CHAPTER THIRTY (30)
Damiel opened his mouth to say something.
A sharp knock echoed through the room.
"Commander,"
Kael's voice came from the other side of the heavy wooden door.
"The generals are assembled. Everyone is waiting in the war chamber."
The silence between Damiel and Reyna shattered.
He lingered for the briefest moment before replying.
"I'll be there."
"Yes, Commander."
Kael's footsteps faded down the corridor.
Damiel turned away from Reyna without another word and disappeared behind the carved wooden screen that separated the bathing and dressing area from the rest of the chamber.
Reyna released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
She quickly composed herself and gathered the garments that had already been laid out.
Unlike the elaborate royal robes he wore inside his castle, today's attire was practical.
A fitted black tunic embroidered with silver thread.
Dark leather armor reinforced with engraved steel plates.
A long military coat bearing Avalon's crest.
His sword belt.
His cloak.
Everything was prepared for a commander going to war rather than a prince attending court.
A moment later, Damiel emerged.
His damp black hair rested loosely over his forehead, tiny droplets of water tracing down the side of his neck before disappearing beneath the collar of his undergarments.
Reyna lowered her gaze immediately.
"Your Highness..."
She stepped forward with the tunic.
Damiel stood perfectly still.
She slipped one sleeve over his arm.
Then the other.
Her fingers worked carefully over the silver clasps across his chest.
She was deliberately avoiding touching his skin.
Every movement was cautious.
Every brush of fabric was measured.
Damiel noticed.
He noticed everything.
The way she held her breath whenever she came too close.
The way her fingers hesitated before fastening each clasp.
The way her eyes refused to rise above his shoulders.
He found himself watching her instead of preparing for the meeting.
She fastened the final buckle before reaching for the leather belt.
As she leaned closer, a loose strand of hair slipped across her face.
Without thinking, Damiel lifted his hand.
His fingers stopped halfway.
He slowly lowered it again.
Reyna never noticed.
She secured the sword belt around his waist before stepping back respectfully.
"You are ready, Your Highness."
For a moment, Damiel simply looked at her.
Then he gave a single nod.
"Hmm."
He turned and walked toward the door.
Reyna bowed as he left.
The heavy door closed behind him.
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The stone corridors of the northern fortress were already alive with activity.
Messengers hurried between halls.
Guards changed shifts.
Servants carried out their duties, running around, others carried fresh oil for the lanterns that illuminated the ancient stronghold.
Damiel walked through it all in silence.
His boots echoed against the worn stone floor.
As every servants bowed deeply as he walked by.
Yet his thoughts were nowhere inside the fortress.
"This chains that binds us is not broken by strength they require a key!", "
And she alone posses the ability to awaken it''
Because not everything capable of changing the world is born powerful''
Damiel thought drifted to the crimson eyes he saw, they emitted raw power, ancient.
They certainly did not belong to an Alpha, or any other demons he had ever encountered, what type of creature was it?, and why does it hid behind werewolves instead of facing him itself?.
His mind went back to what the shadow said.
"Their attacks are not the war."
"They are the invitation."
The shadow's words replayed in his mind.
"They wish to know whether the Commander of Avalon plays by the rules already written..."
"…or whether he is capable of overturning the board entirely."
------------
The doors of the war chamber opened, as Damiel stepped in.
Every conversation stopped instantly.
Generals.
Captains.
Kael.
Roan.
Zaiel.
All rose to their feet.
They bowed simultaneously.
"Your Highness." They chorused.
Damiel acknowledged them with a nod before taking the seat at the head of the long oak table.
A massive detailed map of the northern frontier covered almost the entire surface.
Wooden markers, colored stones, and carved figurines represented villages, patrols, supply depots, forests, rivers, and mountain passes.
He rested one arm on the chair.
"Begin."
A captain stepped forward.
"The eastern villages reported another attack before dawn."
"What losses?"
"No casualties."
"They took livestock."
"Destroyed two grain stores."
Another officer spoke.
"The western settlements suffered raids shortly afterward."
"They avoided every patrol."
"They entered and disappeared before reinforcements arrived."
A third soldier bowed.
"Our scouts tracked them."
He hesitated.
"They vanished."
