Chapter 553: I not go against ancestors.

“AAAGGGHHH!!!

LEAVE!

LEAVE ME!!!”

Fraza screamed.

He tried to twist, to resist, but… it was impossible.

With all his Bonds gravely injured and he himself surrounded by four Stonefangs, it was simply impossible for him to overpower them.

In the end, the patrol leader took out a thick rope from his Sanctuary and looped it around Fraza’s wrists and elbows.

“Done,”

He spoke with a cold look on his face and Fraza…

He coughed with a red face and wet eyes, staring at everything that had happened within just a few minutes.

“I not… I not…”

He tried to say something, but he could no longer form any coherent sentence. Multiple strong emotions took over him, and that effect was seen in his Bonds.

The Bonds that had been fighting desperately all this while, even when they were gravely injured, now slowed down.

The shadow-stag’s smoke slowed, its horns lowered. The hawk-beast’s wings folded in, trembling. The rock-lizard’s tail dropped.

One by one, they stopped fighting.

They too realized there was no point anymore.

The patrol party’s Bonds understood it as well, but they still did not let their guard down. They had surrounded them in a tight circle, prepared to move the moment something happened.

In an instant, the house that had been chaotic all this while turned… silent.

The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing from the warriors who had just fought together.

The crowd outside pressed closer, trying to see.

“Bring him.”

The patrol leader ordered.

Two patrol members lifted Fraza by the arms.

Fraza tried to jerk free once, but even his resistance had weakened considerably.

And obviously, he failed.

He was dragged forward, out of his home, into the open snow.

And as soon as he stepped outside—

The cold wind slapped his face.

People stared, some with anger as they understood what had happened, some were confused, and some were… scared.

Fraza looked around, searching the faces of the people he knew, as if he wanted help, but no one stepped forward.

After all, the ones who had captured Fraza weren’t Velmourn soldiers, but Stonefangs, and if the Stonefang warriors had moved, it meant that the order was given by the chief himself.

And no one wanted to stand against the chief’s order.

Behind Fraza, the patrol leader picked the broken crystal from the ground; like he expected, it was a communication crystal and… it was no longer working.

He clenched his fists as he glared at Fraza. He wanted to hold his collar and force him to tell who it was he had been talking to, but just then—

A shadow fell over the snow.

The crowd, the patrol leader, and even Fraza looked up.

And there—

High in the sky, hovered… Kael.

His cloak snapped in the wind as he stared at all the people beneath him, then his cold eyes dropped to Fraza.

Kael wasn’t surprised when he saw him bound; his Ants were already watching the situation and giving him real-time updates.

He just… stared at Fraza with a solemn look on his face, then he stared at the patrol leader and—

“Bring him out.

To the Wall.”

He ordered in the Stonefang tongue.

The patrol leader frowned; he did not know if he was supposed to follow Kael’s command here, and Kael understood, so…

“Your chief at Wall.

Everything happens in front of him.”

He clarified. The patrol leader looked at his men, then at the surrounding Stonefangs, especially the elderly, and after exchanging some nods—

“Yes.”

The patrol leader nodded and did what he was ordered to do.

And then, the Stonefang traitor was taken into the prison.

The prison cell was made from cold stone and iron.

It was cold, and the snow only made it worse. The iron scent, the faint drip of melted snow somewhere in the dark, it all made the place… even more ominous.

And inside that prison, Fraza was chained to the wall.

Thick cuffs locked his wrists. Another chain ran across his chest. His ankles were bound too, so he couldn’t even stand straight.

There were bruises on his ribs, his lips were split, and one eye was swollen.

Even so, he did not cry.

He did not beg.

He stared at the ground like it was the only safe thing left in the world.

Kael stood in front of him, and behind Kael were the four patrol members who had caught him. Their bodies were still tense, as if a battle could break out at any moment now, but at this moment, none of them were afraid.

After all, this was probably the safest place in the entirety of Heights.

