Meanwhile, the army started practicing. Every day for five hours Thetra and Mordon battled in order to practice their sword fighting for the battle. Thetra discovered that the co-leader of the Good Army was a very good swordsman indeed. Since Thetra had only seen Mordon in action once beforeat the battle with the green and red-armored soldiershe didn’t know what exactly to expect.
Because of this, Thetra started not at his best, and would have died if it weren’t for them putting a soft material around the blade of their swords. In fact, it hardly made a dent in Thetra’s arm.
After two days, Thetra could tell he was losing some of his baby fat and was developing strong muscles in not only his arms but also his legs, for he had been running as well. He told Mordon this, but he only laughed and said, “Welcome to the real world, leader.”
Thetra thought about this as he trained, trying to continue and work his muscles hard so he could become a healthy burly man.
After five days from leaving, the first pack of soldiers returned. It was the group of six that had been sent to Hetal. It was not unusual that they had been the first to return, for Hetal was the closest city to Destville.
They had recruited seventeen members, which almost tripled the number of soldiers that had been sent out, but Thetra was disappointed with this number, for he had expected more. He had a feeling that this group hadn’t obeyed orders by making everyone join. He knew Hetal was small, but not this small. He gave the group another chance by sending them out again.
The second group to return was not them again, in fact, but the pack sent to Toromok. They had returned with a few Elves who survived the Battle of Toromok. The two-foot-tall Elves were in fact a big help to the army, for they were very good with bows and arrows. They agreed to fight for the Good Army in the battle with Morchad’s Army.
The third group was group on the second journey to Hetal, who returned with twenty-two soldiers this attempt. In total that was thirty-nine, which Thetra let pass.
The fourth was Casca Doba; Lentor; Land of Dragons*; Mthanl; Toage, Wecvavrrn; Thaken; Maltonka; ThuorNulagh; and La lakr-sonx. As a total, the army recruited a thousand and three hundred ninety-five soldiers, which surprised Thetra at its amazing amount.
“Well,” said Thetra at a meeting after everyone except the dragons had returned. “That idea worked. I am proud to announce that we recruited one thousand three hundred ninety-five soldiers, and there are twenty-seven toddlers in the nursery. Twenty of our soldiers are guarding the nursery at all times, so no need to worry, parents of these toddlers, for they are well safe within our camp grounds.”
A woman raised her hand, and Thetra acknowledged her. She began speaking, saying, “What kind of fool does this army serve, for I need my baby to eat the right amount of food and the correct type of food.” After a long pause, in which Thetra was thinking, she added, “Doctor’s orders.”
“What kind of food does your baby need to eat?” Thetra questioned her.
“He must have some medicine that I brought myself each morning”
“That is your responsibility, ma’am,” said Thetra, waiting for the woman to tell her what kind of
________________________________________________*Land of Dragons did not have any dragons, hence the name, else Valao, Ejarshöh, and Ghuar would have gone there as well as Lake Dalfnok.
food needed to be cooked so he could tell the army’s cooks, who were cooking at the very moment.
“Aye,” she responded. “But I need the army’s cooks to cook breakfast for him every day.”
“What does your child need to eat?” demanded Thetra, growing furious in rage.
The woman looked up at him silent, and then said, “Never mind. I will deal with the matter myself.” She sneered.
“Congratulations, recruiters,” praised Thetra, his attention directed at the crowd now and not the woman. “I am so pleased to honor you with Army Elders.”
There were whispers among the crowd. “We just got promoted?” Thetra heard someone say. “We’re elders!” someone exclaimed a little too loudly. “This is unbelievable,” others said.
And it was. Thetra truly was glad with what work the elders had done. Now the Good Army actually stood a chance against Morchad’s, who were fierce and ferocious with their weapons.
“I have an announcement to make as well,” said Mordon, walking over to Thetra. “Although it is only to Thetra, others may listen in as well.”
