Ares awoke with Ozar laying on his stomach. He reached down and then rubbed the boy’s head, feeling the thin strands that formed the boy’s hair and then rubbed around the little one’s horns to wake them up.

“Oi, you little brat, get off.” Ares chuckled as he then picked the squirming boy up, who had awoken finally. He coughed, cried, and then cooed within the next few seconds as Ares carried him out.

The sun had began to crest over to embrace the capital in it’s warmth. Ares looked around to see the soldiers already moving about and training, having started to practise with their weapons in formation. Ares had given them a few verbal tips and the various Captains had taken it in stride.

Ares walked over to Rori, who had been waiting for the King. “How’s Nora?” Ares asked. The girl had apparently healed from her slight fever well enough.

Rori nodded. “She is well. Did you sleep well?” He asked as Ares handed over Ozar.

“Well enough.” Ares had been sleeping dreamlessly for some time now. He hadn’t ever had such a lack of dreams before, not that he recalled, but he thought nothing of it. “Would you speak with the representatives? I have some important matters that need to be dealt with.” He said as Lana almost clotheslined him, though he tensed up his neck and back, his legs like two roots that could not be upended. “Good morning to you.”

“Morning Ares-kin. Are you up for working out?”

“Depends on the kind of working out. I have much work to be done.” Ares said as he rubbed his head. It seemed as though every time he finished with one task, another one appeared, and sometimes several appeared.

Lana again sucked in air through her teeth and clicked her tongue at him. “You’re always working.”

“We’ve had this conversation several times already. Are you joining me for a workout?”

“Very well, if it would please you.”

Ares smiled and then tried very hard to not flirt with her so she would remain serious. Ares sprinted down, carried a boulder and then went to bathe with Lana. Today he had so much he wanted to do, just like every day previous few days that passed, even if Lana made that very difficult to do.

Ares left to make his way to the armourer, speaking with Shim first. The wolffolk waited as Ares went into great detail about a single type of armour.

“You are asking for chain mail?”

Ares froze. “Yes, chain mail.” He had thought he had used the word, but apparently he went into such great detail about the armour he didn’t mention the name. “What do you think?”

“It will take a while…”

“A while meaning?”

“With ten of us? One mail in ten days.”

“That’s pretty… good actually.” Ares said, surprised.

“We wolffolk are good with our hands.”

Ares nodded. “Well…” Ares paused for a moment. “What if you had some children help you? Would they be able to slot the rings together?”

“With some difficulty at first.”

“So if you could replace half of those working for you with twice as many children… would that work?”

Shim remained silent. “We would have to see.”

“Alright. That’s good to know, thank you.” Ares said as he rubbed his chin in thought. “Yeah, you know what… I’ll be back in a bit.” He said as he waved.

He returned to the shrine to see the various Marching Blades and Roaring Tridents sparring against one another with staffs.

Ares clapped his hands and the Captains, Gantal and Orndu ordered their fellows to salute the King. Ares nodded. “Good morning to you all, I see you’re doing fine work.” He said, eyeing up the soldiers. “I’ve come to speak with those who have children. They should be able to carry on a conversation, but not old enough to be considered adults, like those that can join the army for example. Would you please gather around for me?”

They moved uniformly, shifting themselves quickly until there were about half of them left.

“I would like to ask for your permission. You are each parents, and though you are a member of an elite unit, that doesn’t mean I’ll ask for the impossible from you in every manner. I would like to make chain mail for each and every one of you. I believe our mining has been somewhat fruitful so we can start to use some of the ore in such a way.”

Ares felt a little guilty for what he was about to ask, though it was entirely safe for those involved. “It takes a long while though, so I’d like to ask of you, if I may, to have your children help in the work. They will interlock the rings together and form the chain mail for you, they will not be a part of anything else. I would like for you to have this armour so that when you’re fighting at the front, you’ll remember what you are fighting for. You will fight with the hope of protecting your families, and your children will make the armour in the hope of protecting you. I would like for you to think about it and then inform me in the evening. I will speak to her later about how many of you have accepted. You will not be reprimanded if you don’t want your children to work on such a matter, and I won’t force any of you to accept such a request. I just thought it was best to ask.” Ares then bowed his head.

He turned on his heel and then left. He’d need to recall about meeting with them in the evening. It was enough time for them to think about it, but also quick enough that he could get to work on such a thing tomorrow. The sooner he could get everything cemented, the quicker that Rivea would be cemented on the map.

He may as well ask for others to help with the production of such items. The children, who were still needing to be taught, could learn first how to make various items and help with making the armour and the spears, or even just the clothing that he had asked the tailors to make for the Riveans.

He shifted into a phoenix and flew off towards the fort, his wings beating against the air. He flew over towards the watchtower off in the distance, the wind attacking him on the way. This time Ares didn’t fight back against the wind and it drifted him away.

‘I really should make my way to the fort…’ He thought as his mind began to grow heavier. Yet following the wind felt so good… ‘I guess I could just… relax.’ He thought as he closed his eyes and then everything went black.