“Heria!” Ares exclaimed, though Rori cleared his throat. “Heria-kin!” Ares said, throwing Rori a look, who just stared blankly back. “Man am I glad to see you!”

 

“You missed me that much?” Heria grinned wide as she hopped off her wolf with a dancer’s grace. The lithe wolffolk crossed her arms, throwing a look behind herself.

 

There were thousands of them, peoples of all different kinds. Tigerfolk, bearfolk, catfolk, wolffolk, oxfolk, and even more dogfolk.

 

“Well, a little. No one around these parts are as eager for a fight as you are, except maybe Orazuta.” Ares smiled and then shook her arm, welcoming her back to Rivea.

 

“Orazuta?” she asked.

 

“Yeah, the buffalofolk. Really big, tall, you met him on the-” Ares froze. “Oh, right… uh…” Ares smiled awkwardly. “I’ll introduce you in a bit.”

 

Heria raised her brows, narrowing her eyes. She gave him that kind of look, the kind of look that implied that she wasn’t impressed in the slightest by his forgetting the favour she had so kindly done for him. It was the same kind of look a sister would give a brother when she had helped him out, only for him to completely forget.

 

“Thanks for everything by the way,” he said. “I appreciate what you did, and I’m glad that you went on to bring so many people back to Rivea.”

 

Ares eyed up the various oxfolk. He recognised a great many of them, noticing that most were children. Ares tried to think about how he would know them, and quickly recalled the fact he had let a large number of them leave, and no doubt that a great many of the Horns probably sent their people away too.

 

He hadn’t thought about it. He was always over-thinking, and yet he couldn’t think about anything obvious.

 

“I see you’ve found our enemies,” he said as he motioned his head with them.

 

“They surrendered right away,” she said. “Hoping for mercy.”

 

“I am well known for my mercy,” Ares joked. “Still, they weren’t there trying to kill us, and you did chase down and hunt the remainders, so I can’t hold that against them.”

 

Ares thought about how he should invite them into Rivea, but he had already invited in the buffalofolk and rhinofolk that had come and tried to conquer him, so he couldn’t then treat them any differently. Plus most of them were young, they didn’t really have anything to do with the war.

 

“There are a ton of them,” Ares said. “I’m fairly certain that Rivea is going to be outnumbered…”

 

“They are eager to war with the humans,” Heria said. “Almost as eager as me.”

 

“Almost as eager as you?” Ares smiled. “I don’t know if I can believe that.”

 

“Let me introduce you to a few of the chieftains,” she said as she led him along, with Ares being flanked by a pair of White Cloaks.

 

Ahead of him was a large tigerman, who wore a large piece of cloth over half of his face, hiding his left eye aside. He was tall and strong, with scars that littered all across his body.

 

There was another beside him, a large dogfolk man, who definitely gave Ares the pitbull vibes. He wasn’t quite so scarred, though he did have a burn mark over the side of his neck.

 

“This is King Ares, Master of Waters, Kin of all Riveans.”

 

Ares had not heard anyone else say it and it sounded so weird. He couldn’t help but squirm under the sound of it.

 

“Right,” Ares said. “It’s a pleasure to meet the pair of you.”

 

“This is Ares?” The tigerman said as he stared down the King. “I expected someone… taller.”

 

“I’m pretty tall, it’s just you’re pretty tall too.”

 

“Still,” he said.

 

“Well I expected someone with two eyes, but you don’t see me complaining.”

 

The tigerman narrowed his eye.

 

“This is Tankt,” Heria said, pointing to the tigerman. “And this is Rojer.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Rojer,” Ares said with a nod of his head.

 

“I’m inclined to agree with Tankt, I had expected someone with more substance.”

 

Ares glanced between the pair of them. So much for man’s best friend, the dogfolk even tried to put Ares down.

 

Ares turned to look at Heria. “These are your warriors?”

 

“I didn’t say they were charming.”

