'I wonder if that demon will allow me to ask for more soldiers. At this moment I still need a casualty report from Joken. That and a formation plan with our soldiers, after what I've seen in the forest, their arrows seem to break through or pierce our shields. This makes things harder.' He placed his hand on his forehead, standing alone in the home with the door closed.
The door opened after some time had passed. Joken entered with a piece of paper in hand, a scene of soldiers guarding the perimeter behind him.
"I have a report of the casualties my lord."
"Put them on the table." Joken placed the paper near Cadin, standing by, awaiting Cadin to speak.
The paper detailed the amount killed and injured: 120 soldiers, 54 injured, 20 killed. Camp civilians, 140 originally, 46 killed, 51 injured,
Cadin was shocked at the death reports, sighing and regaining composure before speaking again.
"We have lost many, but excellent work in protecting far more, many have been injured but they can be dealt with quickly. For now, prepare the soldiers and healers for a march. We will move to the forest, hopefully those healers can limit any more deaths."
As he pondered, the familiar sight of black smoke forming got his attention, from the opposite of the table, the demon appeared. Its normal grin now changed with a line of red across its face.
"What has happened to your camp?" Its mouth of red slowly changed to the shape of a frown.
"The enemy attacked us, most likely with the candidate you spoke of before."
"Ahh, did you lose the men that I gave you already?" It placed its hands on the table, the black smoke continued rising around its body.
"Unsure, but most likely." It sighed.
"Such a shame. Well you still have many soldiers from the other camps if i am not mistaken, from the ones near to mine that is. Perhaps use them temporarily. I cannot help you at this moment."
"If I may ask, may I request at least just a small sum of soldiers from you?" The demon's frown deepened.
"They are being used for worshiping purposes, I cannot spare another soldier. Lest my power and influence is tampered with. Make do with what you have. And if I were to give you these soldiers, that would make for a boring story to tell." It crossed its arms, stepping back, its red frown returning to a simple line.
"You have the power of immortality and can simply kill hundreds of mortals. Would it be more respected, renowned, and easy to sway any tribes that have heard of your exploits if they heard that this warrior that is seemingly unkillable has a bottomless army? Actually the opposite would make it far more swaying for any spectators hearing rumors or reports from their scouts." It smirked.
"A warrior with a limited army fighting a larger one. Surely that would do far more to arouse any to join your side compared to simple fear of conquest?" The demon laughed loudly after speaking.
"Ironic for me to say that, considering my position. But I still do understand the power of power without fear of conquest. An army so large killed by a smaller force, the amount of tribes that could join far surpasses those who will join out of fear." The demon neared its face to Cadin's
"Win this war, kill that candidate. Find a mark if you could, like the one on your shoulder. Should be around their arm anyway. Good luck to my candidate." The demon moved itself back, stepping away from the table before disappearing into a black mist.
Cadin thought for a moment, grabbing a second piece of paper he began writing again. An order to call more soldiers from his other camps.
'The influence and corruption should be enough, they shouldn't revolt at this point.' He thought, finishing the last word of his new order.
He quickly walked out, finding Joken.
Standing with the other soldiers was Joken, coordinating the soldiers to guard the destroyed camp. The smell of charred wood filling the air of the place.
He handed Joken the paper, "We need at least 10 soldiers from each of our owned camps. Order the cavalrymen to spread the request." After talking, he went back inside, his mind now set on planning.
He drew up lines and formations for his soldiers to follow, positioning their movements in the forest, providing production orders for other camps.
With every stroke or the quill he felt the anger grow in him, desiring to fight the candidate that had destroyed his camp.
An hour had passed, Cadin continued scribbling on more pieces of paper, finishing after a small stack had already formed.
He dropped the quill, feeling exhaustion return, tiring his arm from constant writing.
The door opened, Joken along with a few cavalrymen entered inside.
"My lord we managed to contact all other camps, oddly none of them were attacked. Thus we managed to get an extra few who wished to volunteer themselves. As of now we managed to gain around 50 or so soldiers to reinforce."
Cadin's eyes widened, quickly going back down.
"Excellent. For now let the men rest and bring in food, we will return to the forest tomorrow. As for you Joken, I need to relay some information to you regarding formations. The rest may leave."
The cavalrymen left the room, closing the door behind them as Joken approached the table.
Cadin spread the papers out on the table, pointing at one in particular.
"An update to our troop formation. Our shields at this moment are inadequate and we need to cover more ground. To ensure our entire force is not caught in the same attack we need to divide them. We will assign leaders for these units. About 30 for each formation. They will need the most experience in combat and ones that may show signs of leadership we could use."
He took a different piece of paper from the table.
"This is our main group, we will be positioned in the center, the rest will cover ground on the sides, front, and rear. Our cavalrymen will be with us here."
The two discussed with one another for the rest of the night, preparing for the next expedition.