Annan got caught up in the mood and joined the off-key chorus.
When the song ended, Frank invited Annan to say a few words.
Annan stood, glanced at Femi standing nearby, and deliberately shouted, "Ratfolk must be wiped out at every opportunity! There's no other way!"
"Think about it. You're tending your fields in the territory, singing away, when the Ratfolk suddenly come and ruin everything."
"So the only good days are days without the Rat Plague!"
The warriors burst into laughter. Even the stern-faced Femi's lips curved slightly. Only a few members of the Resistance Army had no idea what was so funny.
As the laughter faded, Annan's easy expression vanished. His tone turned grave. "It's been three years... Three years ago, we were forced from our homes. We fled to Middle Earth to recover, rebuild, and begin new lives. The shadows of the past were finally fading."
"We might have forgotten the pain of the past... but the Ratfolk have no intention of leaving us alone!"
The mood on the mountain grew somber. Only the constant crackling of the bonfires broke the silence, their light playing across the soldiers' rugged faces.
The warriors who wanted victory were no longer smiling.
"We take one step back, they take one step forward. We take two steps back, they take two steps forward! The Ratfolk's greed will never be satisfied, and cowardice will never bring us peace!"
"So we'll drive them out, all the way beyond the Snow Mountains! We'll wipe the Ratfolk from the Northern Frontier!"
"Victory in every battle!"
Annan took Femi's sidearm and fired a shot into the sky.
Bang—
The gunshot echoed across the mountaintop. Under the night sky, a dark shape plunged toward the shadowy mountains in the distance.
Annan jumped. *Did I accidentally shoot down