"Wake up you lazy fucks! The commander wants you all at the camp center now! Move it!" The foot soldier then made a hasty exit while the trumpets blasted in the background, not a very pleasant way to wake up but then again Ray never did go to sleep. It was as Galathor said, the nightmares kept coming, gruesome, horrific and...real. 

In a tired stumble, Ray crawled out of his tent and began wearing his clothes. Now he was a soldier, drafted into the West Rook army along with many others from the village and they were on their way to the city of Lalic, one of the larger cities in the southern region of the human kingdom to try to stall the invasion.

They were all equipped poorly, some had no weapons or armor and there were some that were even missing limbs. It seemed like a desperate draft and recently they've even begun to march during the night to get there faster. All these signs made Ray nervous... "Hahaha! Ray, you look like you haven't even gotten a wink of sleep! What, the nerves getting to you?!" 

Roland was wearing some old-looking formal armor with faded out colors with a fully-covered helmet in his left hand, compared to others he definitely was looking like a real soldier. "Just some...nightmares, kept me from falling asleep." Now wearing his slightly torn linen clothes, Ray proceeded to the meeting point with Roland in tow. 

"He hides his past under that smile." 

"The path ahead is dangerous."

"We're watching you."

Ever since Ray had entered the army, the whispers had become more frequent and he began hearing them in the morning and afternoon. But they were not Galathor's whispers, they were from a different source but for now Ray simply ignored them, he had enough of curse and would rather keep it out of his thoughts.

Most of the army had already gathered at the point and several commanders were organizing them into an orderly...rabble. But then atop the wooden stage that had already been set up with several banners bearing the symbol of West Rook, the symbol of a grey castle with two silver knights standing at the gates of the castle, a large man stood donned in purple robes with several golden rings, waiting.

As the men quieted down, the nobleman began to speak. "Soldiers, my name is Calder, count of West Rook and your lord. I have received grim news, the city of Lalic is under siege and the invasion army has split up their forces to raid the nearby villages." There was a grim silence as everyone heard the news, the original plan was to head to the city and hold up inside while buying time but now...we were quite helpless.

Most of the men had begun murmuring, many spoke of the stories of the beast men and their heinous acts causing much fear to arise. "Our plan is the same, we shall continue marching towards Lalic and meet up with the other count's and delay their forces with hit and runs." 

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At this, many of the men began yelling their thoughts out in anger. "Are we supposed to fight with sticks and stones?! We don't even have proper equipment!" "The beastmen will slaughter us!" "You're sending us to our deaths!" 

It looked like things were going out of control as the men began picking up rocks while the commanders drew their swords but then a recognizable figure decided to show his face. It was Cael, dressed up in colorful plate armor with helmet in hand, a lot like Roland's attire actually. "Men please! Of course we don't expect you to fight with your current equipment. For now, please go speak to my quartermaster and take some of the equipment there." 

"Isn't he one of the High Guard?" "Is he really just giving us such good stuff?" "High Guard armor is awesome, I heard that not even a beast man could smash it!" In a myriad of whispers, the situation was defused and the soldiers left in an orderly manner. Before the two men could leave, Cael called to them, specifically wanting to speak with Roland." Roland I need to speak with you, bring the boy with you too. I have a job I need done." 

Inside Cael's own personal tent, the three of them sat around a table with many maps, charts and an inkwell. Cael sighed and leaned on his hands whilst looking at the map. "I've gotten myself into a real pickle here...and I need your help..." Ray suddenly remembered what Galathor spoke of, find Cael and the rest of the way will be shown. If anything, this should be what the demon wanted him to do.

Surprisingly, Roland spoke up first. "I'm guessing it's that your father does not approve of you giving away such precious weapons and armor." It made sense, High Guards are some of the finest soldiers in the kingdom only allowing those that pass specific high level tests of combat and knowledge, their armor is specially forged to be light weight and durable but the time it takes to craft makes it so that only a select few can even think of wearing it.

"...My father is furious and demands I find replacement equipment while the quartermaster attempts to delay the distribution of the armor. He doesn't understand the intricate details of managing an army and he almost caused a mutiny today!" Cael slammed the table hard and began pacing around the room.

With a heavy sigh, he looked back to us. "My scouts have reported that the enemy's split up forces have been patrolling the woods near the city, I want you to gather up some men and get me their equipment, by whatever means necessary. Can I trust you Roland?"

Ray couldn't even speak a word as Roland smiled and began laughing heartily. "A piece of cake! Leave it to me!" With that, the meeting was concluded and from here on, I was about to witness my nightmares come to life...