CHAPTER 438: THIS IS YOUR PART, OWN IT.

"Kael grows larger with time, and opposite to that, we grow smaller.

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. The two of them frowned, wanting to say something in return, but they knew the High Chronicler wasn’t done yet, so they waited, letting her speak.

"I do not deny it."

Nymeris muttered.

"That child has done good.

He has saved lives, many lives.

He has done more for Heights than we ever could and people love him for that.

That is all true.

But do not pretend not to see the shadow behind it.

When one voice reaches as far as the kitchens, the school, the watch, the ration lines, and the hearts of the people, that voice turns into rule—by habit if not by law."

The woman spoke with a solemn look on her face.

And at her words, Tarevian nodded as well.

"People whisper his name like a prayer now,"

He added.

"In the blocks, they call him the Dragon God. They mean no harm, I understand that, but their faith is too strong, many truly believe that he is a God descended from above to help them.

It has reached a point where the people now have blind faith in him, and we could see it with how the Elders confidently gave away their rations to him, thinking that he will be providing them food anyways.

If we do nothing, we will one day wake up only to find that the Council has become an afterthought.

Not because he crushed us—but because we rusted while leaning on him."

Nymeris and Draksis nodded at those words with grim looks on their faces, even Aelindra seemed a bit uncertain but—

"Then do not rust."

Korvath’s eyes did not soften.

"Stand up.

Work.

Meet him where he stands.

He gave us food to move—so move."

The Commander then turned towards Draksis and,

"Do not twist this into a tale where you are the victim. You cornered a father and spat on his child. And you did it again and again, thinking the Council shield would hold.

You chose this ground.

He simply stopped retreating."

Draksis shook with anger and humiliation.

"You of all people would accept this? A commander who swears to measure, not bow? You want us to ’stand up’ by bowing to an Outsider? Why not tell us to surrender Heights to him instead!?"

He snapped.

"I did not tell you to surrender."

Korvath answered in a firm tone, but Draksis did not back down.

"What is this then if not surrender dressed as sense?"

He questioned.

The Commander was close to losing control. He, however, took a deep breath, not allowing the Forge Leader to get into his head and—

"I do not bow.

I choose my battles.

I keep my men alive.

We cannot reach the Stormcallers’ peak in this weather. We cannot afford another hunt party lost.

But we can ask the man who already holds the grain, the eyes, and the faith of half our people to stand with us instead of against us."

He spoke in a low voice, then, he stared at Draksis with piercing eyes and—

"That starts by not calling his child ’damned’ in a courtyard where the whole Heights can hear it."

Once again, silence fell all over the place.

Draksis looked from face to face, but this time, he found no rescue.

Using this chance, Aelindra looked at Morvain.

"Matriarch,"

She called in a careful tone,

"We need a path.

Not a punishment.

If we make this a trial, the Heights will split, but if we pretend nothing happened, we can still drift and continue moving forward."

At her words, the Matriarch finally moved, her eyes passed over every single Elder, noticing their emotions—Korvath’s iron, Aelindra’s worry, Nymeris’s caution, Tarevian’s doubt and... Draksis’s rage.

"I heard all of you."

She spoke in a low voice, addressing everyone in a calm, steady manner.

"And I will say this first, no one under my rule will burn a man in my yard again."

Her gaze slid to Draksis’s severed arm, then back to the circle.

"Dragon or not.

God or not.

If we must carve that into stone, we will."

She spoke with a serious look on her face.

Draksis smiled at those words, at least the Matriarch was on his side, but then—

Morvain turned towards Draksis,

"And no one in my city will use the Council’s name to taunt the hands that feed us.

Not again."

Draksis’s mouth tightened.

"So—what? We do nothing?"

"We do not do nothing,"

Morvain shook her head.

"But we do not do foolish either."

She turned to Nymeris.

"You fear the tilt of power.

Good.

Then we build rails, not to trap him—"

The Matriarch raised a hand when Draksis tried to speak and—

"—but to work with him."

