David Bishop and the Legend of the Orb by T.C. Crawford (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

do, Ryan?” she asked, frustrated. “We’re outnumbered at least fifty to one. General Krauss had to have been planning this for years to have tracked down the Wolf Guard and convince them to help him. Now he’s using them to strike fear into the hearts of the soldiers, using their families as bargaining tools to force them to carry out his will. It seems like he’s thought of everything. What chance do we possibly have to take back the capital?” she asked as they slowly walked through the camp.

“I’m not sure, but fear has a pretty big impact on some people. If enough of them have sided with the General because of fear for their families’ safety, maybe when they see us storming the palace from within the city walls it will be enough to convince them to turn against the General and join our cause. For those who have joined him willingly, though, there is only one fate they deserve – a swift and sudden death.”

He turned and looked at Erin with fierce determination. “I promise you I will do everything in my power to help save Tyrius. He’s a dear friend of mine too, you know. He means a lot to me, he always has. We will find him. For now, try to focus on the cause.

“We need to start training some of the citizens who are able to fight. They need to learn so we can be better prepared to stand up to the horde of soldiers that we will eventually be facing” he looked around at the farmers and merchants that filled the camp before them. “These men won’t stand a chance against those trained soldiers, but if they are equipped and properly trained, then their chances to survive will expand substantially. We have to do everything we can to prepare everyone for this fight.”

She understood the importance of training when it came to a big fight. If she had not spent her childhood getting trained for combat as well as her studies, then she would not be standing here today. She would have easily been dispatched by any of the soldiers that she had faced since leaving the capital.

“You’re right, Ryan. We need to train these men. How can I help?” she asked eagerly.

“Well, you’ve been trained in combat since you were young right? Do you think you’d be up to helping train some of these men into soldiers?” he asked, happy to put her to good use to keep her mind off her troubles.

“Yes, sir!” she said with a grin.

“Great! Consider yourself officially recruited.” He pointed across the camp towards an open area where the trees thinned out into a natural clearing. It formed a sizeable field that would provide ample room for several different training stations. “You can set up a training ground over there and use it for your exercises. Find anyone you can who is able and willing to fight and have them gather supplies and meet you at the training ground. I’ll come check on you later in the afternoon.”

He slapped her in the back cheerfully and started back through the camp towards the command tents, waving goodbye to her as he disappeared into the activity of the camp.

Erin immediately set off through the camp, selecting and gathering men as she was ordered, excited to start training these men for the battle looming ahead.

Chapter XIX

By midafternoon she had gathered around two hundred men able and willing to fight for their cause. Erin had found volunteers ranging from a year or two younger than her, up to those as old as sixty. Despite their age, they all had one thing in common – they were all prepared to die fighting to regain their freedom and their home, a common ground strong enough to make a single man a fierce opponent, let alone a small standing army.

She was happy to have found as many volunteers as she did. She started off the training exercise with high hopes for their chances at success.

Erin walked up to the front of the crowd of recruits, all of which stood eager to hear what she had to say and to start training for the battle looming ahead. She stopped as she reached the center of the crowd before beginning her speech.

“I stand here before you today with one intention – to train you all to become better equipped to defeat the traitorous heathens who now occupy our homes.” she yelled.

The men all shouted in agreement before settling down to listen once more.

“I expect nothing less than complete dedication to the task at hand, as doing so will likely be the deciding factor between those of you who will survive this fight, and those who will not. It will not be easy, it will not be fun…it may even seem impossible going against the odds we are now facing, but I suspect that you all understand completely what it is we are fighting for.” She could see a wave of nodding heads among the crowd, some clearly more enthusiastic than others.

“We are fighting for our freedom, for our future. We are fighting to avenge our loved ones, our king, and our people. We are fighting for our very lives.” She paced in front of the crowd, slowly looking at the face of each man she passed.

“I see courage in your eyes, but courage doesn’t win a fight. It will take dedication, hard work, sacrifice.” She stopped in front of a young boy around her age, his expression resolute. She could tell that he was nervous, most of them were.

She gave him an encouraging smile before walking on. “I will train you all the best I can in every aspect of combat that I know. We will start with hand to hand combat and work our way to using handheld weapons and eventually long-range weapons. I will do the best I can with the time we have. If anyone wishes to quit,