A/N: Hey guys, another chapter here for you. Hope you guys enjoy this one.

Chapter 12

It was time now. It has been one week since Rogers came back with the information about the recruits, and it was now time to start training them. the training fields and barracks had been completed a day later than expected due to the fact that they had much more troops than were expected and had to expand. But thanks to Rothbart's powers, they had managed to get the job done. The training fields consisted of several different camps. Three of them were large obstacle courses, each one harder than the last. And the soldiers had to run through each one every day as quick as they could. Then there were the combat areas, where each soldier was taught different fighting techniques from armed combat to unarmed. The Archery Range was set on the other side of the training fields facing the woods to avoid any accidents. Another section of the fields was an area where the recruits were to learn to march in formation as one unit. A track was set up all around the fields where each unit was to stay in their formations as they run all around. And finally, just outside of the training field, closer to the castle, was the barracks, which looked like a small fortress.

The Barracks itself took a while to build, but thanks to Rothbart and his powers, it was completed a day before the recruits were to arrive. The construction itself took so much energy out of Rothbart that he had to rest for almost a day, and still felt drained. But he was determined to get the job done. And along with Jacob's soldiers and Derek's servants, who did as much work as they could while Rothbart was resting and/or up working, they managed to get the job completed quickly. The Barracks was a third of the size of the castle itself, but was able to hold over ten thousand soldiers. The barracks itself resembled a small castle, but had a thirty-foot wall that surrounded the front and connected to the barracks around the back, leaving a large courtyard in front. Any additions to the Barracks were going to be done on their own time without Rothbart. His job was to get the construction completed on schedule, nothing more and nothing less. But he was quite proud of himself. It was his best creation yet and was glad that it was going to be a key thing for the army.

And now was the time. Jacob, Rothbart, Philip, Joshua, and Derek, who was finally able to stand on his own and was anxious to get out of the castle, stood just in front of the Barracks and waited for the recruits to come. Even Odette's animal friends, who were a few feet away, were present to the welcoming. They have waited anxiously for this day to see what kind of soldiers they would be training. Jacob had sent a few of his soldiers to guide them to their location.

It was an hour before midday and they were all waiting patiently for any sign of their arrival. Jacob seemed to be losing a bit of his though.

"Why aren't they here yet?" he asked no one in particular. "They should have been here by now." Rothbart just chuckled at his friend.

"Relax Jake," he said. "It's not even noon yet. It does take a while for a large group of men to travel a distance."

"Yeah, but not this long," said Philip. "My scouts reported to me yesterday that many groups of men were on their e here. they should be here."

"Some of them must have met up with other groups and traveled together," chimed in Joshua. "But they better hurry up or we wont get done with the assigning until sundown."

It seemed that they were not the only ones impatient. Jean-Bob sat criss-cross on top of Speed with his arms folded across his chest. he seemed to be not enjoying himself.

"I don't see why you guy dragged me along to this," he said impatiently. The others just rolled their eyes at his comment.

"Because it will be a good way for us to contribute to the Prince and Princess' new military," Puffin said. Jean-Bob just rolled his eyes as well.

"I still don't see what that has to do with me," he said.

"Because your Odette's friend just as much as we are and it's our job to help keep her safe," Whizzer said in a stern tone. The Yakey bird's comment had actually put Jean-Bob at a loss for words, although he still didn't feel that he should be there. As a prince, he felt that he had no place being with low standard peasants. But Whizzer was right, he need to be there to help keep Odette and her unborn child safe. Although he did make it clear that he wasn't happy being there as he let out a huffed as he sat on the tortoise.

Derek, who was oblivious to their conversation, looked out into the distance for any sign of his new army. After a few moments, he began to notice something above the tree tops. It looked like a small cloud of dust was rising in the distance.

"What's that out there?" Derek said as he pointed out. The others followed the direction he was pointing at. They could also see the dust cloud rising into the sky above the trees. "Could that be them?" Jacob looked closely and noticed it was moving in their direction. He grinned at this.

"It couldn't be anything else," he said confidently. The others seemed to nod in agreement.

"How many do you think are there?" Joshua asked.

"Hopefully all of them," replied Phillips. They waited and watched the distance for their new recruits. Almost half an hour later, they could see the soldiers heading their way. they were traveling on the road in a single column about five men wide. they seemed to be practicing marching even before the training started. Even though many were out of step, they seemed to be getting the hang of it quickly. Derek and the other watch the soldiers coming and noticed that there didn't seemed to be an end to the column. This was a good sign that all the recruits that signed up were approaching their location. As the recruits grew closer, Jacob and the others decided to meet the a few yards away from the Barracks. They stopped in front of them in the middle of the road, causing the recruits at the front to call out to the other at the rear to stop. Once the column of soldiers stopped in their tracks, King Jacob stepped closer to them.

