Time had passed.
Kael now lived more between the jumps than within them.
The year was 1979 B.C., and Brussels — where the silent Command Base stood — was alive in ways few understood.
Surrounded by dense forests and cold rivers, the settlement thrived not through progress, but through rhythm: of earth, fire, water, wind… and memory.
People bartered seeds for fire.
Wool for wisdom.
Stories for shelter.
They believed in the moon more than any law.
And still, the base stood — invisible to all.
---
Kael wandered often.
He traveled through what would one day be Italy, where mountain clans read the skies and spoke to rivers.
Then through France, where stone markings mapped the seasons with precision only the League could match.
In Portugal and Spain, he sat with fishermen who shared wine in silence, sensing he didn't belong — but welcoming him anyway.
He walked through the misty lands of Holland, where cranes flew in spirals he'd seen in temporal currents.
And in Turkey and Greece, he descended into stone chambers where women whispered truths to the rocks beneath their feet.
These seven years brought him knowledge.
But not answers.
---
And then, one night in the upper towers of the Command Base, something shifted.
The eternal torches flared — not wildly, but with recognition.
Kael, alone in the higher levels, felt the presence before the footsteps.
Otrho had returned.
But he was not alone.
Nine figures followed him, cloaked in silence.
Their steps echoed through the ancient halls as if they had always belonged.
The flame bowed slightly as they passed.
— They've arrived — Otrho said, his voice low and steady.
Kael stood still, watching.
The women didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
— Sam Pukla, — Otrho continued. — The Witch Clan.
Kael looked to each of them.
Their eyes carried time. Not fear. Not uncertainty. Only presence.
— Nine?
— Always nine.
— The League knows?
— They do.
I've been observing them for many cycles.
And now, with the League's consent, I've brought them here.
They'll remain under your sphere — not as warriors or students…
But as part of what's coming.
Kael took a slow breath.
He didn't resist.
Didn't question.
The fire danced between them.
The witches stood like roots before a storm.
And for the first time in ages,
the Command Base was about to grow.