Chapter 437: Kael grows larger with time.

And then it happened.

Snap

The arm came off with a shocking ease—the charred mess simply had no power to resist Kael’s strength.

A thin trickle of cauterized blood oozed from the stump and the arm itself fell to the snow.

Draksis’s eyes widened in pure horror as he stared at his severed limb. Tears streamed down his cheeks, his body convulsing under Kael’s grip.

And Kael…

He stepped onto Draksis’s broken arm, then with his eyes fixed on Draksis—

“This is what your threat is.”

He spoke as he used a little force and—

“Empty.”

Completely crushed his arm under his foot.

Saying those words, he threw the now broken Draksis’s body away as if it was worth less than trash.

He then walked towards him, grabbed him by his hair and forced him to look at him,

“From this day forth, my eyes will keep a constant watch on you, and if I see something even slightly suspicious, anything that might hurt me or my family—”

Kael then turned towards his crushed arm and—

“It won’t be your arm in that state,

But your body.”

Kael threatened again before he pushed the man onto the snow and walked towards Lavinia. As he held her hand, he glanced at Morvain, Korvath, and the other elders and—

“I am Kael Carter.”

He began.

“Hero of Nerathis, Saviour of Estwyn, and Father of Three Dragons.

Remember it well because from this day onwards,

I will act like I was supposed to act to begin with.

I will not be disrespected, threatened or…”

He then looked specifically at Morvain and—

“Tested.”

He then tightened his hold on Lavinia’s hand and—

“You can talk to me if you have things to say, you can guide and suggest me if you feel your help will make me and this place better,

But all this will be done through mutual respect, not through blame games or indirect political power plays.

I hope that is clear.”

Kael spoke with a light nod and without waiting for an answer—

“Now if you will excuse me,

I have people to feed.”

He spoke as he took Lavinia and sat on top of Igni, who gladly flew away, their next destination—

The Elders Square.

…

Back in Draksis’s courtyard, the snow kept falling even after Kael and Lavinia left. Fortunately, the wind seemed to have slowed down, so the weather was no longer stormy. At the very least, people could move out without having the ice shards prepared to tear them apart.

However, the people present in the courtyard didn’t seem like they had any plans to celebrate the end of the storm.

How could they?

After all, most of them were still thinking about everything that happened—all the images were still clear in their heads.

Morvain watched the empty sky with a solemn look on her face.

Aelindra stared at Draksis’s severed arm that Kael had crushed, petrified.

Korvath stood like a statue, hands behind his back. He had a somewhat lost look on his face, a look his soldiers would have recognized in an instant and moved away from him. The Commander was thinking about something and should not be disturbed.

Nymeris leaned on her cane. She usually did not need it, but today, she felt comparatively heavier. The Old High Chronicler feared that her time was near and…

As she looked around and saw the state of things… she didn’t want to leave just yet… not when everything was in shambles like this.

Tarevian rubbed his palms. There was a complicated look on his face, as if he was making a difficult decision in his head.

And Draksis…

He knelt in front of his severed arm, too scared to even pick it up. His breathing was uneven, hair a mess, body almost lifeless. He… he no longer seemed like the proud Forge Leader he once was.

He seemed… broken.

The silence was heavy.

It was as if no one dared to break it, fearing that one action would release a big storm, a storm not one of them were prepared for right now.

After about three minutes, Draksis finally lifted his head and looked at Morvain. The rage from before was gone. What sat in his eyes now was a raw, heavy helplessness.

“Are you not going to do anything when this happened right in your presence?”

He asked in a rough voice, pointing at his severed arm.

“…”

Morvain did not answer.

Her gaze stayed on the direction Kael had gone, as if worried he might return any moment.

Seeing her reaction, Draksis began in a heavy tone.

“If you say nothing now, Matriarch, if you take no action, this will break the balance we have kept for generations.”

He had a grim, almost fearful look on his face.

“An outsider will hold more power than the Council. Than you. Than any of us. This will not end well for the Heights.”

Again, Morvain didn’t react, but she didn’t stop Draksis either. After all, she and every single person present here knew that the Forge Leader wasn’t wrong.

Draksis didn’t give up either.

“Today it was me,”

He raised his voice, staring at the rest of the elders.

“Tomorrow it can be you.

Anyone who ever dares to question him.

He will not stop unless he has absolute po—”

“Enough.”

Suddenly, Korvath’s cold voice cut through Draksis’s words.

Draksis turned towards him with a frown and with a hard, grim look on his face, Korvath continued in a harsh tone.

“You have used the Council’s name to hide your pride for days. You poked, and pushed, and jeered—not for the people, but to satisfy yourself. And now you stand here and blame everyone else for what you lit.”

Draksis stared at him, stunned.

“Korvath—”

But the Commander didn’t listen. He stepped closer to the Forge Leader and—

“You wanted to break him,”

Korvath began,

“You wanted to push him till he does something and then scream ‘danger’ when he does.

That is not vigilance.

That is vanity dressed as law.”

Draksis’s mouth opened and closed.

Snow gathered on his hair and beard.

“I spoke for the Heights.

For the order that kept us alive.”

“You spoke for your fear,”

Korvath snapped back.

“Fear that someone stronger and more capable than you had walked in and did in days what we could not in decades.

You feared the people would look past you.

So you kept jabbing him in the Elders Hall again and again, hoping he would make a mistake under pressure, a mistake that you could point at and say, ‘See? The outsider is unfit.’

And then he did.”

Korvath spoke, looking at Draksis’s missing arm.

“He made the mistake you pushed him to make and…

This is where it has brought you, and all of us.”

Korvath stepped even closer, standing right above Draksis and—

“You brought this upon yourself, Draksis.”

“Y-You…”

Draksis stuttered.

“You are blaming me?”

He looked around, wanting to get some support.

But then—

“Who else should we blame?”

Aelindra questioned, looking at Draksis with eyes filled with dissatisfaction and frustration.

Draksis stared at the Warden of Provisions in disbelief.

“You agree with this? After what that monster did to me? Right in front of every single one of you?”

Aelindra’s jaw tightened at those words.

“I do not agree with the fire or the… pain you went through.”

She spoke, looking at his missing arm with hesitation. Soon however, a determined look appeared on her face and—

“But I saw who held the line when the enemies were at the Wall. I saw who fed the elders, and the children, and the families who were starving for decades. I saw who opened a school the day after he arrived so our mages could stand straighter.

You call him an outsider, but he has done more for this place in these few days than any one of us has done all our lives.

Go talk to people outside, ask them what they think about him.

This Outsider is loved and cherished by every single one of the people we swore to protect.”

Aelindra then lowered her head when she thought about what Kael did and—

“What happened to you happened because you kept throwing sparks near oil. It doesn’t give you the right to cry that you were burned.”

Draksis’s mouth opened and closed time and time again, but this time, he couldn’t come up with a reply.

If it was just Korvath alone, he might have been able to say something, but if even Aelindra was blaming him then…

Then he might not get the support he was expecting.

However, before he lost all hope—

“I do not like where this road leads.”

A voice was heard.

It was Elder Nymeris.

The High Chronicler lifted her cane and tapped on the stone, gathering everyone’s attention with her words.

“Kael grows larger with time.”

She began.

“And opposite to that, we grow smaller.”

The woman then looked at everyone present here and—

“Power is good, but when combined with speed, it often becomes dangerous.

In most cases, it forgets the stairs it climbed.”

The High Chronicler spoke as she stared at Korvath and Aelindra.