a Morning soon came and Dom awoke to the sound of movement around the camp and the normal chatter of the Riverside Warriors. He looked around and saw that Hua Tou and Cassius had already left and quickly made sure he looked appropriate before leaving and heading outside.
Outside the tent Hoplite and Legionaries marched to and from, conducting the orders they had been assigned by their leaders. Dom noticed that Gregorios was stood outside his tent waiting for him.
"Good morning Lord." Gregorios smiled.
"Good morning Gregorios." Dom smiled back, "Where is Subutai?"
"The Commander is with Octavian and Alexander in his tent." Gregorios replied, "Would you like me to take you to him?"
"Yes please." Dom ordered.
They walked through the camp, seeing the location where the prisoners had been kept overnight. They had been provided with some spare tent parts that had been set up as canopies. The sky was dry and the air warm, so them being in the open air was a relief rather than a punishment.
They saw that the prisoners were grouped together in ten units of eight. Most likely something that Octavian had put together when he and Alexander had arranged the prisoners the night before. They were guarded by around twenty heavily armoured members of Riverside, but didn't seem to have any intention of causing any disruption.
They soon reached Subutai's Command Tent, it was much larger than the others with two large flag poles at the front of it. On top of the poles were two flags, both showing the Sabre Tooth Tiger flag of Riverside, the same image from the Mosaic. The flag's had a black background and fluttered gently in the very small breeze that blew. Dom wasn't sure who had made the flags, or when they had appeared, but he was impressed by them.
"The Lord has arrived." Gregorios announced as he pulled the curtain door open, allowing Dom to enter.
"Welcome Lord Lazarus!" Octavian and Alexander quickly saluted and said.
"Hey Lord Lazarus." Subutai smiled, before directing Dom to the command chair, which was a simple stool but the only seat in the tent, "I hope you slept well?"
"I did," Dom stated, "How did the rest of the questioning go?"
"We questioned to more people and had very similar answers." Subutai replied, "The minor differences seem more down to their experiences within Tongpai Town, rather than through lies."
"That's good to hear." Dom accepted, "I need to ask something though, where did you get the flags from?"
"Ha!" Subutai grinned, "I knew you would like my surprise! I have had the weavers make some Commander flags. I have black, Gan Ning has red, Tomyris has blue and we also have these for you."
Subutai pulled open a box that was at the side of his tent, next to his bedroll. He opened it and pulled out a large piece of material, before unrolling it and holding it up. It was the same as his bur rather than the black background it was white.
"I had originally requested it had a golden trip, but haven't found the right plants to create dye from yet unfortunately." Subutai continued, "By having these flags hoisted, we can show our warriors who the commanders in the camp are. It will also allow us to see each other better on a battlefield. I took the liberty with the colours but I hope you are happy?"
"I am!" Dom stated, "It seems giving you that office has had its perks! I just need a big command tent now!"
"Oh don't worry about that." Subutai said, "It's on the list, but I hope that we can avoid risking you on battlefields where possible in the future."
"So have I missed anything from this meeting?" Dom stated, looking at Octavian and Alexander who were stood waiting for instructions.
"We are just going through the Warrior split for the day, before we came to get you. Tomyris sent a messenger and has informed us that Gan Ning has been successful and that Chief Banas is awaiting your return." Subutai replied.
Dom sat on the stool and looked at the three Warriors, "Thanks Subutai, have we had any response from Riverside?"
"Nothing yet, however it is a long way there and back, I hope to have a message back within the next couple of hours." Subutai replied, "Hopefully we will have advise from Lucius and Shang Yang. I am thinking to split the force, with a third under Alexander staying here to guard the prisoners, a third under me to head back to Riverside so we can continue with our excavation, and the rest under Octavian to stay with you."
"We need to find a faster way to increase our speed of communication." Dom mumbled, being used to modern technology and not having to wait for a man on a horse to pass on a message. "Having to wait this long is not ideal."
"We could set up relay stations." Subutai replied, "Locations where we would have a couple of men and a couple of horses that are ready to run. However first we need the horses, and secondly we need more men. Capable horse riders would also be a good start."
"Fair enough." Dom mumbled, "I get your point, it can be added to our long list for the future. I agree with your plans, however I would rather you didn't dispatch your contingent until I returned from the Nomadic Camp with instructions for Alexander."
"Very well, we can wait here as additional reinforcements if needed, the excavation can wait a few more days if needed." Subutai replied. "Octavian can be ready to march shortly and the Horse Archers can head back to the Tribe with you."
"Ok then." Dom said, "Octavian, go get your men ready. I'll make sure to pass information back to you as soon as possible so you can make a move."
"Good luck Lord Lazarus." Subutai said seriously. "We can be with you within the hour if it's needed."
Dom left the tent and headed towards the Horse Archers at the north who had a horse prepared for him, Gregorios followed and mounted one that was kept for his guard. Soon a group of Riverside Warriors appeared, ten Legionaries and ten Hoplite. An eleventh Hoplite, Hector, then joined, holding high a long wooden pole, slightly longer than the long spears of the Hoplite, atop of it was Dom's white flag that Subutai had given him in the tent earlier.
