Chapter Fourteen: The echoes of the silent forest

It had been four days since Seokmin left town and Seungkwan had become rather nervous. The letter that arrived yesterday only made it worse. The message that the bird brought didn’t contain any reassurance, if anything it heightened their fears.

The idea of the enemy that they were facing scared them. The absence of three of their counsel man as well as their leader didn’t sit well with Seungkwan.

Hansol on the other hand seemed delighted knowing that Seungcheol would come to Grenhil. His own worries about Strenyard were eased a bit. Strenyard could learn from Grenhil and with help of their builders and woodworkers they too could build stronger walls for their home town. The alliance only seemed positive in his mind and he didn’t stop to think about the reason why an alliance was needed in the first place.

That was exactly what worried Chan and Seungkwan. Jihoon had thought that their own strength wouldn’t be enough to face the coming danger. In the whole history of Grenhil never before had a leader asked outsiders for their help. Never had they relied on others, but now they would. No, now they needed to rely on others. Put their trust in men that they didn’t know, men that could have different standards and beliefs that contradicted their own. And it scared them. Jihoon thought it necessary to accept the risk of sharing their secrets, their knowledge, their very existence. They were guiding strange wolves into the heart of Grenhil forest.

A deep sigh escaped Seungkwan. His thoughts wandered off again, thinking about Mingyu who should arrive in Grenhil at any moment now. In his letter Jihoon had ordered Mingyu to travel towards the outskirts of their territory in order to search for survivors of the attack on the Vanghguard pack. Mingyu had to gather intel about their opponents, but he wasn’t allowed to leave their own territory until Jihoon returned.

An arm s around his shoulder snapping him out of his anxieties.

“Don’t worry yourself to much now Seungkwan. Mingyu will arrive safely today and we will send him off immediately.” Chan stood behind him reassuringly. “As soon as Mingyu arrives I will leave for Vesthil.”

Seungkwan nodded absent minded. Vesthil was a smaller village in their territory. It was located on the west side of the forest and the villagers specialised in different kinds of woodwork. Chan would direct and oversee the strengthening of Grenhils walls as well as overlook the normal maintenance of the other villages. Seungkwan himself would wait for Jihoon in Grenhil. He was checking on all their granaries while packing his own travelling needs. On the far north side of their territory was another small village, Rostock,  that specialised in livestock, most of their farmlands were also located in the valleys that surrounded the village. Once Jihoon and Jeonghan would arrive Seungkwan would leave for Rostock. Moreover he had to prepare the guestrooms of Grenhil Castle for the visitors that would be coming with Jihoon.

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The only one that was unsure what to do next was Hansol. Right now he was waiting for Seungcheols arrival, but he didn’t know what he was expected to do in the meantime. Throughout his short stay in Grenhil he had been busy trying to calm down Seungkwan and helped with his everyday activities in Grenhil but he knew that the omega would leave the castle once Jihoon returned.

He assumed that he would go back to Strenyard with Seungcheol later on, but somewhere in his heart he hoped that he could stay with his newfound friends. Over the course of last two weeks he had grow quite fond of Chan and Seungkwan. Both were kind and hardworking, he had found out that he and Seungkwan were of the same age. Chan was even younger but the two of them meant so much to their pack. Chan apparently was the best architect around and was responsible for designing much of Grenhils exterior appearance. His ancestors had been the ones to construct the castle but some of the more recent upgrades were his idea. Such as the wooden ramparts high on the walls that provided shelter for the defenders during an attack. If it ever came to an attack on the castle itself. Hansol had been privileged enough to be shown around town by Chan. Various traps and defensive structures had been build surrounding the town. A lot of platforms were hidden among the treetops, providing a place for archers and scouts alike.

Seungkwan had his own skillset. The man was amazing with animals and had been training them since he was young. His natural ability to understand them helped him greatly in his training programs. Besides animals Seungkwan was responsible for the whole foodchain that supported Grenhil. Normally he would visit Rostock every other week to check on the herbs and greeneries. The other week he would travel to the meadows high above Grenhil that contained a lot of livestock and were their stables were located. He had taken Hansol with him once and shown him the different commands that he thought to his horses. Proudly presenting him every horse with their own specialties.

He had two favourites, one was Jihoons horse Azur and the other was his own horse, a beautiful brown mare that was covered in white spots. Both were impeccably trained with all kinds of tricks that Seungkwan didn’t want to disclose further.

By talking to Seungkwan and Chan Hansol had found out a lot about the relationship between the leader and his subordinates. Jihoon completely trusted his friends to do what they thought was right in their own branches. Hansol saw Jihoon as