Ares had allowed Arthur and his people to get up and heal themselves for Arthur had offered the group safe passage to the centaur’s town. Ares, who had never seen a centaur’s village, accepted the deal. Safe passage to the town and then some fine steeds for him to acquire for his group. The centaurs moved slowly now, as many of them were still injured. Some had to be put down due to the nature of their wounds and the centaurs grieved for their fallen. They sang a tune of grief and then left the bodies for nature to claim, though left the dead with none of their possessions, save for a single ribbon. They travelled for a small while through the evening until they had come across an area to sleep. “We will be safe here,” Arthur said. “Right,” Ares replied. “How long until we are at your town?” “At this pace, noon tomorrow.” Ares nodded and then with that everyone made to sleep, with Ares and his group remaining on watch as he created a similar encampment he had been doing so for the previous nights, this time with the walls being as high as they should have been. The area was rocky and they were in a small cluster of rocks that formed a make shift wall around a large open area that could have easily been claimed for a village. Ares kept that in mind. “Elegant Eight, try and remember this place as best as you can.” Torak sighed, for he had forgotten that was the name Ares had given to the group. “Don’t ask me,” Uta said. “That is not what I am able to do. I fight and fight, these are the only two tasks you should leave me with.” “Right, okay.” Ares rubbed his forehead. “Everyone else, try your best.” With that the group took to their shifts as each of them slept. Morning had come with no surprises and so the people moved onwards until they came across a large hilly region. The centaurs co-ordinated their way through with ease. Ares noted that there were some towers of rocks nearby where they could see a few centaurs on lookout. Another centaur arrived, giving the new additions to the troop a suspicious look as he spoke with Arthur. “They are guests,” Arthur said. “We owe them some fine steeds.” “You were beaten in battle?” the centaur asked with his mouth agape. “We were.” Then they continued until they were in a giant town with large swaths of open space, a few tents that provided shelter, and some paths nearby that led elsewhere, both deeper within the ground and off in the mountains. Ares could see a large number of centaurs about, many of whom who only wore a top and nothing underneath, most of the children almost… nude wasn’t quite the word, as they had fur and such, but they didn’t wear much to cover their torsos. Even some of the adults didn’t wear tops. ‘Ah,’ Ares thought, ‘the soldiers wear tops?’ He could see that each of those that were armed were covered across their tops. Almost each of them wore a quiver and a bow, and wielded a blade or a spear. “Welcome to our town,” Arthur said. “We will take you to meet with our steeds.” He trot off and Ares and his crew followed, keeping a keen eye on the enemy that were staring at them. They went through and followed along a path until they came across a giant open field that was surrounded by some hills and a thick forest off on one end, though the forest disappeared further into the hills. There were hundreds of horses. They were smaller than the horses Ares had seen in his country, but they were slightly thicker with short fur that covered their skin, or was it hair? They had long manes of beautiful heavy golden fur, whereas their bodies were either sand, tan, or white. They were all free to run about as they pleased, with a handful of centaurs nearby that were doing the same it seemed. “Bring me our greatest eight,” Arthur called to a centaur nearby. Ares looked at all the horses and he wondered. “Arthur,” he called for the centaur who turned his head. Ares wondered for a few moments longer. “How many horses do you have?” “A few hundred,” Arthur replied. “Huh… how long do they take to grow into adults?” “From birth?” “That’s right.” “About four years in total.” “How long is the pregnancy.” “Almost a year.” “So five years until they’re adults?” “That’s right.” Ares looked out to all the horses. “Would they be able to hold the likes of Uta?” “Perhaps some of them, if they were trained and bred right.” Ares continued to look out to all the horses, a mass of war power that was allowed to roam free. How he wanted them so bad. “Torak, do you know how long the wolves take to grow into adulthood? Those of Heria’s.” “The wolves? Close to a year, I believe.” “How long can they live for?” “From what little I know, a few years. Many die in combat by the time they reach eight years old. That was what Heria had told me.” “I know of the wolves,” Zika said. “Some may live