It wasn’t just Kael; Korvath, the Commander of the Velmourn Army, was with them as well, and together with the Velmourn commander stood their chief.

Gruumak’s eyes burned with anger. He did not like the way Kael talked to him before, but the moment he heard that one of his men had a communication crystal he was secretly using, he understood everything.

But even then—

He gave his person the benefit of doubt and asked in his rough, cold, and angry Stonefang tongue—

“Who give you crystal? Who you talk?”

“…”

Fraza did not answer.

“Who?”

Gruumak repeated, stepping closer, his shadow falling over Fraza’s face.

Fraza’s jaw tightened, but he did not look up.

He was… too scared to.

If it was anyone else, he would have ignored it, but his chief… the chief was different. Gruumak’s fear was ingrained into the Stonefangs, but clearly, that fear alone wasn’t enough to stop them.

“What you say to them!?”

Gruumak raised his voice as he leaned forward.

“What you tell outside!?”

Fraza kept his mouth shut.

And inside the prison, silence lingered for a long time.

The patrol members exchanged looks. One of them gripped his weapon tighter, another spat to the side like the air itself disgusted him.

Gruumak’s breathing grew heavier.

“You betray blood.

You betray me.”

He spoke in his rough tone.

Fraza’s eyes flicked up for a heartbeat, looking at Gruumak, but the moment their eyes met, Fraza looked down again, trembling in fear.

Again, he did not answer.

And that was when Gruumak lost his temper—

“TELL ME WHAT YOU TALK!”

He roared, so loudly that his scream shook the entire shell. The patrol members trembled at their chief’s voice, the fear that had been instilled into them returned.

Even Korvath himself flinched for a moment, more out of surprise than fear. After all, he did not understand anything that was happening; he was only there because he wanted to see it with his own eyes, and later hear the details from Kael.

Fraza himself shook after Gruumak’s shout, so much that the chains holding him rattled strongly, but Gruumak’s anger hadn’t disappeared.

And just when it looked like the chief would get the answer out in his own way—

“We left land,”

Kael spoke in Stonefang tongue.

“We inside Wall. They have food. They know attack. They prepare. But Velmourn Stonefang fight. Not allies.”

Fraza froze at those words.

His head lifted slowly, his eyes wide in utter disbelief as he stared at the man standing in front of him.

Because what Kael just said weren’t some random words…

They were his words.

The exact words he had spoken into the crystal.

His lips parted in disbelief, but no sound came out. Gruumak, who understood Fraza’s reaction instantly, turned towards Kael, the patrol party members did the same.

And they all had a single question written on their faces—

How you know?

Again, Korvath did not react.

He just… found this situation oddly familiar. After all, he too had looked at Kael with the same expression, more than once, in fact.

Kael looked back at the Stonefangs for a moment, then he turned towards Fraza.

“I know because I watch,”

He answered with a shrug.

“Now they know where Stonefang stay. No hidden.”

He didn’t look angry.

He looked… disappointed.

“I sure who you talk,”

Kael spoke, talking to Fraza now.

“Stormcallers.”

At that name, the room felt colder.

The patrol members’ eyes sharpened. Gruumak’s shoulders rose slightly; he seemed like he was ready to strike.

But Kael stopped him.

He knew everything, but there was one thing he wanted to know.

“I not understand one thing,”

He began.

“Why you do it?”

Fraza’s throat moved.

For a second, it looked like he might speak.

Then he lowered his head again.

Like answering would kill him.

And Kael, who knew that look and knew what the man was thinking, spoke with a hard look on his face.

“If you not answer.

You die.

We execute.”

Fraza flinched at those words. The chains binding him clinked again. For a moment, he seemed shocked, but then, his gaze hardened and—

“Execute.”

He spoke, as if he had finally prepared himself.

“I not live with Velmourn.

I not go against ancestors.

Even if chief go.”

He spoke, his eyes burning with hatred as he looked at Kael, and Kael…

He turned silent and clenched his fist.

This time…

It didn’t seem like the situation could be solved by words.

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