Herald of Steel

As soon as Metztil saw the huge number of troops that were not there just a week ago, the alarmed man's instinct was to sound the trumpet and retreat.

They were still some ways from the city and Metztil prayed that if he was fast enough, perhaps he could foil whatever was planned for him and his men.

However, at the last very moment, even as Metztil grabbed the trumpet, suddenly he found himself unable to blow on it.

His brain commanded it, but his heart refused to execute it.

Because just as he was about to, he turned to look around his own men.

They were all smiles, cheerful faces lit up excitedly with ruddy colors that twinkled with anticipation.

They were all very eager to get the land they were so promised.

So it did not take too competent a commander to understand what the consequences would be if he were to really blow the trumpet.

If Metztil were to order them to return home empty handed after coming so far, the men would be crushed, as would be those back at home.

And as soon as Metztil returned, all the numerous internal problems that had been buried with the excuse of this deal would come bursting forth like an erupting volcano.

The ensuing chaos and rebellion would be like little else.

Given how the people's anger would undoubtedly be pointed squarely at him, Metztil would be lucky to keep his life, forget his position.

Thus due to his own greed as well as the expectation of his own men who wanted to fight no matter what, the man decided to ignore the alarming sight and sent a few scouts to find out more about the situation.

They soon returned with an escort, the elderly, high ranking Scorpyo, who had been stationed there exactly for that purpose- to explain the situation to the tribal leader.

"Welcome oh, Great Chief, greetings. I am an aide of the Pasha- Scorpyo. My lord would have come to personally greet you but as you can see he is a bit busy organizing his 15,000 reinforcements.

The short speech had naturally been craftily created to deliver the maximum punch with the least amount of words.

And as Scorpyo gently swung his arm towards the freshly arrived Menes, the meaning for Metztil and his unruly men was clear- Behave.

The devastation these troublemakers had caused while getting here was not unknown to Alexander, but this was where that would have to stop.

However, it was unknown how much of the hidden message Metztil truly got.

Rather, the simple man was busy breathing a sigh of relief that he was simply overthinking it.

It would only be while he and a few of his high ranking entourage were being taken into the city and passed through the garrisoned camp that the extent of the true extent of the situation was revealed to him.

Like Metztil's men, Alexander's newly arrived reinforcements also set up camp outside the town which was erroneously called a city.

This was largely due to how small Gaint City was, and hence, to enter the town, one needed to cross the military camp that was being built as they spoke.

The tribal leader walked across the wide earthen streets flanked by huge tents on both sides while observing the sights around him, by swaying his head to either side

"So many…." one of Metztil's officers could not help but subconsciously whisper in equal parts alarmed and incredulation.

Here he was not only talking about the number of men walking around busily.

The number of legionnaires of course impressed him, there was no doubt about that.

But perhaps what struck out to him much more was the amount of supplies that were on display, because that represented true wealth.

For example, along many tents were stacks and stacks of hay, each forming a small hill golden in color, laid out in the open.

Beside them were scores of various draft animals- oxen, horses, and mules, being attended to by their handlers.

Some of them were feeding the hay to their animals, others were unloading it from the wagons they were pulling and making the pile bigger, and the last ones were loading the thing to wagons to likely later distribute it to other stock animals in their stables.

This sight, and more than that, the scale of this sight was a complete eye opener for the tribal men because they had never seen so many animals in one place.

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They had heard from their fathers of the outsiders possessing tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands horses, but always took such stories with a very large pinch of salt.

They thought the ancestors were simply speaking in hyperbolics and allegories.

This was because simply the idea that any 'tribe' would be so rich to be able to raise so many animals was inconceivable to them.

Needless to say, even the strongest of the tribes- the Helvati were too resource poor to raise such an 'army' of beasts.

The food they grew was barely enough to feed their own population.

So where were they going to get the excess abundance to raise a cavalry?

They did have a few ranches, but those small pony like horses were only used in domestic services such as plowing the field, pulling wagons, and riding to deliver messages.

Risking them in battle was simply too extravagant for the tribe.

Yet, here, they saw close to a hundred animals just while they were walking across the camp. And to add to that miracle, these animals did not seem to be even from here.

Although the Helvati did not own many livestock by themselves, they were still experienced countryfolks.

So they easily spotted that the sheen of the coat of these animals looked distinctly different from those typically found here.

This meant they were bred in a different climate.

Plus, their handlers also looked different from the usual outsiders- the Zanzanties were usually 'squared' with a broad mouth and beautiful flat teeth, whereas the Sybarians the natives dealt with every day tended to be a bit more rounded, with broad temples and arched eyebrows.

This let them quickly understand that Alexander had brought all these animals from his territory.

And to be able to move so many animals for so many thousands of kilometers was truly an astounding feat in their eyes.

In fact, the shock over this was so great that some of the really shrewd men even suspected that Alexander might have staged all this to show off.

However such overthinking quickly gave away as they made further progress.

Along the way, they saw much more evidence of abundant opulence.

Trains of wagons full of shiny new armor the quality of which these men had rarely seen were here hauled before them.

Huge bundles of arrows were stacked by the sides, below which laid scores of shields, forming a sort of Jenga tower.

And an unending procession of grain carts was being pulled by mules, each dispersing to their required destination.

What for Alexander was simply the bare necessities proved like El Dorado for these poor, improvised suckers, to the point as few of the officer's eyes went green with envy,

"If only… we could take these." They whispered, salivating at all the food, weapons, and even slaves.

The fickleness of the alliance could be perfectly illustrated here.

If it benefited the Helvati, they would not even bat a second's eyes to stab Alexander in the back.

If the pash knew about these thoughts, he would have definitely sniggered, 'Can't teach an old dog new tricks, can you?'

Undoubtedly the nickname 'bandits' these barbarians had among the Sybarians was not earned in a single day.

But Alexander had also predicted such a thing.

This was why he made sure that Scorpyo would greet Metztil the way he did, putting a clear emphasis on the number of men he had.

And now that they were being taken on a tour of where these men lived, the Helvati nobles quickly sought to verify the claim.

'15,000 men! Hmmm…no there is probably even more. Almost double ours.' Then through their eyeball estimate, they quickly came to this decision.

This was also probably the only reason why they gave up any thoughts of taking over the city by force and started to behave.

Alexander greeted Metztil with a large smile and cordial enthusiasm, "Chief Metztil, so have you agreed. Hahaha, with the blessing of both our gods, no force on this island can stop us,"

And this, the pasha was not simply faking it.

He truly was happy was these reinforcements. His scouts had already informed him of the numbers and such an addition would make his intended assault on Caira much, much easier.

So over the next few hours, Alexander worked to entertain the man, such as introducing him to his own men like the newly arrived Menes as well as hosting a large banquet for them.

In there, Alexander also declared the schedule for their next few days,

"We will stay here the next three days to give the men some time to rest. On the fourth day, we march south, laying siege to Caira. The enemy's garrison will be attacked and destroyed there."

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