It took us a whole full day to reach the final Check Post on the Continental Broad Road 25. The journey was uneventful and boring except for two things. Yesterday at noon, I got one notification. It was a confirmation and approval of the Alliance from the Council of Zoit.

NOTICE:-

The Department of Economy, Council of Zoit has APPROVED the following matter:-

TRADING CLAN ALLIANCE

Along with its initiate members,

The CILLATA CLAN

And

The BLOOD ZUMA CLAN

Having a member in that Department sure provided us a smooth processing in the Council of Zoit. I think if we didn’t have a member positioned there, then nothing would have been approved. I have the best Council members or I should say the Blood Zuma has many efficient Council Members.

About that time, I got another notification. This time, it was the King’s Crystal.

KING’S CRYSTAL:-

The KING’S CRYSTAL has stored the information about the following matter:-

TRADING CLAN ALLIANCE

Between

The Cillata Clan and The Blood Zuma.

I had almost forgotten about that, the King’s Crystal. It’s an odd thing to have. I asked Adi’Je about it sometimes, but all she said that every Blood King carries it until their death. The King’s Crystal passes from King to King. Well, sooner or later, I will get to know it’s correct and full usage.

When we reached the Check Post, a Guard came out. He was dressed in a tough, sturdy armour, made of interlocking iron, steel, and leather plates. This was the official Uniform of the Zoit Army. They had a symbol on their chest. The symbol was of two swords interlocked with each other.

I got down and went to talk to him.

Guard: “I am very sorry Sir, but you have to turn around.”

Me (surprised): “Why?”

Guard: “This whole area has been declared a Red Zone by the Council of Zoit.”

Me: “What? Why?”

Guard: “Sir, I do not know the exact details but we have been informed not to let anyone one pass this Check Post. The Dynoth monsters have started their movements. We have to maintain a clear road for evacuation process and for army reinforcements.”

Me: “When was this order issued?”

Guard: “Sir, yesterday. All the surrounding areas are being evacuated of beast men. Emergency Camps would be created here. So… Sir, please turn around and go back.”

Me: “Hmm… okay, I understand, but please check my ID first. I have been authorized by the Council of Zoit to move towards the Amoith Mountain and help in the matters of the Dynoths.

My ID is 1365987.”

Guard: “Okay Sir, please wait a moment.”

He went inside the post. I could see some men carrying tents and some basic provisions were running to and fro from the Post towards someplace to the east of the Post. The Dynoths have started moving. I hope we are not too late.

Guard: “Your Highness, I apologize if I behaved disrespectfully towards you!!”

Me: “Uhh…no no no… you have done no such thing.”

Guard: “Your Highness, you are free to move forward. I have verified your ID and have already informed the Commanders in the area about your arrival. They will be expecting you.”

Me: “Commanders? Where are they camped?”

Guard: “They are camped just outside the Galeform clan city, Your Highness.”

Me: “Hmm… I understand. Thank You soldier.”

Guard (bowed): “Your Highness.”

He quickly went and opened the gate for us. We started our journey again. I told the driver to move the carrier faster.

Deiti: “What happened Le’On… umm... I mean King Le’…?

Me: “It’s alright. Umm… this whole area has been declared Red Zone by the Zoit Council. Some news about the Dynoths movement has reached them. It also looks like the matter is serious as reinforcements have been called in by the Zoit Army. The Commander of the area is camped just outside the next city of the Galeform clan. They are aware of our arrival and will be expecting us. We need to reach there as soon as possible.”

Adi’Je: “Then we should travel through the night to cut some time, My Lord.”

Me: “Yes, I was thinking of the same thing.”

Naj’Rak: “Then, I’ll inform the Bloods.”

Me (smiled): “Thank You, Queen Naj’Rak.”

I kept on thinking about how I would face the monsters whom the Council of Zoit failed to tackle all these years. They would have to be truly strong to have dominated those lands for so long.

My train of thoughts broke when I saw a large convoy of Miden carriers coming from the opposite side. Slowly the convoy came closer. I saw not just Miden but also Yul carriers were part of them. It was a large convoy. After some time, we were moving past them and what we saw was something else.

Most of the Miden carriers in the front of the convoy were full of coffins. With some beast men and women also sitting beside them. They were all clad in Zoit Army armour. Their faces looked gloomy and some of them had tears in their eyes. A few looked at us, but with hollow eyes.

