"Rakeer!"
The woman screamed. Her panic, fear, and fury all burst out at the same time when she saw her child get hurt.
And in an instant—
Several heads snapped around.
They saw the mother, the crying baby, the red mark on the baby's face.
Then—
They turned.
They saw the Velmourn lane.
And then—
They saw the boy.
They did not ask questions.
That's not how the Stonefangs did things, especially when a child was involved—they… moved.
Two Stonefang warriors stepped forward hard, boots crunching into snow, their shoulders rising, their hands going to weapons out of instinct.
And on the other side, the Velmourns saw the movement.
They didn't understand the words, they didn't understand what happened, they only saw Stonefang men surge forward, they heard the baby cry, they heard the Stonefang mother's scream—
And in a heartbeat, the old winter memories flooded back.
"They're attacking!"
Someone shouted on the Velmourn side.
It was a reflex.
A… panic word.
