Chapter 534: So it finally happened.

“How?”

Chief Gruumak questioned directly. His face was full of curiosity and… suspicion.

Kael didn’t move. He already knew what Gruumak wanted to ask, but he still let him finish.

“How move thousands of us without anyone seeing?”

Gruumak asked.

He had moved from his land to the Velmourn Wall multiple times in his life; he knew everything there was to know about the path. He knew all the so-called *secret passages, shortcuts, or whatnot, and Kael…

He took the most basic path, one that should have been filled with multiple scouts from multiple tribes and… nothing happened?

How was that possible?

Did he use an artifact?

When was the said artifact used?

How was it used?

All these questions appeared in Gruumak’s head, and while he had no clear idea, he did know that Kael knew something that he did not.

And the man in question—

He looked at Gruumak for a moment.

Then his gaze moved briefly over the Stonefang line. He saw their faces, their disbelief, their confusion, their fear that any moment now the trap would spring. Then, his gaze returned to Gruumak and—

“I told you to follow me,”

He answered seriously.

“You did.

So nothing happened.

Just like I promised you.”

Gruumak’s brows furrowed at that answer.

“That not answer.”

He replied in a sharp, almost irritated tone. A few Stonefang warriors muttered in agreement. The Velmourns were obviously still confused since they simply did not understand the language.

They were trying to read the situation through Kael and Gruumak’s expressions, and for now, Kael’s expression did not change.

“That is the only thing you need to know right now.”

He spoke in a calm tone, then, after a slight pause—

“I know the Heights better than the tribes think.”

He added.

Gruumak’s gaze tightened. Neither his curiosity nor his suspicions were eased but… he did not have any other choice. He chose to believe Kael, and Kael followed through with what he promised without a hitch. Nothing more needed to be said here.

In the end, the Stonefang Chief nodded and Kael nodded back.

Just like that, the little exchange between the two ended, and Morvain, who saw it all closely, narrowed her eyes as she stared at Kael.

Again, she did not know what the two talked about, and she didn’t have to. Kael’s expression—despite him not showing much of it—gave her a rough idea, since she too had been on the receiving end of those very same expressions.

She understood what Kael was doing.

He was showing confidence. He was giving the Chief something to hold onto, and the woman was darn sure it wasn’t an explanation—

it was… belief. A hope.

He was trying to become the very core of their hopes, so that they start relying on him even more… just like he had done with the Velmourns.

This was the reason that even after he proposed the absurd idea of bringing the Stonefangs into the Wall—and actually brought them—

all these soldiers, who normally would have jumped at the enemy warriors by now and begun a bloodshed even if it meant their own deaths, were now standing and… waiting.

Putting their trust in the man they saw as… messiah.

In the end, Morvain sighed silently and stepped forward, reclaiming the moment while she still could.

“Chief Gruumak,”

She called out, making Gruumak turn toward her.

“Your quarter will be shown to you.”

Morvain’s gaze then flickered across the Stonefangs and she continued.

“You and your people will settle there. You will not wander. You will not enter other quarters without consent. And my people will follow the same rule when it comes to your quarter.”

Kael looked at Morvain and then translated her words for Gruumak. The Chief nodded. He looked at Kael once again, still unsettled, still trying to understand… what kind of man could walk through the Heights with an army, unseen.

But he did not say anything else.

For now, he had reached the Wall.

And the gates had opened.

The hardest part was no longer the journey.

It was what came after.

Finally, under Morvain’s guidance and Kael, who now worked as a translator between the two sides, the Stonefangs began to move amidst all the wariness, tensions, and worries, and in about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the outer quarters, where Tarevian and Aelindra were waiting for them after making the last bit of preparations.

“Your people must be exhausted, let them rest for the day.”

Morvain ordered once they were finally here. Kael translated and Gruumak nodded again before turning toward his people and shouting orders.

His people began to move. Since the group was no longer surrounded by Velmourn soldiers, the tensions had eased considerably. The Stonefangs quickly settled in. The leaders exchanged a few more words before Gruumak walked toward his people.

Morvain and Kael watched everything with calm eyes and—

“So it finally happened.”

Morvain commented, her eyes staring at the Stonefangs.

“It was bound to happen.”

Kael answered back.

Then, since he didn’t have any more time to waste, he glanced at Morvain and—

“I should leave now, we need to prepare food for them.”

“Do you have enough?”

The Matriarch asked, and Kael nodded.

An extra thousand mouths was nothing, not with the absurd amount of food his Ants had already produced for him in these past few days.

“Elder Tarevian.”

He called out. Tarevian turned toward him and—

“Please come with me.”

Kael requested and the two left, leaving Morvain and Aelindra there, in case the Stonefangs needed anything from them.

Was this a dangerous decision? Leaving the very Leader of the Velmourns here?

It was.

It obviously was.

Morvain wasn’t just the Velmourn Matriarch; she was their strongest warrior. A woman who had faced Gruumak multiple times in the past.

A woman who, if it wasn’t for her, the Velmourns might have fallen under the Stonefang hands more than once.

She was… extremely important for Velmourn survival. Losing her would be… devastating.

If the Stonefangs wanted, they could use this chance to surround and get rid of the Velmourns’ strongest warrior, and without her, if the Stonefangs launched an attack from this side of the Wall—

Crushing the Velmourns and completely taking over their lands, along with their Wall, was definitely possible, even if the Velmourns had Kael on their side.

And…

And that was all the reason Morvain was here in the first place.

She… was acting as bait.

She was trying to tempt the Stonefangs into attacking her because she knew the instant they did, Kael—with his eyes—would know. He would come to her rescue with their army and they would be able to wipe out the traitors.

All she needed to do was… wait.

And that is what she did but…

Even after half an hour passed, nothing happened.

Yes, Gruumak came to her more than once with Zakaar. He had some questions he wanted answers to. He also offered her a place to sit—oddly civilized considering this was coming from a man who didn’t even have the word ’civilized’ in his language—but other than that—

Gruumak never did anything suspicious. Even when his men glared at Morvain and muttered something the Matriarch did not understand, he slapped them and made them bow their heads to her in apology—something that, once again, Morvain found quite surprising.

“We should leave.”

In the end, understanding that even if the Stonefangs were planning something, it wasn’t going to happen right now, Morvain just sighed and spoke out loud.

And the moment she said those words, Aelindra—who from beginning to end had not moved even a single inch ever since Kael left because she knew this day could very well be her last—heaved a big sigh of relief and quickly jumped on the offer.

“Yes!”

She nodded. Her loud voice attracted a bit of reaction, but she had already turned around.

Morvain, on the other hand, stared at Gruumak and nodded, as if telling him she was leaving, and the Chief…

He… smiled and nodded back.

Making the Matriarch frown once again, but she quickly shook her head to get that sight out of her mind and walked away.

Gruumak watched her leave even after she disappeared, and only after a few more seconds passed did he turn back toward his men and begin shouting more orders.

The Stonefangs weren’t particularly choosy about where they would live. Plus, the land here was ample and the stone houses had plenty of space, so there weren’t many issues they were facing. The bigger houses were given to bigger families, the smaller ones to smaller families or people living alone.

The Stonefangs also began digging into the ground and planting some of their tribe signs they believed to be the signs of good luck. Some places were used as ancestral shrines, where they planted their ancestors’ bones; some places were used as cemeteries where they remembered the dead.

Yes, the group had already begun personalizing the Outer Quarter as their own.

The Stonefangs…

They were truly settling in and…

From their actions, it seemed like they were planning to stay here for a long, long time.

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