 

“No kidding…” Ares spied the pair. “Well if you’re strong and you can follow orders, I don’t really care if you’re a prick.”

 

“A prick?” Rojer asked.

 

“Nothing. Anyway, I see you come bringing quite the people with you. If Heria vouches for you, I suppose I have no choice but to accept your assistance. Rivea is a place welcome to all, as long as you-”

 

“Who is this human that speaks so mightily of himself?” Tankt said, looking over to Heria. “He looks as though he is moments to death, look at him quiver.”

 

Ares threw a look to Heria, raising his brow.

 

“Even now he hides behind you, Uf’Heria,” Rojer said.

 

Ares raised a hand and then he turned to face her. “Are these guys serious? Did you not tell them about me?”

 

“I have explained who you are to the pair of them.”

 

Ares turned to look at them. “So you know that I fought Peros? That I conquered the mountain? That even outnumbered, we beat a coalition of boarfolk, rhinofolk and buffalofolk?”

 

“We’ve heard a great number of things, but we didn’t come to server under some mythical legend, but a warrior like Uf’Heria.”

 

Ares kept glancing between Heria and the other two. “Are these morons serious?” Ares motioned with his head. “Can we talk?”

 

“The coward runs to hide behind the wolf,” Tankt said, sighing.

 

Ares turned back to look at the two. Ares looked back at Heria. “I respect you, you know that, but these two are just a bunch of assholes, I don’t know if they’ll be actual Riveans.”

 

“Once you put them in their place, they will obey.” Heria nodded her head. She was so certain that Ares turned back to face the pair.

 

The tigerman threw a punch, though the White Cloak stepped ahead and grabbed it.

 

“Look at him hide, the snivelling coward.”

 

“This guy throws a sucker punch, is too weak to actually hit anything, and now he’s crying about it?” Ares whispered as loudly as he could. He raised a hand and motioned the White Cloak aside. “Even as a cripple I can deal with the likes of him, let him go.”

 

The White Cloak pulled his hand away, stepping ahead of Ares. “We cannot allow such behaviour, not as long as we are on watch.”

 

“This will be a friendly spar, that’s all. I have great faith in Heria, even if her choices seem rather suspect.” Ares said as he slapped the White Cloak’s arm gently. “Just a friendly spar, step aside.”

 

The White Cloaks threw looks between one another. “This may be a matter that should be brought up to the Consul.”

 

Ares stared at the White Cloak, annoyed, but he could understand why the White Cloak would not want him to spar at the moment.

 

“Fine,” Ares said. “Send for the Consul.”

 

Tankt clicked his teeth and Rojer crossed his arms. Ares shifted the earth under him to make a seat and then did so for Heria.

 

She hopped on and then glanced between Ares and the pair. Her grin was wide, playful, eager to watch the show.

 

Ares threw her a look. “You are enjoying this too much.”

 

Tankt scoffed and Ares pointed up a finger. “Keep your stupid mouth shut, otherwise I’ll fuck up that second eye of yours and Heria-kin here will have to pick up your second eye before I put it in my fucking soup.”

 

Tankt raised his brows in surprise, unable to respond. No doubt it was the threat about the soup.

 

“Big words for a sitting man,” Rojer said.

 

“You keep yapping and barking at me, and I’ll make you match his face, and I would lean far more into the dog thing, but I don’t want to even bring a hint of shame to my general, for she has done nothing but show me the greatest respect and faith. So I’ll ask you politely to shut the fuck up, so you don’t embarrass yourself in front of her. Wait for the Consul so I can kick your ass in peace, thanks.”

 

Ares rubbed his head. He was sick and tired of these two coming up on to his land and then getting all uppity. The sucker punch had really put the icing on the cake, he had been quite amiable until they had started to insult him and then when they tried to strike him, a man that was essentially crippled, he had lost it.

 

He had only hoped that Rori would come quickly so he could put the pair of these pricks in their place. He looked aside to Heria, who was still grinning.