When Brann and the warriors finally regrouped with the caravan, the reinforcements of the Aslan Tribe had already arrived at the scene.

Ulric and Jason led the warriors of the Aslan Tribe, all of whom were mounted on Raptors and armed to the teeth.

"Are you alright, Brann?" Ulric asked as soon as he laid eyes on the Chieftain of the Stormhorn Tribe, who had taken a beating after leading his warriors to battle. "You look injured."

"’Tis but a scratch," Brann replied. "Thank you for sending people to help us. If they hadn’t arrived in time, we might not have lived long enough to greet you like this."

"I am glad we made it in time." Ulric smiled. "The Stormhorn Tribe has plenty of honorable, brave warriors. Our chieftain is already preparing to welcome you and your people in our domain."

"Thank you," Brann replied. "However, we still can’t lower our guard. The Grimfang Tribe might reassemble and resume their pursuit."

"You’re right." Ulric nodded before glancing up at the sky.

There, the Gryphon, Astravor, hovered in the air, watching the rear of the caravan to check if there were still any pursuers.

Now that Ulric and Jason had finally arrived at the scene, the Guardian of Grimjaw Mountain decided to check on Arion and Otto, who had stayed behind to intimidate their enemies.

Blitz then bade goodbye to Brann before soaring to the sky, following behind the Gryphon to join it in battle.

"Maintain our speed," Brann ordered. "Do not ease up until we arrive at the base of the mountain!"

""Yes, Chieftain!""

The warriors swiftly filed into formation, protecting the caravan in a battle formation, just as Ulric and Jason divided their teams.

Ulric stayed at the front alongside Brann, along with four warriors.

The rest followed Jason at the rear of the caravan, ready to intercept anything that would threaten the Stormhorn Tribe.

The danger had still not passed, so everyone was still at a state of high alert.

Meanwhile, Otto was busy shooting down the horses of the Grimfang Tribe from the sky. His deterrence was the real deal.

No matter how much the new temporary leader wanted to pursue the Stormhorn Tribe, anyone who led the group of warriors forward would find their horses getting struck by an arrow without fail.

Over a hundred people had already lost their horses. Left with no choice, they had to run alongside their retreating forces.

The new temporary leader of the Grimfang Tribe, who went by the name Hugo, was forced to make a tough decision on the spot.

He gazed at the flying horse high above the sky, which was beyond the range of their arrows.

It was impossible for them to attack it because none of their archers had the ability to land a hit. The only choice they had was to endure and take a beating if they wished to continue their pursuit.

However, Hugo noticed something ever since the fight began.

The archer that was targeting them from the sky wasn’t aiming to kill any of their warriors.

If anything, they were targeting the horses.

While the horses dying was better than their warriors dying, it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

After careful consideration, Hugo understood that the archer from the sky might not only be the only reinforcement the Aslan Tribe had sent to assist the Stormhorn Tribe’s escape. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Earlier, they fought against the Gryphon, as well as a flying squirrel that shot lightning from its body.

They could have won that clash. However, the horse stampede had broken their formation and even threw slung off the Warriors on the ground. This gave the Stormhorn Tribe a chance to deal a devastating blow to them in just a short period of time.

Their losses weren’t something they could shrug off easily, especially since over two hundred of their warriors were still being held captive by the Aslan Tribe in Grimjaw Mountain.

They would later go to pay for their ransom, which was why the Chieftain of the Grimfang Tribe ordered them to subjugate the Stormhorn Tribe in order to minimize their losses.

But reality was twisted from the expectations. Instead of minimizing their losses, the opposite happened.

They lost many warriors. Again. And now, they could no longer afford to lose more of them.

"Sound the horns of retreat!" Hugo shouted. "We’re going back to our camp!"

As soon as the order was given, the sound of a horn spread across the surroundings. Soon, the warriors followed Hugo as he led them to retreat.

Arion hovered in the sky, looking down at the retreating group of warriors with relief.

"Good work, Arion," Otto said as he lightly patted the horse’s neck. "You did well."

Arion neighed, telling Otto that he also did a good job in putting pressure on their enemies.

A minute later, they heard a screech from behind them.

Astravor and Blitz had caught up to them. Seeing the retreating warriors in the distance, the Gryphon turned back to return to Grimjaw Mountain.

Although Leone hadn’t asked for its help, Astravor would demand something in return for assisting the Aslan Tribe in protecting the Stormhorn Tribe.

Frankly, if not for its presence, Brann and the other warriors of the Stormhorn Tribe might have died in their clash against the Grimfang Tribe.

Astravor’s screech intimidated the enemy’s horses, which made them disobey the orders of their Masters and bolt away from the battlefield.

*Squeak!*

Blitz landed on top of Arion’s head and gave its friend a pat, telling the flying horse that it did a good job.

Arion neighed in return, telling Blitz the same.

They didn’t return right away to Grimjaw Mountain. Instead, they stayed on high alert for fifteen more minutes, just in case their enemies changed their minds.

But, seeing that they were truly leaving the battlefield, Otto finally breathed a sigh of relief before asking Arion to catch up with the caravan they met along the way.

Leone didn’t want to engage in an all-out war with the other middle-ranked tribes. And so, Otto only targeted their horses instead of targeting their warriors.

This move was a clear distinction that they didn’t want to escalate the situation any further, which he hoped would be conveyed to the Chieftain of the Grimfang Tribe once his warriors returned to their camp.

They took a risk by saving the Stormhorn Tribe, but it was a risk that they had to take no matter what.

The Aslan Tribe needed to grow. For that to happen, they would need more people to join their ranks.

Now that the Stormhorn Tribe was under their protection, Leone truly became the chieftain of all the low-ranking tribes in the Borderlands.

The Ashclaw Tribe was no more. Their people were forcefully subjugated by the Ironhide Tribe.

If not for Brann’s quick action, the Stormhorn Tribe might have followed their footsteps and became the unwilling lackeys of the Grimfang Tribe at this moment.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Now that the dust had settled, Arion and Otto went to rejoin Ulric and the others to report that the threat was neutralized.

Standing on top of the ramparts of his fortress, Leone looked in the distance and saw Astravor flying in their direction.

"You owe me."

After saying those words to Leone, the Gryphon flapped its wings and flew toward the mountain peak, where it had made its new home.

At first, Leone didn’t understand why Astravor said that he owed him.

However, when Arion and Otto returned, he realized that the Gryphon actually went to help the Stormhorn Tribe, making sure to protect Brann and his warriors to the best of its ability, which caught Leone completely by surprise.