"Warriors, march!" Octavian ordered as the group headed north towards the Nomadic Camp.
A while later Dom and his entourage arrived at the Nomadic Camp. The Horse Archers and some Riverside Warriors under Gan Ning's command were stationed around the edges, keeping patrol. Dom was impressed to see that their were eight Spartan's with their red cloaks at each of the eight points of the camp keeping watch, with Leonidas at the closest point to them.
"Good Afternoon Lord Lazarus." Leonidas announced with a smile, "I am a big fan of the flag! Commanders Gan Ning and Tomyris are with the chief in her hut. please head straight through."
"Thanks Leonidas!" Dom replied from atop his horse, "Octavian, please support the Nomadic Warriors to guard the camp, Gregorios please follow me to the Chief's Hut. If I don't order you to, you'll follow anyway!"
"That is very true!" Gregorios smiled, "Hector will probably follow with your flag as well."
"Very well. Hector, Gregorios with me. Everyone else follow Octavian's command."
Dom made his way through the Nomadic Camp, seeing that their had definitely been a fight the night before, with some blood stains and slashes through some of the skins that adorned the outside of the passing huts. The Tribesmen that they saw however seemed in a positive mood and were rushing around doing what ever they had been told to do by their Chief.
They soon reached the Chief's Hut, dismounting from their horses. Gregorios grabbed Dom's reins and waited for him outside with Hector, who was still atop his horse holding the flag pole.
"This feels very surreal." Dom mumbled looking at the scene.
"We can always swap places?" Gregorios grinned, "You can hold the reins and I can be the lord?"
"Would you actually swap?" Dom asked seriously.
"Sorry to disappoint," Gregorios replied, "I would decline, you are the boss, let's keep it that way."
Dom entered and saw that Chief Banas was sat, with Gan Ning, Tomyris and Zanug. They were all seated and seemed to be in a heated discussion as Dom entered. They all looked up when they noticed his arrival, and both Gan Ning and Tomyris seemed visible relieved.
"It seems you had some fun here." Dom said, referring to the blood stains on the outside huts.
"It seemed that the problem ran deeper than expected." Chief Banas replied, "But your Commander Gan Ning delt with the issue well enough, with no loss to any of our Tribe."
"You'll have to fill me in with the details." Dom asked Gan Ning.
"As expected, when you and the Horse Archers left, Tongpai Town made their move." Gan Ning started, "We were well aware that of the spy, but we didn't realise there were actually three of them, and they had also turned some of the tribe as well. In the end we had ten people, all civilians, rise up in rebellion and attempt to assassinate Chief Banas. They believed that we had all left, however I had Leonidas and Cleombrotus stay with myself and be hidden inside the tent, whilst the other Spartans were hidden in the Hut next door. Zanug continued with his charade and was able to get a good idea of the numbers and passed the message to me in advance."
"Thank you Zanug." Dom said, nodding his head at the man that was almost accidently tortured to death. He nodded his head back in acceptance.
"They tried to sneak past the remaining Horse Archers and all strike at the Chief's Hut at once. The As soon as they entered, Leonidas, Cleombrotus and myself ambushed them, with the Spartans nearby coming from the rear. We pincered them in, the Nomadic Tribesmen were easily dispatched, but the Tongpai Town spies were better trained and tried to slip through our network. We did get them all, which is why you would have seen blood on your way in, however we were only able to catch one of them alive." Gan Ning continued, "We questioned him, discovering that three of them were spies, and also discovered some information from Tongpai Town, unfortunately he died from his wounds."
"Did he have help dying from his wounds?" Dom asked with a serious look on his face.
"He may have." Gan Ning replied with a blank face. Dom just shook his head before continuing.
"What information did you find out?" Dom asked.
"That the attacked was arranged by their Chief Advisor Bagoas. He had concocted the poison and come up with the scheme." Gan Ning replied, "Supposedly their leader Lord Da Qiao is unaware of most of the day to day and wouldn't have known or cared. They didn't come with their army as they wanted the Horse Archers to join them, rather than fight against them. They are unaware of the Location of Riverside or our numbers, but assumed us to be of a similar size to the Nomadic Tribe."
"Thanks Gan Ning." Dom stated, "You've done a good job."
"He has." Chief Banas interrupted, "But now we need to decide what to do next."
"What are your thoughts?" Dom asked her seriously, already having the options in his mind from his discussion with Subutai the night previous.
"They do not know about Riverside, but they do know about us. You have killed their army and now they will be angry." Chief Banas replied, "Zanug thinks we should move the Tribe further inland, however we are currently weak and it is too risky."
"I have advocated a different option." Tomyris stated.
"And that is why we were arguing when you entered." Chief Banas said.
"Did you come to a conclusion?" Dom asked.
"That depends." She replied seriously.