on the other side of the marsh, discontent amongst the Unodite soldiers. Word had already spread amongst the advisor’s Unodite soldiers that peace has been made between Allan and the Trolls and most Unodite soldiers dismissed the idea not as wishful thinking but a decision that should never have been made.
Many the soldiers who had not seen the battle that had taken place where spectacular bonds had been displayed between men and Trolls, would obviously not be convinced with the idea and many of whom would be strongly opposed. “Are you just going to stand there all day, we have to move now!” shouted the advisor, who was quite frustrated at that point. “Your prince’s decision has forced us stand with another option, another option to return to our kingdom. Why would we help the Trolls build a settlement here so near to our kingdom” replied a Unodite soldier. “Yes! We do not have to raise their fields, fish for their families and build their homes. They will only turn against us on top of losing valuable land to them” said another soldier. Fed up the advisor exclaimed “this is a new idea; it is not just a gamble! Just think if some of the advantages, they could help us in our future battles, trade, offer labour and it’s definitely good to make compromise with a beast as it reduces the promise of war!”. “It is a gamble!” shouted a soldier. Another Unodite soldier then said “they will always be lingering at our door step and don’t forget there are still beasts and cannot be trusted”. One of the soldiers said “What leaders do we have here, thinking they know better, changing objectives and using us at without our own will. I say I will give them the respect they deserve by leaving”. Many other Unodite soldiers then said “aye” in agreement.
It was obvious to the advisor that it would take forever to coax them into helping the Trolls establish a settlement. Weary and angered at the situation the advisor then shouted “Who wants to leave? Leave progress and peace behind, blinded by your own anger and opinions”. “We aren’t blind!” “It is you and them who cannot see!” “I’m leaving!” shouted some Unodite soldiers who raised their hands. It started to become a downward spiral as countless Unodite soldiers simultaneously raised their arms and exclaimed strong and sometimes harsh words of opposition. The advisor in his demoralised state exclaimed “those who wish to continue for the greater good of us all follow me, those who refuse, you may leave”. Before turning his back to the Unodite soldiers and leading the others into the mangrove openings of the marsh.
He marched and in just a few moments after entering the marsh the advisor turned his head and saw that slightly more than three fifths of the Unodite soldiers with him had turned around and headed back to their kingdom. The remaining followed behind the Hetheilian soldiers, seemingly in favour of the situation and willing enough to support it. The advisor was shocked to see so many leave and he was now worried about the impressions they will give the Unodite king and people. He fears an outrage in Unodos towards the Hetheilian army leadership. “How am I going to explain this to the prince? This is the worst possible situation we could have encountered with this change of plans” said the advisor to himself as he and his army steadily marched. Unfortunately for this army, they were the ones who were going to have to guide the horses and transport most of the supply carts and this was not going to be easy as these were the more heavily armed and armoured men. However, the fact that the advisor and his men had been assured they would not be required to do any battle as well as many trees in their paths had been cut down or removed making it easier for their army to move conveniently through the ankle deep and sometimes knee deep marsh. However, daunting the marsh was to overcome, the advisor’s vast knowledge of the terrain and many experiences in the army allowed him to keep himself and men together as they pushed on, just as Allan did with the light infantry. “How did the prince manage to get himself and the others through this?” asked the advisor to himself. Everyone knew it would be many hours before they would see the rest of the army and the Trolls on the other side of the marsh.