"Vanished?" Damiel asked quietly.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Their tracks ended abruptly."
"No signs of retreat."
"No signs of magic."
"No tunnels."
"No river crossings."
"Nothing."
Quiet murmurs spread throughout the chamber.
Damiel's fingers tapped the arm of his chair once.
Only once.
Silence immediately returned.
His gaze drifted over the map.
Not looking at where they had attacked.
Looking at where they hadn't.
The villages formed an uneven pattern.
Random at first glance.
Deliberate upon closer inspection.
His eyes narrowed.
"They're herding us." Damiel Said.
Several generals frowned.
Damiel stood.
He moved a carved wolf marker away from the villages.
Then placed it near a narrow valley between two heavily forested ridges.
"They striked here."
He moved another marker.
"We responded here."
Another.
"They attack again over here."
Then another.
"Our patrols shift."
He stepped back.
The wooden pieces now formed a widening circle.
"They aren't attacking villages."
"They're moving us."
Understanding slowly spread across the room.
Roan leaned forward.
"They're stretching our forces."
Kael folded his arms.
"And making us defend everything."
Damiel nodded once.
"Exactly."
He picked up one final marker.
Instead of placing it inside the circle—
He placed it outside.
Far outside.
Near an abandoned trade route that no longer saw regular patrols.
"Their commander isn't among the wolves."
Every eye followed his hand.
"He watches."
"He studies."
"He waits."
Zaiel spoke carefully.
"So the wolves are only bait."
Damiel looked at him.
"They're pieces."
"Disposable ones."
Silence.
Then Damiel spoke again.
"They expect us to reinforce every village."
"They expect us to divide my army."
"They expect me to react."
His lips curved into the faintest smile.
"They've mistaken me for someone else."
The room grew noticeably colder.
Damiel picked up several patrol markers.
Instead of spreading them farther apart...
He removed them entirely.
Gasps escaped around the table.
One general couldn't hide his shock.
"Your Highness... if we withdraw our patrols, the villages will appear completely defenseless."
Damiel looked at him.
"Exactly."
The realization struck several officers at once.
Roan smiled.
"They'll think they've succeeded."
Kael's eyes lit with understanding.
"And they'll stop hiding, becoming more bolder."
Damiel nodded.
"Predators become careless when they believe they've cornered their prey."
He moved another carved piece.
"We leave the roads empty."
"We evacuate the exposed villages quietly."
"No panic."
"No announcements."
"Move every civilian into the fortified settlements before sunset."
The northern general bowed.
"It shall be done."
Damiel continued.
"The abandoned villages remain exactly as they are."
"Doors open."
"Fires lit."
"Food left behind."
"Patrols, and soldiers as ordinary demons must be noticeable"
"They must believe the demons are still living there."
A captain brow furrowed.
"A trap."
"No."
Damiel's voice was calm.
"A stage."
He pointed toward the surrounding forests.
"My soldiers will not wait inside the villages."
"They'll hide inside the woods."
"Hidden."
"Silent."
"They are not to attack the first wolves they'll observe."
Several confused looks met him.
Damiel's silver eyes swept across the room.
"I don't want the wolves."
"I want the hand holding their leash."
The chamber fell completely silent.
"If someone truly commands them..."
"...then they'll need to report back to it, or it'll rather be watching the show unfold."
He looked toward Kael.
"Kael, Roan, and Zaiel ar with me."
"You are not to engage."
"Only quiet observation."
He looked at the General.
"You'll command the hidden soldiers within the village,"
"No matter what happens..."
"You do not move until I give the order."
"Yes Commander'' he said.
"They'll think they've walked into an empty village."
"They'll actually be walking into a prepared stage."
Roan said with a smile.
"They invited me to play."
His eyes settled on the map.
"I've accepted."
He placed one final carved piece in the center of the trap.
Not a wolf.
Not a demon.
A king piece.
"They wished to see whether I would follow the rules..."
He looked towards the possible hiding place of the owner of the crimson eyes, the abadoned warehouse, at the top of a hill, below the northern village, where it could see everything.
"I've never been fond of other people's games."
His silver eyes hardened.
"So I'll make them play mine."
He'll turn this predator game, into a prey hunting one.