Demon(#Wattys2017 Entry)

Chapter 58: Nuisance

The army stopped for the night in a clearing, ringed on all sides by trees. Tilens sighed."Smart...Gives them defenses and stops any big parties from attacking." He pointed out.

Arvin nodded a bit."Y-yeah...n-not much good for the t-two of us, I s-s-suppose."

Tilens nodded."Very observant." He agreed."Now...What're you going to do?"

Arvin sighed."I know th-the plan." He grumbled.

Tilens nodded."I'm sure you do. Let's hear it." He insisted."I don't want you using that 'I didn't know' or 'I thought that' excuse again."

The skinny Incarnate sighed."...I-i'll find a crowd of men, aw-w-waken their h-hunger, and e-encourage them to f-fight. P-preferably n-near their food s-stores." He said resignedly.

Tilens smiled."Good!" He pat his brother's shoulder."Let's get to it then!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They are run by ten commanders, each a user of Lost magic." Morz stated matter-of-factly to the other gathered commanders."And as for normal troops, they can easily muster ten thousand, should the need arise. They also give rudimentary lessons of defense to their non-combatants, and as we will be attacking, we can assume that will mean somewhere from three to four extra soldiers, should we wish to count them."

Vaussten blinked."Really? Hmm....Puts us at a bit of a disadvantage, doesn't it? We've only got three thousand."

Guiltare sighed, sticking a cigarette in her mouth. This technical talk of battle always made her feel stressed, and, hate her habit though she may, it did help take off the edge. She felt around for matches, then saw Jak adding a few figures to the makeshift board before them to plan their attack."What are you doing?"

Jak looked up."Hmph. Commander Morz says we're down a few thousand on the board." He replied, gesturing to the acorns he'd added to the enemies ranks of walnuts."An accurate representation of our opposition is required for efficient extermination of-"

"Non-combatants." Guiltare added. "Trained in defense. Non-combatants, meaning mothers. Children. The infirm."

Reba crossed her arms."Any plan that involves hurting children will be done without me." She informed briskly.

Jak sighed."...I suggest that possibly your hesitance is-"

Guiltare narrowed her eyes."Plain Common." She ordered."I'll not have another headache from you." In all honesty, she wished for the man to be back in his normal rank-and-file. But, with Gem captured, they needed another commander to fill in, and he was one of their stronger mages.

Jak sighed."As you wish. A sword doesn't care who swings it." He stated."And if one's swung at me, I don't care if it's a hyper-developed newborn, it will drown or burn. My life's worth more to me."

Giles sighed."Jak, don' talk 'bout burnin' people." He warned, seeing Reba tense up at the suggestion.

Jak looked and shrugged."Ah, yes. How insensitive of me."

Guiltare sighed, continuing to search for matches."That is a fair point, but-"

Reba glared."We're not going to kill children." She insisted.

Guiltare felt as though she might snap at Reba, loudly hiss that she'd never give any such orders, and so was grateful for the next speaker.

Vaussten raised his hands."Easy, easy. We're all on the same side here, let's save it for the enemies....We'll give orders to try not to kill these, ah...Reserve troops of theirs, right? We'll try and...at worse, knock them out. But, battles like this are roug, chaotic. Things happen, we all know that."