There was silence as Mordon told Thetra the shocking secret of the army. Thetra was surprised Mordon let the recruits know about it, for they could tell anyone in Arque.
There gasps from the crowd, and Thetra as well.
For the army was not called the Good Army.
Mordon said, “Thetra, you are the leader of an army in which you do not know the name of.”
“Excuse me?” said Thetra, a little astonished.
“Aye. For the name of this army is the Dark Destroyers.”
LEADING A NEW ARMY
“What?” exclaimed Thetra. “Are you saying that you’ve been hiding me from the true name of this army?”
“Thetra...” growled Mordon. “No, that’s not what I meant. We...didn’t trust you until about a month agoat the underwater fight. And since then we, we haven’t had enough time to tell you. Understand?”
Thetra had seen that Mordon had started to sob, and Thetra felt a pang of guilt. He had yelled at him, but he knew that Mordon was tougher than this. So what was wrong with him?
“Aye,” said Thetra, answering Mordon. “But why are you weeping, O Mighty Co-leader Mordon?”
“I...I should have told you earlier. I just...couldn’t. I had a conference with Therr but he said to wait. And I had to carry out his orders. I thought that now would be a good time.”
“I apologize for hollering at you, Mordon.” Thetra noticed that all of the Dark Destroyers were watching this act. “And I think you deserve something.” And so Thetra drew his sword and laid the flat side of the blade upon Mordon’s head, who was kneeling on the soft turf. “I promote thee Mordon Teruisson to leader of the Dark Destroyers.”
Mordon’s face lit up in glee. Then it darkened, realizing that Thetra had just given up something important for Mordon. “I decline,” he said.
Those words ruined the moment. “What?” asked Thetra, confused by Mordon’s choice of words. “Why must you?”
“It is an important role that I would mess up if I were leader. And it’s yours. I wouldn’t want my leadership role to be stolen.”
“You aren’t stealing it, Mordon. I’m giving it to you!”
“Aye, but I declined. Shouldn’t you be glad that you can keep the spot in the army? I thought you enjoyed it.”
“Aye, but in apology for yelling at you” started Thetra, but Mordon interrupted him.
“This is too much for a simple shout,” said Mordon, his voice growing louder away from his usual calm, gentle tone.
“Nothing is too simple for anything,” replied Thetra, and removed Slayer from atop Mordon’s head, sheathing it. “Then you may stay as co-leader, as you wish.”
“Thank you, King Thetra.”
“Mordon, I truly do apologize for yelling at you, and I hope you at least accept this form of apology.”
“I do, Thetra,” responded Mordon and the crowd applauded, thankful that their co-leader finally accepted an apology.
“Now, without further ado,” continued Thetra in a louder tone, speaking to the crowd, “let us celebrate!”
And so all the Dark Destroyers went to the eating area, which had been expanded to fit all the new soldiers.
They had a huge feast that carried on into the night, until it finally ended in the morning and they all slept until evening.
Arek decided to send out one more party to each city, for they needed all the soldiers they could get to face the powerful and trained army of Morchad.
They all came back within the next two weeks, gathering two hundred and six soldiers
that had been hiding on the army’s first attempt.
The dragons returned during this time as well, recruiting five dragons from Lake Dalfnok, which meant as a total they had eighteen dragons, which most certainly wasn’t enough, but Thetra decided it was the best they would get, for he did not want to send out the dragons again in fear they would not be back in time for the battle. “Eighteen is better than null,” decided Thetra. Valao agreed.
The next few days were like beforeThetra and Mordon sword fighting, developing muscles, and altogether training for the fight.
“We are making good progress,” said Mordon one day. “I believe we could actually do it.”
“What’s that?” said Thetra, who had been listening to the birds’ early morning songs.
“Win the battle against Morchad’s Army. Even though we lack dragons, we still have a good chance in defeating Morchad’s human army. And we will at least knock out a few golems.”
“We’ll get more than a few,” assured Thetra, and he really believed this. He thought that they would most likely get at least twenty killed.
