Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 13: The Law of the Clan
Kellar was enjoyed the lingering warmth of Maya’s promises, his mind already formulating a mental blueprint for how he would spend his night. But the peaceful moment was cut short as a massive shadow loomed over them once again. Tor, unable to cope with the burning humiliation of his twelfth-place finish, marched back toward them, his thick chest puffing out his chest like a silverback cornered in a cave.
Before the brute could even utter a syllable, Maya stepped between them. Her delicate features hardened, her eyes flashing with a protective fire.
"Back off, Tor! He is the champion of the awakening. If you try to harm him, you answer to the elders!" said Maya, her voice sharp and unyielding.
Kellar looked at her back, a smirk playing on his lips. Before his arrival, Maya had been an indomitable independent aunt who took no trash from anyone in the village. Yet now, after just one night under his dominance, she was nothing but a submissive bitch hooked on her master’s authority, stepping up to defend his honor like a loyal pet.
Kellar reached out, his hand sliding firmly onto her waist, squeezing the thick flesh to pull her back behind his shoulder.
"Don’t waste your breath on this idiot, Maya. I can handle a broken machine like him fine," said Kellar, his tone dripping with casual arrogance.
"Tor! Step back from the boy!" a booming voice commanded.
The crowd parted as the Chieftain and the Shaman approached the trio. Tor’s jaw clenched, his fist trembling on the handle of his axe, but he didn’t dare challenge his grandfather. He knew he had disappointed the old man by waking up so late in the ritual. With a bitter growl, Tor turned on his heel and stomped back into the crowd.
The Chieftain looked down at Kellar, his cold, calculating eyes scanning the boy’s slender build. The Shaman stood right beside him, holding a beautifully carved bone dagger—the traditional prize meant for the first-place finisher of the adulthood ceremony.
"You performed well in the smoke, Kellar," said the Chieftain, his voice heavy, masking his rage.. "But the leadership of a hunting squad requires a weight your bones do not yet possess. Theoretical victories in the mind do not slay the sabertooth. For the survival of the Fire Bear Tribe, the Shaman and I believe this ancestral dagger would serve the clan better in the hands of someone... more naturally suited for the front lines."
The old bastards are trying to rig the system, Kellar thought his engineer mind identifying the corrupt framework.
By tribal law, if an awakening champion voluntarily yielded their prize, the leadership could reallocate it to a runner-up intending to hand it down to the Chieftain’s grandson.
"The Chieftain speaks the truth," the Shaman chimed in, a slimy smile touching his wrinkled lips. "Hand over the dagger willingly, boy. Accept your place as a gatherer, and do not force the ancestors to watch you fail with a weapon you cannot carry."
They expected the old cowardly Kellar to bow his head and surrender. Instead, Kellar took a deep, sudden breath and threw his head back, unleashing a booming, theatrical shout that echoed across the entire central square drawing the attention of every single hunter in the village.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" roared Kellar, his voice carrying like a thunderclap. "THE SACRED FIRE OF THE EMBER BEAR TOOK MY SACRIFICE! THE ANCESTORS THEMSELVES DECLARED ME RANK NUMBER ONE! ARE THE CHIEFTAIN AND THE SHAMAN SAYING THE ANCESTORS MADE A MISTAKE?! ARE YOU TELLING THE WHOLE TRIBE THAT OUR SACRED LAWS ARE WEAK?!"
The whispering crowd instantly fell dead silent. Hundreds of seasoned hunters looked toward the altar, their faces turning serious. For a primitive tribe, defying the explicit sign of the totem was an taboo. By turning it into a loud, public issue of religious treason, Kellar had trapped the two leaders in a vice of their own social pressure.
The Shaman’s face turned a horrific shade of pale, and the Chieftain’s massive jaw tightened so hard his veins bulged. They couldn’t steal his prize now without looking like heretics in front of their entire army.
