge she had dumped into him whilst they were coming here and because he already had all that prior knowledge, the moment he arrived here—
He could see it clearly.
The hardships the Borealis had to face. He could see the way ropes were patched with different knots, the way wooden supports had been repaired with... human bone. The way several houses were half-collapsed from the weight of snow.
Even their smoke looked weak.
As if they did not dare burn too much fuel.
’Father, he saw you.’
Suddenly, Kael heard a voice.
’Where?’
He asked as he started looking around and Imperia pointed out—
’Behind that destroyed house.’
Kael looked and his eyes fell on a small figure wrapped in fur that was too big for him. Kael couldn’t see his face, it was hidden behind layers of fur, the child was standing on the ridge as he looked at the sky, and the instant he saw Kael looking at him, he ran.
Kael didn’t stop him either, he wanted these people to know they were here, and the child was going to do just that.
And just as he expected, a few moments later, horns sounded. It wasn’t even, making it clear that these horns didn’t come from similar instruments, these people used whatever instruments they could create with whatever materials they had.
Then—
"Visitors!"
Someone shouted.
It was a language Kael’s party could not understand, but they didn’t feel nervous. They had been hovering above for a while now, making it clear that they had no intention to attack, even if the Borealis misread their intentions and attacked them, the height at which they were flying made it difficult for the Borealis to attack them.
Soon however, movement in the Borealis settlement began.
Men appearing with spears, women pulling children back, elders stepping out slowly, the warriors brought out their beasts—
They were looking at the sky with a wary look on their faces, these people did not like fighting, but if that’s what it came to, they were prepared for it.
Kael glanced at their expressions, then, he lowered his hand and the people around him frowned.
"We go down?"
Kayden frowned.
They were safe because they were far above, if they moved down then they would come into their range, and considering that almost a hundred warriors were now standing beneath them with their beasts and weapons prepared...
He didn’t think it was a wise decision.
Kael looked at him for a moment and then—
"Nothing’s going to happen, trust me."
He spoke in a calm tone and the moment Kayden and the others heard his words, for some odd reason, their restlessness eased a little.
It was like... Kael’s words had a strange form of firmness and assurance in them, something they couldn’t put their fingers on—
Or at least, that was the case for most of them, two of the Velmourn Elites, however, were part of Dawn of the Dragon, and they had absolute faith in Kael.
For them, feeling calm the moment Kael assured them wasn’t strange, it was a matter of fact.
Their God had told them nothing was going to happen, how could they possibly doubt him? That was foolish.
Kael noticed their gaze, he didn’t show any reaction, it wasn’t time for that right now, so he just gestured to move down again and this time—
His people listened.
The party began to descend. They landed near the center of the settlement, a place surrounded by the Borealis warriors, if they attacked now, Kael and the others would have grave casualties, it was a dangerous move, but Kael didn’t show any change in his expression.
The Borealis looked at the group with strange looks on their faces, especially the four Stonefang warriors that were standing behind the group on top of their bonds.
Stonefangs had a larger build than normal, so they were hard to miss, and as Borealis saw them, as they saw...
Two enemies now standing together like one...
They realized it as well.
It was happening.
The world was changing.
And this change was... dangerous.
They gulped.
Morvain observed them, then she stepped forward, her cloak pulling behind her. Kayden moved half a step to the side, his hand remained near his sword, he did not pull it out, but his eyes scanned the surroundings with strong wariness, one wrong move and he was prepared to react, no matter what it meant.
The Velmourn Elites spread out in formation too, they couldn’t win, they knew that as well, but they were prepared to give their lives away if it meant Lord Kael and Lady Morvain could survive.
The Stonefangs were no different, their formation, however, was focused more on attack. They were prepared to kill as many as they could and reduce the burden.
And the Borealis...
They responded.
Warriors stepped forward, these people had thick fur cloaks, leather armor stitched with hide. Faces darker from windburn, hair braided tight so it wouldn’t whip into their eyes in storms.
They were prepared for a battle too.
But before all the battle and chaos—
A man came from the largest shelter at the far end of the gathering space, it was not a house in the Velmourn sense, it was... a mound.
A hill made into a home, thick hide stretched over a curved frame, packed with snow to trap heat. The entrance was low. You had to bow to enter.
The man who stepped out was big, but not Stonefang-big, he had broad shoulders, heavy arms, his fur cloak was darker than the others, lined with pale wool. A necklace of carved bone hung at his throat—each piece marked with a small notch.
*Picture*
It meant something.
That much Kael knew from Imperia, but Imperia’s ants had only been here for a day, even though they had quite a bit of information, they did not know everything.
Imperia had guessed it either meant the number of kills or dead family members, but honestly, at this point, Kael did not care.
He just looked at the man, the man looked back at him, then his gaze moved to Morvain, then the Stonefang warriors, then back at Kael.
"Velmourn."
He spoke in his tongue.
"And Stonefang."
Kael looked at the leader, then—
He broke his formation and stepped forward. Kayden widened his eyes in fright, he wanted to stop him, but before he could, Morvain raised her hand, signaling him to stop.
He looked at his mother as if he wanted to say something, Morvain gestured him to be quiet, which he did, but he was now gripping the hilt of his sword as he looked at Kael.
The moment something happened, he was prepared to move and defend him with everything he had.
It wasn’t just him that was alert, the Borealis warriors narrowed their eyes as well, they were prepared to move as well—
But then—
"We are not here to attack.
We are here to talk."
Kael spoke in Borealis tongue as he looked right into the leader’s eyes.
His words weren’t fluent, but they were clear, clear enough that every Borealis warrior stiffened even further, Morvain and Kayden couldn’t believe it.
"...you speak our tongue."
The Borealis leader stared at him for a long moment then he spoke slowly.
"I listen. I learn."
Kael nodded.
At those words, the leader narrowed his eyes.
"Or you spy."
He answered, a few Borealis warriors lifted their weapons slightly.
Kael didn’t move, he just looked at the warriors before turning his gaze back to the leader and—
"You can call it what you want, but I’m here now.
And I did not try to hide it."
The leader didn’t move his gaze away, but whatever it was, in the little interaction they had, he liked the boy.
"Say why you came,"
He demanded.
"And say it fast."
Behind Kael, Morvain watched the Borealis line that was barely ten steps away from them.
Ten steps.
That was it.
That was the distance that was stopping a complete bloodshed.
One wrong word and...
It was all over.
And in that pressure—
Kael looked at the Borealis leader and—
"I came here to recruit your people and bring the Borealis Herd inside the Wall before it vanishes."
He spoke the words that instantly made the leader widen his eyes, the Borealis warriors directly pointed their weapons at Kael, and seeing the sudden movement, Kael’s group took out their weapons as well.
It... clearly wasn’t the best opening line...
