Chapter 641: We follow Flying Man!
Chapter 641: We follow Flying Man!
"From now onwards—
We will build a proper city.
Then more than a City if needed.
A Kingdom where every single Tribe has a place."
"A... Kingdom?"
Kayden blinked.
"You plan to create a Kingdom in the Heights?"
"Yes."
"That... is not possible."
Kayden shook his head.
"Why is that?"
"The treaty stops that."
That was when Lavinia shook her head.
"The Treaty says no such thing. The only reason a Kingdom has never been formed in the Heights before is because the Tribes inside it never came together.
But now..."
Lavinia looked at all the people gathered here.
The Velmourns, the Stonefangs, the Borealis, the Cindersteps, the Rimewoods, the Shardpeaks, and the Emberfolks and...
It was clear that that requirement had been completed.
Kael nodded at those words.
"That is correct."
Half of our tribes are already with us, as for the other half...
They have lost all their warriors, the only warriors who remain are the ones who came to attack me and they...
They will no longer resist me either."
Kael knew that.
Why?
Because his ants were watching.
They watched as the hunting party Kael spared returned to their homes with heavy hearts, it was clear because none of them spoke much on the way back.
How could they?
Their minds were filled with countless doubts.
Kael told them that their own people sent them to die, that the real army had already moved towards the Wall while they were sent as bait to keep Kael busy.
Tools.
They were used as tools and then discarded.
Obviously, none of them believed him.
How could they?
Their people would never abandon them no matter what.
They were their people, people they would willingly sacrifice their lives for if it was needed, these people would never betray them.
They knew it.
They firmly believed it.
But...
Somewhere in their hearts, a small doubt remained.
A doubt that they planned to completely erase once they reached their settlement and found it filled with their people looking for them.
But...
That did not happen.
When they arrived... they only saw...
Empty settlements.
Only the weak were left behind.
Elders sat near cold fires with worried faces, children stood at doorways, looking at the returning warriors with nervous eyes. The sick, the wounded, the too young, the too old, these were the only ones left.
As for the Warriors...
They were gone.
The weapon racks in the training ground—
Those were empty as well.
The chiefs weren’t there either.
They had left.
Every single one of them had left, without them. They didn’t even leave clear orders for those who remained behind, they just... left.
And in that moment, every returned warrior understood.
The Flying Man did not lie.
He told the truth.
They were used.
They were sent to die while the real force marched toward the Wall.
They were used as bait.
As discarded tools.
They were... betrayed.
The warriors clenched their fists, some lowered their heads, some looked towards the direction of the Velmourn Wall with enraged eyes and...
For some strange reason, even as these warriors stood away from each other, inside their own settlements that were far from each other—
They all decided to do the same thing.
The Flying Man told them that he would be watching and after everything they saw, they did not doubt it.
A man who knew their hidden positions, their plans, and even the fact that they were betrayed before even they themselves knew it—
How could such a man... not be watching?
So instead of waiting for their chiefs to return, the warriors moved.
They gathered the elders, the children, the sick and the wounded, then they told them the truth, about how they were used, how the chiefs betrayed them, how the army had gone to attack the Wall and how...
How that army wasn’t coming back because they...
They were facing a God.
Yes, the Warriors had no doubts regarding this.
In their minds, the War was over before it even began, and since they had the strength, since they controlled the information, they convinced others of the same.
They told them how Kael couldn’t be defeated, how he alone defeated their entire army before sparing them, that their army was marching to their deaths and the more they spoke...
The more people started to believe them.
And once that belief set in, fear came.
"What do we do now?"
Every person asked the same question.
If all their warriors perished, how would they survive? What if the Flying Man came to attack them? And even if he didn’t, the Winter had only just begun, how were they supposed to survive the Winters without the Warriors with them? What if wild beasts attacked? What if they needed to move heavy boulders? What about the children? Who would raise them?
Such questions filled the settlement squares.
Until finally—
"We submit."
The returned warriors answered.
"We submit to the Flying Man."
The Flying Man let them leave even when they went to hunt him, he showed mercy, he was merciful, if they submitted to him, he would let them live as well.
The warriors convinced the people, and the people, in their despair, clenched onto the only rope of hope they could see.
And with that—
All the tribes prepared to welcome him.
They gathered whatever food and other minor resources they were left with, preparing to use this as an offering and waited for Kael’s arrival.
After all, Kael had told the warriors he would come for them once all of this was over.
Some of the warriors stood outside their homes, looking towards the distant Wall, silently praying for Kael’s quick arrival.
Some actually prayed out loud.
"Flying Man!"
"We wait for Flying Man!"
"We follow Flying Man!"
They hoped that since the Flying Man could see them, he might be able to hear them as well, so they showed their devotion to him in the only way they could.
Soon, the elderly and children joined them as well, all hoping that Kael was watching and listening to their prayers—
And beneath the snow, hiding inside cracks, roots and stones—
Kael’s ants did watch and listen.
And they reported everything they witnessed back to him.