Part One
General Ares straightened the thick, dark navy coat that hung around his blue shoulders. He admired the shiny brass buttons, each carefully polished and the many badges that hung on the coat. At such a young age, (just 682 days old) the handsome lupe was one of the best and the fittest generals in the Neopia Army.
General Ares padded softly over to General Anwar. Years of training and experience had turned the old lupe's once creamy white coat into a shaggy grey one, but General Ares could still see the twinkle in Anwar's large, alert yellow eyes.
"General, you seem worried," Ares murmured to the lupe, hoping that he would voice his fears soon. With things the way they were now, he was absolutely certain that bad news was at the tip of Anwar's tongue.
" The swarm is massing, more of its forces are joining the group. If we do not take action right away, the whole of Neopia will be doomed!" General Anwar's words were received with a sharp intake of breath on Ares' part. "Do you know what these… creatures are?" he asked the older lupe. General Anwar shook his head wearily. "We can only guess. They are still too far for our screens to tell," he informed Ares. And with a nod, Anwar was dismissed.
Ares stood with his back towards the door. It had happened a few years ago, but he still remembered it as though it only happened yesterday. Ares had been born into a wealthy family in Neopia. His father had been a general in the Neopia Army too, but had died under enemy fire during the first Neopian War. Ares remembered how his mother, too had died from grief- she had loved Ares' father dearly. And so, two weeks after Ares was born, he was made an orphan, and General Anwar kindly took Ares in. Well, it wasn't family, but it was the least Ares had, and he treasured it.
Ares spent his childhood in Neopia, where he found his best friend Jack. Jack was a magnificent fire scorchio, and it was his brilliant flaming wings that had brought the two of them together. Jack had accidentally set Ares on fire once and until now Ares still bore remembrance of that incident- a black patch on his back, where his beloved azure fur had been singed.
But despite that little incident, Ares and Jack grew up to be the best of friends, and Jack passionately shared Ares' dream of becoming a fire lupe.
Ares was zapped back to the present as the wooden oak door to the room opened and a haughty looking starry lupe stepped in. "Ares," the lupe that had just entered bowed slightly, all the while keeping his eyes on Ares. "That's General Ares to you, Letard," Ares said curtly to the lupe. He had always despised Letard's haughty airs and ways.
Letard kept quiet, and Ares felt a surge of triumph. A stray wind blew through the room, ruffling Ares' coat. "Proceed," Ares told Letard.
"I have summoned a full force of Neopia's faeries and uber-faeries, General Ares. They have pledge loyalty to the Battle Faerie, and she will serve the Neopia Army with her heart." Letard reported. General Ares nodded. "That means that the Neopia Army forces will be adequate for battle. What about our sea spies? Do they have any information to report?" Ares questioned Letard.
"As a matter of fact, Lord Reise is outside waiting to talk to you," Letard cast a glance out of one of the ship's portholes and into the deep blue of the ocean. General Ares nodded firmly, "Yes, I'll go right on deck to greet Lord Reise." And with that, the two lupes padded softly out of the room.
General Ares and Letard stepped out of the wooden oak door and found themselves in the dimly lit corridor of one of the largest battleships in the Neopia Army. Turning left, the lupes walked down the corridor and pulled the door at the end open. They stepped on the deck of Psellia, named after the air faerie, and out into the sunshine.
"And where are we anchored now?" Ares asked a passing sailor. "Between the shores of Faerieland and the Mystery Island, General Ares. To the south you can see the newly found Krawk Island," the burly skeith looked a little surprised and nervous. General Ares smiled his most reassuring smile at the skeith and carried on walking with Letard.
The starry lupe brought General Ares to the starboard side of the ship and both lupes placed their furry paws on the wooden side of the ship and looked peered down into the dark waters below. At first nothing met Ares' eyes, but then a fleeting dark shadow darted through the waves and a split second later something shot out of the sea, sending sprays of saltwater all over Letard- Ares was smart enough to jump back.
The creature that had jumped out of the water was Lord Reise, the swiftest jetsam and the smartest sea spy that the Neopia Army had. Lord Reise had half of his sleek dark purple body out of the water and was looking up at the Psellia at General Ares. Lord Reise raised a fin and saluted smartly to Ares. "General Ares, Lord Reise at your service," he greeted the lupe. Ares nodded in return and smiled. "I hear you have something to report, Lord Reise," he told the jetsam in his deep voice, making sure to be very polite to the jetsam. Jetsams had their pride.
"Yes, General Ares. My sea spies have spotted clouds of faeries and uber-faeries heading for our battleships and we were wondering…" Ares cast a sideways glance at Letard, then turned back to Lord Reise. "Ah… no Lord Reise it appears you have made a mistake. The faeries are on our side, and have agreed to go into battle side by side with the Neopia Army, which, I believe is a very good idea," General Ares told the jetsam. Lord Reise nodded and said, "Yes, General Ares. I shall tell my spies to personally escort the faeries to the Psellia." And with that, he leapt into the air and entered the water with hardly a splash. General Ares watched the retreating back of Lord Reise for a few seconds later, then turned to Letard.
"Letard, head off to the Iyana to welcome the faeries. No doubt that will be the first boat they will see," Ares told the starry lupe. "Yes, General Ares," Letard bowed low and trotted off, his head high in the air.
General Ares stood for a moment at the side of the ship looking into the water, but then finally he headed back under deck and into a small, dark crowded room where the air was filled with cigarette smoke and loud, raucous laughter.
General Ares settled down in a corner of the room, and when the cook, Betty, came around to get his order, he asked for a mug of cold beer and a bag of cheesy neos, his favourite. The kau nodded at General Ares and then made her way past crowds of skeiths, gelerts and other neopets and into the kitchen that bustled with activity.
General Ares settled back in the cushioned chair and sighed. It was going to be a long day for him.
To be continued…