Nymeris nodded lightly.

Morvain then turned to Aelindra.

"You will draft a charter for the open kitchens.

I understand why Kael only wants the elderly to work in them, it is a good initiative, do not change that.

Put them under a joint ward: elders’ hands, Kael’s grain. Make clear rules: hours, lines, storage, no private stockpiles, no sanctuaries, add anything else you feel is important, then consult Kael and ask for his opinions regarding the matter.

Once everything is finalized and approved by the two of you—

Publish it on the boards."

She ordered.

"I can do that by morning."

Aelindra nodded responsibly.

The Warden of Provision was prepared for another all-nighter.

The Matriarch nodded back, satisfied, then she turned to Tarevian.

"You will form a council of the old. Ten from the blocks, rotated weekly. They will choose kitchen helpers, settle quarrels in the lines, keep count of bowls. They will answer to you and to Aelindra together."

She paused.

"Give them a bell and the right to ring it over any elder who jumps the queue."

"I will find the right ten."

Tarevian nodded as well.

"Korvath,"

Morvain then turned towards her commander,

"You will do as you were told before, ensure that every hunting party that leaves the Wall has thrice the numbers compared to normal. Double the wall watches. Send scouts only along the first ring, two by two, with whistles and flares. If anything looks wrong, they run. Make sure you tell them not to do anything foolish out of bravery. I need cowards, not reckless fools."

"Yes."

Korvath bowed his head.

"And Elder Nymeris,"

Morvain finally turned towards Nymeris. The Elder tapped on her cane and the Matriarch passed the instructions.

"You will gather every information we have about the Stormcallers, their language, their lifestyles, what they eat, how they live, everything.

I want every symbol, every tale, and reports about every time our men met theirs in the past.

If what they did today is a warning,

I want to know what comes next."

"By nightfall."

Nymeris’s eyes sharpened.

The Matriarch nodded, finally feeling some sense of control over the situation, but then—

"And Kael? He walks away?"

Draksis questioned as he stared at Morvain, his disbelief turning to bitterness.

Morvain stared at the Forge Leader with a tired sigh and—

"He walks."

She nodded.

"While we are here having our little chat, he is out there feeding people, while he watches everyone in order to track down any possible traitors and spies.

What he did was indeed wrong, but he was given all the reasons to lose his calm."

She answered, glaring at Draksis.

The Forge Leader lowered his head and gritted his teeth and seeing him like that, Morvain continued—

"But I will warn him.

If he breaks our laws again, we will not shout in the snow. We will bring him to the hall and punish him."

Her eyes finally cooled down.

"As we should have done with you."

She added.

"So this is my fault."

Color rose in Draksis’s face as he muttered bitterly, but then—

"This is your part,

Own it."

Korvath spoke bluntly.

Draksis glared at the Commander and—

"If this is your way of getting on his good side because you know he is ’watching’ everything through his eyes,

I have to say, I did not expect you, of all people, to cower in front of power and wag your tail like a good dog!"

He snapped and then—

Slap

Korvath slapped the Forge Leader’s face with a force so strong that his entire body tumbled over. The Forge Leader tried to sit up using his right arm, but by the time he realized it was missing, it was already too late and he lost his balance.

Lying on the fresh snow, with his head facing the sky, a red mark on his cheeks and a shocked look on his face, unable to believe what just happened.

And he wasn’t alone.

The rest of the people were the same.

This was the first time any Velmourn Elder had ever raised a hand on another.

But Korvath...

"I still blamed Kael a little for losing his composure during the council meeting, but no longer.

I did not realize the uncanny gift Elder Draksis holds, to kindle anger in others like never before.

It must be what he used before as well."

The Commander spoke as he glared at the fallen Draksis while wiping his hand. He then turned towards the Matriarch and—

"You can punish me according to whatever laws you desire.

I will be at the Wall."

Saying those words, he glared at Draksis as if he was filth one last time and finally walked away.