Daverro stood tall against the new recruits, his scales reflecting the burning daylight as he shouted with a stern voice:
"I want 500 pushups, 600 situps, and 1000 crunches done before the end of the hour! If not, everyone in your barrack will be forced to clean my personal toilet for the next week!"
An entire army's worth of recruits about 500 strong stared at their commander with the same emotionless expression of obedience.
"SIR, YES SIR!"
Daverro took a steady walk back to his hut, stretching his wings on the way back to his hut. He took off his obsidian chest piece, and checked for any possible dents he might need to fix. A common routine for his masterworks since he wanted to keep them as ready as he could. As he was inspecting his arm guard he saw the reflection of the necklace that held the ring of his mother he had never met. He played with it for a bit before returning to his inspection.
Soon after a messenger on horseback came in along with the captain of the duchy.
He looked at Daverro with a an expression as if Daverro had killed his mother. The messenger spoke:
"Daverro, as a request from the Duke, he asks that you make attempt to make peace with an Adelan army coming just south from here. Adelans will gladly support the mages for the war thus we need all the manpower we can attain. We will be sending a cavalry of reinforcements in the night just in case. Be wary, a spy sent by the mordecai, gave them false information as to your training establishment, they are led to believe you are training elite mordecai forces for the war. Please refrain from battle as best as possible, but if the Adelans are not ones for peace do not hesitate to use force to set them straight. Captain Guinasos here, will assist you in command if need be, he will also take over your role should you perish in bat-"
Guinasos interrupted:
"You better not die, you lazy bag of shite, I do NOT want to be stuck in your shitty forge for the rest of my life."
Daverros ignored the captain and turned towards the messenger-
"Relay this message to the duke:
I thank him for the information for if not we might've been overrun without notice, I will do my absolute best to make peace before any falsehoods distract from the truth. Thank you,"
The messenger galloped on his white horse back to the duke, Daverro turned to the captain-
"I appreciate your services good man, " Daverro stood tall and his voice became stern, "but if you are to question my lifestyle based off of what you see, you are no more of a man than these recruits here, you are NOT a captain on my training grounds, everyone is equal on these grounds no exceptions, but no one questions my orders otherwise they get burnt alive."
Guinasos gritted his teeth,
"Yes, Sir."
"Now, go tell the recruits to stop the exercise and prepare for battle, make sure to not get them to panic. We set for the mountains by sunrise, and you will be sleeping outside next to your horse, do I make myself clear?"
Gritting his teeth again:
"Yes, Sir."
The captain set to prepare the troops, Daverro finished his inspection and prepared for the night, patiently awaiting for the battle, it had been so long. But something felt odd about this one...