KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

A few more days of terraforming later and Ares had made great progress with the pathway heading towards the fort, which he was still musing out names. He had thought of the Dragon’s Maw, and it was currently his favourite name though he had to make sure it wasn’t already taken.

He flew across to the fort and then dropped down. The soldiers there, no longer the Marching Blades or Roaring Tridents but a new squad, saluted him as he landed down.

He approached Heria who had been in charge of the wolffolk at the base of the mountain. He had given her instructions about what he expected and what he wanted to see from the group, as well as how the fort was to progress, as well as the dealing with the slaves.

“Good morning, Heria-kin.” He grabbed onto her forearm and shook it.

“Ares-kin, what do you need?” She hadn’t expected to see him for a little while.

“I had been thinking more about what I wanted from the wolffolk. I was hoping that we could create an entire Company, that is to say a little over two hundred wolffolk in a single unit.”

“A Company? Six Squads of wolffolk? Why do you need such a thing?” Heria asked as she raised her brow.

“I want a force of warriors that will be able to move quickly from one area to the next, and well, wolffolk on wolves are probably the quickest I can have.”

“What of the dragonfolk?”

“What of the dra-” Ares stopped and looked down in thought. “Oh…” He said as he then looked into her eyes, rubbing the side of his neck. “Uh, that’s a good point…” He cleared his throat. “Though…”

Heria raised her brow and then cocked her head to one side, her ears twitching and then her tail swayed from side to side.

“I was hoping that you would… well, I trust you more than I trust any other dragonfolk so…”

Heria smiled. “Will you reward me then?”

“What do you want?” Ares asked through gritted teeth.

Heria’s eyes flashed with so many emotions that Ares couldn’t keep up. “A favour.” She said.

“A favour?”

“A favour.” She repeated.

“… Alright, fine. I trust you enough to offer you such a thing.”

“Then I’ll form the Company, give me a few moments.”

“You’re going to make it now?”

“Yes, wouldn’t you like it now?”

“… Could you make two?”

“Two Companies?”

“Yes please.”

Heria nodded. “Easily enough.” She said as she then left him there.

He turned to check out the fort. The first inner wall had been completed long ago with a number of open arches, about five that would allow people to move freely. Ares had also decided to join each wall with a few walls, so each arch and road was a little wider so that the walls would have enough support. He had been examining it for a few moments before he heard the light pattering of feet behind him. He glanced back to see Heria.

“What’s wrong?” Ares asked.

“I have your Companies.”

Ares pulled back in surprise. “What?” He then looked off in the distance to see twelve sets of thirty six and then looked back up at her. He didn’t say anything as he then marched up towards the wolffolk.

“You all wish to become part of the army?”

A wolffolk stepped forward. They were covered in the human armour that he had given to the wolffolk to arm themselves, though he could see passed their helmet to see that the man was littered with scars from the face down, even his hands and arms that Ares could see were spotted with either burn marks or cuts.

‘My God…’

“Yes, Ares-kin!” His voice was loud and clear, and Ares realised that the wolffolk was only a little older than himself.

“Remove your helmet, soldier.”

The wolffolk hesitated for a moment, his eyes flashing towards Heria before he then pulled off his helmet to reveal his head. He was a light-grey furred wolffolk with his ears cut, his face littered with some form of cuts and… blotches? They weren’t from a weapon, but rather an illness or skin condition, at least that was what Ares assumed.

“Have you seen much war?” Ares asked.

The man nodded. “Yes I have.”

“Sir!” Heria’s voice cut through the air.

“Yes I have, sir!”

Ares nodded. He turned back to Heria. “Is he the Major?”

“I will lead one, the other will be led by Ark.”

Ares eyed the man up for a moment. “No. Heria will lead one, and I will lead the other. However, Heria will be the Major Prime, and I of course will be the same for the other Company. Ark will be a Major. A Major Prime is someone of a similar rank, but takes precedence over the Major. There will be another Major as well, if you would like to pick one, that is fine, or Heria can pick one, I don’t mind.”

Ares allowed Heria to step forward and talk with Ark before they found a much older man, apparently Heria’s cousin.

“Hemwa.” The man shook Ares’ forearm and Ares nodded.

“A pleasure to meet you. I have a role for both Companies, I hope you all pay attention. Heria’s unit will be in charge of scouting the plains and keeping this area safe. The other unit will be kept in Rivea for now so that if there is a need for a quick force to be dispatched, I can quickly supplement the force here with a Company of wolffolk. I will keep a few other infantry squads here to help out too. I will hope that you will all train with a bow so you will become mounted archers, I have a few plans in the future for how I want the mounted wolffolk to work.” He looked towards Heria. “If we may speak about that in a moment, I would be glad. For now, would you please pick the units that will come with me to the capital? I would prefer for you to have the most experienced troops, though I’d like a few for myself as well.”

Heria nodded and then began to bark orders. She had an intimate knowledge of not only the squads, but even each person within the various squads. The two Companies then split apart into equal halves, with Heria and Ares being extra members.

“If you are tasked with something else from me, let your Major take over. You have defacto leadership over the army, but I may need you elsewhere at times.” Ares rubbed the side of his neck in thought.

“I can do that. What did you want to talk about with the mounted archers?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about your wolves and their… breeding.” Ares felt a little awkward about the topic, and Heria smiled with the typical playful glee, her tail swishing from side to side quickly.

“Oh yes? Which wolves?”

“The wolf wolves, the creatures, beasts, whatever.” Ares shook his head. “Keep it in your pants.” He said as she cocked her head in a little bit of confusion.

“What about their breeding.”

“Well… I suppose it isn’t just their breeding… I’d also like…” Ares looked out to the distance to see all the oxfolk that had settled and his mind wandered for a moment before he snapped back to attention. “I’d like you to breed the wolves, as much as they can without burdening them too much.”

Heria narrowed her eyes slightly, though more in thought than suspicion. “We do not allow them to breed too much in order to keep them from being too much of a burden on the land.”

Ares looked up and closed his eyes. That was a very good point, he hadn’t really thought too much about it. Then he looked back down to Heria.

“What if… what if we split a few of the wolffolk into new villages with their own land to hunt? I’d really like… well eventually, thousands of wolves.”

“Thousands of wolves?” Heria said, her brows raising in surprise.

“Thousands.” Ares nodded. “Not just that… I hope that Riveans can… well… I hope our people have a lot of children in general for now… we don’t really have a lot of people, and one good push from the humans with anyone competent and…”

“Alright.” She purred and then narrowed her eyes with a smile on her face. “I’ll be sure to tell the others. Have you spoken such words to the main city?”

“Not yet…”

“Since I am your Major Prime, may I offer some advice?”

Ares raised his brow. “Of course, you can always offer me advice.”

“You should lead by example.”

“Lead by example?”

“Perhaps three children isn’t enough.”

Ares turned flush red and inhaled deeply. “Honestly, Heria.” He said as he then reached over to rub the back of her ear. “You’re the most beastly wolf I know.” He said as he quickly transformed into a phoenix to fly off, narrowly dodging a spear before he flew back to the main city.