The next morning, Rylo and his father along with some of the soldiers leave the camp. Darticus watches as they leave for what was to be a very important ordeal. The battalion makes its way out of the camp. Rylo's uncle comes over to have a talk with Darticus. Darticus remains unmoved, he stands watching them make their way out. "Wilmir and the north are the problems here," said the uncle. "Yes uncle," responds Darticus. "The rest seem reasonably favorable," said the uncle. "Yes uncle, I'm more worried about the North. Wilmir will be more acceptable to our proposal" said Darticus. "Yes, Wilmir seems to be more friendly to us than the North. The Northerners are complete barbarians". "They are so much more wealthy than us, yet they continue to behave like barbarians" agreed the uncle. Darticus looks over to his uncle and speaks "I will talk to their chief when the time comes." "Yes, let that be," said the uncle "But Darticus, I think they hide something at Wilmir" "They hide something ancient. The whispers are that the ghosts are more alert than ever" the uncle continued. "Everybody hides something uncle, don't they?" replied Darticus. "You hide my past, they hide something. Is it not all the same?" asked Darticus. "I do not hide your past. I do not know your past and there is a difference to that" replied the uncle. Darticus did not seem to be satisfied with the answer! "That is the truth Darticus, You arrived when you were around 3 years here. The shadows delivered you to us. That is all I know and as far as I'm concerned Darticus, your past, present, and future lie in these forests. We are and always were your family!" his uncle said. "I keep thinking of my mother, said Darticus. A lot more these days. Did they not fight for me? I was a child so young and they never fought for me." said Darticus as he sighed in pain. "Why would they abandon me" he raised his voice in anger! The uncle deemed it was best to be silent right now. But he felt all the more compelled to speak a few words after seeing the condition of Darticus. "Dartcius, you have belonged here. This place, this place is your destiny" he said. "You are special! Don't ever forget that" he further added.." You are our leader at 25, do you know any leader that is 25 in any of the lands" he added trying to lift the spirits of the young king. "No" he simply spoke. "No, because you are the only one. You have always shown great strength and intelligence since you were a kid" said the uncle. "I did outgrow everyone by the time I was 15" said Darticus as he filled his lungs with air! The uncle let out a huge sigh of relief. The king could not falter right now, he needed to be at his peak strength "I remember the time you got angry. You were around 15 or 16. You somehow managed to throw 10 people into the grounds. All their bones broken and I had to intervene to stop you from causing more damage to them" said the uncle loudly and he whispered, "You were only 15". He suddenly became aware of the immense strength the king had always possessed and took a few steps back! Darticus laughed and replied, "I have become more calm these days." "How many people do we have in our army," he asked his uncle turning his attention back to a more serious matter! "Around three hundred thousand people. And if we form the right allies, it could rise to a million." And what he was about to speak now he realized had to be emphasized "The North Darticus, they hold the most number of people as soldiers!" "Yes Uncle, I'm aware of that" "And how much does the kingdom have, as soldiers ?" asked Darticus. "It should be over 5 million people" replied the uncle as an old man would with nonchalance. He was not going to fight and die in a war fought by young men. He had grown old unscathed and was certainly relieved to be so! "And the corporations? will they be involved" asked the king in a manner who was going to be on the front lines if and when the war was going to occur! "No, Darticus.I do not think they will interfere nor the kingdom will wage war against them. That would be a very stupid thing to do" "Yes uncle," said Darticus clearly hiding the fact that he was more worried about the corporation joining them rather than going against them! "Uncle, do have the region of Algreid as our ally?" he asked him. "We will know in a couple of days," replied the uncle "Let my nephew return and then we shall know,