Chapter 104 – The Still Before the Storm
The Hollow transformed in the span of two days.
Every waking moment was spent preparing for the storm about to crash against their gates. Kael hardly slept, and when he did, his dreams were full of fire and steel.
The council moved like a machine. Orders barked in the morning became action by midday. Families packed what little they could carry and moved under guard toward the hidden escape tunnels that now cut through the southern cliffs. Dwarves carved stone like their lives depended on it—because they did. Elves wove sturdy rope bridges and set hidden snares in the treeline. The humans reinforced palisades and stockpiled barrels of water, sand, and oil.
The towers rose higher with every passing hour, sharpened stakes bristling from their sides. At night, torchlight flickered across the walls as soldiers drilled with Rogan's brutal efficiency. The ogre barked orders until his throat was raw, but none dared slack—not when the drums of war could almost be heard in the distance.
Thalos and Fenrik worked tirelessly with Rogan, shaping raw recruits into something resembling soldiers. Shields locked, formations drilled, bows strung and loosed into the twilight until every hand knew its place and every heart beat with the same grim rhythm.
Meanwhile, Varik vanished like smoke, slipping in and out of the Hollow with his spies. Each time he returned, his reports were sharper, more urgent—the enemy was reorganizing faster than expected, their commanders pushing hard to arrive at the Hollow's doorstep.
Even Kael himself dug trenches, his muscles straining beneath the weight of earth and stone. Children watched him from a distance, whispering in awe. Mothers hushed them, but their eyes lingered, too, as if drawing strength from the sight of their king working alongside them.
By the second night, the Hollow was no longer the small settlement it had once been. It was a fortress, bristling with sharpened walls, hidden snares, and the weight of resolve.
And yet, when dawn came on the third day, a hush fell over everything.
The work was done. The people were hidden away. The fighters were in place.
Now all that remained was to wait.
The field before the gates stretched wide, dew still clinging to the blades of grass. A spring breeze rustled through the trees, carrying with it the faint stink of iron and smoke.
Kael stood before the great wooden gates, his armor polished but unadorned, his helm under his arm. Shadows coiled faintly at his feet, responding to the tension that rolled off him like waves.
Behind him, the Hollow was silent. No hammering of tools, no laughter of children, no market stalls. Only watchful eyes peering down from the towers, bows at the ready. The city had become a coiled beast, waiting for his word.
Umbra padded to his side, the massive wolf's fur bristling, golden eyes fixed on the treeline.
And then—movement.
The forest broke like a wound splitting open.
They came in ranks. Columns of armored soldiers, their banners snapping in the breeze, their polished steel flashing in the early light. Drums thundered in rhythm, shaking the earth as hundreds—no, thousands—marched into the clearing. Siege towers rolled behind them, drawn by teams of horses. Catapults groaned on creaking wheels.
The human army had arrived.
Kael's jaw clenched as he watched them pour into the field. So many. Far more than the Hollow had ever faced. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but his stance never wavered.
At the front of the enemy lines, commanders rode tall on horses draped in steel, their voices carrying across the clearing. Kael couldn't make out the words, but he didn't need to. He saw the sneers on their faces, the way they looked at the Hollow as if it were prey to be gutted.
Behind him, the towers waited. Arrows nocked. Oil jars ready. Shadows shifting.
Kael raised his helm and set it upon his head. The horns of the beast he had slain gleamed like ivory in the sunlight.
The drums of the enemy army ceased, leaving only silence.
The clearing seemed to hold its breath.
Kael's hand hovered, ready to give the signal.
The Hollow stood still, the weight of survival pressing down on every soul.
And just before Kael's voice broke the silence, just before the first strike of the battle to come, the world held itself in unbearable tension.