The presence of more of the Saharliard helped immediately with my own morale, though the vast majority of my people felt that this was an addition that was far from necessary. After all, we'd been successful enough before, right?
"We can't say how much land specifically they hold," I said, "but we know that they have an entire nation. Military might won't be the only thing that dictates that, but going off how they've acted thus far, they'll need to have more to fight with, more to bring to the battlefield than a couple hundred scattered troops. When they gather en masse, they're sure to be much more dangerous than what we've seen thus far."
"And that they have not attacked like that again seems to communicate some willingness on their part to regather and focus on ensuring that their next attack proves more deadly." Percral replied.
"It's nearly impossible to say for sure what they're doing right now, since they've also attacked the herds." Shemira added. "Herdsman-in-chief, do you have any ideas for the Misti Hawar?"
"Kill them." Joral growled. "Beyond that, I don't know. I haven't had nearly enough time near them to say anything definitive in any direction. They didn't respond to my influence, but I also had less than a minute near any one of them before they died. When you can't keep them close or keep them from dissolving, then there's no way to capture them. Death is preferable."
"Nievtala has demanded that we strike them down! I feel it in my scales and fangs! Rally behind her chosen and rip their lives from their bodies!"
"Yes, Shraal, we all want to kill them." I interrupted him before he devolved into a full rant. "The question that remains now is how to do it without all dying. The one that seemed to be their leader mentioned something about letting me serve as something to rally her people against. Maybe that will mean that she won't want to kill us all immediately, instead allowing her people to come bit by bit, to thin out our numbers while they harden themselves."
My elites all scoffed at the idea, and I mirrored the thought. Even so, I didn't say so. Instead, I raised my hands for silence, which immediately fell.
"We need to bolster our strength. For too long, we have been given time and space to relax and happily settle here. Those of us who escaped from the Veratocracy's clutches remember how we needed to fight for our lives against the Moonchildren. That time has returned, and we must remember how we gained the status as Fahvalo of the Moonchildren: desperation.
"If I need more children to ensure we live, then let the children learn to shed blood from the day of their hatching. My own children will be used as soon as they are capable of standing. Frankly, we need more Kha blood. They will grow the fastest, and we will swell our numbers as much as fast as we possibly can. Give the Kha more time, encourage them to mate, and get them laying. Maybe we won't have enough time to allow them to grow even nearly to adulthood, but if I need to offer them bloody fields as the sole life ahead of them, I will do so with pride and without hesitation.
"I've allowed myself to be weak these past days and weeks. No longer. My children are precious, but I cannot allow them to dictate the way I run my Empire. This is the land of Nievtala, of her chosen people, the conquerors of this continent and the rulers of all that we lay eye on. Our lives have been laid out before us, and we will carve a new path, one that allows us to reclaim the history we have so long deserved.
"Prepare, practice, and be ready for the day that the Misti Hawar return. Because the time is nigh at hand."
[Ellik'Kwi POV]
How exciting that the Nyust'taa entrusted to his family the first true Hunt of the war! The Ainingatch had been the ones responsible for finding the Keel in the first place, so that honor rightly belonged to them. They would show the rest of the families how to serve the Nyust'taa and gain victory over the ancient foes. That old prey, the creatures that terrified him as a child, they would serve as the proving ground for his people!
They were now… cultivating herds? That was already an abomination in the eyes of the Great Hunter, and Illan'Klli would not permit his ways to be bastardized. The Keel thought themselves predators, and they raised creatures like this? An embarrassment to the memory of those who had come before them. It would bring Ellik'Kwi and his family the greatest pleasure to strike them down in their hubris. For now, all they needed to do was continue to weaken the lizard's standing and their resources. Hunt as much as the Great Hunter would allow in the lands surrounding the Keel, and eradicate whatever keelish came near.
He grinned as his children melded into darkness around him and he pushed his shadow forward. They'd already slaughtered several of the herds, which could be killed without respect for the laws. They were a blight on nature, and shouldn't be allowed to live in the Great Hunter's favored mountains.
Yes, this would be a delicious adventure.