he commands? You…”
“Sawdon! Enough!” interrupted Vantrax angrily, agreeing with the Thargws sentiment but anxious to press on. “We have little time to argue amongst ourselves. It matters not at this time. Although, we will review the events here at a later date.” he said ominously, looking directly at the embarrassed Gerada. “You are hereby relieved of your command, Strymos. I am taking charge of the army. You will inform me right now, what forces do I command? And when can we begin to march?”
Strymos looked at Sawdon in vain for support, upset and angry at losing his command in such a fashion. In his eyes at least, he’d done nothing wrong, and yet he was being replaced. He seethed with anger as he considered briefly the injustice. He was further upset at being criticised by Sawdon, whom he regarded as a fellow soldier and believed should have understood the impossible circumstances in which he’d found himself. But he knew that arguing with Vantrax was futile and could possibly lead to further demotion, so he decided to accept the decision grudgingly, and he responded dutifully to the King’s orders.
“Very well my King, if that is your wish. At daybreak this morning I commanded close to thirty thousand soldiers. I estimate that between twenty-three and twenty-four thousand now remain in camp. This force, I promise you, will be readwas march within the hour. They have all been instructed to leave most of their things behind and bring only essential items and weapons with them. Some of them though, will probably be a little drunk, as we were not expecting to have to move tonight. But they will soon sober up on the forced march, with the pace I presume you will be setting. I am fortunate to have around six thousand Thargws. I have found them to be fine soldiers who are usually first into battle and…”
Sawdon grunted loudly with pride, interrupting Strymos and affecting his concentration. He was excited and he couldn’t help but show his pleasure at his countrymen being lauded in such a fashion. The interruption angered Strymos even further but he tried to conceal his feelings and continued his report.
“I... Also have around five thousand Taskan warriors, between two and three thousand Falorian Spearmen, and two thousand Dzorag. The remainder of the army is comprised of all different species from across Estia and Mynae. Srrr, Perosyan footsoldiers, some Nadjan archers and horsesoldiers, some Rhuaddan volunteers and others. I even have some recruits from Siatol and Ursium. There you have it sire. They are a complicated group, but they fight well.” he stated proudly.
The Taskan warriors were fearsome-looking soldiers from the country of Eesk, on the continent of Mynae, large, dark brown, reptilian creatures whose facial features resembled remotely those of a kind of shortened Iguana. They had long faces that looked completely out of sorts with their small, orange-coloured eyes. Two small holes on top of their heads served as their ears and two small nostrils were perched in the centre of their face above a large, vicious-looking mouth, filled with small, razor-sharp teeth. Their tongues were long and thin and an awesome weapon, extending out two feet in length when flicked viciously at their prey. They were rough and razor sharp, the tip administered a deadly venom which paralysed its victim within five minutes if the skin was broken, resulting in death within twelve hours if the poison was not entirely removed. They walked upright and had thick, muscular bodies, but a short tail protruded from the base of their spine and they were obviously descended from creatures that, in the past, had walked on all four limbs. Taskans were fast, powerful and carried one bladed weapon – a doubled edged curved sword that was held in the middle by a leather strapped handle, enabling the warrior to twirl it around with good effect and use it rapidly on either side in close-quarter combat. They wore no armour, except for a Jintan half face helmet that had a giant spike on top. The helmet could be lowered in battle, enabling the Taskan to skewer their enemy upon the spike. Their tough reptile skin protected them, acting like biological armour, which meant that they were able to sustain multiple wounds but continue fighting.
The Taskans were dressed in a dark green cloth, their feet were bare, exposing their four sharply clawed toes, which were often used to claw their victims to death. They were effective warriors and their enemies