Ares let Ash lead the way forward this time, keeping an eye out at the rear. His elbow nestled itself between the pair of swords at his left side, his own mithril blade as well as Marius’ blade he had retrieved from the dead body.

He could see the pair of children were slowing down. They had been travelling for some time now and they tiny little forms weren’t used to such a thing. Ares sped up towards Rala, who had been directly ahead of him.

“Are they alright?” Ares asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Rala glanced down towards her children and then back to where they were heading, trying to avoid Ares’ gaze.

“The journey has taken quite a toll on them. They haven’t eaten since early yesterday. We were hunting when we were found by the soldiers, today it was the same…”

“Should we take a moment to rest?” Ares asked. “Could someone hunt for us?”

“We will be close to a village by evening, so they will have to bear with it until then.”

Ares could see that she was slowing down too, and Mala and Ash probably were approaching their limit. The physical toll was quite harsh no doubt, but the mental toll of being almost enslaved or killed twice in two days… Ares couldn’t help but feel bad for them.

“I’ll carry them,” Ares finally stated. He dropped down onto one knee in front of the pair of child with his arms out, ready to lift them up onto his shoulders. “Come on, I’ll carry you over my shoulders,” he offered the pair. “I can keep you close to my chest if that’s what you’d prefer.”

They both looked towards Rala for guidance, wondering what they should do with this human stranger. Rala nodded her head in defeat before the pair then walked over to Ares, who lifted them up onto his shoulders with ease. “There you go,” he said with a chuckle. He ignored the glare of Mala, before he continued to march forward still bringing up the rear. He held onto a leg with each hand to make sure the pair didn’t fall off.

“Tell me if it becomes too uncomfortable,” Ares said with a warm smile on his face, like the smile a father would have given to his own children.

‘This world is awesome! There are beastfolk like cats, I wonder what other types there are…’ he thought. He wondered which beastfolk he’d like to meet at first. ‘Wolves, dogs, bears, tigers… I can’t wait to meet them all.’

Ares hummed to himself quietly, as quietly as he could anyway, as the hours passed by. He made sure to keep the beastfolk topped up with water, so whenever he’d take a sip, he’d offer them some water too.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for more water, I don’t need you falling due to being dehydrated, so drink as much as you like.”

“Are you fine as well?” Rala asked.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine.”

“We haven’t seen you eat since you’ve been with us. When was the last time you ate?”

“I ate yesterday morning.”

“Are you not feeling fatigued?”

“Not at all. There’s a certain point where fasting fills me with energy, I guess I’m feeling that right now?” Ares laughed.

After that, Rala remained quiet. They continued along their way until the sun was soon setting ahead of them. Ares’ ears twitched, and the group stopped. It was then an arrow shot beside Ares, landing about a metre away from him.

From the darkness of the forest ahead emerged several humanoid figures. A large man appeared, and he was quite the bear of a man. Although, from his rounded ears, Ares could tell that the stranger was probably indeed a bear man. A bear beastfolk, or a bearfolk perhaps? Regardless, he did look like quite a scary guy. He had long brown hair that went to his shoulders, though it was quite tussled.

Then there were a couple of wolf beastfolk too, a man and a woman, along with three others, who seemed to be cat beastfolk like Ash.

The bear glared at Ares, and several arrows were knocked by the various others, ready to fire. The only one that didn’t have a bow was the bear man.

Ares slowly dropped to a knee and let down Ala and Rash. The pair scampered over to their mother as Ares stood once more. ‘I guess I’ll let them speak first.’

The bear growled out to Ash, who replied in their own speech. Ares remained silent, smiling all the same, keeping an arm over his pair of blades.

The bear then noticed the swords.

“What brings an officer so far West,” The bear man asked with a deep and low voice.

“An officer?”

“The hilt of your blades, they mark an officer’s sigil.”

“Well, I’m no officer. I killed the man who had these swords and took the blades from him.”

