The war council adjourned in the keep of the castle. All the tribal leaders and rebelling nobles were present in front of a large map of the kingdom. They got news from the prince that Rikard was raising an army to destroy them and would be only a matter of time before they were ready to march against them. It was believed that the army was going to be around thirty thousand men strong with many nobles with divine power.

Rufus's army was around twenty thousand so they were still at a large disadvantage. The only thing where they outnumbered the enemy was people who were not forced to fight in this war.

"Our scouts reported that the lord of Insbeck has yet to join the army. Around three thousand soldiers had yet to join in on the main army near the capital. I suggest we send in a smaller detachment of our forces and take this army our¨t before it joins in with the larger force," Count Hunyadi suggested and pointed on the map.

"Is the lord of the Insbeck region with the army?" Doreen asked.

"No. He already left to the capital with a smaller retinue. The army would be without their leader and they are not expecting an attack. Unfortunately, the army would be an almost week's day's march away. It can be that It doesn't reach the enemy on time and we risk them encountering the main force."

The plan was extremely risky. They risked losing many of their warriors and soldiers but a small win but still be a win to them making the odds of winning the war better.

The nobles and tribal leaders were not sure should they try to catch up to the enemy force.

"How about we send just the cavalry," said a young nobleman.

"Rufus, this is lord Erik Hansen. He is the lord of Oltenia in the Craiov region. He is just a minor noble and has revolted against the lord of Craiov. He is an expert horseman and cavalry commander. I decided to name him our cavalry commander," Count Hunyadi explained.

"The cavalry can move twice the speed that we could if we tried to march there by feet. We should send in all the cavalry including the black yaks of the grey skins. We would have a combined force of fifteen hundred men," Erik explained.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"That would be a risky solution also. The cavalry would be facing an enemy two times its size. We would also risk losing all our cavalry that will definitely be needed in the future," Doreen pondered.

"I like it," said a grey skin tribal leader.

"I like it too," said another grey skin tribal leader.

The grey skin leader all liked the plan. The grey skins were much more prone to take risks. Considering how they lived their lives in the mountains every day you were at risk.

"Finally it seems that the humans have grown balls. I Namri Xia will lead this operation. My Bhirkuti tribe are renowned riders. We will charge the enemy and trample the enemy under our black yak's hooves," Namri said with great optimism.

The grey skins clapped for Namri. Namri seemed like a charismatic and self-obsessed person with a large ego.

"Who said that he would be leading the operation. This all was Erik's plan. He should lead it considering everything," argued one nobleman after he heard the translation.

More and more noble joined in and again the war council turned into a bunch of bickering people who had yet to resolve their issues. The tribal leaders wanted Namri to lead the charge and the nobles wanted Erik to lead it.

"Please, please. I do not mind if this Namri is the leader. What we need now is unity," Erik said trying to calm the situation down.

Rufus and all his friends were shocked at how Erik just accepted Namri's leadership like that.

"Let Namri be the leader. I will be the second in command gladly," Erik said and showed real humility.

"Finally some sense from the humans," Namri said with large eyes and a smile.

Namri seemed happy and walked away from the tent with all the other young grey skin tribal leaders. Tashi didn't seem too happy about the situation.

"Damn those youngsters. They have yet to experience much of war and think they are so ready," Tashi said and sighed.

"What kind of person is this Namri?" Rufus asked Tashi.

"You could say he is a person who has waited for this war for a long time eager to prove his worth. He is a capable rider I'll give him that and his tribesmen are known to be able to steer even the most stubborn black yak to victory. Still, he is untested," Tashi explained.

"We should send some of our own people with them to make sure they don't screw up," Doreen said and pondered.

"Rufus and Pema will go with me again," Edward said and smiled.

"No. We can not risk losing Rufus. If this fails even Rufus will have trouble facing three thousand soldiers and if they encounter the main force our entire war would be over," Doreen said.

"I will go with Pema," Amala said.

"You will go?" Doreen asked.

"Yeah. Both me and Pema are the few grey skins who are able to converse in both languages."

"It is settled then. Let Namri lead so his ego won't get hurt. We don't need any more friction in our army," Doreen explained.