much longer.” “They only allow other wolffolk to ride on them, usually,” Torak chimed in as though he knew what Ares was thinking. The wolffolk and the wolves were certainly like two peas in a pod, he wondered if the oxfolk and the oxen were the same. However, his peoples would be quite diverse and so he would need a creature that was agnostic as to who its masters were. Horses could be that creature. Ares thought of the Mongols, those he had half designed his army after. He would love a few thousand horses if not more. “Arthur,” Ares said. Arthur turned to face the King of Rivea, suspicion in his eyes. “Can you breed more?” “This is how many we can sustain.” “Why do you breed so many?” “…” Ares turned stared into Arthur’s eyes for a long moment wondering why the man would not reply. “Tell me,” Ares said. “We trade them.” “To who?” Arthur would not reply and Ares narrowed his eyes. Why did the centaur not wish to tell him? Who could the centaurs be trading the horses to that they would not wish to s- Ares paused his thoughts. “Humans,” Jiaga said. “They have traded them to the humans. The royal family has ordered a number from a secret source, it must have been them.” “The humans?” Ares asked Arthur. The beastfolk beside him straightened up, reaching for their weapons. Ares raised a hand and stopped his crew from doing anything that he would regret. “That’s right.” Arthur did not reach for his weapons, he waited. The other centaurs did though, but they did not react otherwise. “Would you be willing to supply Rivea with horses?” Ares asked. “For what price?” “What do you value? Gems, gold, freedom?” Arthur narrowed his eyes. “Gems work well, coin too, furs and so much more. We have our freedom.” “For now,” Ares stated. “Soon almost the entirety of this land will be under Rivea’s rule.” “You would come against us?” “When the time comes I will ask politely if you will join me, and if you do not, I will ask you to leave.” “If we do not?” “The same thing will happen to you that will have happened to all the others that deny it.” “What is that?” “You will die.” “Every single one of us?” “Perhaps. I would not want your children to die, they will be adopted into Rivea.” Arthur narrowed his eyes. “You are here to threaten us.” “Partly,” Ares said with a shrug. “I’m actually here because you attacked me, and then I retaliated, and we made a deal. Have you forgotten?” “No, I have not.” “Good,” Ares said with a smile, “but do keep that in mind.” “I will.” “So, what can I offer to you?” “For the horses?” Ares nodded. Arthur remained silent for a long while, trying to think of something, anything. His centaurs were still tense, ready and willing for a fight, but these newbies had not seen how Ares had decimated the centaurs. “Once we roamed the plains further north, around Dragon’s Spine, that was all ours. Our people were driven away by the humans, and when we returned, many other beastfolk tribes had claimed it. The lionfolk, the oxfolk, the bearfolk, the wolffolk, and many others.” Ares turned to Torak. “Do you know of this?” “This was many years ago, before even the time of the Horns. I know of it, for the plains we roamed were once theirs, but this was long ago.” “Return it to us,” Arthur said. “Give us back our lands and we will offer you horses for as long as we have our land.” Ares frowned. He felt for these people, they had been expelled from their lands, and now he occupied them and lay claim to them all. Yet, he could see how they survived. How they thrived. How they, with what little resources they had, managed to find a pocket within these atrocious plains to live, and how they could be so useful with their horses. “Can you breed other types of horses? Can you train them to do multiple different things? I need horses that can run far and long on a day, and some horses which can carry those of great bulk, and some horses that will offer food, and so much more.” “There are no people as good as ours when it comes to such things,” Arthur said with a nod. “I will speak with my Consul about the deal which I have come up with, for I can’t make such a decision without his approval.” Torak straightened up further, and even Orndu raised his brow, though it quickly settled on his face. Ares asking Rori for something? Ares not throwing a deal right out there? “Are you alright?” Torak asked. “I’m fine, why?” “You’re…” “I’m?” “You seem to be…” Torak fought for the words within his mind. “You seem to have a good idea.” “I always have good ideas.” “Not like this.” “What do you mean?” “Perhaps we should return the attention back to the horses.” “No, no. If you have something to say, then say it!” Ares crossed his arms. Torak just smiled. “It’s just that you’re behaving… Kingly.” “I'm always Kingly!” Ares exclaimed as Torak laughed.