Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  “Shenyuan has had enough of hiding within our own borders. We have suffered through millenniums hiding as though we were afraid, but we are not afraid! We will show the world that the beasts are still here! We will let them know that we once controlled the entire continent and although we are not going to take it all back, we will once more stand tall! We will leave the forests of Shenyuan to allow for our children and the generations to come to once more live in freedom! Our war is a war against oppression!”

  For every word Hui Yue said the beasts felt their excitement climbing. Some had goosebumps listening to his words while others had tears in their eyes. Every beast was touched, and it was impossible for them to not push out their chests and feel important. They were the beasts who fought for freedom!

  “We will not all survive, but we will fight to the end. We are proud beasts! Beasts who fight with claws and teeth as well as weapons. We do know not if we will meet an army superior to us, but no matter what we encounter, we will fight! There is no such thing as retreat in our army!”

  “I cannot promise you victory, but I can promise you that if you all fight as I have taught you, then we stand a great chance! Fight in your groups; support each other and watch your teammates backs! Fight for your survival and fight for our freedom!”

  Hui Yue went quiet and as his eyes swept across the army they also rested on the Saints. His eyes met forty pairs of eyes which all stared at him dumbfounded. Some were riled up, much like the soldiers, unshed tears in their eyes. Others were smiling, showing their sharp teeth as the speech made them feel their killing intent starting to roil, but regardless everyone was eager to start fighting as soon as possible.

  Next to Hui Yue was a guide with all the maps. This guide was a Ghost-Clawed Owl. A creature which usually was awake only at night. His eyesight and memory were so keen that he could remember every part of the forest by heart. He had traveled everywhere, and he was the one who would lead the army to the borders of Shenyuan.

  With one last glance at the Saints and the soldiers, Hui Yue raised his arm high with his hand clenched tightly in a fist. His voice cut through the air once more, “Follow me! We are going to war!”

  Roaring sounds could be heard from all the beasts. Every beast roared and screeched. The uproar made everyone within the city wonder what was happening. The tall city walls trembled from the shockwaves coming from so many beasts screaming out at the same time.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue nodded his head. He turned his back to the soldiers as he sat one foot ahead of the other and slowly moved towards the road next to the city wall. By his side was the Ghost-Clawed Owl and right behind him the Saints. The soldiers also started moving and suddenly the morning air was filled with sounds of movements. The four hundred thousand beasts started moving, slowly and orderly towards the road that Hui Yue decided.

  This army was far swifter than any other army Hui Yue had ever heard about. Everyone was a magical beast, and they all knew how to move swiftly through the landscape. The Ghost-Clawed Owl was swift in his movements, and his eyes already knew the entire way they were headed. As they started moving, he transformed into an owl and flew forward like a dart. Everyone followed suit with no trouble whatsoever.

  The army consisted of experts of the King rank and above. They all had speed as one of their strengths and, although the army was not moving at top speed, the speed with which they moved through the landscape was astonishing. Within the day, they had already covered a seventh of the way to the Siban Empire.

  As day turned to night, Hui Yue stopped the guide, and the army stopped for the night. Tents were being erected and within moments, the roadside had transformed into an army camp. While some beasts spent their spare time preparing food, other beasts decided to train, and yet others cultivated.

  The Saints were all seated together in conversation with one another. Their faces were filled with smiles, and their eyes were shining with excitement. These Saints had never experienced anything like this before. They had never gathered their guards into an army, nor had they traveled through the lands on their way towards an empire which they were to battle.

  Seeing these Saints all seated around a small fire made Hui Yue smile; however, he did not go over towards them. He was, after all, not a Lord of the Forest, and although he was the Grand Marshall, he did not belong together with them. Instead, he started his own fire and sat down together with the guide.

  Neither of the two spoke much. Hui Yue found some tools from his storage stones and put a large saucepan on the fire in which he started cooking a stew. The stew consisted of both various types of meat he had gathered and salted long before and vegetables which he cut into cubes. The scent of the stew quickly traveled throughout the entire army, and every beast started to hear their stomachs grumble. The ones who were eating the provisions they had been given earlier were looking at their dried meat with longing eyes as their nostrils vibrated, constantly breathing in the scent of the delicious stew.

  The common soldiers were not the only ones who noticed the scent of his stew. The many Saints noticed it as well and unlike the soldiers, they were not very good at holding back. They stopped their conversations as all of them looked towards the fireplace where Hui Yue was seated together with the guide. Salivating, all of them suddenly got hungry.

  Although experts, beasts and human alike, who had reached the rank of a King were capable of living without food for months, the entire army was suddenly bustling with life. Fireplaces were being started everywhere, and the rustling sounds of saucepans, kettles, and knives could be heard all over. Soon the scent of the delicious stew was accompanied by smells from all over where the soldiers started cooking their own food. Everyone, even the ones who had previously been cultivating were now eating.

