Zalia, Zen and Ember stood near the entrance of the camp. With them was Eztari, General Faian, her Advisor, both Commanders and a host of other camp officials. Indis was also there, near to Zalia, Zen and Ember but not standing with them. A scout had been sent ahead of the soon to arrive reinforcements, bringing word of their arrival. They were expecting a few hundred soldiers along with various army logistics workers. This included cooks, healers and builders, amongst other necessary roles.
Behind the first row of higher ranked camp officials stood the currently camped army, in formation and at attention. The tents had been cleared specifically for this occasion as Faian wanted to make a good impression for the new recruits. While it had seemed like there had been a lot of soldiers within the camp when they were spread out it was an entirely different view with them gathered. Whilst definitely impressive, the number of soldiers there couldn't compare to how many were under the command of the kingdom, especially with the recent draft that had swept through the towns within the last few weeks. They weren’t a huge force but they represented some of the best and longest serving soldiers of the kingdom, now fighting against a corrupt king for the benefit of the common folk. Theirs would be the advantage of experience and discipline where the enemy had the numbers but not the training, their minds clouded by madness.
“Think they have a chance?” Zalia asked Zen and Ember.
Zen shrugged,
“I’m no military genius, we don't even truly know how many soldiers the kingdom has,” Zen replied.
“I wonder if the madness that has been inflicted upon our enemies can be cured,” Ember said, thinking out loud.
“With magic, I’m sure there is a way. Maybe, if things go well, you could be the one to find out how. There will be many in need after this is all done,” Zalia said, trying to comfort her.
That seemed to bring energy into her posture, like the idea brought some direction to her future. Normally, that wouldn't be comforting to someone whatsoever but Ember was all about helping others in need. It wasn't the comfort in the fact that there would be much loss in the coming weeks, it was comfort in the fact she could do something to help those who had lost something.
A horn resounded through the camp as one of the watchmen on the tall guard posts blew into their horn. One deep, long sound signaling the arrival of allies.
The gates swung open and making their way out of the forest, the land in front of them transforming as they moved into a clear and flat path, came a column of soldiers. At the forefront of the column rode a contingent of knights on horseback, clad in shining armour. Following closely behind were foot soldiers, armoured only with breastplate, greaves, arm guards and a helm much like Zalia’s own armour but made entirely of metal. Each foot soldier held a shield and spear, a sword sheathed at their side and a large pack slung over their shoulders. Behind them came a variety of people dressed in various garb from work clothes to more official looking clothes. To each side of the column more foot soldiers marched, keeping a perimeter around the less combat oriented members of their party. Following the more logistical members of the arriving party were a contingent of archers in only light leather armour. The next section was what looked to be battle mages, various different elements and types of combat magic could be seen as passive effects altered the appearance of the wielders. The final segment was another group of foot soldiers but Zalia didn't look too closely as the knights at the front finally arrived at the gates.
Zalia could now see that some unarmoured people rode amongst the knights, possibly being the ones responsible for the terrain transforming to better allow travel. Amongst the less armoured of the first arrivals Zalia could immediately identify the newly arrived General. Though the man wasn't particularly tall, he was so broad Zalia was surprised his horse could hold the weight. He wore the uniform of a General much as Faian did, though his held less adornments. He raised a fist,
“HALT,” he yelled, the column coming to a stop at his command.
He jumped down from his mount, passing the reins off to a nearby attendant and approached on his own. General Faian also moved away from her own entourage, walking to meet the man in the middle. As they stood face to face, they each saluted to the other. The salute was a closed fist over the heart, then they lowered their heads till their face looked to the ground and raised the back of their hand to their foreheads, fists still clenched. It was a gesture that she thought might indicate great respect, though she hadn’t seen any of the other soldiers doing the same over the past few days.
“What’s that gesture mean?” Zalia whispered to Ember.
Ember looked oddly at Zalia for a second before realisation dawning in her eyes.
“I forget you’re not from around here sometimes. It’s a gesture of great respect between two very close individuals. Pretty much only people who have grown up together or have gone through some trauma together will ever use it,” Ember whispered back.
“I heard that those two fought in the last war with the Astar,” Zalia heard a man somewhere behind her whisper.
“The Astar, the people to the east? I haven't heard of a war with them. Might ask Indis about it later,” Zalia thought.
She immediately regretted the thought, turning her mind away from that avenue. She had grown so used to being able to ask the well educated Indis her more difficult or obscure questions.
Faian and the other General held their gesture for a short moment before standing straight and embracing.
“May my soldiers and I enter your camp General Faian,” the man asked formally.
“Of course General Ballast, you and yours are always welcome,” Faian replied.
At that declaration, a host of people wearing formal clothing moved across the distance to each other, talking quickly and quietly, some passing around pieces of parchment. Very soon, the column of soldiers were on the move once more, filtering into the camp where various officials directed different groups of people to the right places. All in all, the merging of the two forces happened extremely quickly and efficiently, enough so that Zalia was thoroughly impressed. She should have expected it of course, this was two well respected Generals and their properly hired and trained retinues meeting, after all.
General Faian approached Zalia, Ember and Zen, bringing General Ballast with her. Indis appeared from the crowd, standing next to them with a stiff posture. She was obviously still not over their most recent argument.
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“General Ballast, these are our guests from the Morning’s Shade, Zen, Ember, Zalia and Lady Indis. Representatives, this is General Ballast of the southern division.,” General Faian said in introduction.
Zalia still didn't know how to properly greet a general in these lands, if there was even a proper way, so decided to use the method from her own home. She squared her feet with her shoulders and brought her hand to the side of her temple, held flat with the palm pointed outwards, the military salute from her home country. It was probably a poor imitation of the real thing but they wouldn't have known it anyways.
