After explaining my arrival to the fairy encampment, the leader of the demon scouts came to me in my tent with the leader of the fairy delegation. The humans did not send any scouts since they lived the furthest away and were also the smallest force. What went unsaid was the fact the humans were the most valuable fighting force because they knew how to use magic. We could afford to lose a few demons and fairies to an ambush, but losing even a couple of humans would represent a massive loss to our firepower.
The scout leaders told me the demon and fairy armies had already linked up and should be at the abandoned village in a couple of days. They didn't know how far the humans had gotten, but were hopeful they would join us on time. The fairy scout leader also said the entire Senate had come with the fairy army, which meant the army would have the authority to declare war on behalf of the Lux Republic once we crossed the border. The demon scout leader said Queen Kol Izlandi was leading the demon army, which meant the Izlandi Kingdom would declare war at the same time. I told the scouts the humans would probably bring all of their elders, which meant all three nations would be declaring a joint declaration of war.
Apparently the three nations on this side of the mountains had gone to war so often the convention of declaring wars formally had become rather elaborate. The leaders of the declaring countries had to send their letters to their adversary's capital, along with a poem declaring their grievances and accusations. We didn't have to wait for a reply before crossing the border, but the Singing Horde would probably send out a poem in reply before the armies met. I felt the pageantry before a bloody battle was a little strange, but the scout leaders seemed to think it was only fitting. After all, there was a sort of macabre beauty in war, they argued. I countered that rotting corpses don't seem as upsetting until one is close enough to their stench.
"Thank you for the briefing, gentlemen," I said as I slapped the scout leaders on their shoulders. They told me it was their honor and all that crap, but I brushed aside their words. "How about you show me around the camps for a bit. I still have a few lighter questions to ask. Shouldn't be too troubling, I hope."
"No, great elf, it wouldn't be troubling at all," they said. In my ears their voices sounded monotonous and the two scout leaders made their way out of the tent like automatons.
I walked around the demon camp. I had a little chat with the scout I'd met first. He'd forgotten to fix the collar of his shirt after I'd grabbed it, so I helped him with it. The poor guy seemed frightened when my hand reached for his neck, and that made me chuckle. I smacked him lightly on the back as I walked off, and the demon went sprawling into the dirt again.
There was a large campfire with a stew boiling in a metal pot. I grabbed a bowl and had some of the stew. The scout leaders who were walking with me said they'd already eaten, but I asked them to have some anyway and they didn't refuse. The way they ate made it clear they hadn't eaten at all. I didn't point out the incongruity and had them accompany me to the fairy encampment.
The fairies were a little rowdier than the demons. Their tents were larger, their stew heartier, and a few of them even had a drink or two that was intoxicating them. I tried a sip of the drink but it didn't seem alcoholic. I passed it onto the fairy scout leader, who had a few sips and became quite giddy. I had been asking him about his family and his answers had been pretty reserved until now. After finishing a whole cup of the strange drink, the scout leader was singing an ode to his wife and slurring praises for his kids. Apparently his kids were much smarter than he was. He didn't want them to join the army like he had. Better to be civil servants or merchants, he said.
The demon scout leader had opened up by now too. The demons ran a dry camp, but after spending some time with me, he had loosened up his lips as well. We spent a little while talking about his family, too, and I found out he'd had his first baby a month ago. If I had invented cameras, I was sure this would be when he would pull out a locket to show me a picture or something, signing the flag for his demise with a sweet image. It was because of my strange thoughts that I had the scout leaders follow me out of the abandoned village and onto the hill to the west.
"Gentlemen," I said as we crossed the top of the hill and walked onto its far side. From here, we could not see the abandoned village and the camps of the scouting parties, but there were still a few sentries hiding in the trees nearby. This area was a part of the wider perimeter and I had a feeling the scout leaders wouldn't leave the perimeter even if one of them was drunk and the other was being led around by a 'great elf' who valued a lowly soldier's family. "Thank you for answering my questions and accompanying me on this fine evening."
I waved away their responses and asked them to sit on the ground with me. A gentle breeze brushed past as the three of us sat on the hillside under the open night sky. The two scout leaders had relaxed quite a bit since I told them I was keeping an eye on the surroundings with magic. To be honest, my motion detection perimeter was much larger than the scouts' outer perimeter, so I'd see an approaching enemy much faster than they would. Still, I didn't mention this. Nor did I mention why I had dragged these two out so far from their camps.
"It is getting late," I said, "but I would appreciate it, gentlemen, if you could answer one more question."
"Anything, great elf," said the demon scout leader.
"Please," said the fairy scout leader with a stupid grin, "ask."
I leaned back onto the grass with my hands behind my head. "Why do you think we are going to war?"
"Why, you ask?" repeated the demon scout leader in a strange voice. "It is because the foreign god stole the Book of Annihilation."
"Yes, we must retrieve the Book of Annihilation," said the fairy scout leader as if his drunken stupor had been a figment of my imagination.
I nodded. "Indeed. Who cares about the isolation of the demon capital or the temporary disappearances of the citizens of the Republic. Burnt cities aren't a big deal either. The book is the most important thing, right?"
"Indeed, great elf," said the demon scout leader.
"Wise words, great elf," said the fairy scout leader.
"Speaking of books, you know sitting on the grass like this reminds me of another book," I said.
"Another book, great elf? That does not sound relevant to the mission," said the demon scout leader with a frown.
"Yes, we must stay focused, great elf," said the fairy scout leader with furrowed brows.
"The armies aren't here yet, relax," I said, "we have some time to kill. Right, where was I? Another book, yes. More like an author, really. Walt Whitman! Leaves of grass, an American classic. Won't mean anything to you, of course, but I thought I'd bring it up. More fun to read than a book about annihilation or whatever, I'm sure."
The scout leaders didn't know what to say so they just looked at me in silence. I lay back on the grass and recited a little Whitman in my head. I whistled a tune that was caught by the wind and fell asleep on the grass on the hillside.