  The Saints were in a pickle. They were uncertain wondering if they should cook food, which seemed to be below their dignity, or if they should eat some rations they had prepared. All of them had fruit and berries, food which was considered a delicacy, but eating it on the first day was definitely not dignifying either.

  Watching the Saints, Hui Yue smiled a little and added extra meats and vegetables into the stew. He found a few more saucepans and increased the amount of food he was cooking. Approximately an hour later, the young man provided each of the Saints with a portion of food. These supreme experts all looked at the food with gratitude, none of them able to remember when they last had eaten cooked food.

  Some of these beasts had not eaten in a very long time. They had not felt the need for food, and as magical beasts, they would usually eat their food raw. They would eat whatever they had just captured for the sake of continuing to live.

  Having eaten his food, the Saints all moved towards Hui Yue, and the lords ended up spending the entire night discussing the direction they were going to take.

  The following morning, Hui Yue and the rest of the army wrapped up their tents and after a few hours was they were once more on their way towards the Siban Empire. The speed with which they were traveling was as swift as it had been the day before, and before long yet another day had gone by in a flash. Night appeared and once more the entire army set up camp. The atmosphere was getting more and more tense as they got closer to their destination. Their days became routine as one day took another and in this way seven days went by. The longer it took, the tenser the atmosphere became. All of them were acutely aware that they were entering territory they had never seen before. Leaving behind Shenyuan was something no living beast would have ever imagined if they were below the Saint rank.

  Looking at the troops, Hui Yue felt his heart pounding as he looked around. The entire army had stopped some time ago as they stood on the road, the only road leading towards a massive mountain. On the other side of this mountain was the Siban Empire. It was impossible to travel directly to the Siban Empire because there was no road that left Shenyuan which meant that they had to cross a mountain range. The mountain range which was the last obstacle on their way to Siban.


  Hui Yue was a little worried. Had the army not consisted of beasts then he would have never dared to cross the mountain range; however, beasts were far more nimble on their feet than humans. Some beasts could fly, and other beasts could help the ones who had problems. Looking at the mountain, Hui Yue’s eyes turned determined.

  “We set up camp now, tonight, when the moon is out, is the time when we will start crossing the mountain!” His loud yell was heard by everyone in the army, and he was once more met with roars and screeches.

  Chapter 61 – Crossing the Mountain

  The army quickly settled down and the soldiers alongside the commanders enjoyed the final rays of the setting sun. This time, no one setting up tents, or made a fireplace to cook. Everyone was seated in small groups chatting with quiet voices and watching their surroundings. Their entire being was filled with vigilance as they were wondering if they would run directly into the enemy as soon as they exited Shenyuan.

  The route they took was one which Li Meilin should not know. Although it was a large road, no one should have mentioned it to her. Also, when she was flown back to her country, the eagle did not come this way. However, although there was a very low chance for the enemy to know the road they took, no one could say for sure if the army was waiting for them. This was another reason they were going to travel through the night.

  Seated with the Saints, Hui Yue looked at Wan Qiao and gestured for her to come closer. “I need you to act as a scout,” He said as he looked up into the sky above. “Fly past the mountain and see if you spot their army. Let me know, where they are waiting, how many they are, and what kind of experts they have in their midst.” Hui Yue asked, and although some Saints would find it undignifying to be used as a scout, Wan Qiao instantly nodded her head. The beautiful woman transformed into a bird and swung into the sky as she started to follow the request of the white-haired young man.

  “I need you all to take the lead when we travel through the mountain. Don’t use all your speed as I don’t want you to be too far ahead of the rest of the army, but I will need you to be ready to cover us when we descend. Should we have picked an unfortunate location where the opposing army is waiting for us.”

  Hearing this all the Saints nodded their heads. Having the strongest experts first was not that common in warfare; however, hearing what Hui Yue said his tactic made sense. Although some might think he was worrying uselessly, Hui Yue would rather be too careful than brazen and cost some of his soldiers their lives just because the possibility of running into the enemy was small.

  Soon the moon replaced the sun in the sky, and as it did, Hui Yue broke up the camp and lifted an arm. After pointing his arm toward the mountain one beast after another transformed, and as they did, they set off into the night. Traveling past the mountain was something they could not do as an army, but had to be done as beasts. Seeing all the beasts transforming, Hui Yue closed his eyes for a moment and summoned the energy from the beast core within himself. Fully focusing on his beast core, Hui Yue felt himself transform. His arms turned into front legs of a wolf with strong paws and sharp claws; his legs turned into strong hind legs which were ready to jump past any obstacle they came across. Everything in front of him turned gray, but even so, the details of the world surrounding him became far more detailed. Everything was so vivid that Hui Yue almost got a headache from the massive amount of information he was getting.