There was a long pause, and then Thetra spoke again. “It’s a good thing we sent spies out and we discovered the battle ahead of time.”
“Aye,” responded Mordon. “Or else we would not have recruited, and we would have been dominated. Every one of us. Our camps would be set ablaze, and this whole entire place would burn down. Now we stand a chance against the attack.”
“Aye. I think that we recruited almost every citizen in Arque, which means that Mordon will not be able to recruit anyone else.”
Mordon’s eyes widened. “You’re correct! This gives us an even bigger advantage over winning the attack!”
“Advantage?” said Thetra, slightly confused, for he didn’t believe that the Destroyers had an advantage at all.
“Aye. We have a chance of winning. Advantage means”
“No, I know what advantage means. I’m just trying to see what you see. We don’t have an advantage, Mordon.”
“We don’t?” he asked. He obviously believed they did have an advantage, which Thetra thought to be completely incorrect.
“No, Mordon. If it’s anyone with an advantage it’s the enemy! Morchad’s army outnumbers us entirely! We stand a little to none chance of victory.”
Mordon hung his head. “Oh. I see.” Then he stalked out of the room, dragging his feet in despair.
“I hope you do,” said Thetra to himself once Mordon was out of earshot. “I hope you do.”
The next day Thetra was awoken by a man with glasses who obviously had news to share, for he was yelling, “News! We have news!”
“Oh?” said Thetra, sitting up in his bed.
“Aye. Follow me.” The man led Thetra through a series of passages, until finally they reached daylight.
And flying high in the clouds, sitting on a black dragon, was a man.
It was a man that was heading straight towards the Dark Destroyer campgrounds.
“Who is he?” asked Thetra to the man who had beckoned him.
“Ah, that we do not know. Nor do we know if he is friend or foe.”
As if to answer, the man on the dragon raised his sword high and the dragon swooped straight towards Thetra and the man with glasses.
“Watch out!” yelled Thetra, diving behind a big rock, but the man just stood in the dragon’s path, petrified. Thetra had to run out, grab him and pull him to safety.
But the dragon kept darting as it flew past the rock that Thetra and the man were hiding behind.
And the dragon continued until Thetra saw his claws grasp an animal that was gasping for breath. It was an elf that had been recruited from Toromok.
The man hopped off of the dragon, praised him, and then looked at the dead elf. He grunted. “This kind of species of elf is highly dangerous.”
What is he talking about? thought Thetra. Elves are on our side. Unless…maybe they’re serving Morchad. It’s only been a month. What are they doing here?
“We must find the leader and tell them we want to join,” said the black dragon.
Finally, Thetra stepped out from behind the rock. “I lead this army.”
The man turned around, as did his dragon. “You?”
“Me,” responded Thetra. This man looked strong and would contribute much to the army. “Well? Do you want to join?”
“Aye. So does my dragon. He is a good fighter as well am I.”
Thetra thought, then said, “Follow me.” He led them to the Army Hall, where the biggest conferences took place. Mordon was already there.
“We have a new soldier,” said Thetra, gesturing to the man and his dragons.
“What are your names?” asked Mordon, recording all of their information on a piece of parchment.
“I am Algonge,” said the man.
“I am Casmig,” said the dragon. “And we are willing to fight.”
Mordon looked up from his desk. “You say you will fight for us? How do we know that you do not serve Morchad and are just a spy? Where do you come from?”
“Beragh,” grunted Algonge.
“They killed one of our Elves,” added Thetra.
“They what?!” exclaimed Mordon. “Why would you do such a thing?” he pressed the newcomers.
“They were dangerous and could kill us! And the people of the army! Are there any more?” said Casmig.
“Aye,” replied Thetra. “Thirty-eight of them left now, to be precise.”
“Thirty-eight! They could be wiping out the army when they aren’t under your watch!” complained Algonge.
“We trust them,” said Thetra. “We trust them with the army’s lives.”
“That is a risk, fellows,” said Algonge. “I can’t believe you’re actually making this decision.”
