CHAPTER 113: FINAL STRAW

"Malak! Malak!" Mijko shouted with a hint of alarm as soon as she entered Malak’s room.

Malak looked up from the desk he had moved next to the bed, where Sosora was sleeping.

"Has it begun?" He asked with a heavy gaze.

Mijko nodded.

The Free Bird Mercenaries had completed the request just a couple of days ago. They had brought Tair back to the forest. Vafrid, the Husr, and the Gezercher tribe had helped bring him back to the Aer tribe without the Lowat tribe or any of their allies being able to interfere.

It was the final straw on the camel’s back.

The Aer tribe was happy to have Tair back alive and in surprisingly good condition.

They were not going to forget the Lowat tribe’s transgressions. They didn’t even bother calling for a meeting. Instead, they informed the other tribes of the Lowat tribe’s crimes and their intentions to punish them.

It wasn’t just them. The Orovir tribe had assisted in the smuggling and had remained embarrassingly silent and passive after the incident in the tunnels that took the life of one Lowat warrior, Sosora’s sight, and Vaia’s arm.

Ignorance...Was not a passable excuse.

Someone

from the Orovir tribe knew what the Lowat tribe was doing and knowingly assisted them. They were at least as guilty as the Lowat tribe that kidnapped and sold Tair to the humans.

The Uaya, Jakka, and Vedel tribes, who had assisted the Lowat tribe for a while now, would also be facing justice unless they stepped back and closed their doors to the Lowat tribe.

Consorting with the Lowat tribe, who cooperated with humans, was as good as consorting with humans directly.

The Aer tribe rallied not only the Gezercher and Ursa tribes, but the Seg, Bawin, and Husr tribes as well.

This sort of tyranny was exactly what Basla had been trying to fight against when Sosora attacked Nuir’s bullies.

What gave the Aer tribe the right to crucify the Lowat tribe just for cooperating with humans?

Wasn’t Tair back in one piece? What was the big deal?

Besides, hadn’t they also worked with humans to get him back? What made that okay when it wasn’t okay for the Lowat tribe to interact with the kingdoms outside the forest?

Of course, it was different.

The Lowat tribe cooperated with human scum to kidnap and sell one of their own for whatever disgusting reasons the humans could want.

The Aer tribe, Malak, and Mijko had cooperated with a group of decent humans to save that one. The mercenaries were odd but they treated the tribes like equals, and they had been nothing but kind and respectful, their personalities aside, during the time they lent their assistance.

The Lowat tribe had received money and valuable materials and tools for their cooperation. They had sold themselves and their pride as members of Tiabe.

The Aer tribe had scammed the human mercenaries.

The human mercenaries received a bundle of sticks for their help.

Sure, the Aer tribe had enlisted humans for help since they couldn’t leave the forest to search for Tair. It was a necessary evil to make up for the Lowat tribe’s great evil. But they had made sure that the humans were the ones who lost out on it, since only a select few knew the true value of those arrows.

This argument was waged across the forest with the warriors using their blood to tell their side.

The Seg tribe wasn’t very good at fighting, but they could speed up the growth of plants in their surroundings. They obstructed paths.

The Husr and Bawin tribes didn’t take part in the activities too much. They were just taking a stance against the Lowat tribe. But they still had warriors on patrol, warriors who weren’t as understanding of the terms ’de-escalation’ and ’preventing unnecessary casualties.’ If they ran into the Lowat warriors, the warriors could only count themselves lucky that it at least wasn’t the Ursa warriors.

The Ursa warriors charged down from their mountain and transformed into their bear forms and charged the various villages, camps, and strongholds prepared by the Jakka, Uaya, and Vedel tribes.

It was the first time they saw real action on this scale in years. How could they not be excited?

They probably knew better than most that all of this was just peace lasting too long and wearing on everyone’s nerves. The tribes, especially the Lowat tribe, were bored. The clothes they wore were, tight, stiff, and uncomfortable. They had to stretch their limbs and in doing so, they accidentally poked others, who were just as bored and restless.

Peace and quiet had led to satisfaction. Satisfaction led to boredom. Boredom led to frustration. Frustration led to irritation.

A life without struggle wasn’t a life that suited the tribes of Tiabe.

They lived in a forest where the law of the jungle ruled. Their civilization and intelligence had tried to make them forget that.

But there was no escaping who they were.

The Ursa tribe hadn’t forgotten that. They fought each other and the monsters in the forest relentlessly to keep their guard and sharp edge.

The other tribes trained and sparred. But never to the point of almost dying. They played it safe.

They didn’t stand a chance before the mighty warriors of the Ursa tribe that towered over everything in front of them.

If not for the Ursa tribe realizing that this wasn’t a matter of tribal extinction, there would have been many more deaths. They didn’t go for the kill. They rammed down buildings and played with their enemies by grabbing them and throwing them to each other before moving on.

Monkey realized the same. He also realized that unless he dragged someone like the Ursa’s mightiest warriors or the chiefs of the other tribes into battle, he wouldn’t have any fun. Naturally, he couldn’t do that. So, he wasted time bullying Mijko while the Aer tribe alliance slowly but steadily squeezed the Lowat tribe alliance.

It wasn’t without cost, but the cost was low, lower than some had expected.