Their training with Mount Cyklon went better than last time, but they genuinely did not make that much progress. The higher they went, the worse the wind had gotten… Though Damon had warned them of this, it was not any easier to bear even when Alice and Kazius had been expecting it. It would likely be weeks before they could hope to reach the top.
The more they trained, the easier it was to see how Damon had gotten as strong as he was. Mount Cyklon itself challenged their balance, their perception, endurance, and so much more.
Two facts did reassure them though. One, the fact that they had made it farther, even if only a little. Secondly, their training once again took hours, but Kazius felt less drained than he had the previous day. A small part of that could be attributed though to the fact they finished a bit earlier, the sun just beginning to set as they headed back into town.
Their walk was very quiet.
Despite his initial giddiness, Damon did seem like his mind was elsewhere during their entire training. It seemed to only get worse now that their training was over for the day.
Alice kept giving Kazius a concerned look, clearly worried. Her violet eyes seemed to always be so expressive and revealed a lot about what she was thinking. She kept looking at Kazius and then staring at Damon for a bit. She had not been there during the morning, so clearly, she wanted Kazius to talk to Damon about what was on his mind.
Kazius in response simply shook his head. He truly believed that Damon needed time to think on his own. If he wanted to talk, he would. He had done so multiple times in the past.
At his response though, Alice pressed her lips into a line, frustrated. She let out a tiny huff, her expression a bit pouty. If she was this frustrated about Damon not talking about his thoughts… If she knew what Kazius was hiding, she would likely have an aneurism.
Kazius could not help but smile a little at the thought, this definitely not making Alice’s expression any less grumpy. She even gave him a tiny glare that Kazius could not help but find cute.
Their silent exchange was soon interrupted though. As they walked into Vargstam, Damon instantly froze.
It seemed Caleb and Azanor had acted fast on their own.
At the entrance of Vargstam was what had to be the entire town. Instead of the usual hateful expressions on their faces, there seemed to be nothing but remorse. There had to be around 500 people, including the children. In fact, most of the population seemed to be children, something that was easier to spot with everyone together. They outnumbered adults 7 to 3. The original size of Damon’s family was beginning to make a lot more sense. Were it not for the famine that Damon had told them about, Kazius would have wondered how their population was not already in the thousands.
At the front of the large group of people stood Azanor. He seemed to have a very frustrated expression on his face. Perhaps he was frustrated about helping more people for free…
Or maybe it was from spending a whole day with Zelphar’s lookalike. On one hand, he didn’t seem to have this hostility towards Alice… Then again, at first, he did treat her with disdain due to her heritage… But now it was different… Not to mention, she may have the pink hair and violet eyes of her family, but she was no carbon copy of Ratier… While Caleb had been mistaken for Zelphar by him when they first met.
Regardless of the why, it seemed like the only thing keeping his irritation at bay was the fact Eve was holding his hand.
Upon seeing Damon, the Tribe vowed. Rather than be happy at the reaction though, Damon seemed absolutely horrified. It was no secret to anyone that knew him that he did not want anything to do with the position of Chief.
It was then one of the Tribes people approached. He was a man of stature, but still nowhere near as tall as Damon. He stood at 6 ft 4 (1.93m) and wore furs almost as nice as the ones that Damon had given them. His clothes consisted of leather brown armor and brown fur adornments. He looked middle aged, with a long bear and mustache, the beard tied at the bottom… A style that seemed common among those with long beards at the tribe. His hair was long and blonde. His eyes were almost an olive color.
“Chief, you are back. I’m glad… I wanted to be the first to apologize to you… The way we treated you until now is unacceptable… Even if we were under the influence of that wretched traitor… I would not be surprised if the Goddess came down from Mount Cyklon and blew us all away herself. We… We acted shamefully. We disrespected the Goddess’ will.” The man stated through gritted teeth, clearly upset.
Damon only looked more uncomfortable by the second.
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“I am not Chief, Egil.” Damon stated in dismay at being called Chief. He seemed to only be more uncomfortable by the second. At his words, the Tribe looked horrified.
“Please, Damon. If you are angry at the Tribe, please only blame me for not noticing things sooner. Don’t abandon the Tribe for something they could not control. You represent the will of The Goddess… If you abandon the Tribe, it is the same as her abandoning us all. Please, I cannot fail your grandfather any more than I already have.” Egil pleaded.
Damon was speechless at that, his expression solemn.
‘I am just relieved he called him Damon instead of Demon… If they had enough sense about them to start families… It seems that they likely remember everything from their days being controlled.’
“Forgiveness and becoming your Chief are two entirely separate matters.” Kazius warned, deciding to speak up for Damon.
