Thoren stared at Darius for a long moment before shifting his gaze to Taren and the others. He could clearly see that every one of them was waiting for him to speak.
In their eyes, he saw suspicion.
Skepticism.
Doubt.
A slow smile crept across his face.
He understood them. Without witnessing the battle themselves, many would find it impossible to believe any claim he made.
Words alone could not capture what had happened on this frozen plain.
Calmly, he opened his mouth and asked, "Haven't you been to the Federation hideout?"
"Hmm?"
His question stunned them.
They had been so focused on what they expected to see that they had failed to connect the pieces.
The destruction they had witnessed earlier had seemed like chaos without context.
Darius's jaw dropped slightly as realization began to dawn on him.
Even though he knew Thoren was powerful, he had expected a brutal, drawn-out battle, one that would leave both sides heavily exhausted.
