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Chapter 421: Back In Tribe

Sol moved through the gates of the Veynar settlement just as the blood-red dawn fully broke over the palisades. The heavy war drums had finally ceased their rhythmic thudding, replaced by a low, buzzing hum of collective panic that hovered over the whole tribe like thick smoke.

Warriors were sprinting across the inner rings, their bone-shields clattering against their chests as captains barked out frantic commands to shore up the secondary lines.

The civilian sectors were in complete disarray; women dragged crying children into the reinforced stone basements of the spires, while elders huddled roam around the near the main areas trying to stabilize and organize the situation.

The smell of fear in the air was tangible, sharp enough to cut through the heavy stench of the rotting muck.

Sol navigated the chaos like a ghost, his pitch-black Rockhorn armor caked in dried green grime and yellow ichor. He went straight to the High Hall to find Warchief Veylara, but the throne was empty.

Only a few lower-ranking guards stood watch, their faces pale and drawn.

After asking around he found that Veylara wasn’t in the tribe yet.

He turned around, walking out into the courtyard, his eyes calmly looking around at the confusion. These people thought they were about to be slaughtered by a phantom horde.

They didn’t know that all of the enemy’s elite stalkers were already rotting in the mud outside, their skulls popped into paste.

"Sol."

Suddenly, the smooth, authoritative voice cut through the noise of the surrounding crowd.

Sol turned to see High Shaman Zephyra stepping out from the panicked crowd.

She was wearing her usual full ceremonial robes, but the moment her eyes locked onto his gory, armor-clad figure, her regal composure completely vanished. Her jaw tightened, and she looked at him, temporarily speechless.

She dragged him into a secluded alcove by his arm, out of sight of the panicked recruits.

"You absolute idiot," Zephyra hissed in a low, frantic whisper as she stared at the green blood drying on his bare forearms. "What were you thinking, doing all of this alone? When the scouts returned and described what happened in the gully, we realized you were out there. You could have just come back and informed us! You could have let the warriors handle the perimeter!"

Sol looked into her silver eyes, a lazy, unbothered smile slowly pulling at the corner of his lips.

He leaned his back against the petrified wood wall, completely relaxed despite the grime covering his skin.

"You already know the answer to that, Zeph," Sol replied smoothly, his voice a calm, gravelly rasp. "If I had come back to file a report, ten more of your scouts would be liquid grease right now. And I don’t play defense."

Zephyra let out a long, heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly under her heavy robes.

"But still... what if you had encountered a high-layer warrior? The Zerith hierarchy doesn’t just send infants to clear a border. What if a Layer 3 commander had caught you in the dark?"

Sol smirked, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, proactive spark. He leaned in slightly, dropping his voice to a low purr. "Don’t worry so much. My senses are a lot sharper than the rest of these guys. And besides... I have my own specialties for handling difficult targets. You should know that better than anyone."

Remembering the raw, mind-melting dominance of that sex session that had completely broken her countless boundaries just nights before, Zephyra’s cheeks instantly flushed a deep, burning crimson.

She coughed into her hand, her eyes darting away nervously as she tried to regain her untouchable Shamanic persona.

"It’s... it is not the time for jokes like that," she stammered, her voice losing its edge. "It could have been incredibly dangerous out there. Don’t ever do something so reckless again. And it’s only thanks to Veylara that—"

She was right in the middle of her sentence when the air was suddenly sucked out of Sol’s lungs as two heavy bodies crashed into his chest simultaneously.

"You’re finally back!"

Kira’s voice exploded right against his breastplate. The fierce, stoic warrior had completely abandoned her warrior pride; her arms were wrapped around his waist like an iron grip, her face buried into the cold black carapace of his armor as she started bawling her eyes out loudly.

She was shaking, her regular tough-girl facade completely shattered by a night of agonizing waiting. "Where the hell were you the whole night?! I-I was really afraid... I thought you died out there!"

Right next to her, Zeyra was gripping his arm so hard her knuckles were white.

Even though she wasn’t crying, her dark eyes were heavily bloodshot, ringed with red from a sleepless night.

She didn’t say a word, but she glared up at him fiercely, her jaw tight and her teeth gritted, looking like she wanted to stab him herself just for making her wait in the dark.

Sol stood there, completely trapped under the combined weight of the two girls, his hands hovering awkwardly over their shoulders. He offered a helpless, dry chuckle, looking at Zephyra over their heads for assistance, but the High Shaman just shook her head with a faint, amused smirk.

Before he could even attempt to calm Kira’s loud wailing, a heavy, commanding presence rolled into the courtyard.

Warchief Veylara strode through the inner ring archway. She was completely covered from head to toe in thick, dark-green Zerith blood and yellow ichor, her massive bone-spear resting casually over her shoulder.

She looked exhausted, her muscles tight, but she carried herself with the absolute, matter-of-fact calm of a apex predator returning from a routine slaughter.

As her eyes scanned the courtyard, she locked onto Sol, who was currently being buried alive by her daughter and Zeyra.

Veylara stopped, studying his blood-caked armor for a long moment, before offering him a firm, slow nod. It was a gesture filled with an immense, deep-seated gratitude... one warrior recognizing another who had just held the line in the dark.

Zephyra stepped past Sol, looking at the Warchief. "So how was it? Did you get them all?"