The middle of the convoy was comprised of many Yul class carriers. They were filled with beast men and women and judging from their demeanour and clothing, they were all civilians and probably hailed from the Galeform Clan. They had a light yellow complexion with brown eyes and few whiskers. They too had the same look, hollow and despair. And the rear of the convoy was comprised of again Miden class carriers. They were filled many injured beastmen, men and women, both civilian and army. It looked like they were broken more from inside rather than outside.

And it didn’t stop there, we encountered these conveys during our journey to the Galeform Clan city. They were filled with coffins, civilians and injured beastmen.

Though we wanted to reach the city as fast as we could, but we still had to take a rest. Those times were the worst; endless train of convoys going past us towards safety. And with each convoy, the people’s body language dropped. Soldiers, civilians... all devoid of hope. I thought of only few things. How powerful are these monsters? Can we stop them? I looked at the people passing by and thought only of these questions.

I felt a hand over my shoulder. I turned to see a glowing Adi’Je smiling at me. She asked.

Adi’Je: “My Lord, what is troubling you?”

Me: “Is it that obvious?”

Adi’Je (smiles): “My Lord, to me... it is.

(She touches my left cheek with her left hand)

I am your wife. If I do not; then who will??”

I touch her hand which was on my cheek and replied.

Me: “Something has been bothering me lately. Whenever I see these convoys roll past us, whenever I see the hollow faces of those beastmen... it seems to me that they are asking me questions.

Are we ready? Are we ready to face a foe against whom nobody has succeeded? Can I guarantee my people’s safety? Am I ready to or am I able to lead the Bloods to a better future?”

Adi’Je: “It seems they ask you a lot of questions, My Lord.”

Me: “Yes... yes, they do. What should I do Adi? What should I do to make me... make me more than I am at this moment?”

Adi’Je: “My Lord... the answer to all of these questions is same.

Steel your heart, My Lord! For you are more than you think yourself to be. You are the greatest shield that the Blood now has. You are... the greatest weapon that we have.

My Lord, at the field of any type of battle, do not forget to charge the enemy with all your might. You give your people courage and show them the meaning of valour. Each and every one of us believes in you.

My Lord, above all else... do not forget...

You are... our King... the Blood King!

And our King fears no one. Whatever foe may come, our King will stand tall and firm to face them head on.”

Me: “Why do I always feel at ease whenever you are around me?”

Adi’Je: “It is a wife’s job to put her husband’s troubling mind at ease. I will never let any harm fall on you as you are more precious to me than my own life. Do not mind these small things for you have much greater matters to attend to. Trust the Bloods, My Lord... Trust them.”

Me: “I love you, Adi... I always feel that I am not saying that enough or making you feel loved enough. You deserve more... more love.”

Adi’Je: “My Lord... I love you too with all I have. I am happy to be with you more than I have been before. I...”

I kissed her, not letting her finish her sentence nor do I care. This woman, whom I hold dear to me... I want to kiss and hold her all the time. I will be worthy of you... I will be the Blood that you deserve. I will be the King, my people deserve. I squeeze her tight in my arms, conveying my feelings to her.

We reached a big camp site after 8 days of travelling. We were able to cut two days from the actual amount of time required to reach our destination. The camp was situated on the place where Continental Broad Road 25 bifurcated into two roads, Continental Broad Road 25/1A and Continental Broad Road 25/1B. It was filled with Zoit soldiers who were running here and there with extreme importance. The atmosphere in there was very gloomy. When we reached there, we were confronted by some guards.

Guard 1: “What is your business here, Sir?”

Guard 2: “How did you pass the Check Post? We had sent them the order.”

Guard 1: “It seems they didn’t do their job properly... *Tsk* we have to do everything.”

Guard 2: “Please vacate this area quickly. The road is closed and this zone has been declared...”

Me: “A Red Zone... I know. Quickly show us the way to your Commander.”

Guard 1: “Absolutely not... please leave this...”

Me: “Look! I don’t have time for this... tell your Commander that King Le’On of the Blood Zumas wants to meet him.”

Guard 2: “King Le’On... of the Blood Zumas??”

Adi’Je: “MOVE!!! QUICKLY!!!”

Both the Guards ran towards a big tent after being yelled by Adi’Je... they were terrified of her.

I turned towards Captain Din’Pol and issued an order to be carried out.

Me: “Captain, we will rest here for a few hours. Find a place to create a camp and instruct the Bloods accordingly.”

Captain Din’Pol: “Yes, My King.”

He quickly went on to do his job. In the mean time, one of the guards came back.

Guard 1: “Your Highness! Commander is waiting for you in the tent. Please follow me.”

