Kai was on the northern perimeter when Mara arrived.

She didn’t look for him — she walked to where he was.

She sat down beside him.

The camp silent behind them. Mount Heiguers on the horizon with the northern sector sky above.

---

"In Orc culture," Mara said, "a Warlord who shows weakness can be formally challenged."

Kai looked at her.

"The fight with you was a technical draw." Mara stared at the mountain. "But many interpreted it as a defeat."

"Why?"

"Because you stayed on your feet when the field couldn’t take any more." Pause. "A rankless human who lasts eighteen minutes against me and ends up standing is not a victory for me."

"And for you?"

Mara didn’t answer right away.

The camp’s central fire in the distance. The tents. The Orcs who slept without knowing yet, or who knew and had decided tomorrow was another day.

"For me it was the best fight in two years."

"Then?"

"Then there are two hundred and fifty-three Orcs who think differently."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: 253. two hundred and fifty-three. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

[Stephen_Summers]: Mara is explaining this to Kai as information. not as a request. that’s everything.

[Warwolf]: "the best fight in two years" and still she’s going to have to fight for leadership. Orc culture doesn’t negotiate.

[Martin_Wiersmar]: 253 trained by Mara herself. that’s a very specific problem.

[Leo_Willis]: Kai listening without interrupting. when Kai listens like this it’s because he’s calculating.

[ShonqezThomas22]: Mara chose Kai to tell this to. not Urgo. not Brek. Kai. (ಠ_ಠ)

---

"The law was written by me," Mara said.

Kai looked at her.

"The first year of the camp. Any warrior who believes the Warlord no longer deserves to lead can say so with their fists." Mara kept watching the mountain. "That was what set this camp apart from the Orc territory where they’d gone soft. Here strength is proven or it’s lost."

"And now they’re applying it against you."

"Yes."

"And?"

"And it’s correct." She said it flatly, without the effort of someone convincing herself. Just as fact. "If I implemented that law it’s because I believe in it. I can’t believe in it only when it suits me."

Kai looked at her a moment.

"When?"

"Tomorrow at dawn. If it isn’t resolved before."

"Can it be resolved before?"

"No."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: "I can’t believe in it only when it suits me" — three hundred forty years of character in one sentence.

[Stephen_Summers]: Mara wrote the law. they’re applying it against her. and she says it’s correct. (ง’̀-’́)ง

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara has more integrity than most characters I know.

[Martin_Wiersmar]: she chose Kai to tell him this at midnight. that’s not information. that’s something else. could it be that Kai has a new partner?

[Leo_Willis]: Kai asked it anyway. Though he already knew the answer.

[ShonqezThomas22]: Orc culture isn’t barbaric. it’s consistent. that’s different.

---

Kai looked at the camp.

The tents. The central fire already low. Mount Heiguers behind everything.

"How many on your side?"

"Forty-seven with Urgo."

"Two hundred fifty-three against."

"Yes."

"The numbers don’t add up."

"The numbers never added up for me."

Kai nodded.

"Alright."

He stood up.

Mara watched him from where she sat.

"I didn’t ask you for help."

"I know." Kai looked at the camp. "But I’m going anyway."

"This is a camp matter. Orc business."

"Mara." Kai looked at her. "You’re part of our group now."

---

Silence.

Mara looked at him.

Not with the smile from the first days or the one from the lake or the one from the fight.

With something different — the specific processing of someone who was just told something they didn’t expect and Mara doesn’t know exactly what to do with it.

"Since when did you decide that?"

"When you sat here at midnight to explain the situation to me instead of to Urgo."

Mara looked at the ground.

Her ears dropped two centimeters.

"That doesn’t make logical sen—"

"Mara."

She looked at him.

"At dawn."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: I think Mara liked this little big gesture from Kai (╥﹏╥)

[Stephen_Summers]: Kai had decided before she finished talking. he already knew.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI IS GOING!! WITHOUT BEING CALLED!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martin_Wiersmar]: Mara’s ears dropped. in the dark. with no one watching except Kai. (ಠ_ಠ)

[Leo_Willis]: "you’re part of our group now" said as an established fact. not as an invitation.

[ShonqezThomas22]: Mara went to give Kai information. Kai turned it into something more without asking her permission. and she let him. (ง’̀-’́)ง

---

Kai headed toward the tents.

Mara watched him walk away.

She stayed seated on the northern perimeter with Mount Heiguers in front of her and the camp at her back.

You’re part of our group now.

He said it like it was obvious.

Like the decision was already made and she just needed to know.

Mara looked at her own hands — the marks from three days of combat still visible. Serah’s on her right elbow. Lira’s on her forearm. Kai’s on her chest where the Resonant Impact had reached the inside.

"Three people who two weeks ago were strangers."

"Now one of them is telling me I’m part of his group..."

Mara smiled...

"And deep down it doesn’t bother me."

Her ears moved on their own.

She lowered them back.

She stood up.

She went to her tent.

---

[DraconicLegacy]: ears moving on their own. Mara lowering them manually. (╥﹏╥)

[Stephen_Summers]: "three people who two weeks ago were strangers" the way she said it seems like she found something she had searched for before.

[Warwolf]: Mara processing what Kai said alone on the northern perimeter at midnight. It’s also midnight here. But I don’t want to go to sleep yet!!!

[Martin_Wiersmar]: the marks from the three fights on her hands. Serah. Lira. Kai. each one left something.

[Leo_Willis]: she went to give him information and came out with something she didn’t expect. Mara at dawn is going to fight differently than she fought before.

[ShonqezThomas22]: "you’re part of our group now" — Kai decided that and that was it. no vote. no consultation. Kai.

[DraconicLegacy]: tomorrow at dawn. 253 Orcs trained by Mara. Kai, Serah, Lira and 47 loyal on Mara’s side. the numbers don’t add up but Kai says alright. this is going to be historic.

---

In the tents, Serah and Lira were awake when Kai arrived.

Serah because her primordial senses wouldn’t stop processing the tension in the camp.

Lira because she never slept when there was something to calculate.

Kai entered.

Both looked at him.

"At dawn," he said.

Serah nodded.

Lira nodded.

Neither asked anything else.

They put out the tent fire.

---

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