“That’s right. You can’t force him to be your Chief. You are lucky enough he even wants to talk to you… I understand you were not in your right mind… But think about what he went through before you throw the job of leading Vargstam at him!” Alice snapped, clearly upset that the first thing the Tribe was doing felt like coercion more than an apology.
“You don’t understand, you are outsiders… As the last of the Chief’s bloodline… There is no one else that can lead us. We cannot upset The Goddess any more than we already have. She has even bestowed her spear to him… You are her will, Damon.” Egil stated in concern. It seemed whoever he was, he had some sort of position in the Tribe… And also, was a strong believer in Vind.
Azanor scoffed at the notion.
“If I knew you would be this annoying, I wouldn’t have caved at the begging and kept you as decorations just standing there rather than undoing the stupid spell. Tell me, if you need The Chief’s bloodline to act out the will of your Goddess, then does that mean the previous Chief acted as her will?” Azanor mocked with a bit of a smug look.
“That’s a mean thing to say.” Eve told Azanor in dismay.
“What? It’s true. They should just pick someone else who is willing. He doesn’t want the position; they should just drop it. Even in monarchies they usually just pick the next in line rather than be this insistent about it… They are just upsetting him.” Azanor stated, even more irritation in his voice. He seemed upset on Damon’s behalf, but he seemed to take this conversation personally for some reason. It seemed succession rights may be a touchy issue for him.
“That’s bad…” Eve trailed off in agreement, clearly unsure on what to think. On one hand it was mean to force someone to do something… On the other, it was bad to say mean things… To be fair, she probably only understood the last sentence Azanor had said.
“Just be Chief, Caleb.” Damon begged, a desperate look in his eyes.
“No way, Damon… I have no right to a position like that, I am not related by blood to any of the previous Chiefs. Not to mention, even if you exclude blood… A coward like me has no business leading anyone… I… I have a lot to change about myself before I even consider myself a good brother, much less any sort of leader.” Caleb admitted in dismay, shaking his head at the notion.
At his words, Damon seemed more than disappointed, but that meant he was really stuck.
Kazius frowned, they had tried so hard to just allow Damon to forget things today... Yet this had to happen. It seemed he had avoided the subject for nothing. Still, Kazius grew up under The Church of Ratier… He knew how to address this sort of thing.
“I understand how you feel, Egil… But if you really are that worried about upsetting your Goddess or anything like that, doesn’t that mean you should listen to Damon? If he is her will, then do as he says…. If anything, by ignoring how he feels, you are going against what she wants more than anything.” Kazius pointed out with a raised brow.
At his words, Damon did seem to brighten up.
“Exactly!” Damon exclaimed, looking more than relieved as Egil seemed to consider Kazius’ words.
Egil began rubbing his beard in thought, looking over at The Tribe he was currently representing to talk to Damon.
“That makes sense… I suppose then if Damon himself chose a replacement, then that would also be the Goddess’ will…” Egil agreed while in thought.
The more he spoke, the more curious Kazius was as to what sort of position Egil had.
Still, this seemed like the best course of action for Damon to feel at peace and finally resolve this power struggle full of unwilling participants.
“Tell me then, Damon. Who do you think would make a good leader for the Tribe?” Egil followed up.
At this, Damon seemed unsure. Then again, who could blame him? The Tribe had not interacted normally with him for years… And now they wanted him to lead them or choose them as a leader. Other than Egil, did Damon even know any of them by name? Heck, he probably knew their group better than his own Tribe, despite the fact they had known each other for a few days.
It wasn’t like they were malicious in their treatment of Damon… But in truth, they were more strangers to him than his people. Damon could also not bring himself to lead them due to what he had gone through…
When Egil fell victim to Luna’s spell… It had likely come off as a huge betrayal for Damon… Could Damon forgive him or the Tribe? Even if he had no control over his actions, the distress they had inflicted on Damon was real.
That being said, Egil he was the only real option for the position. Who else other than Egil could Damon even consider as a capable enough leader? Especially since Caleb did not want the job either.
Even with Luna gone, the mess she made would continue to ripple through Vargstam… Even affecting the selection of the next Chief to this extent now. This had to be a difficult decision for Damon…
Though a sudden change in attitude in Damon threw off Kazius’ perception of things. Maybe he had found a solution that made sense and that he was happy with?
Confused, Kazius watched Damon as he perked up, as if he had an epiphany. It was like Damon had figured out something obvious, showing his thinking process as he punched his open palm with one hand to the other in realization. Everything about his face practically screamed ‘Aha!’.
Turning around, Damon suddenly looked straight at Kazius.
“You should be Chief, Kazius!” Damon beamed, seeming to cheer up at the notion.
Nodding in agreement, Kazius did not fully process Damon’s words at first. He simply kept nodding only for his red eyes to widen in shock and confusion.
“Wait… WHAT?!”