I shook my head, "I don't have much confidence sir. I only said what I did to help you feel better."
The farmer nodded and said, "Well it worked. Now let's be getting on with making the future a better place."
We rode on and it wasn't long before I saw a long line of cavalry headed our way.
I watched the column of soldiers from the Kingdom of Thyana come nearer. They were too little and too late.
Farms all over this southernmost plain of Thyana must be ablaze and only now was the army coming to investigate. It didn't say much for the management of the kingdom or its love for its people.
The column of riders drew to a halt and the old farmer did most of the talking. I endeavored to keep a low profile, but it was apparent that I was the subject of a lot of speculative interest.
I didn't want a lot of questions so I drifted away to face back over the way we had just come. I could still hear what was being said though. Apparently we were the last group of survivors that the column had come across.
Farms ahead and behind were ablaze with most of the inhabitants dead or wishing that they were. It was agreed that there was little to be gained by going on, so the military contingent would tag along as an escort with the old farmer and two other farmers that we had met up with this morning.
Fools! Here was a formidable force of soldiers and their commander was turning back to serve as an escort instead of chasing after the demonic individuals responsible for the loss that was everywhere to be seen. Was this the actions of just one captain of a troop or was the whole kingdom like this when faced with a threat?
If so, then the Kingdom of Thyana didn't have much to look forward to. They would be backed up to their cities before they knew it, with the wealth of their once great nation burnt to ashes all around them.
I fell into the column and headed north. North was where my destiny led, but if I had been a son of this land my place would be back there hunting down the murderers from Itarga.
I'd rather face a pack of Saber Cats any day than being in the presence of just one Lion Man. That didn't change the fact that I wanted to kill every last one of them.
That desire remained a steady passion that burned brightly on the inside, but meekly I followed along with the column. Perhaps I was learning the art of diplomacy after all.