Anya called a meeting of all the clans.
Messengers were sent—riders on ikran, flying to the far corners of the world. Within days, representatives began to arrive. The Omaticaya of the forest. The Metkayina of the ocean. The Olangi of the plains. And others—clans Kaelen had never heard of, from places he couldn't imagine.
They gathered at Hometree, thousands of them, their voices rising in a cacophony of languages and concerns. Kaelen stood in the center of it all, feeling small and inadequate.
Anya raised her hands, and silence fell.
"My people," she said, her voice carrying across the vast space, "we face a threat unlike any before. The sky-people come with metal thunder and fire. They come to take our land, our trees, our connection to Eywa. They come to destroy us."
A murmur ran through the crowd.
"The dream-walker among us"—she gestured to Kaelen—"has brought warning. He has chosen to stand with us, against his own kind. He has chosen to see."
More murmurs. Not all of them friendly.
"How do we know we can trust him?" a voice called out. It was a warrior from the Olangi clan, his face painted for war. "He is sky-people. Their words are lies."
"He has bonded with an ikran," Seri said, stepping forward. "No sky-person has ever done that. He has touched the roots of Eywa. He has wept for our dead. He is one of us now."
"Perhaps." The warrior's eyes were hard. "But one man cannot stop an army. What does he propose we do?"
All eyes turned to Kaelen.
He stepped forward, his heart pounding. "I know how they think," he said. "I know their tactics. I know their weaknesses. They'll come at dawn, in their metal birds. They'll try to burn Hometree from the air. But if we're ready—if we fight smart, not just hard—we can stop them."
"And if we fail?" another voice asked.
Kaelen looked at Seri. At Anya. At the thousands of faces watching him.
"Then we die together," he said. "But at least we die free."
Silence. Then, slowly, a voice began to chant. It was a war chant, old and powerful. Others joined in, their voices rising until the very air vibrated with sound.
Kaelen didn't know the words. But he felt them.
And for the first time since arriving on Verath, he felt like he belonged.