After a full day of marching and an evening of setting up camp, everyone was ready to fall over with exhaustion. They'd made good time and put plenty of distance between them and the valley, but S'haar had decided the camp needed to gather once more before settling in for the night. Luckily, Lon'thul had been lucky on the hunt, so they had freshly butchered kovaack to enjoy for the first time in weeks, and it was enough incentive to keep most of the camp awake as S'haar stood to gather everyone's attention before she started speaking to the crowd. "Once again, everyone present has shown unheard-of knowledge, skill, and determination in accomplishing the impossible in getting out of that valley without any additional loss of life. Be proud of yourselves. This kind of thing never makes it into our stories because it's simply too incredible. Or at least, it was before now!"

Her words were greeted by a hearty, if somewhat exhausted, cheer before S'haar began speaking again. "However, just as before, after accomplishing the impossible, a new and difficult choice stands before us. Where do we go from here?"

Now everyone was silent. With B'arthon behind them, A'ngles' empire before them, and impassable mountain ranges to either side, their options seemed limited, and S'haar seemed to agree. "In short, we now have two choices. We can surrender, or we can fight. After all we've done, despite our numerical disadvantage, we'd be surrendering from a strong position and will likely be able to negotiate quite favorable terms for ourselves. Tales of a small band of a couple hundred doing what villages of thousands could not will guarantee each and every person present prestige and authority in the new world A'ngles is creating. Most of us would likely receive titles of some sort, if not positions of outright nobility. However, in doing so, everything we began in the Dragon's outpost will likely be swept aside in the wake of A'ngles' new empire."

There was muttering from all corners of the camp, but S'haar wasn't finished. "On the other hand, if we chose to take the fight to them, we will be facing much more than the small force B'arthon has been chasing us through the mountains with; we will be facing the full might of over a dozen villages and tribes. We won't be fighting hundreds on the field of battle. We will be fighting thousands. We won't be able to win on our own."

This time the camp wasn't silent out of anticipation but rather hopelessness. No one had ever heard of an army of a thousand, let alone multiple thousands. Even with Jack's magics, S'haar's prowess, and Lady Angela's protection, what could they hope to do in the face of such numbers? However, S'haar wasn't done. After all, she and the council had spoken of this very thing before leaving the valley. They'd just waited to see how successful their escape would be before presenting this idea to the rest of the camp. "In short, we'll need friends. Allies. We'll need the help of every tribe, family, and individual that wants to push back against A'ngles' new empire. A'ngles' army is unlike anything this world has seen, and we'll need to respond in kind."

No one was speaking yet, but the air of the gathering seemed to change as S'haar continued. "All around us are the hill tribes. We're often thought of as nothing more than raiders or nomads, but we've forgotten that they are also the descendants of those who refused to bow down before those who called themselves Lords. They are those who've fought for pride and independence long before our own fight began, and they are the ones we will need to rally if we are to have even the faintest hope of victory now. But to do that, we'll need the help of everyone present. You were there when we outthought, outmaneuvered, and outfought against impossible odds time and again. So now, if you're willing, you will become the core of something new. The stories of the survivors of Dragon's Outpost will become the stories of the Dragon's Army! The time has come to take the fight to them!"

Evidently, the pressure of asking such aggressive people to turn the other cheek for so long had reached a boiling point because the answering shout shook the hillsides and likely scared all nearby game into hiding for the immediate future. As S'haar resumed her seat, Jack leaned over to offer his thoughts on the reaction. "Well, it sounds like you have your answer!"

-

Dar'shal watched as Grim ran between Kunes and Kunshee. He still had a slight size advantage over the two females, but if they worked together as a proper hunting pack, they could have easily overpowered the male wolgen. However, they still hadn't entirely worked out how to coordinate their attacks, so the male quickly overpowered them by knocking one away and then dealing with the other head-on. Under his playful instruction, the two females were advancing as hunters far more rapidly than the wolgen Dar'shal's father had tamed in the past, and yet when Sare'en called out to the beasts, they happily ran over to her like a bunch of overgrown pups, and not just because she was carrying baskets filled with their dinner. This was when the truly impressive part of their training began.