  The change in vision was not the only thing Hui Yue experienced. His sense of smell was heightened dramatically, and the scent of everything around him was assaulted his nose. The scents of the many beasts that were traveling through the mountains, not to mention the scents of the wild animals living on the mountainside. Every small scent appeared, and painted an image within Hui Yue’s mind, Only with strong determination did he manage to filter out the many scents and focus on the task in front of him.. This was the first time that Hui Yue had fully taken over the wolf’s body, not being a mixture of a human and a beast but complete beast.

  Before moving, he found that all his clothes and his storage stone belt were laying on the ground. With a tooth, he removed one storage stone necklace from within the other storage stones and stored everything within before he hung it around his neck. Then he started to travel up the mountain.

  Although Hui Yue took some time to orientate himself, alongside getting used to the beastly senses he had never experienced before, he was far from the last beast to start moving towards the mountainside and start climbing. Every beast which came his way shied away from his path, none of them wishing to be close by. Although all of them could feel and sense the aura coming from him was the same aura they knew as their Grand Marshal, he was a beast they had never seen before; a race of wolf which was far more sinister than they imagined any beast could be.

  His red eyes glowed in the dark, and his sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight. Seeing Hui Yue running at a steady pace across the mountain, even the Saints felt a slight chill when they looked at him.

  Hui Yue was unaware of the dangerous aura which billowed from him; however, the danger came from a beast who was a God ranked expert. Although Hui Yue currently nothing more than a King, the wolf used to be a God in his old life, and some of his intimidating aura remained. Anyone he passed felt strong, impending feelings of danger emanating from him.

  The mountain was very tall, and this was a place no one would expect would be the point of invasion into the Siban Empire. This night over four hundred thousand beasts made their way through the mountain. Some flew, others climbed. Some ran, others jumped. If one were to look at the mountain, they would see what resembled an ant nest. There was movement everywhere as the four hundred thousand beasts crossed the mountain. None of them said a word as all of them traveled as silent as possible.

  Before long, Hui Yue ended up at the front of the beast horde. Right behind him were the Saints and following them were the commanders. Behind the commanders were the other emperors and finally behind them were the Kings. The rays of moonlight were constantly interrupted by the shadows of flying beasts, who quietly glided through the night winds and landed on the ground before them.

  It took Hui Yue four hours to cross the mountain at a fast pace, and as he arrived at the ground on the other side, he heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He saw large fields stretched out before him. Fields on which rice had been planted. Seeing this, Hui Yue once more entered his inner self and found the beast core within him. Unlike when he become a beast, what Hui Yue needed to do now was to think back to his previous body. Think calmly about his body’s usual shape; the feel of being a human and how it looked. Slowly his pelt and fur vanished and left behind pale white human skin. His hind legs turned into human legs. The front legs turned to arms. His sharp claws turned to nails, and the muzzle returned to a normal nose. The only change was that Hui Yue found that he was completely naked, wearing not even the slightest bit of clothing on his body. The only thing he felt was the storage stone around his neck.

  Many of the beasts were in the same position as Hui Yue, and as they all transformed back into their human form, their naked bodies were exposed under the soft moonlight. Some showed signs of embarrassment as they rushed to find clothes within their storage stones while others, like Hui Yue, were very calm and did not rush as they brought out a fresh set of garments.

  This was the first time Hui Yue had ever become a complete beast, and he was astonished to find that the shape was much more comfortable than he had ever expected. It was almost more comfortable than his human form. Going from having such incredible senses to the ones he was used to, it was indeed a downgrade and something Hui Yue found hard to do.

  Sighing deeply, he looked behind him, and he saw that around half of the army had made their way through the mountainside. All of them were agape as they looked around them. For Hui Yue, a rice field was nothing of great interest; however, these beasts had not seen open land apart from the small fields they had created within the forest. Seeing that there was no forest
as far as the eye could see, all of them were completely taken aback.

  No one spoke. Although no army was waiting for them, they were all vigilant and on guard because they were in another world now. One very different from what they were used to. It was as though they finally understood what was really happening, that this was no joke, but a serious war. Hui Yue knew that their current location was a place where many farmers would appear the following day, and without paying any attention to the many people coming his way, he ordered the humans to once more get into their positions and start travel. Leaving behind the ground which was used for harvesting to find a location where no humans were likely to run into them.

  The entire army of beasts started moving, and once more they moved at the speed with which they had traveled through Shenyuan. Within a few hours, they arrived at a small forest; a forest in which they could take shelter and not be easily noticed by scouts from the enemy.

  It took the entire night to travel past the mountain and to reach this forest and even now, beasts were still arriving. No tents were erected, but many beasts took this chance to take a small nap and preparing for the fighting to come. Although experts above the King rank rarely slept, now they all took their chance to sleep. They did not know when they would be able to relax again. They were now in enemy territory, something they could not easily forget, and all of them were ready to fight at any moment. Therefore, they should relax whenever they had the chance because no one knew how long this war would last.