"Greetings!" he called out. "Please follow us into the Barracks so we may begin!" He and the others turned around and made their way into the Barracks, with the column of recruits following behind. Four of Jacob's guards that were stationed there pushed open the gates to allow the host to enter. Upon entering, Jacob lead the others across the wide courtyard and up the small flight of stairs until they stopped at two large wooden doors, with the recruits stopping at the bottom. They turned around to face their new recruits and waited until they all pact in as much as they could. Once everyone was inside the courtyard, with quite a few still outside of the gates, Jacob addressed them.

"Welcome everyone!" he shouted. "It is a real honor to have you all here today! We wish to thank you for volunteering to be apart this kingdoms first army! I'm sure that all of you will be the best there will be in any kingdom!" There was a loud cheer throughout the crowd. Jacob raised his hand up for silence. Once the crowd calmed down he continued. "On that note, once you enter this Barracks, we will be gin your assigning. Which room and unit you'll be assigned to. We have already assigned a group of recruits before all of you to their places and are awaiting for the rest of you to join them. Once that's finished and you enter you rooms, you will report to the Mess Hall where you will receive your supper. After that, go back to your rooms and get plenty of rest. For tomorrow, the process of making you soldiers will begin." With that, they entered the Barracks, with the crowd following in, and began the assigning.

Everything was in place. The assigning was completed and the recruits were in their respected rooms with their units. The assigning itself took a few hours to complete. There were three different lines for each recruit to choose which class he will be learning: Infantry, Archer, and Cavalry. Surprisingly half of them choose to be apart of the infantry division. Three fifths of the rest chose archer, while the remaining chose to be cavalry. Now that each soldier has chosen the proficiency he wanted, they could now begin with unit and room assignment. There were exactly six thousand seven hundred and twenty soldiers enlisting, counting the recruits and soldiers from Uberta's kingdom, so there amount of soldiers in each unit was easily to assign. The soldiers from Uberta's kingdom felt that they needed more training because the failed to defend their kingdom from the invading hordes.

There were now sixteen units of Infantry with two hundred and seventy soldiers in each unity, eight units of Archers with one hundred and sixty eight soldiers in each and seven units of Cavalry with one hundred and sixty eight soldiers in each, many of then nobles or rich men. All this coming to a total of thirty two units. With that done, the soldiers were each assigned to there a room for each unit and were ordered into the cafeteria where they were served supper before being ordered back into there rooms for the night.

After everything was completed, Jacob, Derek and Rothbart sat in the main Study of the Barracks. The Study was more like one of the bedrooms inside the castle. It was a large room that had a fireplace on one side of the room. The middle of the room was arranged almost like a living room with a couch and a couple of chairs next to the fireplace and a coffee table in the center of them. It also had a desk to far side of the room. Behind it was a door that lead to a bedroom where the commander would be residing. And since the Rothbart had the most experience with the Goblins and offered to train the new recruits, he was appointed to role of commander of the new army. Said enchanter and the two royals sat around the lit fireplace to assess today's progress.

"All the recruits are assigned to their designated units and are now in their bunks for the night," Rothbart confirmed. Jacob nodded his acknowledgement.

"Good, he said. "Now we'll be ready to train them in the morning." The plans for tomorrow were almost finished. They just needed Phillip and Joshua to confirm that the training grounds had Drill sergeants in each field. As they concluded today's progress, Derek began to think about the recruits that had joined.

"Do you think that the army will be ready?" he asked earning the attention of both the king and the enchanter. "I mean, many of them are quite young. You even asked for the four hundred recruits that were only sixteen and seventeen. You sure their old enough?" Jacob looked at Derek with sympathy, knowing how much he cared for the young life i his kingdom.

"I'm sorry Derek," he said, "But this is war. We need as many men as we can get. I wish that they didn't have to be so young, but we really have no choice."

"But what about your armies?" Derek pressed. "Why don't you send your armies to help?" Jacob let out a little sigh.

"I will be, But no doubt that Sargon will be sending his own armies after my kingdom. I have to be able to defend my own people. You should understand." Derek looked down at the floor and nodded his head. Jacob sighed again and placed a hand on Derek's shoulder. "Go back to Odette and get some rest. we have a long day tomorrow." Derek nodded again before standing up and leaving the room. After Derek left Rothbart took Derek's place on the couch next to Jacob so they could speak more quietly.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked the king. Jacob looked over at Rothbart and was quiet for a moment.