“General,” Zalia greeted.
“Shade,” Ballast replied.
He looked to approve of Zalia’s attempt at being formal.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Indis said, giving a light bow.
In response to that, the General just grunted. He seemed straightforward with a no nonsense attitude and Zalia was liking the man already.
Both Zen and Ember gave a similar bow as Indis had, though definitely less refined.
“Lets get to business then, shall we?” General Ballast asked.
“Certainly, right this way,” General Faian said, leading them into the camp.
Zalia picked up Boreal, not wanting her to be caught up in the amount of movement happening throughout the space. Boreal didn't seem too impressed by the move but Zalia knew it would be for the best. Zalia noticed that quite a few people were following them, some she recognised, Advisor Ryn, Commanders Gurz and Lynette. Some, she didn't recognise. She assumed by their uniforms that they were the counterparts of Ryn, Gurz and Lynette amongst General Ballasts own army.
They all arrived at a bigger structure that Zalia hadn’t seen before. With the amount of powerful magic wielders compressed into this one camp, she wouldn't be surprised if the structure had been conjured by someone that very day. They all settled around a table, larger than the usual one Faian sat at with a map that stretched across the entire battlefront as well as the centre of the kingdom. There was a lot of information carefully written or shown in detail with miniatures marking known or suspected troop placements.
“We have a few key points to touch on today. Our first point will be General Ballast retelling his story of the events that led to this war. The second point will be an explanation of some new information that has come to light that may give us a chance, provided by our guests from the Morning’s Shade. Once that is done, we will discuss further war plans for the near future. Everyone ready?” General Faian explained once everyone seemed seated and settled.
There was a chorus of affirmatives and nodded heads so General Faian gestured to General Ballast, who began retelling his version of the story. It was very similar to the story that Faian told, differing only in that it appeared he had realised a bit later then she had what was happening. Zalia had already decided on helping the rebellion but paid particular attention to his every word, trying to find discrepancies. When she found none, it was finally settled in her mind that she would do what she could to help them. It was no longer a question of if but how.
It seemed like the others all had come to the same decision as well, Indis obviously already having decided long ago.
“Any questions?” General Faian asked, once General Ballast had finished speaking.
“None whatsoever,” Indis said.
“No,” Zalia replied as well.
Zen and Ember shook their heads.
“Very well, on to our second point of information for today,” General Faian said.
She then explained the situation around the Morning’s Shade, Hidey and all the information Zalia had given over to them. They corrected or added information where asked or needed, bringing Ballast and his retinue up to speed. Once Faian was done speaking, she locked eyes with Ballast for a moment, seeming to have a silent conversation. Ballast nodded and she continued.
“Very well, now we need to make some decisions as soon as possible. From everything we have gathered, we don't have a lot of time to move before whatever the king is up to is finished. We believe he has brought in the Morning’s Shade in a last ditch attempt to push us as hard as he can with his army to buy as much time as he can. This leads us to believe he isn’t really worried about either the Morning’s Shade discovering the truth or our eventual victory against his army. That puts us in a delicate position. We have to make an aggressive and possibly dangerous move to put an end to this,” General Faian began.
She paused for a moment, one hand leaning on the table while she held her chin with the other, thinking,
“It could be a feint to draw us into doing exactly this but it would be a foolhardy and dangerous feint for him to make if he didn't have some sort of backup,” Faian finished.
She looked around the table and the discussion began.
Zalia didn't take part very much, barely even managing to keep her mind focused on what they were talking about. There was a lot of talk revolving around logistics, a few more people were brought in, people in charge of various supplies or organising groups of people. Each point was heavily discussed for issues and possible solutions to brought up issues as they slowly but surely formed an in depth plan as to how to respond to each considered issue that could crop up.
As a hunter, Zalia was no stranger to thorough planning of traps, escapes and methods of taking down big game. This though, was an entirely different scale. They were talking about the movement of an incredible amount of supplies, troops across an entire battlefront moving in a coordinated push to gather into one large army that would assault the capital. They would give up each and every defensible position they held, leaving only a skeleton garrison, to make a hopefully final push towards victory. It was a desperate plan that held many dangers, possible ambush or unknown forces could cause a domino effect of failure across the whole board. Misplaced or mishandled supplies could cause an entire division to lose cohesion or starve, requiring assistance from nearby towns or allies. It was a logistical nightmare but Faian and Ballast along with their logistics officers broke the entire thing down into tiny parts, solving each issue as they moved. They had one of the strange devices Zalia had first seen when she had arrived in camp, a form of long range communication that allowed them to include other Generals and officers from across the battlefront.
After a few hours, Faian called a break to the discussion and each included party retired to speak amongst themselves for a short time.
“I am not made for this,” Zalia said as soon as they were out of earshot.
“I don't know how they can possibly even remember all of that information,” Ember replied, nodding in agreement.
“They are quite good at what they do. I’m sure they have some magical abilities that help in this regard,” Indis added, still stiff and formal.
She had decided to come with them rather than stay behind.
Zalia avoided looking at the woman, not wanting to cause more issues. She felt like she would create another argument if she spoke to her.
“Boreal is a bit restless, we might go for a quick run. I’ll see you all here soon,” Zalia said, making to move away.
“Zalia,” Indis called.
Zalia stopped, feeling a tiny bit of dread but turned around.
“Yes?” she asked.
“I’m sorry for how I have acted. You did the right thing,” Indis said.
Zalia watched Indis for a short time, not trusting herself to speak. In the end, she simply gave her a nod before turning around and leaving.