Chapter 14 Preparations

"How long has this been going on?" Lucius asked in a passive manner, his mind running through all the possible options at hand.

"It started two days after you fell asleep, I've encountered three scouts myself, and including all the reports from the others, there have been maybe seven in total ever since," Alpha replied, looking at Lucius as if he were waiting for instructions.

~Should we move? There's a chance we took over their land by accident and that might be why they're sending scouts,~ he thought to himself, his eyes lost in thought.

~But if they're intelligent enough to make use of scouts to gain information, then why haven't they tried doing things more directly? I'm sure asking for some sort of meeting would be less dangerous than sending your own men into foreign territory.~ Though even as Lucius thought this, he was aware that things as formal as meetings might not be common sense to the creatures of this world.

"How many leaflings do you have under you? I mean, how many are part of the perimeter squadron?" he asked thoughtfully, turning back towards the direction of the camp before Alpha even had the chance to answer.

"Right now we are six in total including me," answered Alpha, walking at a quick pace in order to catch up with Lucius.

~Six huh? That's not enough, perhaps we should just move,~ he thought to himself dejectedly.

~But where will we go? We can't pass through the river, and what's to say that we won't meet any other threats where we're going anyway?. Besides, strategically speaking, this place is pretty good.~

~No, we'll stay. Now that I have hands I can build a few fortifications, a few towers, and other defenses,~ he thought as he side-stepped a shrub. He was walking at a very fast pace, which made it incredibly hard for Alpha to keep up as Lucius's strides were perhaps two times his.

~Yea, this might work out. If I build a few defenses and teach the leaflings photosynthesis, perhaps we can scare our... neighbors away. Yea... and why do I have to stop there? Why should the leaflings live in fear each time there is a threat? Why should they stay at the very bottom of the food chain, bullied by others unless they hide?~ he thought to himself before stopping abruptly.

~I have nothing better to do anyway, if this is going to be my new life, then I might as well strive to achieve something.~

"Alpha, call all the men in your squadron. Tell them we're going to have a meeting... just in front of the river bank where I fell asleep," he said, before breaking out into a full-on sprint.

Once he reached the camp, he called out for Ghost, however, she was nowhere to be found.

"Lighted One, Ghost has gone out training. Shall I go get her?" asked the leader leafling.

"Y-Yeah, tell her to report to me immediately. Also-" Lucius took a moment to think, "- come along, there's something important I want to discuss."

"Then shall I call everyone? If it's that important," asked the leader leafling, a questioning gaze on his face.

"No, just you and Ghost. Everyone who I need to be in the meeting will be there," he replied.

"Tell her to meet me just in front of the river over there," he said, pointing to a spot just before the river banks.

Lucius waited there for four minutes before everyone finally arrived. A few leaflings were curious about what was going on, but Lucius ordered them to go back to the camp under the pretense that this was just a meeting for those who remained in the squadrons.

"Luci, why have you called us here?" asked Ghost, her words labored as she tried to catch her breath from all the training she had been doing.

"Before we start with this meeting, there's something I'll need from you guys."

"What is it?" asked the leader leafling before sitting right beside Lucius.

"All of you take a seat around me," Lucius replied. After all of them were seated in a circle formation, Lucius swept his gaze upon each of them, taking his time to get the seriousness of what they were about to discuss into their minds.

"Today all of you will pledge an oath," he said finally, breaking the silence that had descended upon them.

"An oath?" asked one of the leaflings present.

"An oath, a promise that you cannot break. One of which the punishment for breaking is banishment from the camp," Lucius replied. It was important that he had a group he could trust with vital information, and though banishment didn't seem all that scary, he couldn't very well threaten to kill them if they broke it.

"I have no problems with pledging such a thing to you, Captain," said Alpha almost immediately, to which his men also responded with similar words.

"And what about you two?"

"I-I accept, I shall make such a pledge," replied the leader leafling. Ghost thought about it for a moment before nodding her head in affirmation as well.

"Then repeat after me," said Lucius.

"I pledge to never speak of what hear here anywhere else, and to only use what I am taught for the benefit of the whole camp," after a slight pause, the leaflings repeated Lucius's words in unison.

"I pledge to try my hardest, tears and sweat, to become protectors of this camp, to risk my life if need be for the benefit of the whole camp," he added. To this there was a longer pause, the leaflings were hesitant to promise their lives, but after several seconds of silence, Alpha repeated Lucius's words, and his men followed shortly after. Ghost and the leader leafling took a few more moments before saying the oath themselves.

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"And finally, I pledge to carry out orders, regardless of how mundane or gruesome, I pledge to carry it out fully, may it cost leg or eye, may it cost the life of another, I shall complete if I deem it of benefit to the whole camp," he finished off. Again the leaflings seemed hesitant. Not only did they have to pledge their lives, but the lives of others as well?

Lucius understood their hesitance, but he needed them to pledge, to promise this. He, more than anyone else, understood that war could be a gruesome thing, and it was a war that they were preparing for. He planned on fighting against his neighbors if they proved hostile, and besides that, he wanted to know more about the magic they used. Up till now, he had been wandering aimlessly, without a goal in mind, but now that he had heard about the existence of magic, there were a few things he wanted to try out, a few goals he wanted to accomplish.

The leaflings finished their oaths after careful consideration. Right now the air around them was tense, as if a single breath could tear it in half. They all stared at Lucius, patiently waiting, ready to absorb any words he might say.

"I have called this meeting to discuss concerns about border security, the chance of an oncoming war, and above everything else, to discuss how I plan to develop this camp from here on out."