Tuuntol's haggard voice seeped into his daughter's pores.
"Even if I've only once met the Tyrant Ape heir… Witnessing his dominance over my father, despite my father having far more years as a cultivator… Remembering that one-sided pummeling makes me all the more fearful to confront the age-old Azar himself.
"And Kartzal knows that fear better than anyone. Kartzal also knows that while some clans still have a chance to make allies of the apes, he lost that opportunity long ago."
"But Father, he's the Dragon Butcher!" Troena cried. "He'll never agree to an alliance with our kind–"
"Have you already forgotten, Troena? Who was it that rose to power as Azar's most trusted partner?
"It was Dominus, the Omnipotant Dragon!"
Eccentric chuckles spilled out of Tuuntol's worried frown.