My Gentle Alpha

Chapter 21: It's Time To Begin

After the two had given themselves to each other they became more tacit in how they acted. Alea would ask Raya how she had been fairing with her business.

At the beginning there was a large amount of costs with transport and security, but after nearly a year the business was up and running. The profits weren't astronomical, but she can be said to have spearheaded the clothing business in Kaesan.

When the second year came around Alea had already left the city to go to the forward camp where the cavalry was stationed. This posed a difficult problem for the two. Alea couldn't leave the camp as she did when she was an infantry soldier. This meant that until the war was over they would need to be separated. The newly loving couple were very unhappy with this revelation, but they didn't have any right to fight against the decision.

The two could only get together as much as possible in the few days Alea had before setting off. However time waits for no one, and before long Alea was sent out of the city by a reluctant Raya. They didn't cry while at the gate. Those tears of farewell are better left without the prying eyes of those around them.

After some time to adjust to the reality, the two of them dived into their careers. Raya started increasing the amount of time she spent on calculations and management. Deciding to open a few more escort teams per month so as to take up as much of the free time that she had.

Alea was no different. Joining the cavalry she was forced to learn a whole new set of training. Horse Riding and horseback archery were paramount for the team. When she arrived in the cavalry army, she was told that they would only train for one last year before they began their task.

She didn't ask what the task was. She just hoped that it wouldn't take too long. It had already been a year that she had been in the army, and she was getting tired of dealing with it. She thought that with a new life she would be able to throw her identity as a soldier away, but here she is doing the same thing in a more unfair and brutal world than her previous one.

... The year was long, painful and worst of all lonely. Alea had been immersed in training. Not allowing a single second to be unused. She had come to know what the mission this time was, and she had to wonder how annoyed the officials were by the barbarians to think of such a plan. With training the cavalry team became much more tacit.

The general in charge just so happened to be the one that spoke to the group of conscripts when she had just joined. Rodan stood in front of the cavalry soldiers and with his booming voice, he spoke the words that they had been waiting to hear the whole time.

"Gather round you lot. I've just received the go ahead from the general herself. From this moment onwards we'll be heading straight into enemy land. The general said we either win or be prepared to make the grassland our graveyard".

The soldiers around were restless, but they weren't going to disobey. Everyone standing there was an elite soldier that had seen battle countless times, they knew there was a huge possibility they'd die on this trip but they had no choice. Desertion was a stain that could affect the family. They wouldn't dare to make their families live in shame. Before they had calmed down, Rodans voice came again.

"Our task is to get rid of each tribe on the southern parts of the grassland. If we succeed we'll hit the capital where the king resides. There will be no food sent to us. Logistics won't be able to keep up with our speed. So all food must be acquired from those tribes. The general said same rules apply. Kill the alphas, do what you want with the rest".

Alea knew what he was implying and she knew she shouldn't have hope for this ancient world. One of the ways a general can keep morale high is to allow soldiers certain "benefits". High pay, a share of the riches, and to do as they please with the weak and helpless. It was women in her time, but she doesn't think the alphas will be so close minded here. To them, anything that's not an alpha is pretty much fair game. She never had to face these problems in her world. There were rules to engagement that forbid such cruel and inhuman acts. However that doesn't exist here.

Rodan sent them back to their tents to gear up. Putting on the heavy plate armour. She chose to accept it. She wouldn't participate in these horrible acts, she could only close one eye watching her comrades doing it.

I'm the afternoon when the heat of the sun had started to subside, the border between Kaesan and the grassland was full of a shocking number of heavy cavalry. Two hundred thousand strong, this gargantuan force pushed into the grassland. They weren't going to go stealthily, as the forward army they were there to eviscerate the barbarian soldiers wherever they saw them.

In mere days the weak and small southern tribes that lived close to the borders had already fallen with little resistance. The army couldn't stop for long, food was not a guarantee after all. They continued to push forward with little rest, and started encountering small teams that were patrolling.

News quickly came back Akridel about the cavalry army that was pushing in from the south. He knew that he had angered the kingdoms around the grassland, but he never expected that Treiss of all of them would be the first to counter-attack. The part that made him a little worried was that the tribes of the south were being overrun too quickly. Don't say it's a small tribe, but there are still a few thousand soldiers per tribe, but when he heard what they were facing he was shocked. Two hundred thousand was not what he expected. He estimated fifty thousand at most, but he failed to realise that the only country that bordered Treiss was the grassland. They lived in a nice and cosy area surrounded by mountains on the east and west, and the sea to the south. Treiss had no foreign enemies except the barbarians. So they could recruit such horrifying numbers.

Where did Akridel know that the cavalry was just the forward force, and behind them marching much slower was a million strong infantry army intent on annihilating every last barbarian that infested the grasslands.