Me, Adi’Je, Naj’Rak and Deiti followed the guard into a large tent. Inside the tent there was heavy atmosphere. It was filled with soldiers pacing with tensed looks on their faces while many running in and out of the tent. We were led to a place where many soldiers were standing around a round table and were discussing something. When we entered, a man within them saw us and approached us.

???: “Hello, King Le’On... I have been briefed about your Quest by the Council. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Commander Rotun Monik, deputy chief of the Red Zone. On behalf of the chief Commander Eldin Vest, I welcome you here... although I wish we had met at a different circumstances.”

Me: “Hello Commander Rotun Monik let me introduce you to Queen Adi’Je and Queen Naj’Rak... my wives and she is Deiti.”

Commander Rotun Monik: “Hello, Your Highnesses.”

Me: “Now the pleasantries are out of the way, tell us everything Commander.”

Commander Rotun Monik: “Yes, King Le’On. Follow me please.”

He was a tall young beastman, just a few inches shorter than me. He had an angular face with black complexion and brown eyes. He was wearing the same armour as the rest of the soldiers except he had another emblem on his right chest. The emblem, contained three swords and a crown on top of them. He led us to the same table and made room for us. The table had a large map on it.

Commander Rotun Monik: “Twelve days ago, two aggressive patrol units were dispatched here, just several kilometers outside the Galeform city. There were reports of monster sighting so the units were dispatched to locate and if possible, eliminate them.

But, in the middle of their investigation, they tumbled upon a large group of Dynoth monsters. They were moving towards the city. The initial reports that we received from them were that those monsters were in a group of a few hundreds or more. If left unchecked, they would fall on the city in the middle of the night, which would have resulted in a devastating massacre.

The brave beast men and women of the patrol units sent their reports to the HQ in the Amoith Valley, which were just a few hours from here. Upon receiving the report, soldiers were dispatched for possible engagements with the Dynoths and the evacuation of the Galeform City. It also contained that the Units would engage the monster group to slow down their movements and buy us some time. We did receive extra hour or so, but we believe the brave soldiers became the first martyrs of this battle. We haven’t been able to recover their bodies until now.

When the first units reached the Galeform city they found the northern sector of the city was being overrun. Hundreds of Galeform people were dead and many more injured. Although their initial order was to help in evacuation, but the Commanding Officer ordered his Units to engage the monsters in order to provide extra time for the secondary units who were busy evacuating the people and to also stop the Dynoth advancement. Within 3 hours, we lost all the units that engaged the Dynoths.

From here on, we could only throw bodies at them to stop them for few hours. Within these two weeks our casualty counts in the close quarters of a thousand while equivalent numbers were severely injured. I gather you saw the convoys carrying the dead Zoit soldiers along with wounded soldiers and Galeform people while coming here.

In the past two days, the battle was going on the lines of hopeless for us. We just cannot match their ferocity nor their killing capability. Those monsters are killing as if they knew only that and nothing more.

Our Chief is now in the camp near the Galeforn city, trying to take back the city, but...

As far as the latest report suggests; the northern, eastern and half of the western parts have been overrun with many soldiers and civilians stranded inside those sectors. We have run through every options we had but to no avail. Can you believe after all these days of fighting; we have managed to kill only a few hundred of them while many... many more still fights.

We tried killing them with arrows, but a whole archer division was decimated along with the unit tasked to safeguard them. The soldiers are losing morale as you can clearly see. If this goes on then... then I believe...”

I stared blankly at the map on the table. It was a dire situation and I didn’t know what to do or say.

Adi’Je: “Can you show us the dead bodies of the Dynoth monsters?? If you have them of course.”

He looks at her for a minute and then turns to his left.

Commander Rotun Monik: “Captain Paeli!”

A young girl sprang up from the chair she was sitting and quickly made her way towards the Commander. She had a round face with a small scar upon her young left cheek. She was of pale brown complexion with deep brown eyes.

He turns towards us and said.

Commander Rotun Monik: “Your Highnesses, this is Captain Paeli. She will attend to you and show anything you need.”

He then turns towards her and said.

Commander Rotun Monik: “And Captain, these are the King and Queens of Blood Zuma Clan. Provide them with everything they need. For now, show them the dead bodies of the Dynoth monsters we have stored. Do you understand, Captain?”

Captain Paeli (salutes): “Yes Sir!!!”

She then comes over to us and said.

Captain Paeli: “Please follow me, Your Highnesses.”

She led us out of the tent and after crossing several tents filled with either dead bodies being loaded into caskets or wounded soldiers being treated we entered another large tent. This tent was filled many beastmen and on the ground, lay two monster bodies... they were hideous.

