Some wounds hadn't scabbed over, some had their arms in slings, and some were still dazed.
But they stood.
If they could stand, they could listen.
Skala began to speak.
"We once thought we were awake, only to realize later that we were dreaming."
"And when the dream began to devour people, we understood that faith is not a burden, but an anchor, an anchor that helps us find ourselves."
He raised the divine emblem on his chest, that Obsidian Dragon's Eye, which slowly glowed faintly in the morning light.
"It pulled us out of the dream, not weapons, not strength, not vigilance."
"It was faith."
The crowd was silent, but there was no denial, no evasion.
Siye looked down at her chest, where the divine emblem was tattooed, along with Rhunok's bone charm.
She reached out, grabbed the bone charm, tore it off, and then wrapped it in animal hide.
"I still want to see Rhunok one more time, but that will be a farewell," the huntress told herself as she put the bone charm into her backpack.
Meanwhile, Toka sat in the distance, clutching the divine emblem he had lost earlier.
Gollon stood beside Toka, arms crossed, and sighed heavily.
Skala continued:
"Tuke is dead, but he won't be the last."
"We will encounter more difficulties ahead—the iron hooves of the Frost Howl tribe have crushed one village after another, enslaving our women and children."
"Besides that, hunger and cold are taking more lives every day."
"The twenty-three of us who remain are not here by luck, but because He is still watching us."
"It's because there is still a deity watching over us!"
He scanned everyone.
"I don't care what you thought before." Skala's voice suddenly lowered, yet became sharper, "But when you are surrounded by the enemy, when arrows pierce your chest, when you kneel in the snow waiting to die—"
He paused, letting each word nail itself into their hearts like a nail.
"At least know that there is a new deity in this world who will be willing to answer our prayers."
Skala finally swept his gaze over everyone.
"Now, choose. Will you continue to kneel and wait for death—" He raised the divine emblem, "—or will you stand and live?"
No one applauded.
No one cheered.
First, the seven trolls who had remained conscious last night unhesitatingly stood beside Skala.
Siye's eyes were firm, no longer confused.
Gollon still looked annoyed, but he had kept the divine emblem around his neck and hadn't taken it off again.
Then, the first unbelieving warrior stepped forward, holding the divine emblem he had already prepared.
The second.
The third.
Toka was the sixth; he clutched the divine emblem tightly in his hand, mumbling something incessantly.
The crowd began to stir.
Eventually, all the trolls present stood beside Skala.
"Very good, remember today's choice."
Skala's voice was calm, without encouragement or praise, only a light, understated conclusion.
"The team will assemble in ten minutes. Siye and Gollon will lead the inventory of supplies."
He scanned the group, his gaze falling on the distant horizon.
"Today, we leave here."
"Return to Italk."
Some trolls' expressions shifted, but they didn't ask questions.
Soon after the divine punishment descended last night, Skala felt a faint ripple of divine power coming from the direction of Italk.
The feeling was like a flickering light in the darkness, intermittent and elusive.
Anyone else would likely dismiss it as an illusion.
But Skala was different.
He dealt with the divine power on the divine emblem every day and was intimately familiar with that aura.
It was the divine power fluctuation of Obsidian, without a doubt.
What had he done? Skala didn't know.
He didn't need to know either.
"It's not like He was bored and went there to join the fun..." Skala muttered to himself, then immediately found the thought somewhat absurd.
His deity's actions always had deep meaning.
Since the divine power appeared in Italk, it meant there was something that needed to be dealt with there—perhaps a hidden danger, perhaps an opportunity.
In any case, it was worth them turning back to investigate.
"Hurry up," he collected his thoughts and urged in a deep voice, "I have a premonition that Italk will give us answers."
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