Rufus walked away from the great tribal building. He was given fine red robes to be dressed in that had expensive snow leopard furs on the collar. He walked through the streets of Lehasa and all the grey skins greeted him with very happy smiles. Rufus awkwardly just smiled and waved back.
Rufus was taken to a plateau near the city of Lehasa. On this plateau was gathered all the grey skin warriors who had come and joined in on the great invasion force.
They walked on top of a ledge on a mountain to see it all. When they finally got to the ledge they saw the army in its glory. All of them were amazed to see such a large gathering of warriors. The plateau was full grey skin but also of large carriages filled with food. Large herds of black yaks were kept in a closed pen. Large battle horns made from mountain wooly rhynosoraus tusks were decorated with paints and jewelry.
"Beautiful sight right my great Raja," said Tashi.
"How many are there?" Rufus asked.
"Around twelve thousand I'd say."
"How many he said are here?" Edward asked.
"Twelve thousand," Rufus answered.
Edward and Doreen looked displeased.
"That won't be enough I think," Edward said.
"Kingdom of Jacob probably can muster an army around thirty to thirty-five thousand men. They may not be as resilient warriors as the grey skins, but we would be still at a large disadvantage," Doreen explained with a worried face.
"This is the best we can do. We used to be able to field larger armies in the past, but unfortunately, many tribes have been weakened because of starvation and loss of game in the mountain forests," Amala explained.
Soon a few grey skins came to the ledge also. They whispered to Tashi's ear.
"My Raja. It seems the enemy knows of our plans. We just caught a spy snooping around. It is pretty obvious that he is from the Jacob kingdom."
~ ~
Stolen novel; please report.
They took them to see the spy. The spy was tied and had a bag on top of his head. Many grey skins were guarding him and making sure he didn't escape. They all were surprised at how a human had been able to get so far in the mountains. What was even more baffling was how did the kingdom know something was going on in the grey scale mountains that was worth sending spies.
"He had this with him," said a grey skin and showed them a large hammer.
Edward, Doreen, Haley, and Rufus immediately knew who it was based on the large hammer. Edward went and took the bag of the spy's head. It was August who had his face bruised and clothes all torn.
"Hahaha. Look at that. It is that prince's little own lap dog," Edward said and laughed.
"What happened to his face?" Rufus asked from the grey skins.
"He apparently has divine power. Wasn't easy to catch him alive. Also, our warriors got a little bit too excited. They decided to give him a couple of extra hits after he took down a couple of our warriors." Tashi explained.
Doreen went to untie him and Rufus explained they knew him and that he wasn't a friend of the king or those they were up against. They took August to the capital Lehasa.
August was amazed by the city and the great tribal hall building. He looked in awe of the city and its large stone buildings. He also had believed that the grey skins were an uncivilized and uncultured race.
August could not believe what he was hearing. In a little over a year, Rufus had united the grey skin tribes and made him their leader.
"So why are you here?" asked Haley.
"I was sent here by the prince. He believed you were living among the grey skins. He sent me here to find you and make sure."
"How is everything in the kingdom?" asked Rufus.
"Not good. Everything is ready to explode. The commoners and peasants are about to rise up and the nobles are unable to control them either. Count Hunyadi also is very ready to revolt with a handful of other nobles. We have a civil war in our hands," August explained.
Amala looked vexed.
"Who is this prince you were talking about," Amala asked in human language.
"He is the one to reclaim and rebuild our nation a new. The one we all are working for," August said with pride.
Amala didn't look happy at all.
"What the hell! No one is working for him," said Edward extremely mad at August.
"Yeah. No one of us working for him," Haley also said looking mad at August.
Amala then looked at Rufus waiting for him to answer.
"We are not working for him. He has helped us and we have helped him. He has a common goal as us. The prince is not our enemy. Please trust me Amala," Rufus said and looked at Amala hoping she would just trust Rufus.
Amala sighed realizing the situation was complicated.
"Fine, but we follow Rufus and he will lead us. This prince may help us, but the one who will lead all of us is Rufus. When the war is over Rufus will still keep being the Raja. He has united the tribes and he has united the people. He will also be the one to unite the grey skins and humans. This is why we fight for Rufus, not for your prince," Amala said and looked at August making sure none of them would work for the prince.
August looked vexed. He didn't like it someone belittled his prince.
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"By the way where is Pema?" Haley asked.
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Pema was still enjoying his time in the pool and hadn't moved an inch. He really likes to bathe.