Chapter 1714: Remembering the Past - Frosttusk

’Well...this is a sight for sore eyes,’ I thought to myself as I looked over the Echoing Valley being illuminated by the rising sun. ’I never thought I would ever see this sight again.’

After my fellow kaijin and I resolved the traitor and their intentions, we collectively decided to keep it under wraps from the Storm Singers...for the rest of the evening at least.

They needed the rest, the sleep, and having to wake up to deal with a traitor in their ranks was anything but pleasant.

Such ugliness needed daylight to resolve, after all.

"What the fuck?!"

’And it sounds like they found our present.’

After Hurricroak had subsided Mathera and prevented the young woman from ending her life, we decided to probe her memories.

To be more precise, since Hurricroak was already in close proximity to the young girl, she proceeded to possess her in order to poke around in her mind.

It took longer without the Jarl’s abilities, but the information we gathered proved vital.

As it turned out, Mathera had been betraying the Storm Singers for quite some time...despite being kin.

Mathera was a normal member of the tribe until one fine summer, she fell in love with a boy from the Tremorscale tribe.

This was after the relationship between the two tribes had gotten worse, so she was essentially in love with someone who would be considered an enemy by her family...not that she cared.

Mathera had become disillusioned and disconnected from the rest of the tribe for reasons that were entirely her own, and the fact that she had fallen for an enemy was also her choice to make.

As such, when the Collectrix began to subjugate the tribes of the valley, began to rally people under her banner, Mathera was one of the first to answer alongside the rest of the Tremorscale tribe.

With her unusual set of relationships, Mathera fed information to the Collectrix via a strange aether treasure that had once belonged to the Hummingbird Tribe, and used that information to subtly sabotage the rest of the Storm Singers.

It was more subtle at first, a hunt gone astray here and a watering hole being occupied by enemies there, but then it came to a head when the Amber Beaks came to try and finish off the tribe, only for the intervention of the Zhen Clan and the Neo Storm Knights to put a stop to the whole affair.

After that, and possibly out of desperation, Mathera tried to report about more violent opportunities.

Raiding groups, vicious aether beasts, and the occasional tribal champion seemed to attack the Storm Singers out of nowhere wherever they went, thanks to Mathera’s reporting.

Some were lost in these conflicts, but many more were simply captured and sold off to slavers.

Her finishing touch, and the master stroke that should’ve ended her life as a Storm Singer so that she could become the wife of the Tremorscale’s chieftain’s son, was when she helped organize an ambush that would’ve ended in tragedy for her kin and a triumph of life for herself...ideally.

Unfortunately for her, the Ragnarockers and I showed up with the chieftain’s son in tow and ruined her plans.

After Hurricroak had learned all this from the possession, we did what our Jarl would want us to do and made preparations so that she would be handled by the proper authorities at this moment.

There was a suggestion, namely from me, to simply end her life and make it seem like she disappeared...but that was rejected by Nepherage and Hurricroak.

[The fact that this crazy bitch was willing to slash her throat open so easily means that she’s really dedicated or really crazy,] Hurricroak explained. [I only poked around a tiny bit and I got the feeling that there were more secrets in her head than she was letting on.]

[As much as I would like to eat her, we shouldn’t,] Nepherage added. [Someone who seeks death so easily would more than welcome an opportunity for an easy execution and an escape from proper persecution.]

[Agreed,] Terra nodded. [It would be better for Mathera to face judgement and justice at the hands of those who know her.]

Which leads us to now.

With the rise of the morning sun, the Storm Singers and the Zhen Clan had awoken from their slumber and were greeted by the "present" we had left behind.

Namely, a bound Mathera, an aether treasure Terra had that recorded her entire conversation with the Tremorscale warriors, and the treasure that Mathera had used to transmit information back to the Collectrix and the various enemies of the Storm Singer tribe.

Once all of this was exposed, I was reminded of two of the key traits of my former people: They were vindictive, and they were passionate.

•How could you betray us like this?! • an elderly member of the tribe shouted in the native tongue. Evidently, they didn’t want the Zhen Clan warriors to hear this personal business unfold. •Have you lost your mind, girl?! •

Most young women who get called out for betraying their families would look at least a little aggrieved or upset. Mathera, for reasons she was about to share with the entire Storm Singer tribe, was simply the wrath of a woman scorned.

•Lost my mind? Lost my mind?! I haven’t lost my mind! • Mathera shouted with all the fury a young woman could muster whenever they felt as if they were the victim in a problem they caused. •The only thing I’ve lost is the possibility of a good future!•

The Storm Singers were, initially, sympathetic to Mathera’s plight and thought to mark up her betrayal as a sign of youthful recklessness. However, once Mathera started to go on her tirade, their sympathies began to dry up like a clay bowl left out in the sun.

There was a lot of things Mathera had said, both to hurt her family and vent her own frustrations, but there was one thing she had said that stuck out the most to me.

•Our tribe has been on the decline for years! Every year we lose more territory, more respect, more everything! I don’t know about you fossils and you stupid idealists, but I would rather live out a bright future elsewhere! No, I would rather die! Staying here, sticking to the Storm Singer’s supposed glory is worse than death! Our tribe has been cursed since that day, so why do we bother sticking around?! We’d be doing everyone a favor for ourselves and the world if she just fucking disappeared!•

[...]

I knew the exact day that Mathera was referring to, and it was something that had fueled my very existence as a kaijin. However, I wasn’t expecting what Chief Heindril was going to say in response to Mathera’s outrage.

•How dare you disrespect him! If it wasn’t for him, if it wasn’t for what he did, then this entire valley would’ve been frozen over. No, the entire continent would’ve been ice! We remain, we fight, we still sing because to do so otherwise, would be disrespecting his memory. Shame on you! Shame!•

[...huh.]

It was...weird, hearing my name defended in such a manner.

I had long resigned myself to the idea that I had damned my bloodline and my kin when I lost the ancestral axe while defeating the Ice Blood Mammoth in a mutually destructive manner.

But now hearing that his descendants were actively defending him and his decision at that time was...oddly comforting.

•Oh, fuck you old man! You and I both know that if you had that axe in your hands, you would’ve traded it to the Lady a long time ago!•

•Why you little—•

•That’s enough!•

Before any more shouting or scolding could continue, Mathera’s mother had decided to enter the conversation.

Mathera’s father had died during a battle six or so years ago, and her mother had done her best in raising the girl by her lonesome.

Unfortunately, at least from what I could sense with my abilities as a kaijin, she was deeply regretting the choices she made in raising Mathera.

•Falling in love with an enemy warrior is one thing, making a stupid decision for their sake is another, but betraying your family in the process?! Like this?! I raised you to be better than this, I raised you to not be this stupid!• Mathera’s mother shouted at the young woman.

Mathera, however, looked only mildly annoyed at her mother’s scolding...up until she decided to drop a bombshell that nobody wanted to hear.

•As far as I am concerned, you are no longer any child of mine! Whatever bond we had...is no more!•

•Fine!•

After that, there was a short yet spirited debate of what her ultimate fate was to be.

Death was too easy and exile was out of the question.

For the time being, the Storm Singers decided to treat Mathera like the Tremorscales and kept her in a prison pit to be dealt with later.

Although, this moment had done wonders in kicking my kin into taking action.