Chapter 140: The Mountain Walls
The night wind blew heavily across the fortress’s central courtyard, snapping the tanned-hide banners while the smell of smoke and branded flesh faded into the air. Kellar pulled his hand back from Krag’s forehead, leaving the former leader whimpering upon the snow with the smoking mark of slavery branded into his bone.
"Rest for today; tomorrow we depart," said Kellar, looking out at the crowd of warriors who watched in silence. "Helga, arrange the quarters for your new soldiers. Their deployment and positioning depend entirely on you. Do not disappoint me."
"I will not, Great Shaman," said Helga, bowing her head as Kellar turned to head toward his private chambers.
When the shaman vanished behind the heavy wooden gates, Helga stood in the center of the courtyard, taking a deep breath to absorb the weight of command upon her shoulders. Beside her, the twenty riflemen assigned by Brak remained formed in two flawless ranks, muskets slung over their shoulders and eyes locked straight ahead.
Helga walked over to them and stopped before the recruit who seemed to lead the squad.
"In the main village... what do you usually do to organize the watches?" said Helga, looking over the youths’ discipline.
"We maintain strict group rotations, Commander Helga," said the rifleman, stepping forward with a steady voice. "We drill, patrol in pairs, and set eight-hour shifts per group so vigilance never stops and no one suffers from accumulated exhaustion."
Helga listened attentively and walked toward the palisade, observing the elevated guard posts. The six main battlements used to be guarded by Mark and Krag’s trusted men, but all of them had been persuaded by the disobedient noble and ended up wiped out in the pass ambush.
"Good, we will adapt that to this fortress," said Helga, turning back toward the troop. "The six battlements along the wall must be manned at all times. I will divide the twenty of you into three groups. We will set eight-hour continuous shifts per group to keep watch over the outer passes."
The youths listened to the orders, nodding with discipline.
"The six men of the first shift will take the battlements now," said Helga, pointing to the palisade stairs. "The remaining twelve will rest in the east wing barracks for the following shifts. And you two... will stay with me as my personal escort at all times."
"Understood, Commander!" said the two designated riflemen, stepping up instantly one pace behind her with weapons ready.
Helga glanced out of the corner of her eye at Krag, who was dragging himself in silence toward the corner of the courtyard.
Among the crowd drenched by the snow, Vael, the overseer of the mines, watched the entire scene in silence. Helga noticed him amidst the mass of villagers and raised a hand, beckoning him forward with a firm gesture.
"Vael, step forward," said Helga, raising her voice over the mountain wind.
The miner took several steps into the open, bowing his head with deep respect before the new commander.
"From this day on, Krag will work in the deepest pits along the slope," said Helga, pointing at the man who remained curled up in the snow whimpering in pain. "That will be his place from now on. Make sure he produces like any other slave and do not allow him to step foot in this courtyard ever again."
"I understand what must be done," said Vael, nodding sternly as he looked at the former leader stripped of all power.
Helga turned toward two of the riflemen from the group that had not yet dispersed to rest.
"You two, take him away," said Helga.
The two young riflemen stepped forward immediately, grabbing Krag by the arms without hesitation and yanking him to his feet. As they dragged him right past Helga, she paused for a moment and locked her eyes onto her former husband’s face, disfigured by the raw brand.
"Your suffering is your punishment for offending the shaman and the Bear God," said Helga, her voice cold and devoid of a single trace of mercy. "Give thanks for his mercy, because if not for that, you would be hanging from the main gate right now to warn the rest of the fools. Your ambition blinded you; from this day on we are nothing and I owe you nothing, and I hope to never see you again."
Krag hung his head, not daring to utter a single word, allowing the riflemen to drag him alongside Vael into the darkness of the mine trail while the falling snow began to cover their tracks.
Kellar remained seated inside a temporary chamber within the fortress, the very same room he had occupied weeks prior during the intense days of developing the forge. The room was barely illuminated by the glow of burning coals inside the stone brazier, casting long shadows across the timber walls.
Kellar clenched his fists against the workbench, visibly irritated.
"If not for this damn system update..." thought Kellar, closing his eyes in frustration.
Over the past few days, the system interface had remained in a state of pause and silence. The skill and upgrade tabs were still completely empty, preventing him from utilizing key abilities such as [Eyes of the Tribe Lord]. Had that mystical long-distance vision skill been active, he would have been able to monitor every corner of the fortress and detect Mark and Krag’s conspiracy from the very first moment they began plotting.
"I came close to losing Lennis and Garik," said Kellar in a low voice, staring into the brazier’s flickering flame.
A cold sweat crept down his neck at the thought of the consequences. If he had not followed his pure gut instinct and accelerated the troop’s march toward the pass, Mark would have slaughtered the convoy. The loss of the only trained master blacksmith and the inventor of the firing mechanisms would have delayed his expansion plans by months, shattering the technological progress he had worked so hard to build.
Kellar stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the courtyard lit by the torchlight of the riflemen garrison.
"I cannot rely solely on the system," said Kellar, clenching his jaw with resolve. "Hunches do not always arrive in time. From now on, the espionage network and military vigilance must be so relentless that I won’t need magic to see betrayal coming."