One of the wolf beastfolk shouted something out, drawing their bow.

The bear growled something, causing the others to relax somewhat, though continued to knock the arrow.

“Why would you kill an officer of your army?”

“My army? I don’t have an army, yet.” Ares laughed at his stupid joke.

“Aren’t you a human?”

“No.”

The bear narrowed his eyes. “Ash said that you helped his family.”

“Twice,” Ares said with a nod.

“Why?”

“I was asked by a friend of mine to help the beastfolk.”

“Which friend was this?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say.”

“You’re a suspicious fellow.”

“Yeah. I am.” Ares nodded his head and chucked.

“What brings you so far West?”

“Would you mind if we chat somewhere else where we can eat? We’re rather weary from travel.”

“I do mind. I won’t allow someone so suspicious in our village.”

“Then don’t take me along. We can continue our rather nice chat here. Take Ash and his family, they’re probably rather hungry.”

The bear nodded, and then growled towards the pair of wolves, and one of the cats too.

Ares nodded towards Ash and his family, waving to the pair of children, and then flashing a smile towards Mala, who continued her glare towards him. He just chuckled as he was left alone with the three others that remained.

“State your business, stranger.”

“Well I guess I’ll start with my name. I’m Ares, and I’m here to help you guys deal with the humans.”

“You say you are not a human, what are you?”

Ares reached up to rub his chin. “Something like a demi-human? I’m not completely human, though I’m not entire inhuman.”

“You speak in tongues.”

“I’m trying to be accurate, but at the same time, I can’t go giving away all my secrets.” Ares smirked.

“You say you are here to help us to deal with the humans. What type of dealing are you aiming to do?”

“Well, first I’ll ask them nicely to leave these lands.”

“If they do not?”

“Then I’ll make them.”

“How will you make them?”

“With the beastfolk, hopefully.”

“What if the beastfolk do not wish to work with you?”

“Well, if you want to become enslaved by the humans, that’s up to you. I’m not going to force you to fight if you want to live such a life.”

The bear narrowed his eyes. “How do you know we’ll lose.”

“From what I know, you have no chance.”

“We wish to live peacefully, to co-exist with the humans. We will leave them be, and they will leave us be.” The bear stated, as though a matter of fact.

“If you really believe that, then you are a fool. They don’t want to co-exist with you. You are but savage beasts, the best you can hope for it to be treated like loyal hounds, to be fed whenever they wish for you to be fed. Your people will be slaughtered, and that may come at the end of a long list of terrible things.”

The bear narrowed his eyes further, and then his eyes dropped down in thought.

“If what you say is true, we can just leave this place and join the other beastfolk far west.”

“You’d willingly give up your lands and the resources that comes with it, then allow them to gain their strength to then come to you in decades time with a larger, more equipped army. You’ll have years, perhaps decades of peace, then your children will pay the price of your stupidity.” Ares’ temples throbbed at how naive the bearfolk was being.

“Then what can we do?” the bear man finally asked.

“Follow my lead. I’ll guide you to a future where you won’t be rounded up by the humans and slaughtered like chattel.”

“You want us to serve under you?”

“I’m going to say it straight. My goal is to unite the beastfolk under a single banner, and then take the fight to the humans to drive them away. I’ll be your King and Commander. Under my guidance, I’ll give you the strength and knowledge to surpass the humans.” Ares was trying to figure out what else to say, but his thoughts abandoned him.

“You’re a mad man.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.” Ares shrugged. “That’s probably why I was asked to help.” He chuckled again.

“You should leave.”

“Alright, well…” Ares paused for a moment. “Is there any way you could set up a meeting with me and another village chief, or someone else?”

“What do you want to talk to the chief about?”

“Exactly what I said to you.”

“…” The bearman thought for a long moment. “Very well. I shall allow you to meet with the village chief.”

“Oh yeah? Thank you.” Ares smiled.