Meeting, Greeting, Then Bayting
"You'll be staying in the barracks with King Mark's militia!" Boss Jack shouted to the troops gathered outside before closing the door behind him, leaving the different armies by themselves.
"Well this should be fun." Robin, Jack's friend and best guard, muttered sarcastically. He only had a handful of fifty men with him, and none of them seemed eager to team up with any of the other militias, especially Cry's. He had brought twenty spirits with him that were clad in black cloaks.
"It should definitely be...interesting." Brad agreed. He was a captain with no one from the Brofist army to lead.
"C'mon, I'll introduce you to my group." Mark's lead officer offered. He had dark brown, short curly hair, a chiseled jaw, and stern but kind hazel eyes.
"You are?" Robin asked bluntly. He wasn't a fan of taking orders, which was why he gave them instead.
"Tyler. This way." Tyler stated before he walked off towards the back of the large sapphire castle. Brad and Robin exchanged wary glances before following him with their men.
The barracks were made of moss covered stone, each one looking large enough to hold at least fifty people. There were only two barracks with a simple stone path leading to each one.
A large group was gathered in front of one talking, their expressions serious. Each person had a weapon in hand, setting Robin and Brad on edge as they neared closer.
"Matt!" Tyler waved at the platinum blond haired man standing in the group, gaining his attention. Matt turned towards him and gave him a quick salute.
"These guys will be staying with you." Tyler told him, gesturing at the variety of men and spirits gathered behind him. Matt nodded in understanding, flashing a smile to the other two leading officers.
"Welcome! I'm Officer Matt, and this is my group." Matt gestured to the people he was talking to previously.
"There's Mike, Joey, Paul, Chad, Bryan, Kevin, Gunner, and Connor." Matt listed off, pointing at each person in turn. Robin's head was spinning trying to keep track of who was who. Brad seemed to understand who each person was quickly.
"I'll give you guys a quickly tour." Matt opened the wooden door and walked inside, the two leaders, their men, and the spirits following. At the far end was a fire place with a bunch of long tables by it, presumably for meals. On the other side separated by a wall was multiple cots with fleece blankets that were evenly spaced and not crowded much to Robin's relief.
"There's also Arin's group, or the Grump group as I call them, but they're busy training right now. They stay in the other barracks." Matt interjected as Robin and Brad took in their surroundings. It certainly wasn't the fanciest, but it was definitely nice.
"I'll let you guys settle in." Matt left them alone, managing to squeeze trough the crowd.
"So, you're Brad, right?" Robin asked Brad, taking in his red and white uniform torn and wrinkled in various places, much like his own neon green and blue one.
"Yeah." Brad stated simply with a shrug, brushing off a piece of imaginary dust from his shoulder.
"What was the attack like?" Robin asked him curiously, sitting down on the edge of one of the cots while his men wandered aimlessly around him.
"It was..." Brad trailed off as he shook his head, sinking down onto the cot opposite of Robin's, rubbing his face with his hands as images of the Demons flashed through his mind.
"Everything happened so fast. First all of our cities outside of the capital came crashing down, then the defenses around the capital were next, and then the Demons had Felix and Marzia. I tried to kill one of them, but they move too damn fast." Brad scowled.
"One second I'm holding my sword to help Felix and then the next I'm being held in the air by my throat. I was told to tell the other kingdoms, so I came here first." Brad explained.
"The attack at my kingdom was basically the same, except thankfully Jack, Signe, and some of my men are okay." Robin sighed.
They both sat in comfortable silence, each mourning their own losses until Matt returned.
"I've been instructed to have everyone come to the front of the castle for a briefing." Matt yelled to everyone.
Brad and Robin walked ahead to find a weary looking King Mark and Queen Amy standing outside, as well an energetic Boss Jack, Boss Signe, and a calm Overlord Cry.
Mark waited until everyone was within hearing range before opening his mouth to speak.
"Tonight, you need to prepare to ride to Felix's kingdom at dawn to lure the Demons away from here and to finally face them. I understand that not everyone is used to working together, but keep in mind it's for the sake of our kingdoms-"
"Are ye sure it's not just for the sake of yours?" One of Boss Jack's men interrupted skeptically, earning murmurs of agreement from others that quickly rose to shouts of protest.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Boss Jack yelled over everyone, startling them into silence.
"Better. Now, I get that some of you are scared, but it doesn't mean start accusing people, especially a king of all people. Idiots." Jack whispered the last word so no one would hear.
"As King Mark was saying, we leave at dawn to take back King Felix's kingdom and to lure the Demons away from the last kingdom intact. Understand?" Cry scanned the crowd.
No one dared say anything.
"Good. Breakfast will be served in the barracks, and clothes will be waiting for you afterwards." Mark said before dismissing them.
"Let's give the Demons a bayting!" Boss Jack yelled, his men yelling in agreement before leaving as well.
That night, Robin stayed awake and stared up at the ceiling as he fiddled with the green eye pin on his uniform that represented that he was captain, wondering if he would live long enough to see the emerald castle he spent most of his life in restored.
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