Chapter 176: The Will of the Untamed
Kellar held his arm steadily extended, closing the distance between his hand and the hooked beak of the young winged predator. The creature had seemed paralyzed by fear beneath Ignis’s imposing presence, but the moment it felt the physical proximity of a human, that panic twisted into a savage rage.
Sshhrriiieeeekk!
The eagle let out a deafening shriek that vibrated through the nearby timber beams. With a thrash that nearly pulled the gatherer women off their feet, the beast delivered a razor-sharp bite, swift as lightning, aiming for Kellar’s hand.
Kellar snapped his arm back, feeling the cold gust of air cut past his fingers by a hair’s breadth. The creature’s beak snapped shut with a metallic crunch capable of crushing bone. Far from backing down, the eagle began flapping its wings in desperation, digging its rear talons into the dirt with bloodshot eyes, ready to tear apart anything within reach before ever submitting.
"My lord!" Mentz called out, stepping forward with his hand on his sword hilt.
"Back off, Mentz!" Kellar ordered in a cold voice, checking him in his tracks.
Kellar took two steps back, watching the creature thrash against its restraints. There was no reasoning, no understanding, not the slightest opening for a bond; it was an apex predator from the mountain peaks whose response to captivity was absolute violence.
Seeing the aggression toward his master, Ignis stepped forward with fury. The fire bear intimidated the creature, pinning it to the ground and placing a heavy paw right on its neck. Yet the moment Kellar extended his hand again, the bird thrashed beneath Ignis’s weight; the message was clear: death over submission.
Kellar watched the display for a couple of seconds until he had enough.
"Tie it down tight and don’t feed it," Kellar instructed the gatherers. "We’ll see in a couple of weeks if it isn’t submissive... it won’t be too late to make it into soup."
Kellar turned to Mentz with a cold look.
"Leave the police force here to maintain order in the village," Kellar commanded, gesturing toward the central thoroughfares. "And send urgent messengers to the fortresses. They must advance toward the mountains of the green eagles from their respective positions. Leave only ten guards at the Mountain Fortress, five in the Red Forest settlements, and five in the lizard forest. Everyone else must move out; we will rendezvous at the entrance of the mountain."
Mentz nodded sternly and broke into a sprint to find Lupar, the fastest member in the settlement, to dispatch the orders on foot.
Meanwhile, Kellar closed his eyes, exhaled, and focused his energy, channeling it through the mystical bond of the tribe’s totem.
Miles away, in the main cabin of the Mountain Fortress, Lennis, Brak, and Helga were reviewing maps and supply inventories when an overwhelming presence seeped into their minds. Kellar’s voice echoed in their heads with clarity.
Lennis took a step back, pressing her hands to her temples. Brak scowled, looking around with his axe at the ready, while Helga shook her head, assuming the exhaustion of daily labor was playing tricks on them.
Sensing the hesitation in their thoughts, Kellar wasted no time. Through the totem’s network, he projected a surge of his own elemental aura: a gust of freezing air laced with the low crackle of lightning that vibrated through the air inside the cabin. The mental image of his figure shrouded in lightning and flanked by Ignis’s fire burned itself into the minds of the three leaders.
’This is no dream,’ Kellar’s voice rumbled in their consciousness with an imperious weight. ’It is my command. Ready the warriors and march immediately.’
The shock of the manifestation snapped them to action. Without hesitating for another second, all three broke into a run to gather the troops and equipment.
Kellar returned to his house with firm steps to make sure everything was in order. Inside the residence, the air was still heavy with tension from the sudden attack, but it was nothing more than a minor scare.
Utilizing his [Medical Knowledge] skill, Kellar examined them with care and the touch of a professional. He approached Mila with extra attention, taking her wrist while looking into her eyes.
"Let me take a look at you," Kellar said in a low voice. "Take a deep breath and tell me if you feel any pain in your abdomen."
Mila shook her head, framing a calm smile to reassure him.
"I’m fine, Kellar, it was just the scare from the shrieks outside," Mila replied, placing her hand over his. "The baby hasn’t stopped moving, everything is fine."
"Even so, I’m not taking any chances," Kellar muttered as he channeled a pulse of his skill to assess her circulation and pulse.
After confirming that both mother and baby were in optimal condition and that the others had only minor discomforts, he let out a sigh of relief.
"You need to stay inside and rest," Kellar told the others in the living room. "Don’t go out until we return from the mountains."
Upon finishing the checkup and stepping onto the porch, Kellar looked at the white cat, who was resting on the railing with her eyes fixed on the horizon.
"Stay here," Kellar instructed Frejya in a serious tone. "If anything comes near the house, decapitate it."
"Of course, I will watch over your young. Be careful out there," Frejya replied through the mental bond, accompanying her words with an affectionate gesture as she rubbed her head against Kellar’s cheek.
Kellar felt the warmth of the touch and smiled faintly. With every passing day, Frejya acted more like a normal human, expressing her emotions clearly through their connection. Looking into the spark of intelligence in her golden eyes, Kellar couldn’t help but wonder if Frejya would eventually evolve into a human form at some point. So far, he hadn’t seen any humanoid races in this world... did such beings even exist in distant lands?
"I’m counting on you," Kellar whispered before turning around, adjusting his gear, and heading toward the outskirts of the village, ready to lead the hunt into the mountains.