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As they ran up, the normally quiet and withdrawn herding girl shouted a command. "Stop!" Grim and Kushee both froze immediately, but Kunes took another couple of steps before looking back and halting. Sare'en threw a couple bits of meat to Grim and Kushee as a reward before shouting, "Sit!" This time all three complied, and all three got a treat. Finally, the herder girl walked up to all three, placing a basket full of meat in front of each and issuing the command, "Wait!" Gim and kushee were statues, their eyes fixed on Sare'en until Kunes dipped her head down as if to smell the basket in front of her. Sare'en didn't say a word, just watched as Grim let loose a loud snort, which drew Kunes attention back to the here and now and made her nose shoot back up as she also began waiting for Sare'en's command. Dar'shal had never seen wolgen of any size or age show this kind of discipline when fresh meat was so near at hand.

Sare'en watched her three charges with a satisfied grin before calmly saying, "Okay, go!" Following this, all three wolgen immediately buried their snouts in their baskets, devouring the tasty meat within.

Dar'shal shook his head in amazement. "I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't here to see it. I still don't know how you taught them so much discipline without asserting your dominance!"

Sare'en smiled shyly. "Well, in a way, I did. Among wolgen, it's the parents who provide food for the pack, so as the one who brings them their meals every day, it's easy to assume the role of the den mother, so to speak. From there, it's just a matter of maintaining the proper levels of dominance and rewards to encourage the correct behavior. Of course, it also helps that Grim was so docile in the beginning, it made him easier to teach, and he, in turn, teaches the others how to behave. I'm still not sure how a third generation of wolgen will work out, but I'm cautiously optimistic." With results like this, Dar'shal could understand where the optimism came from.

That was when Em'brel came walking up. She stopped to scratch Kunes behind the ears, following which the wolgen lifted her head long enough to sniff her favorite argu'n and offer an only slightly bloody lick before returning to her meal. Em'brel merely wiped the saliva and blood mixture on a spare rag before continuing her approach. She winked at Sare'en as she walked. "Looks like the girls are almost as well-behaved as Grim is. If you'd told me a year ago that we'd be adopting a pack of wolgen into our camp...well, okay, with Jack around, I might have believed it, but I still wouldn't have thought it would have gone anywhere near this smoothly!"

Sare'en shrugged as if unsure what to do with even an indirect compliment like that. "Honestly, it's as much the wolgen's doing as my own. They are much more intelligent than the arlack, and Grim does almost as much teaching as I do. Lady Angela said they'd probably have larger packs in the wild if finding enough food wasn't such an issue."

Em'brel sized the wolgens up again and did a little math in her head. "Yeah, I can't help but wonder how easy it'll be to keep them all fed once the two females are full-grown. And what if they have pups? I could see this getting unsustainable far too easily."

Finally, Dar'shal decided to join the conversation. "That is a real issue. It's why my tribe has so much more territory than most others. We have to be much more mobile, shifting locations three or four times a year, depending on how quickly the local prey populations recover in our absence."

Em'brel looked at their guest a moment before nodding. "That makes sense. I guess it'll be a while before wolgen drawn carriages become common."

Dar'shal wasn't sure what a carriage was, but he suspected it was far more ridiculous than anything he could imagine. That's when he noticed Em'brel looking at him like she wanted to say something but was waiting for a good time to bring it up. The valley people's formalities were often tiring, so he decided to cut to the hunt. "Is there something you want to ask me?"

Em'brel smiled and shook her head. "That easy to read, am I? Jack says it's a good thing, it means I'm open and honest, but sometimes I wish I was a bit more subtle, like S'haar."

Dar'shal just continued to look at the female, waiting for her to get to the point. Finally seeming to get the idea, Em'brel stopped circling the kill. "S'haar would like you to attend the council meeting tonight after you finish your duties. They'd like to speak with you about the local tribes and ask you how best to approach them to try and negotiate a formal alliance."

Dar'shal nodded. "After yesterday's announcement, I suspected as much." He looked at the wolgen finishing their meals. Kunes had finished her basket of meat first and started sniffing around Kunshee, who was holding her sister at bay with an outstretched paw while she finished her own meal. "I'm more of an observer than trainer here, so I can head there now if they're ready for me."

Em'brel clapped her hands together and nodded. "Great! They should be ready shortly, so let's head on over!" Then looking back to Sare'en, she continued. "Oh, and I'll be by after the meeting. Angela had some thoughts about a new training regime for the girls to try out, and I wanna run it past you and see what you think!"

Sare'en nodded. "That'll be fine. I'll be sure to have something ready to eat by then."

Em'brel winked. "Looking forward to it! See you then!"