Allan and Serai sat beside one another as stared at the marsh, waiting for the other army to show signs of emerging. “How long more is this other army of yours supposed to come” asked Serai to Allan who then said “I’d expect many hours before they emerge, we will just have to wait”. Serai nodded and turned to Allan and asked “so, what is your plan for us after your other army comes?” “I’ll keep my promise; we are going to help you establish a settlement on the coast of stunt sea, we will help build you simple homes, boats and help you kick start your new homeland and write a constitution for you, which you definitely have a say in” said Allan. “A constitution? Surely you are not trying to Humanise us are you?” asked Serai. “Our kingdoms all abide by a constitution, they are our governing principles and diplomatic principles. If I were to have any support back home, we would definitely require your people to live under one” said Allan. Serai nodded, broke a smile and then asked “you talk of this land you plan to settle us in, what will we have?”. “I personally have not been there, it is only a day a way and it is easy to miss. The entirety of the Stunt Sea is a fishing haven and where we are bringing you to is known as the Ranicus Peninsula, it is of a decent size, has a wetland at the very tip of the peninsula and a great mountain, Mount Ranicus” said Allan. Having known the area well as he has studied multiple maps in his life. “Are there any forests there, us Trolls just can’t live without having a forest in our midst” asked Serai in a friendly tone. “No, no forests, unfortunately” said Allan as he started staring at the ground. “All right, I guess the water and the marsh should do” said Serai to Allan in a reassuring way. “There is no need for a forest, all the lumber you need you can get from the wetland, hauls of fish from the sea and with a little luck some metals from the mountain” said Allan as he looked up again at Serai.
“We can do without a forest but we are a very spiritual race, being in nature is something every Troll enjoys, the excitement of a hunt or just a walk in the woods. We just feel a deep connection to the woods, the life that exists there and the things we can see and feel” said Serai as he wanted Allan to understand the Trolls more. Somewhat surprised at this Allan then said “really, I had no idea. So, other than wars and famines, this must’ve been another reason for you to leave” said Allan. “Yes, indeed. Oh yes, where we are getting the materials to begin the building of the settlement?” asked Serai. “We can use the lumber from the wetland, stone from the mountains and for things that require metal, we can contribute our metallic weapons” said Allan. “Thank you, Prince of Hetheil but there I must disagree with you. I am sorry but I need you to do something else for us. Instead of taking resources from the wetland. I’d like to preserve what we shall have there. Could we take the timber from this marsh instead?” said Serai. “I’m not sure, if we do try and transport all of the timber, we would have to disarm and leave our weapons somewhere here, because we just can’t haul that much timber with our armour on” said Allan. “Don’t forget you have my people and I, you’d be surprise how much we can haul” said Serai, smiling and giving friendly gestures at Allan. “All right, I’m on board with this” said Allan, smiling back at Serai. “After we gather the timber, to where are we to head?” asked Serai. “We need to head to the eastern coast which can be accomplished within a day of marching diagonally towards northeast even with heaps of timber and food will not be so worrisome as the coast is rich with life” said Allan, cheerfully. “That’s great to here. Allan I really cannot thank you enough. Shall we get started?” asked Serai as he put his hand on Allan’s shoulder. “Yes, it will take the other army a lot of time and we still have many hours of daylight left, let us begin” said Allan as he put his hand on Serai’s shoulder.
The two of them stood up together and started walking over to the marsh, being watched by everyone else, both Trolls and Humans. Allan then turned his head to where most his men were and shouted “those who wish to aid this cause, come and help Chop down as many trees as you can!” Nearly all the Hetheilian soldiers got up and walked over the marsh with their weapons,
not surprisingly as they had seen the events that had unfolded at the end of the battle, it was quite a shocking experience for them that had totally changed their political and cultural view towards the Trolls. However only about half of the Unodite soldiers were willing to commit and the rest just stayed put and watched, not compelled enough to help the Trolls due to their deep-rooted beliefs and lessons they have learned from their history.
Serai then shouted “Trolls to the trees! Cut them down! For your homes and families”. In response, every single able-bodied Troll went over the trees to start cutting them down, displaying far more unity than the Humans were. Allan did not hesitate as he wanted to show the Trolls he was there for them and was extremely keen to establish an alliance and friendship with them. He walked up to a tree after descending into the marsh, he withdrew his sword and started to hack at it with steady precision. Serai who had picked a tree next to the one Allan was attempting to cut down had taken only a couple of swings