Ares wanted to pass out, to fall onto the ground and then sleep away the next year. Yet he had so much work to do, though he was glad that Rori was still around to help him. He had sent the human soldiers away to be looked after by a few of his own warriors, warning them that they should not hurt the soldiers.

He led Arteon away, the man tied with his hands behind his back. Ares and Peros both returned to Rori and the others that had taken charge under the bearfolk’s command. They all held glares within their eyes once they saw the human Commander, though they would not act so long as Ares was nearby.

It hadn’t been long since Ares had asked for the village to be packed up, and it was mostly complete. Many had gone to the plains, there were only a handful that remained. Ares reached up a hand and then began to shift the structures into his ring before he then walked with Rori, heading to the plains.

“It’s good to see you are still well.” Rori said, though Ares could tell there was a lot more within those words. Ares’ head was pounding wildly, and he felt as though at any moment he could fall down. No doubt many others could see that on his face, but he soldiered on.

Once they had reached the plains, which took a short time, he could see there were many beastfolk that had been injured during the assault. Ares threw a look towards the captured soldiers and his own warriors, before then continuing to lead them through towards the centre of the thousand of beastfolk.

When he finally reached the centre of the camp, he dropped down and then rolled onto his back, laying there for some time. He looked up to Rori. “Could you call for Torak, Lana, and my children please?” He then closed his eyes and fell asleep. It was only a short nap, about ten minutes later he was awoken by Rori, the only one that dared to wake him from his slumber. He opened his eyes to look at Rori, and then he glanced aside to see his three children whom all seemed well. He motioned a hand and then they were placed beside him. He reached over to pull the twin boys towards him since it had been a while.

He sat up and held each one with an arm. He embraced the pair of them close to his chest, and though he was tired, he was flooded with a warmth. He recharged quickly and then he rubbed his cheeks against their foreheads, and then he pulled back away from them.

He looked out to his people, whom all had waited for him with baited breath. He stood up and then handed his children over to Torak, Lana, and another that he recognised as one of Torak’s oxenblut that he hadn’t quite gotten to know.

Then he adjusted his crown, looking out to his people once more. Suddenly he felt as though the crown had grown heavier, his shoulders tensing to keep the weight of it on his head.

“I’m sorry for returning so late, but I have made sure that those that had come to steal from our family regretted such actions. With a little effort, I have allowed only these twenty one to survive.” Ares waited, seeing the glares from the various beastfolk around him.

“I’ve… welcomed a few of them to remain as our prisoners so that we can recuperate something from this travesty, so I do hope you leave them be.” He continued to wait to see if anyone had anything to say, and then when no one spoke out, he paused to think for a few moments.

“I left in order to heal Runar, and I have managed to complete my task. In the process of it, I have conquered Dragon’s Spine, and more important, I met with Rivee.”

There was a collective gasp among the group, waiting with baited breath as Ares bowed his head. “Rivee, as in the God, was the friend that I mentioned before, the same friend that had asked me to help the beastfolk and gifted me with this blade.” He drew the mithril blade and then he began to walk around, holding it up in the air. “They have gifted me with more, a crown…” He motioned to his head. “They gifted me with various titles as well… They crowned me as King Ares, Master of Waters, Kin of all Riveans.”

He looked over to his people who all remained silent, before there was a movement from the sea of beastfolk as they began to prostrate themselves. Ares inhaled deeply before he then exclaimed out.

“Stand up!” He then quickly glanced over to the side to where his children were, who began to cry. ‘Ah, oops.’ He walked over and then rubbed their heads. “Sorry, sorry.” He whispered as the trio of oxfolk then tried to soothe the children. Ares smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” He said to the oxfolk and then he looked around once more towards the beastfolk that had stood up.

“I was given this title by Rivee, it is their faith in me that has allowed me to become King, but I will not be the only ruler of Rivea. Rori is my Consul, he is the head of the Kingdom, I am the heart. You will not bow to me, because you will not bow to Rori.” Ares raised a hand into the air. “It is today that we will form a Kingdom, and our capital shall be at Dragon’s Spine, around the shrine of Rivee, as they have tasked us, we Riveans, to protect the shrine.” There was another gasp as they took in the words.

It was then a familiar voice called out to him, Rori spoke up. “How can we believe you?”

For a moment Ares was struck with hurt, but he quickly recovered. “You can ask any of those that travelled with me, I was whisked away by Rivee, though I hadn’t thought Rivee was my friend because I knew him as something else. They healed Runar as well, and as you can see, she is no longer hurt. If you do not believe me, you can ask Peros.” He motioned to the god who remained nearby, laying on their side as they had done when Ares first met them.

Those around the god began to shift away slightly, stepping back. Peros merely smiled. “It is true. Your King certainly did meet my old friend, and as such, I will give him my blessing in this matter. Though, I still have some business with him.”

Ares nodded towards them, though went back to addressing his people. “I hope you accept me as I accepted you. I formally had declared war against the humans before, and will continue to wage against them as long as they seek to harm our people. I hope that the other beastfolk will join under us as well. Soon a wolf tribe will…” Ares stopped mid work, his throat choking up slightly as he thought of Jorgan. “A wolf tribe led under Heria shall join us, there were a few thousand of them, and I hope you welcome them with open arms. From now on, everyone here is a Rivean, and we shall behave as such. Our identity will be made in the next few decades, and I hope it will be one that others will try to emulate.”

Ares then wiped his brow with that back of his brow. “Unfortunately, we did lose a few of our people. Three of ours were unable to come back, and I am very sorry to say this.” Ares looked over to Peros. “Orndu, the Elder, and Jorgan were taken from us. Though, in exchange, Peros will offer two of his own people to join us.”

Peros bowed his head, though then called out. “I won’t just hand them over to you though. We have yet to discuss the particulars.”

“We can do so soon.” Ares bowed his head. “Though I still have another matter at hand.” Then he looked to Rori. “Are you satisfied with the answers given?”

“I am satisfied, my King.”

“Of course, my Consul.” Ares replied back, though somewhat teasingly. “Well, I do have another matter to discuss. I would like to count exactly how many people have joined us. To make it simple, we’ll have them stand ten by ten, and then count how many hundreds there are, and then count the stragglers.” He said to Rori.

Rori rubbed his head. “I’m not sure how many of our people can count.”

“One per hundred, so if we have at least a hundred, then that’s fine. If there are any children, we’ll hand them over to the milk mothers, and then count them separately. I’ll let you handle any other specifics, I need to speak with the god.” He motioned his head to Peros.

“Have guards around the area, in case there are more soldiers around that we hadn’t had the pleasure of dealing with.” Ares sighed. “Everything I’ll leave in your care. You don’t need to count how many hundreds there are, just have people grouped around with how I asked, and I’ll handle it from there.”

Rori bowed his head, and then Ares walked off to go and speak with Peros. “Would you prefer to talk here or elsewhere?” Ares asked.

“Let’s speak over some food or drink, shall we?” Peros asked as he motioned his head to the nearby forest.

“Sure. Bring your people with you.” Ares said as he marched forward, leading the god and his companions away. ‘Are we going to fight?’