Following the end of the battle, while the rest of the force were taking their much deserved break, General was walking around the battlefield, seeing the carnage that the two-day battle brought to the outpost. It was clear on why he was doing that. Had he kept to his original plan, they would have been there the day prior. Could have they saved more lives if he did so? He had no clue and the doubt about this would remain in his head.
Thankfully, there was someone to distract him from those thoughts. Alleria came to check for any elven casualties from the previous battle and she was quite glad to discover none. After seeing that General was there too, she went to check on him. "How have you been?"
General turned to her. "I am good, Miss Swiftwind. But thank you for asking."
"My pleasure. And, before we continue, may I ask you to call me by my first name? Since, from what I heard from others, you prefer to call others by their first name."
General was a bit surprised. "Are you sure? I don't wish to impose on you."
Alleria nodded. "Please. Feel free to address me however you find most comfortable. I believe we will be stuck together for a while."
"In that case, nice performance out there, Alleria."
"Thank you, General. Glad I was able to make a great first impression." Alleria puffed her chest out as she said that.
General then placed his hand on his chin and thought about it. "Yes, about that. Would you wish to take over the command of the archers from on?"
Alleria quizzically tilted head. "Oh? So they hadn't have a proper commander until now?"
"Not really, no. We don't have anyone to take the direct command of them, at least with any kind of experience. Now-"
"Yes."
That response took General by complete surprise. "Huh?"
Alleria just nodded and continued. "Yes, I shall take command of the archers. It's just the right thing I needed after all this time."
"Are you sure? You have the option to refuse."
Alleria made a few steps and turned to southwest, to the distant elven homeland and reminisced with sadness in her voice. "I was forced to leave my home and stay in Linirea for the large part of the Twilight War. So, while thousands died in the fighting, I was here, away from all of it. Now, was it needed to happen? They keep telling me yes. Yet, I still find myself regretting listening to them, especially whenever I pass by the statue of the Elven Mother."
"Oh." General lowered his hand, realizing the implications of her words. The sacred artefact of the elves known as the Goddess' Crystal, a gift to them left behind by their Goddess Elynie, was corrupted during war, forcing elves to order its destruction for everyone's safety. The regret of failure to prevent its corruption remained to the present day among the elves, especially those from their homeland.
Alleria continued while turning around to face him. "So yes, I would like a chance to be at the frontlines by my own choice and I will gladly take the chance to have humans learn some of our talents."
General nodded. "I understand. Would a captain's commission work for you? You would be in charge of both the elves and the archers so the lieutenant's commission wouldn't be enough."
"I will gladly take it. And, I do hope you won't mind if I arrange some special training for them. I already have some ideas on how to do so."
"As long as they can hold bows and draw arrows during the battle, I won't mind at all."
Alleria smiled. "Thank you, Milord. I promise you won't regret this."
"I will take your word for this." He then turned to return to the camp, but before he left, he realized he needed something to ask. "Tell me, how knowledgeable are you about the enemies we have encountered here today?"
"I am hoping that I know enough. Why do you ask?"
"You will find out once you ask around the camp. I just wanted to make sure I have someone to teach others about them."
Alleria looked quizzically at the General. While trying to figure out on what he meant, she missed him telling her that he was returning to the camp, leaving her behind. Alleria ended up following up on his words and asked around. She found out about the mandatory lessons that the force was taking about the enemies that they were facing. It made her glad that her talents would be used in more than one matter as she agreed with Clancy to assist with others.
By the evening, she, along with other elven soldiers, already had good idea on how they would train the human archers. They would train their own interpretation of the rangers. Humans had tried to recreate elven skill and techniques in the past, however with the technology development and the cease of the hostilities between the realms, the ranger idea was dropped as there was no long term reason to keep them around.
Alleria wanted to rectify that mistake. But first she would have deal with the present issue as one of her bodyguards ran to her tent demanding answers. "Your Highness! Is it true what I just heard from the humans? That you are willing to take on the rank of Captain?"
Without any hesitation, she answered him straight. "Yes."
That statement surprised everyone present. One of the elves present there had asked: "Does he know who you are, Your Highness? Does he have any clue about the fact that you can sack him from his position and take over the command?"
Alleria shook her head. "As expected, no. I have to give credit to Denas. It seems that he kept my presence in Linirea a secret for all these years. The former captain of the capital's city guard clearly has no idea that he was speaking to the last member of the elven royalty."
Bodyguard chimed in. "Still, shouldn't you inform him about your status?"
"No. Firstly, I remain in charge of the elven contingent as well as the addition of the human archers. That's enough for me for the time being. Secondly, I don't need to dress him down for this supposed "disrespect" that you are claiming. As someone appointed to this position by Denas personally, I will let him have the honour. And lastly..."
Everyone looked at Alleria as she paused for a moment before continuing. "How can I claim the command when I can't even make my presence known among everyone?"
Bodyguard asked: "Then should we do it for you?"
Alleria shut that down immediately. "Don't even try. I order you all to keep silent about this matter for the time being." Those present there wanted to protest, but Alleria raised her hand. "You either acknowledge my authority and remain silent or go behind and tell everyone, therefore proving I have no right to command. Your choice on how this should play out." After getting silent approval from everyone, she lowered her arm. "Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I should inform Sir Gerald before he tells the truth."
One of her advisors stopped her just as she was about to leave the tent. "Your Highness, wait. I have one pressing question I wish to know."
