The next day a small party of horsemen were spotted riding vigorously toward the fortified encampment, occupied by the elfish and Archain armies. The guard grabbed his horn and sounded off three, long blasts.

As the riders approached the guard called out, "Who goes there?"

Castor answered with a smile. "King Castor and company."

The guard was speechless for a moment. "King Castor! You returned. General Merric has been worried sick about you. You must go to the command tent immediately! It is in the center of the grounds."

Castor nodded his thanks and led the group through the small gate.

The encampment was nothing special, just a picket fence with a dry moat, but it would be able to withstand several attacks and would be much better than an open camp. Along the eastern edge, posts had been set up. Castor could see men drilling and sparring with each-other. Targets full of straw had also been set-up for the archers. A guard patrolled the wooden walls, each with a horn to signal a potential attack. It was a very fine operation.

The command tent was the largest of the tents and had the banner of Archain flying from its center. Castor could see scouts running in and out with soldiers guarding and taking orders. Merric appeared to be doing well with the responsibility of taking charge.

As they rode down the paths, soldiers stopped and saluted silently, but in their hearts they were rejoicing. Their king had returned and he would lead them to victory.

As they approached the tent the guards crossed spears. "Who goes there?"

"King Castor."

Like the camp guard, the men were speechless. "Sir, General Merric and Captain Horace will be over-joyed at your return. Shall inform them?"

Castor shook his head. "No, that's alright. Stay here." The guards nodded as the party dismounted. Theuses turned to L'arch.

"You can release them now."

"Of course." L'arch looked down and spoke quietly. The horses suddenly exploded into flocks of small birds that quickly fluttered into the air and disappeared.

Merric, Horace, and Gillian were standing at a large table with a battle map spread out across it. "We need to try and go around the mountains and come through the back," Horace was saying.

"We don't have time. We have one day at most. Besides, the scouts say that the back of the pass is just as heavily guarded than the front."

Horace hung his head. "Then I'm out of ideas." He noticed the tent flap. "Hey! Guard!" Then he noticed who it was. "Castor!"

They all snapped to attention. "Sir!"

"At ease." Castor commanded, smiling.

"Sir your back! What happened to you? We were worried sick!" Gillian burst out. Castor hurriedly explained the events that had transpired after they had been taken captive.

"And who is this?" Horace asked after he was finished.

Ilvnag stepped forward. "Ilvnag of Crolia."

"Nice to meet you," Merric said as they shook hands. "We could use anybody willing to help for this one. That fort is going to be a tough nut to crack."

"My men and I will do everything we can to assist you, though I can't promise anything."

"That's fine. We aren't sure of anything ourselves," Merric said.

"What do you have?" Castor asked. "Anything that will help us out?"

"No. We've had scouts casing the pass for a week or so. We found they have roughly twelve thousand troops securing the fortress. It's too heavily guarded to go inside, but that's all we could find from the mouth of the pass."

"Well, it's not much to work with, but it only reinforces what we originally thought. Bantu is taking no risks with the security of the fortress."

"From what it sounds like, Tarris is the one trying to up their strength, but Bantu's holding him back. Is there a way we can use that to our advantage?"

"Not really. Although, we can't find out who seems to be in charge. There are reports that Bantu had an Urki general killed. He inspires fear in them, but he doesn't seem to have control over them. Tarris is doing the operations. He is in control of the soldiers."

"So they aren't loyal to Bantu?"

"Not that we know of. They are afraid of him, but not loyal to him."

"That we can use for us. If they are harboring a grudge against Bantu, then the Urki probably can't be expected to help Bantu. Though, there are sure to be Manekets on the scene that will be loyal to Bantu. Knowing him, they will be his most loyal and strong warriors." Theuses said.

"Even with all this, I need to see what we're dealing with," Castor said. "Tomorrow I want you two," Gesturing to Merric and Horace, "to show me the pass, along with your head scout. I need to see every possible passage in and out with any relevant objects. I want to know this pass like the back of my hand before I lead my men into it." Merric and Horace nodded.

"Sir, yes sir."

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