“We know more about Elves than you do!” yelled Arek, who was in the Army Hall as well. “We’ve read a book about them, haven’t we, Thetra?”
“Aye,” confirmed Thetra.
“You may have, but have you had personal experience with them?” questioned Algonge.
“No,” replied Arek. “Unless you count the meeting after we recruited them. They just stood like everyone else, listening. What is so wrong about these creatures?”
“I have had to live with them for 50 days and 49 nights. The nights were the worst, for I could get no sleep at all.”
“Tell us your story, then,” demanded Thetra.
“Very well. It starts off like this:
“I lived in Casca Doba. The rest of my people were just like mehermits. We introverts stayed in our homes until we starved and had to go to the market and purchase food. We made a living by working from our homes. We wrote and published books. In fact, I have my latest novel with me” Algonge pulled it out“Sleeping Silently. It is about the danger of making too much noise when you sleep, as a disease was discovered a year ago called pohottomy. It means that you may die because you’re voice box is already working too hard when you sleep by resting, and if you talk in your sleep it hurts it.
“Anyway, one day the rest of the hermits in Casca Doba betrayed their kind, for they captured me and took me to Tormok. Then they confessed that they were Elves disguised as humans. I never forgave them, and I never will.
“The Elves then tortured me, ate parts of me, burned me, did whatever is closest to killing me. For 50 days and 49 nights, I had to live through this! The nights killed me, for I could not breathe for two minutes straight every hour. They choked me with their razor-sharp claws. Their pale skin reflected in the firelight. They gave me one of their tattered togas, and did whatever they could to turn me into an elf. I will never trust an elf again.”
“But maybe they’ve changed!” protested Thetra. “They wouldn’t have joined our army if they hated us!”
“Aye, but they do not serve Morchad, nor do they serve you. They are neutral like the aliens, and do not interfere with wars. They just watch them, have nothing to do with them. They never help us me
n.”
“Elves aren’t evil! If they serve anyone, it’s us!” yelled Mordon at the top of his lungs.
“I agree,” said Thetra.
“As do I. The race of the Elves is the oldest race in the history of Arque.”
“I thought it was dragons,” said Casmig. “We have been alive just as long as the Elves.”
“Both of these two races have been alive since the beginning of this country,” said Arek, settling the argument.
“Aye,” agreed Thetra. “We shan’t conquer the Elves, for that would cut off their kind, and the dragons would win.”
“What’s wrong with that?” asked Casmig.
“Many people believe the Elves were alive first, but that is not true,” explained Arek. “If their race were to be cut off, then all races in Arque would be angry.”
“I see,” said Algonge. “Well, I’ll give the Elves one chance, and one chance only. But if I see anything strange, do I have your permission to bring the hammer down?” He took out his mallet from in his belt, which was obviously his weapon.
“Aye,” said Thetra.
“Aye,” said Mordon.
“Aye,” said Arek.
“Very well,” said Algonge, spinning his mallet around in the air. “I shall be off to training, eh? And is there anywhere for Casmig to stay?”
“There is,” responded Thetra. “When you exit, look to your right and you’ll see the dragons training. He can practice there. And do you know what Morchad is doing?”
“What?” wondered Algonge.
“He is attacking in two months, or so our spies reported. He is trying to recreate golems, so that’s why we need as many dragons as possible. Thanks to Casmig, we have nineteen dragons to defend Destville now.”
“Ah, it’s nothing,” said Casmig modestly. “I fight every day.”
“Train?” wondered Arek.
“Aye,” replied Algonge. “I wake up every morning to hear him scratching his claws against the fake human targets. But he has not been preparing to face golems.” He looked at Casmig, who nodded in approval.
“Very well then. Go train,” commanded Mordon.
“We will,” replied Algonge, exiting the hall. “With pleasure, we will battle for your army in the upcoming battle.”
“Thank you,” responded Thetra. Then he said, “You are dismissed.”