"Speak."
"It's rather simple, really. Tell me, what will it take for you to feel ready to take charge? To finally take over the overall command?"
Alleria closed her eyes, took a deep breath, turned towards her advisor and opened her eyes as she spoke. "It would take the answer to the question I had been struggling with for 30 years. That same question that makes me unable to finally take my place as the elven queen. How to turn the twilight into the dawn."
The entire tent remained silent as she continued. "Ever since the end of the Twilight War, I had been unable to answer that question. No matter who I ask, the elders, the young, the commoners, the council... No one can provide me the answer I seek. So how can I be finally crowned and take the lead as the elven queen when I cannot answer the very first matter that would face me upon my ascension? When I am finally able to answer this, then I shall take charge. Until that time comes, however, I have my new command to address and the location of certain someone to discover." Without waiting for answers from others, Alleria left the silent tent.
It didn't take too long for her to find Sir Gerald and demand from him to be silent. They argued for 10 minutes, running around in circles in terms of their arguments, before Gerald finally accepted to keep quiet. The main reason for him changing his mind was that it wouldn't be secret for too long. After all, their next destination was the capital itself and there was no way King Denas wouldn't know about this, especially as he was the one needed to approve her commission.
In the meantime, the battlefield was being slowly cleaned up. The two day battle had left a large mark and plenty of corpses behind. Most of the material and treasures recovered from dead ended up going to the outpost's garrison to assist the families of those who perished in the battle as well rebuilding the outpost.
As for confirmed kills, the situation was a bit unusual. Not only was there the dead for the previous day, but the garrison was also engaged in the battle before the force managed to reach them. So, in the end the official count combined between the 2 units. From the day's battle they recovered 59 bandits, 39 brigands, 35 giant spiders, 55 wulves, 32 of the wulf variant known as the worg, 19 matriarch spiders, 3 giants and the unknown number of spider hatchlings. The mush created from the Rain of Fire made it impossible to count the hatchling corpses.
The next day, while the elven contingent was being reinforced, the militia and footmen archers have gathered in the improvised classroom as Alleria greeted them and then started her lesson. "As some of you might be aware, once upon a time there was an idea of trying to reach the pinnacle of human archery with the rangers. Unfortunately, the money, the will and the training needed to achieve that wasn't enough which allowed a certain something to replace it."
There was a chuckle from others as they knew what she was implying. After it died down, Alleria continued. "However, just because musket exists, that doesn't mean that archery became outdated. Far from it. It now allows true talent to stand out from the rest which leads me to today. I have one simple desire. To create a ranger company from the best men and women present here. So, do you wish to accept my challenge and prove your worth?"
After a massive round of cheering, Alleria smiled. "Good to hear. Now, before we start with the tests and exercises, we should start on an even field and we will do that with something that impressed me after finding out. Today, we shall start with lessons on the new enemies. This knowledge will be shared with the others, you just have the privilege to be the first."
After getting her whole class completely silent, she placed her first crude drawing on the wall, that of larger wulf. "I am sure you had the chance to see one of these earlier. A cousin of the wulf known as the worg. A larger, meaner beast with a secret trick that they have. What most people don't know is that worgs were created with magic and as such have a minor magical resistance. If possible, try to handle it before the mages spot them. You will have a more easier time."
She then switched the drawing to that of a giant spider. "The nasty arachnid of the Silveroak Forest. Much larger than most of its cousins, the giant spiders have become quite rare across the continent, though unfortunately not yet extinct. Thankfully, one good thing about its larger size is that it lacks the poison sting that is common with arachnids so the regular troops don't have to be as fearful as they could have. Although, that doesn't mean that we can't harness it, but that's for a later lesson."
She then replaced the drawing with two others. One of very massive spider and one of a smaller kind. "Because these two always come together, I shall place them together too. First, the bigger kind. The spider matriarch, the arachnid that actually deserves the name the giant spider as you can see. A large and vicious foe, it is quite problematic, especially with its unique ability. It can force a hormonal change in its internal system to reproduce several large pods from which the hatchlings spawn."
"That right there is a dangerous combination and something the troops have to worry about. If you spot this in the wild, never assume you will fight them alone. As for hatchlings, they are small spiders that are easily dispatched if focused on. Try to use your range and get rid of them as fast as possible. There is one more detail to worry about for all 3 spider monsters. Due to them being created from dark magic, they all have innate magical resistance, making them a poor target for the mages. It should be the priority for you, archers, over them."
She then placed the last drawing on the wall, a giant human. "And lastly, the troublesome arrival. The marauder giants. We were quite surprised to learn that they crossed the mountains from their Rotten Forest, let alone undetected. What's far more concerning is that they are showing signs of higher intelligence compared to what the records show. The armour and the weapons that they wield indicate that someone is supplying them. As much as others hate to say it, this removes any doubts that the current monster attacks aren't connected. We will be quite busy for the time being."
The lessons continued into the next 2 days. The elven contingent was fully reinforced with the troops that the council could spare. In addition, the outpost's bombard crew was allowed to join up and be placed under Agate's command. Glad to see that his force was slowly expanding, General wanted to try and give time for Alleria's ranger training to take place. Unfortunately, the news that came from the capital changed all that. A large monster force was marching on the capital, preparing to siege it. And so, with only 2 days of break, General was forced to order another march.