KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

Ares had spent a long while thinking about what to do with the original Ten that he had formed. He felt that their current position was a little awkward, and there was nothing yet codified.

The oxfolk had begun to fill the various villages, and he had already moved many of his own to mingle with them. Most of the oxfolk remained in their own little villages, he didn’t want to spread too many of his original Riveans too thin in case they felt slighted, but at the same time he had tried to be welcoming to all the new oxfolk that had joined him. Still, it was difficult, there were almost twice as many new oxfolk as he had original Riveans.

Even now he caught himself. ‘Original Riveans…’ How could he think of such a thing? No, these new oxfolk that had joined him, they were Riveans. No matter the person, they were to be welcomed into Rivea as a Rivean, though he still wasn’t sure how permanent Sohka was with his request.

During one afternoon meal, Ares called out to his people. Many still danced and socialised during the meal, though there were very few of them in comparison to when they were celebrating.

“As always, I have come to bother your meals.” Ares chuckled with a smile on his face. “I have been thinking, for some time, what I have been wanting to do with the Ten that I had formed.” He motioned a hand to the Ten, the Five that had lived, and then the other five that had joined them in training. They were no longer the scrawny little bunch, and after a couple of weeks, he could see they were beginning to fill up.

“I have decided to change their roles in the society, and I will offer them the first choice in forming a new guard. Similar to those of the Roaring Tridents and the Marching Blades, this guard will have a particular task. I wish to form an elite unit, perhaps the most elite of them all, in order to protect the royal family. They will have a similar uniform to that of the other two named units, so you will know their role in the society, and they will go through similar training. Yet their role will be much different, though very much the same.” Ares cleared his throat, clearly flustered from his rambling. “I ask the Five, if they wish the chance of becoming a member of this new unit. The Phoenix Guard. I would be happy to have you within it. You will be tasked with escorting and protecting the royal family, as well as their mentors, their milk mothers, and so on. You will train as harshly as you have, perhaps even harsher so. I expect only the very best within this unit.”

He waited for them to answer before then clearing his throat. “You will regain your name and such, your identity shall be returned to you. You will be able to think for yourself again, I believe I was too harsh in that aspect.” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry, I still am figuring this kind of thing out, but I would be proud to have you all.” He glanced between them.

The Five had been training to be ruthless, emotionless warriors, so Ares offering them a chance to regain part of their humanity had caused them to pause. They didn’t know what they wanted at the moment, no doubt a little confused and awkward about the situation. Ares was too.

“I will also offer members of the Marching Blades and Roaring Tridents if they would wish the chance to join the Phoenix Guard as well. Though of course, with the chance of joining, there is a chance of failure. I will expect only the best of the best within this position.” Ares then quickly sipped on the soup. It was such an awkward thing to ask. ‘Please come and train for the chance to die for me.’ Ares could feel the evil from the statement. It caused him to shudder.

The conversation continued and Ares sighed, looking down at his food. The Five were thinking about the offer, but the youngsters had approached.

“We want to join.” One scrawny looking boy, though less scrawny than when Ares first had seen them, had said. “We want the chance.”

Ares looked up at them and furrowed his brows. “You? You’ll die.” Ares said as they stared at him surprised. “The training will be harsh, harder than anything you could imagine, even I’m not evil enough to allow you youngsters to suffer.”

“We can do it.” One urged, and the others began to agree.

“No. There will be an age requirement.” Ares motioned his head to them. “Who is the oldest?”

“I am fourteen.” One said.

“Two years then. Sixteen and older, that is the minimum age.”

“You didn’t say that!” One cried out though quickly shut up, clasping a hand over their mouth.

Ares smiled and then shook his head. “I didn’t. I have now. Though, I like the cut of your jib. If any of the Marching Blades or Roaring Tridents come to take my offer, they’ll need to be replenished. I will have you attached to their units to train and observe with them, and if you’re able to keep up with them, you can join them.” Ares smiled. “I expect big things from you.” Ares slurped the rest of his soup and then washed it down with the water.

They had left in some excitement, and Ares laughed. He shook his head and turned to face Torak. “Is every boy and girl so eager to die?”

“Only the bravest, and foolish.” Torak replied.

“Yeah, I can see that…” Ares shook his head once more. Ares then looked to Rori. “I’ve been thinking about the army, the soldiers. We have way too many, going around in small squads, and I’m still not sure how I should format the army yet. I want to ask, does anyone know how the humans structure their army?”

Rori thought about it for some time. “I believe I know a few that may know. Shall I go bring them?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much of a bother.” Ares replied and then thanked Rori as they left.

Rori returned quickly with an older couple, oxfolk, perhaps in their late fifties if Ares had to throw out a guess.

“Mertha and Berty, if it pleases yourself.” The woman said, bowing her head.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Rori-kin tells me that you know a little bit about the humans and how they organise? Would you be willing to share such information with me?”

So they did. They very much formatted their army similar to the Romans in his own world, with their cohorts, as well as the cavalry, light troops and such. A legion was close to about five thousand or so soldiers. Yet when Ares thought back to the fight he just had, almost all of the soldiers wore heavier armour and were almost entirely the same in their role.

“Do you have any idea how many legions they have?” Ares wondered. He was sure that they probably wiped out two legions worth, though the romans in his world had quite a large number of legions.

“Last we heard, twenty or so… though the army of the humans from now and then has surely changed. There have been whispering of their latest Emperor being descended from the ancient hero.”

“Ancient hero? Which ancient hero?”

“We call him Sheev, though the humans know him by…” Berty furrowed their brows in thought.

“Zeus.” Mertha said.

Ares perked up as he heard the name. “Zeus you say?”

“Yes. They say the Emperor is the son of Zeus.”

Ares smiled. “Oh, is that so?” Ares laughed.

They wondered why Ares was laughing so hard, to the point where he had to clutch his stomach in order to regain his strength. Ares shook his head once he saw their look of bewilderment. “Excuse me, it’s nothing.” Ares said as he scratched his cheek, which was filled with quite a bit of hair now. “I thank you for the information. Are you in need of any furs or such?”

“Well…” Berty looked towards Mertha, who seemed to give him permission to continue. “You see, your majesty, we’ve been a little cold recently b’cause of the, uh, height we’re at…”

“Would you like some furs then?”

“If it would please you, my King.”

“Ares-kin, but yes, I can do that for you.” Ares said as he motioned a hand to… Ares looked out and then realised he hadn’t quite put anyone charge of that kind of thing. Though he supposed Jin would be the one to speak to about such a thing? “Go and speak with Jin, the wolffolk. He should be around.” Ares then looked around. “Uh, tell him to come and see me actually, just in case he doesn’t believe you.”

They bowed their heads and then left him with his small group. Ares sighed and then rubbed his forehead.

“You seem to have lost your humour quickly.” Torak said.

“Yeah well… if they truly had twenty legions, then well… didn’t we just wipe out a tenth of their army? I feel like we’ve made ourselves appear to be a larger threat than I intended. I just wanted to poke them around as I created the Kingdom, but I think that I may have called for too much heat.” Ares shrugged. “I suppose I can’t change the past.”