They had been travelling for a couple of days, taking their time so that they were careful. They didn’t want to get snuck up upon whilst they moved. They followed along the river, expecting to come across villages nearby, yet when they found a village, it was completely empty, and seemingly had been for some time.

“Chief.” Rori called out to Ares. “This is the second one…”

“Yeah… Looks like they were expecting company?” Ares mused aloud, though he wasn’t entirely sure. “Or they’ve already started to move to join the others West… do you think we’ll need to travel far?”

“Dragon’s Spine isn’t too far away, perhaps a week at this pace, and then traversing it will take some time too. It’s dangerous, and with what little power we have…”

Ares turned to face Rori, nodding his head so that they would continue.

“I would feel more comfortable with more of us that could go feral.”

Feral. That was the state in which both Wolfen and Bosk had faced him in. Apparently it amplified their abilities a great amount, though at the cost of hurting themselves due to the toll it took on the body.

“Do you have any ideas? I’m not familiar with this area. Plus maybe we should get a few more people in general so that others will think twice about dealing with us.”

“Our best chances will be with those that have yet to group up into a larger tribe.”

“Yeah, agreed.” Ares nodded his head. “Know where any are?”

Rori thought for some time as they continued to walk, bringing up the front. The rest of the warriors were scattered towards the rear and the sides closest to there too.

“The tiger people are usually solitary, but they also prefer to remain alone. Wolf people are loyal to-” Then Rori stopped speaking, furrowing his brows. “The ox people. They remain in the plains. They are typically many, but they may be persuaded to join us.”

“The ox people?” Ares couldn’t help but show his excitement, his eyes almost sparkling. He wondered if the ox people were particularly strong, plus they’d have horns! “Let’s do it!” He laughed.

Rori nodded his head and Ares hummed. Then he thought for a moment. “What about bear people?” He looked over to Rori.

“There aren’t many of them, I’m not sure where we could find some.” He shrugged. He glanced away.

Ares smiled. “Uhuh, right.” He chuckled. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.” He gently punched Rori’s arm. “Don’t lie to me Rori, just tell me that you won’t tell me. That’s the one thing I ask from you, always speak your mind. If you can’t tell me, say that. I don’t want to lose faith on the one I rely on most. I won’t get mad.”

Rori nodded his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t say. Most of the bear folk had been hunted down years ago, my tribe was the only one that didn’t go under the protection of the elves.”

“Oh? So the elves have your people? Are they enslaved?”

Rori shook his head. “They were refugees. The wood elves have always had a good relationship with the beast folk, it is a mutual thing. No tribe would upset the elves, and the elves would never upset the beast folk.”

“Why don’t they help you?”

“Their sanctuaries are a secret, and so are only for those that are pure of heart. The older bear folk went to fight the humans, whereas the younger bear folk were allowed sanctuary.”

“Damn. Well that will be difficult.” He laughed.

Rori nodded his head as they continued.

When night came, Ares informed the tribe that they would be searching for the ox people to see if they’d be willing to join them in heading to the Dragon’s Spine.

Ares couldn’t really tell what the other’s thought, but he went to go for his evening training. He would do some weight lifting in the morning, or rather calisthenics, and then would go do cardio in the evening. He would sprint for a little, then jog for a little, and after ten rounds of such training, he would go and bathe in the river. He always did so alone.

When he returned he would speak with a family, as he had promised. Today’s family was that of a wolf folk family. His tribe was currently made up of bear folk, cat folk, tiger folk, and wolf folk. Cat folk made up a large majority, and then wolf folk, then finally the tiger and bear folk were about even. He had been introduced to the entire family of seven. The other wolf folk family was much larger.

They spoke of how they were fine with the pace they were travelling at, and how they enjoyed the food. They did wish they could eat more meat during the evening, which was what the other cat folk family he had spoken to the night before.

Ares had to think about it. He wasn’t sure if the storage in his ring would be okay to do that. He did recall time didn’t pass, and a dead animal wasn’t a living thing so he had decided to test it out the night before by killing a small bird and sending it to the other world. He assured the wolf people that he would need a few more days to figure something out, though didn’t mention the experiment.

After eating the soup of the last of their vegetables, they would have to find something else to eat that would keep for some time. It seemed as though meat would have been a good thing. Tomorrow they’d travel along the plains to try and find the ox people.

“Could I speak with you, chief?” The father of the wolf family, Jorgan, had called out. He was a warrior that brought up the rear usually.

“Yes, what do you need?”

Jorgan motioned their head towards the forest and Ares nodded, following them out. Once they were alone, the wolf man turned to face him.

“You said that you were looking for the ox people to join us. I don’t think that’s a good idea, it’s an impossible task to do.” He quickly continued when Ares was about to speak. “However, that’s not why I’m here. My tribe of wolf people had been close to another that had left Westward many years ago. My father had been close to the clan leader, who had married my sister. If you can convince them, they would be a great aid to us.”

Ares nodded his head. “Do you know where they are?”

“I know of the directions, though they are a little rough. I’m sure if we ask around for the Claw of the Mountain, that we’d be able to find them.”

‘Claw of the Mountain? That sounds pretty cool…’ “Alright. I’ll try and get the ox people to join first, then we’ll head to the people.”

“What if the people join?”

“If the ox people join, we can still head there. The more people that join our tribe, the better it will be when we tackle the Dragon’s Spine.”

“Do you really believe we can reside within it? It is a dangerous place.”

Ares smiled. “You stayed because you had faith in me. I hope that you’ll continue to have faith in me, as I have faith for you.”

Jorgan nodded his head. “I’ve already committed to following you.”

Once they returned, they set up watch and wound down for the night. The watches were always five people, one of them being Ares. He remained awake all night long, trying to test out how long he could go with little sleep. Sometimes he would nap during the day on a cart to recharge, but otherwise he felt fine.

When morning came, the people quickly got to work. As he woke, a cat folk that he was going to meet later in the evening came to him. She was a woman in her thirties, and was a little chubby. She had asked to speak privately with Ares.

“Chief, is there any way I could also ride in a cart for today?” Her ears remained sunken as she spoke with him.

“What’s the matter, are you alright?” Ares asked. She seemed fine to him, but perhaps she was suffering from something?

“Indeed, it’s just that… I am currently with others?”

“With others?”

“Yes…”

“I don’t know what that means…”

She looked up at him, her brows furrowed in confusion, as if she didn’t expect him to say such a thing. “You do not know what that is?”

“No?” He cocked his head to one side. “I understand you are with your family, but…” Ares paused. “Wait. You mean you’re going to have children?” Ares asked, turning a little red.

She nodded her head, her face shifting to uneasiness once more.

“Oh!” Ares cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice. Yes, please do. I’m sorry that I hadn’t thought of such a thing, I should have been more prudent. If there are any with others, please do tell them that they should ride on the carts as well.”

“Thank you chief.” Her ears flit a little before she then made her way back to the caravan.

“Damn… that was embarrassing…” Ares shook his head.