FVN Chapter 578: A war is coming.
Chapter 578: A war is coming.
"I will not waste my time with pleasantries."
Aurelia spoke as she looked at the crowd in front of her, both at the Velmourns and the Stonefangs.
Her eyes were mostly on the soldiers; as for the rest, at this particular moment, she didn’t care. She was assessing the manpower and in her head, she already had a strategy.
"War is upon us. The enemy is certainly more prepared than us, but that doesn’t mean we cannot win. Lord Kael’s actions already prove that."
Aurelia spoke as she pointed at Kael. Again, Kael didn’t react. Aurelia nodded to herself and turned back to the people.
"Starting from today, we will form mixed squads with both Velmourns and Stonefangs working together.
It is apparent that warriors from both sides have quite a bit of differences, and I am not talking about your relationship. Let me be absolutely clear about one thing—I do not care what side you come from, be it Velmourns or Stonefangs. If you stand on the Wall, then you stand as one army.
I will not forgive any mistake that originates from your hatred-filled past; it is not the time to ponder over that matter. I am not even going to mention your relationship from this day forth.
So when I say you two have differences, know that I am talking purely in the aspect of your strengths and weaknesses. The Stonefangs have larger builds, bulkier bodies; they are stronger and all of them are warriors. Velmourns, on the other hand, are more balanced—they have both warriors and mages. That is a good combination if it can work together.
And we—
Are going to learn exactly that.
I will teach you how to fight in units, how to move as one, how to use your strengths to cover each other’s weaknesses."
She looked at the crowd again, not as if she was looking at two different sides, but as if she was looking at an untrained army that needed training.
"Five of my mages have already learned the Stonefang language. They will help me communicate with you people."
Aurelia announced. The rest of her men were released from the prison considering everything they had done yesterday.
Of course, their Sanctuaries were still locked through the collar; it was clear that the Velmourns did not have any intentions of letting them leave.
Aurelia didn’t force it either. She... she didn’t have intentions of leaving too, not when she could use this moment to gain Kael’s trust, and she could already see it working.
And if, to gain his trust even further, she needed to help these people, she didn’t think it was that bad of a deal.
Zakaar translated her words into Stonefang Tongue. The Stonefangs nodded, accepting everything the General said. They saw her as a saviour and would treat her as such.
Not to mention, Flying Man seemed to trust this woman, so they would do the same.
After this, Aurelia stepped back and glanced at Morvain again, signalling her that she was done and the Velmourn Matriarch could take over if she wanted.
Morvain nodded and stepped forward again. People’s focus fell on her and Morvain—
"There is one more matter I need to address."
She spoke in a solemn tone.
"A matter you may—no, a matter you will not like."
The instant she said those words, the space tensed. The Stonefangs, when they heard the translations, were no different.
Something they won’t like?
After everything that happened, what could it be that they wouldn’t like?
The more people thought about it, the more puzzling it became, but Morvain did not let them think for long. After a slight pause—which many thought came because of her hesitation—she finally prepared herself and—
"The Stormcallers are not alone."
She began.
"And I am not talking about the outsiders who are helping them with artifacts and weapons they are using.
I am talking about the other tribes in Heights.
The Stormcallers are gathering them all; they are raising their numbers, and if we let them continue, their numbers will be so abnormally high that we wouldn’t be able to stop them no matter how desperately we train.
War is a complicated matter, but at its very core—
It depends on numbers, and numbers are not on our side, not if all tribes side with the Stormcallers."
The people turned silent at those words.
This was a major problem, something that could not be ignored no matter what.
"If we participate in this war with just the two of us,
We will die."
Morvain spoke again, her voice making people even more anxious.
Then—
"Therefore—
We must recruit."
Morvain declared. The moment she said those words, the people reacted.
Velmourns first—they all stared at Morvain in shock, knowing exactly what she was trying to say. Stonefangs, who heard the translations later, had a better reaction.
At the very least, they didn’t seem horrified. They... seemed to have expected it.
Morvain then looked at her own people and continued—
"Other tribes, those who haven’t joined the Stormcallers—we need to recruit them. We need to bring them inside the Wall."
She spoke and this time—
"This is madness!"
Draksis raised his voice—this time, not out of hatred for Kael or the council, but pure concern and fear.
"Do you even realize what you are doing!? Weren’t Stonefangs enough!? Now you want more!? How is that a solution!?"
He snapped, and this time, the people were with him. Aside from the members of Dawn of the Dragon, other Velmourns were extremely sceptical. Doubts, suspicion, and confusion—it was written all over their faces.
Morvain looked at her people, then she looked at Draksis.
"What other choice do you think we have? If we do not do anything, we will be overwhe—"
She tried to reason but—
"Didn’t you say the Sky Kingdom General is with us? Isn’t the Sky Kingdom all strong and mighty?
They should be able to take care of a few tribes in an isolated island. If she helps us, let alone recruiting other tribes and going to a war, this could be solved without a war.
Not a single person would lose his life. Is that not a better idea?"
Draksis proposed, looking at both Morvain and Aurelia. The people, especially the Velmourns, nodded at those words. All of them liked that idea.
"I cannot do that."
But before Morvain could say anything, Aurelia shook her head.
"Why is that? Didn’t you say you would stand with us no matter what happens?"
Draksis asked.
"The Sky Kingdom cannot take part in matters related to Heights. That was the Treaty."
"You have already taken enough part, don’t you think?"
For a moment, there was silence.
Aurelia looked at Draksis, but the former member of the Iron Council wasn’t intimidated; he wanted answers, and the best part?
This time, he wasn’t alone—the people were with him.
Aurelia knew that, so she shook her head, calmed herself down and—
"It is a different thing if I was forced to help you as a prisoner."
She answered.
"You have captured me and my subordinates, you have sealed our Sanctuaries. If we do not comply with your leader’s commands, we lose our lives.
Your leaders tell us to heal, we heal; they tell us to hand over the artifacts we have, we hand over; they tell us to instruct, we instruct.
Survival.
That is the only reason we are helping you.
The Sky Kingdom has nothing to do with it, so no Treaty is being broken here."
"Y-You..."
Draksis did not know what to say.
"You are only twisting the story with a lie!"
He raised his voice.
"I am not doing any such thing. I am being blackmailed with mine and my people’s lives on the line. I have no choice but to cooperate.
But the Sky Kingdom isn’t the same,
So forget you will get any outside reinforcements.
This is the matter of Heights,
It can only be solved in Heights."
Aurelia declared, and this time, Draksis turned silent. Together with him, people lost their edge too.
Without him, no one else could ask questions. They could resist it as much as they wanted, but they too could see it—if Stormcallers gathered all the tribes, then they would be overwhelmed, there was no doubt about that.
So they needed to move first.
Just that...
People feared that if they recruited too aggressively, the Stormcallers might not need war to kill them.
They could be done in from within.
But—
"I understand your fear, your anger and your doubts."
As people thought about all this, Morvain raised her voice again.
"But understand this—
A war is coming.
The Stormcallers are preparing a final attack, and now that Lord Kael has attacked them and showed them his strength,
They will panic, and in their panic, they will attack harder.
And we cannot meet that attack with just two tribes.
We need more strength.
We need more hands.
We need more shields.
We need... more people to survive."