Torstein looked at the men and women before standing up, turning to address each of them with his words, “We lost today, that cannot be argued, but brighten your spirits my friends. This war is not complete, and the humans do not have the ability to kill all of us. If we fight smart, and we recruit more to our cause, there is nothing they can do to stop us.” Smiling and walking over to a large man with red hair, Torstein clapped his hand on the man’s shoulder before speaking, “Rolf you know where the plantations are. Go and offer the slaves their freedom if they would join us in fighting against the king. That is all we want, the freedom to live as we please, without their interference. Sell our cause and find us more recruits. Take however many you believe you need and make haste. The rest of us will avoid any large fights, so do not worry about stripping our numbers for this incursion.”
Pulling the large man to his feet before clapping his shoulders again, Torstein nodded before stepping aside to let the man move to select his wolves that he would take with him. Looking over at the dead, Torstein felt his gut twisting in worry and anger. They lost over thirty wolves today. He had grown up around many of them, and the others had been like parents or younger siblings to him. Their numbers had taken a large hit, this den in particular dropping down to only seventy-three combat ready wolves. When the humans fielded armies numbering in the hundreds, it put into perspective just how hard his people had been hit in this careless attack. He did not want to break their mood anymore, but as he looked around him at the other wolves, he could not help but think that there had to be some better option than fighting the humans at every turn.
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