The open skies above the wildlands were teeming with life, birds of all kinds had migrated from the colder north and were continuing to move southward towards the badlands. One or two of them had the misfortune of becoming a meal for Nephral as he drifted through the sky, making way for the staging camp that Conrad had set up to train his troops away from the growing metropolis of Osan. The hills and cliffs that marked the edge of the basin that Osan sat in also marked the point where Conrad’s interests started.

Nephral spotted the palisades that had been erected around the top of a particularly wide half-mesa, tents and simple wooden buildings stood in relief against the still early morning blue of the sky. Nephral alighted on the spoke of one section of the wooden wall and allowed himself a moment to rest. He contented himself with a brief cleaning before the sound of barked orders drew his attention. He narrowed his eyes and peered past the tents that lined the section of wall he had found, into the large opening at the center of the campground.

A mixed column of Azar, Akurai, Humans, and Elves stood as a single host with their weapons at the ready. They wore darkly colored uniforms lined with the white-silver that had become associated with the Queen of Osan. In all, this particular group counted at exactly one hundred individuals. Nephral turned his attention to the man barking orders. A behemoth of a man who had grown larger and larger over the years, Conrad now stood at a height that the tallest of his soldiers only came up to his chest. Unlike his men he wore his signature black armor and silver-white cape, his mace hung at his hip and his glowing red eyes scanned the gathering, looking for any mistakes.

“At arms! Melee!” Conrad bellowed.

The men threw their hands out quickly, something fluid dripping from their wrists before reconstituting itself into one weapon or another. The process took barely a heartbeat. Each soldier taking a steady stance before brandishing their weapon at an unseen foe. Conrad whipped his head to the right, “Kodura! That mimic-weapon is your partner not that lass you threw into bed last night! Show it some respect or it’ll hesitate when you’re actually fighting for your life!” He bellowed. One of the Azar men on the right side of the column straightened his shoulders and nodded.

“Yes sir!” The young man barked. A rumble of laughter among the soldiers present followed and Conrad cocked a grin, his matted-black hair glistening a little as he tilted his head.

“You lot think that’s funny? At least he doesn’t have to pay for it! Damn pretty-boy!” Conrad snapped and the others laughed even harder. He laughed and straightened up again, “Reserve arms! Ranged formation!”

The soldiers in the column quickly moved forward and back, shifting positions with practiced ease. For the ones that moved forward, their weapons returned to their wrists and they drew shields off their backs, holding them up in a locked formation. Behind them, the soldiers that had moved back drew crossbows from their sides, quickly loading their weapons and raising them to various trajectories. It all took seconds to accomplish, the fluid movement and adaptability of the column brought a fatherly smile to Conrad’s face.

“You lot! That was the least-terrible pivot so far! You might actually survive your first battle!” He clapped his hand to his chest, “Almost makes me want to puke, I’m so proud!” He hesitated, “Enough sentiment! Standard formation! I have a few words for you lot.”

They quickly returned to their original positions and disarmed, standing at attention as Conrad began to pace back and forth in front of the column. “Next week you all finish your time here at my camp! Elite soldiers ready to fight alongside the Queen’s hordes. A priest will be assigned to your column, show some class when they show up. More importantly! Next week you start your day job!” He paused and cast his gaze over them, “As you well know, soldiers in this army don’t sit around all day waiting for a fight, you earn your keep! You will be starting your first shift as security within the city. Just like every new column before you, you will be assigned the East Gate.”

There was a rumble of apprehension and he scowled, “Deal with it! Everyone serves the East Gate at least once! Do your time and your column will be reassigned to one of the other parts of the city. Keep doing well and you might just end up in the reserves! Now quit dawdling and get out of my face! We have patrol with the Wardens in an hour!”

The men scattered, going to their respective tents. Nephral leaped from his perch and glided over to the mountainous man who had visibly relaxed now that he wasn’t the center of attention. He alighted on a heavy-looking pauldron and flicked his tail. “That is the nicest I’ve ever seen you with fresh troops, Lord Conrad.”

Conrad blinked and looked up at the feline before breaking into a smile, “Nephral!” He barked out a laugh, “Good to see you! What brings you to my little hell hole?”

“Just visiting,” Nephral said with a flick of his tail, “You aren’t getting soft on them, are you?”

Conrad crossed his arms, “I feel like a father raising his children, sending them off and starting over again, it’s a bit hard not to get attached.”

“At least you admit it,” Nephral said with a sigh.

“Perhaps,” Conrad grumbled, “I’m doing the best I can with the time I have. I won’t be taking this group with me to raid the Katali border, though. They aren’t ready to fight heroes yet.”

“You think there will be heroes this time?” Nephral asked, glancing at the soldiers milling about.

“I do, that guild of theirs has been making some pretty audacious moves recently,” Conrad grumbled, “I have some intelligence that some heroes have even chosen to enlist with the Katal army over ‘questing’ as they call it.”

“Does mother know?”

“I assume so, I got the information from the Wardens,” Conrad pointed out.

Nephral nodded flicking his tail, “On an unrelated note, I hear that your men know about a particularly fine bakery in Osan.”

Conrad scratched his chin, “Probably talking about Lily’s, Kodura’s mother opened up the shop just recently and she gives a discount to soldiers. Popular place. If you’re looking for it, it’s on the south-side near one of the clinics.”

Nephral’s tail curled a little and he tilted his head, “One of Lady Sari’s clinics?”

“Are there any others?” Conrad asked.

Nephral sighed, it was not that he did not like Sari, far from it, she’d proven herself to be reliable and remarkably intelligent. As one of his mother’s Four, she was one of the most revered people in the city and took her role overseeing the healthcare of the people very seriously. That said, Sari was not shy about the quid-pro-quo of her relationship with the Queen and her ideal of self-aggrandizement first over the benefits to others. That, and the constant visits to Sari’s laboratory early on had been an exercise in tedium as he explained concepts from his mother’s homeworld to Sari to advance her medicine.

“At least she isn’t hunting people for sport anymore,” Conrad pointed out at Nephral’s reluctance.

Nephral stiffened, “I couldn’t care less about her debased hobbies, the woman can hunt whomever she likes and take as many young men to bed as she dares. It makes no difference to me. I just don’t like how she sees her allegiance to mother as contractual.”

Conrad shrugged, “I admit it may as well be the same for me, Teyva has my loyalty without a doubt in my mind. However, the reason I joined her was for Bertrand’s head,” Conrad said, “What happens to me after the bastard is dead is really of little concern to me.”

Nephral nodded, “A fair point. Perhaps I should give the woman a bit more credit.”

“I would,” Conrad said, “At least she’s not a fanatic like Myranda.”

“I like Myranda!” Nephral countered.

“If she could she would steal her Majesty’s socks and keep them in a collection,” Conrad shot back. “Tell me I am wrong.”

Nephral winced and cleared his throat, looking away as the big man chuckled to himself. Nephral’s wings stretched a little and he glanced towards the clouds, following the cry of a particularly husky bird. The sphinx licked his lips and turned back to Conrad. “It was good seeing you Conrad. I should be on my way.”

Conrad shrugged, “Be safe out there Nephral, and say hello to the Queen for me when you see her. I assume you’re planning a visit today?”

“After I visit the others, it would seem today I am destined to meet with her entire inner circle before night falls,” Nephral quipped, launching into the air. He banked away, passing over the gathered soldiers for one last look before darting back towards the city.