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Chapter 77
Chapter 77
His voice was low and only the two of them heard what he said.
Shock flickered across Janet’s once she heard it, “Seriously? I didn’t for a single second. Do you have any proof?”
suspect that guy
“No. Which is why we want him to get sloppy and give himself away.”
“But how are we going to do that? He has the upper hand now. It will be quite some time before he gets himself exposed.”
“I have a plan. And I need your help with it,” said Daran.
He leaned to Janet and whispered his plans into Janet’s ear.
“Well, it’s a brilliant idea.” Janet smiled after hearing him out, “But is it OK if you spilled everything to me? What if I am also working with the mole?”
She meant that as a joke.
But Daran stared at her with a deadpan face, “So are you?”
His stern attitude made her panic again, “No! Of course not! I was just kidding. Sorry, it’s probably not that appropriate-”
Only then did a grin appear on his lips.
“Relax. I was fooling with you too,” he pushed the hair out of her face and stared deeply into her eyes. “You have my unconditional trust, Janet.‘
A gentle feeling filled her heart.
Janet took a step forward and buried her face into Daran’s chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.
The anxiety that had been clouding her for days finally cleared out at this moment.
The next day, they continued marching up North and finally arrived at Crimson Fortress in the afternoon.
Daran ordered to have their campsite built at an opening 5 miles away from the fort. While soldiers working on that, he and the Gammas climbed up to a high ground trying to get a better view of the fort.
A blizzard broke in around this time. The wind was gusting, and the snow was so heavy that it was almost impossible to gaze into the distance.
Glen had a telescope in his hand. He looked for a long time and finally gave up,
“No.
I can’t. Wherever I see, it’s a pitch white. I can’t even see the rampart.”
“Let me have a try,” Janet said.
Glen handed her the telescope and Janet pointed in the direction of the Crimson Fortress. After a long time of searching in the stormy white, she finally got a blurred view of the fort’s gate.
“Wait, I think I saw someone on the rampart…” she murmured. “And they seemed to be waving for us…”
“Really?” Maxie asked eagerly, “Are they making signals? Asking for our help?”
“Under this weather? Shouldn’t they be frozen to death already?” said Jeff shivering in his coat. He was from the South and was very bad at dealing with extreme weather
“You are right. They should be,” said Daran gloomily. “So take another look.”
He was gazing at the Crimson Fort with a telescope as well. His face had grown hard and expressionless.
Janet looked again.
This time she finally got a better view.
Daran was right.
Those were not people waving their hands at them…The dead didn’t wave.
Hanging on the flagpole were a few corpses strapped completely naked. Their grayish–blue arms dangled in the strong wind, which may seem like waving if you looked from the distance.
Their faces were all frozen at a horrified and desperate expression.
“Oh my god…” Maxie murmured.
Janet felt a painful lump in her throat and a sudden flash of fury. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
The rogues knew that they were coming.
And this was their message to them.
Daran lowered the telescope and turned towards the campsite, “Let’s head back and talk about our next move.”
They came back to the campsite and gathered up in an empty room. Daran stood in the middle and said, “We will attack Crimson Fort tonight.”
Everyone looked at each other with an astonished face.
“Well, this is a bit sudden,” Glen said. “Are we just going to march towards its front gate like that? Don’t we need to at least work out a plan?”
“It is why we came this far. I am good with tonight,” Maxie said firmly. She was infuriated by what she saw earlier hanging on the flagpole. She couldn’t wait to chase those rogues out of the city.
“But you said yourself that rogues are cunning. I don’t think it is going to work if we just attack head–on,” Glen said.
Daran replied with a nod, “You are right. The detailed attack plan will be sent to each of your phones later tonight. But I will have to ask you not to discuss the plan you have with any other people, for safety concerns.”
There was an awkward silence in the tent.
“What do you mean?” Steven asked in a rather aggressive voice, “We aren’t even allowed to discuss it with people sitting in this room? So you still think that the mole is among us!”
“That’s not what I meant,” Daran said calmly.
“It is exactly what you meant!” Steven snarled, “Just say it out loud already. Who do you suspect? Stop sneaking around like that!”
Maxie stood up to face him, “Why are you being jumpy now, Gamma Steven? We agreed to that, didn’t we? To follow Alpha Daran’s order with no questions asked. Why are you going out of your way to sabotage this plan?”
Why are you going out of your way to sabotage this plan?”
༦ ་10༦བར196, t#JI8.CI
“WHAT?!” Steven growled, his eyes gleaming with rage. “Are you saying that I am the mole?”
“So are you?”
“That’s enough!” Janet hissed interrupting their quarrels. “We can’t fight over everything. The rogues are out there killing our pack members. Let’s drop our personal grievances and focus on the bigger picture. I am sure Alpha Daran doesn’t suspect anyone in this room. It is simply part of his plan!”
Steven scanned around the room in fume. Then he stood up and stormed out of the
tent.
Daran didn’t seem to mind his attitude. Looking at the rest 4 Gammas, he said in a solemn voice, “Keep the plan to yourself, and don’t share it with anyone else. Report to me at any time if someone tries to fish the plan out of you…Good luck with tonight.”
A few hours later, the daylight waned. And it was finally time to get moving.
Janet led her soldiers out of the campsite and bumped into Maxie on her way out. They shared a brief look together and wished each other good luck.
They parted ways after that, with Maxie heading towards the East and Janet towards the West.
Janet and her soldiers trudged across the blizzard–raged land and approached the Crimson Fortress.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a small thicket of trees where they could already see the fort’s tower and its heavy wall.
Janet asked her soldiers to stand by and wait for signals.
“What signals?” Balvina asked.
“You will know when the time comes,” Janet said briefly.
So they waited in the woods and it was soon past midnight. The snow got heavier as the time passed.
It had been a few hours, but they still hadn’t made a move.
Balvina kept checking her watch. And at last, she couldn’t help but ask again, “What are we still waiting for? It’s already 2 in the morning. The rogues must be asleep. It’s the perfect timing for us.”
“We’ll stick to the plan,” Janet insisted.
The extreme weather made everyone shiver. Many soldiers shifted into wolves to keep their bodies warm but soon even their fur couldn’t stand the gusting wind.
Everyone was losing their patience.
Finally, at 3 a.m. A clamor of battle broke out from the North.