They were big, close to 8-9 feet tall. They were black coloured with four legs. Out of those four legs, two were situated close to their upper body. Thus, we can say that those were also their hands. But all of leg endings were conical type, like it was made for only piercing. Their legs looked buffed and I think they could give a powerful blow with these legs. Their mouths had nothing out of the ordinary. They had two eyes. But their teeth were sharp and their jaws looked powerful.

Adi’Je: “Piercing arms and legs?? How could they walk with these?? Strange.”

Captain Paeli: “Wait till you see this, Ma'am.”

She went close to one of the bodies and bent down on one of her knees. She put her hands on the right leg of the dead monster and started to pull it apart by force. The strange thing was, it was parting and when she finished, we saw a foot... yes... a three fingered foot. She looked at our surprised faces and stood up. Then she said.

Captain Paeli: “The conical shells are apparently scales of these monsters. They can voluntarily cover all of their feet with these scales to form this conical shape. Sly bastards...”

Adi’Je: “These bodies have several cuts and thrust marks on their bodies. Actually they are too much of these markings... why is that?”

Captain Paeli: “Ma’am, these bastards have a really thick skin. Our swords or any kind of weapons we use just don’t do enough damage to them. It takes many... many hits like this to kill them. Sometimes when fighting them, we just hope that one of these hits is going to kill them.”

Adi’Je: “As far as my knowledge goes about these times, were not the army fighting them for a long time?”

Captain Paeli: “Yes Ma’am.”

Adi’Je: “Then why do you not know how to kill them efficiently? Did you not cut them up and investigate their weak points?”

Captain Paeli: “As a matter of fact, we did Ma’am. We know for sure that they are most vulnerable at the portion of their heads, especially their eyes.”

Adi’Je: “Then why so many casualties?”

Captain Paeli (her expression changed): “Because Ma’am, these monsters have a level of agility we have or I have never seen. We just don’t get any chance to hit their vulnerable points. The most we get is their upper body which is made of enforced skin, which is tough to scratch. These Dynoths are built to kill... Ma’am.”

Adi’Je: “It seems you have experience facing them soldier.”

She nods her head and replied.

Captain Paeli: “Yes Ma’am. This scratch on my face is a reminder that I am a part of the lucky squad.”

Adi’Je (confused): “Lucky Squad?”

Captain Paeli: “The ones who came back after fighting Dynoths are called members of the Lucky Squad. There aren’t many of us, Ma’am.”

Deiti: “Why are there only two bodies here?”

Captain Paeli: “These Dynoths took many people to kill them and these are waiting to be transported to another camp site to store them and see if any other easy way to kill them exists.”

Naj’Rak: “We have to match their agility and dodge their piercers then only we would get a clear shot at their heads... sounds exciting.”

Adi’Je looks at Naj’Rak then all of a sudden both of them burst into laughter. It was not a giggle, but a full blown laughter. All the beastmen surrounding us as well as Deiti were surprised or shocked to even think of anything. Here, they were all tensed and worried about what they would do to stop the Dynoths and suddenly two beautiful beast women bursts in laughter. Nobody knew what was happening.

A shocked Captain Paeli asks.

Captain Paeli: “Who in their right minds laughs at a dire moment like this?”

I turned from my laughing wives towards her and replied her.

Me: “That would the Queens of the Blood Zumas.”

Captain Paeli: “But they shouldn’t laugh at this situation.”

Me: “They aren’t. They are laughing because they are excited to face a powerful foe. Captain Paeli... thank you for the explanations. Now, please inform Commander Rotun Monik that we would begin our journey towards the Galeform city within this hour.”

We came out of the tent and Captain Paeli went ahead to inform her Commander and we went towards our camp which was close to the main road.

Me: “What do you think Adi’Je?”

Adi’Je: “It seems to me that these simple creatures are yet to figure out an efficient way to fight. All of them have broken will... none of them would taste victory if they give up when the times get tough.”

Me: “Why exactly you asked those questions regarding the Dynoth monsters?”

Adi’Je: “You are our King... that means all of the Bloods are like your children... you are their father. Likewise, I am their Queen and General; that makes me a mother to all of the Bloods too. Which mother lets her children fight a battle without finding a way to secure their victory, My Lord? Which mother would like to see their children dying even it’s a field of battle? I will have my husband and my Bloods fight to their utmost capabilities and for that I needed information about our opponents.

Now, My Lord... we are ready to kill them.”