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CHAPTER 242

294 AC

POV THIRD PERSON

TWO YEAR AGO

MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF MOON BROTHERS

The clash of thunders echoed through the rugged peaks of the Mountains of the Moon, reaching the ears of Umar, leader of the Moon Brothers. With a furrowed brow, he emerged in the village square, flanked by his son Ulf and a cadre of his most trusted warriors. What awaited them was a scene of both awe and trepidation—a few charred corpses strewn about and the villagers bowing in deference to a man seemingly fashioned from the very essence of the trees.

Umar, possessing a keen sense honed by a lifetime in the unforgiving mountains, felt the weight of the moment. His instincts screamed caution, warning against making an adversary of this enigmatic figure. The tree-man stood unperturbed, indifferent to the commotion around him.

As the Moon Brothers organized themselves, summoning warriors and encircling the foreign intruder, Umar couldn't shake the sense of unease. This was no ordinary encounter; it was a meeting between the familiar world of the mountain clans and the mystical forces embodied in the stranger before them. Umar addressed the tree-man with a mixture of skepticism and respect.

"So you claim to be a priest of the Old Gods," Umar remarked, his voice a low rumble. "But Old Gods never had priests; only the corrupt Seven has their septa and septons."

Aermir, with a regal demeanor, responded with a voice infused with mana, each word resonating like a thunderous command.

"Children of the First Men and faithful of the Old Gods. Our benevolent nature gods have grown weary of the Andals' and the Seven's transgressions. They have sent me to aid the faithful."

Umar was a pragmatic leader who placed his trust in the tangible—his axe, his strength, and the bonds forged in the crucible of the mountain; his beliefs were rooted more in the tangible realities of mountain life than in the unseen realms of the divine. The Old Gods, to him, were traditions observed out of respect for his late mother rather than a genuine faith. His childhood experiences had taught him that the gods, if they existed, were indifferent to the struggles of mortal men.

His late mother was a true believer, and it didn't help her when she got raped and died at the hands of a Valeman. No god helped or protected her. But what he gathered from the others was that this man had the power to control lightning.

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He turned to their old warg Kull. He was a man around 55-name-day old, and almost all his long hair was white other than some black streaks. He was a fierce warrior and a three-skin warg. His rugged face was focused on the men, but his eyes were milk-white.

Umar understood he must be scouting the area if there were any other men coming to their village. At this moment, tree men said,

"Umar, son of Ultar, I, Druid Emrys, came here in peace and only attacked to defend myself; you have nothing to fear as long as you do not attack me."

Aermir turned to the warg and said,

"And you, Kull, you do not need to waste your time using your owl to scout. There is nobody else coming."

Kull smiled,

"You can't expect me to believe you; I don't know you."

Aermir opened his hand and said,

"Be my guest, then."

Aermir, with patience, waited for them to feel safe. After Kull said something to Umar's ears, Umar turned to him and said,

"We have confirmed you are alone, so Druid, what is it that you wish from us."

Aermir didn't mince his words and said,

"An army, a unified army of mountain clans to fight against the Valeman and retake what is rightfully your ancestral lands."

Umar was shocked by what he heard,

"Hahaha! I would love nothing more than that, but do you expect us to bow down to you and serve you? So you can achieve this." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Aermir's wooden mask moved and showed a smile,

"Umar, you don't deserve to serve me; with time and training, when mountain clans become an army, you might earn that right."

Aermir looked with eyes full of scorn and said,

"Right now, you don't even deserve to be my dog."

Umar was so angry he almost exploded, but he always trusted his instinct and swallowed this insult for now, but his son couldn't. Ulf raged,

"The gods must've been drunk to let your sorry arse crawl out from under a rock, you bloody sheep-shagging halfwit. How dare you insult my father!"

He charged at him with his great axe; Aermir didn't even move since the axe was made out of bronze; he just cast his buffs and grabbed it with one hand, then flung him to the side like he was a piece of trash. With a menacing voice,

"I will give you this one chance; if you attack me one more time, I will show you who you are messing with."

Umar almost had a heart attack. Did that man just grab his son's full swing like it was nothing and throw him aside like a sack? Aermir was not showing it, but his hand was broken; the armor protected him, but he was not invincible; the man was powerful, but to show superiority, he had to bite the bullet. He cast a healing spell on his hand and mended the broken bone. He said,

"Let me show you how powerful you need to be to be my dog."

He summoned Berus. Umar was shocked that he summoned a dog out of thin air, but it looked like an ordinary black dog. Yes, it looked wellfed and powerful, but an ordinary dog nonetheless.

Then the beast started growling towards them and grew with every second. Every man started to backstep out of fear. It kept growing until it was bigger than a donkey. It wasn't as big as a horse, but it was definitely bigger than a donkey. What came to his mind was the dire wolves that use to live in those mountains. Aermir said,

"Now, fight my dog and show me if you have what it takes to be one of my dog."

He cast an armor spell on Berus since he was not going to fight with them for real, and he didn't want him to get hurt too much. Also he was trying to exude power so he couldn't let them draw blood from Berus. He smiled and said,

"Do not worry; he is not going to fight you for real; he is just going to play with you."

Kull called for his familiars, a brown bear and a wolf, to come into the village square. He looked so proud of himself. Aermir smiled and summoned a few of his familiars and conjured three wolves using spells. Two ravens bigger than eagles, a snake as big as a human, and wolves were looking at them. Then Aermir summoned an earth elemental and his wildfire spirit. Aermir said,

"I have 12 druids under me. They have just started a few months ago, but one of them shows promise. He managed to warg into two animals at the age of 22."

Kull's pride-filled eyes lost their luster. This man in front of him was beyond his understanding.