"Because I don't know if it'll work."

"But he does have a right to know that we plan to take back his mother's kingdom."

"Yes he does, but I don't want him to get his hopes up if we end up marching to our graves. I don't want that for him."

"that's true, but you know he's gonna want to come the moment he finds out. So we might as well tell him now." Jacob sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"But like I said, we could be marching to our graves. You and i both know that Sargon likes to use him numbers. There could be a hundred thousand Goblins in Chamburg." Rothbart was silent for a moment. He knew that Jacob was right. There could be a hundred thousand in the castle alone not to mention the rest of the kingdom. But it was still worth a shot. He looked looked at Jacob with more determination in his eyes.

"But we still have a shot at it. we have to do it for Uberta. And for William." Jacob looked at Rothbart surprised before looking away to think. A while past before Jacob looked back at Rothbart with the same determination he had.

"Your right," he said. Rothbart smiled at him. "But I will tell him when the time is right. For now, let's focus on training the new army. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Come on you maggots!" cried the unit Drill Sergeant shouted at his mean as the ran in formation around the track. "Run faster! Keep in line! Stay in Formation!"

The Training fields were completely covered in soldiers. Men were running, fighting and shooting all over the place. Every man on the sight was doing his part for the army. The Drill Sergeants were ordered to keep the troops going until the next shift. It was noon now and the next shift in routine was about to change any minute when the bell sounded. Jacob, Rothbart and Philip stood on a platform watching over the army as they trained.

"Everything seems to be running smoothly," Jacob said. "Everyone is working hard." Rothbart nodded in agreement when he caught sight of a certain prince in the combat fields.

"Even the little prince himself." Jacob looked over at Rothbart before glancing in the direction he was face. There he was Prince Derek facing off against six foes with a wooden sword as as his chose of weapon. Derek was doing well as the men surrounded him on all sides and attacked whenever seeing an opening. Unfortunately the Prince was too quick for them and managed to deflect their attacks and bring down each opponent with each swing. Jacob watched on as he shook his head while smiling at the young Prince.

"Be sure to take it easy Derek!" Jacob called out. Derek had just grabbed one of his opponents in a headlock and threw him to one side, being carfull not to break his neck, before glancing up at the King of Lincolnshire.

"This is me taking it easy," he said as he blocked another blow that was aimed at his head. Jacob shook his head while chuckling to himself.

"He's gonna hurt himself if he pushes too hard," the King said. Rothbart watched on as Derek brought down another opponent.

"He does seem to be doing a fine job though," the Enchanter replied. Jacob nodded but still felt a little worried for Derek.

"That may be, but he still has to recover from his fight with Sargon." Rothbart glanced at his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He's fine Jacob," he said. "I healed him up myself. His body is fully recovered. You worry too much." Jacob narrowed his eyes at Rothbart while having a smirk on his face.

"And you don't worry enough," he said.

"Correction," Rothbart said while holding up a finger, "I worry just enough to know when not to worry." Jacob shook his head at the enchanter before turning towards Derek again.

"Another term for saying you're scared shitless." Rothbart responded by giving Jacob a light shove to the shoulder. Jacob gave a shove back before turning their attention back to their troops. The Drill Sergeants, who where apart of Jacob's army, were doing a good job in keeping the soldiers in line. The shouted at the men as they ran around the track and pushed them up across the obstacle course. But even though they were shouting at them, they made it their intent to join them in their routines to show that they were with the men, not against them.

The soldiers were doing surprisingly well, especially the younger one. They followed their orders as well as they could without falling behind, and doing well at that. it was actually a rare occurrence when one of them messed up. So much that it was hardly noticed by the Drill Sergeants. The real problems came when they were at the combat fields. Most of them had never held a sword before and didn't know what stance to take. Their footings were off and they stumble quite frequently. Their swings were sloppy and their techniques were out of order. The only things they got right were the formations. It was quite frustrating to watch, especially for Joshua.

"This is never going to work," the captain said in frustration. "These men can't tell the difference between the handle and the tip of the sword. These men aren't going to last the first battle with the Goblins. We need more men than this if we are to stand a chance."

"We don't have any more men to spare," Jacobs said. "We have plenty of men right now Rothbart looked at Joshua with a amused smile.

"Patience," the Enchanter said. "Not everything is so easy in this world. If it were, then there would be no fun in the challenge." Joshua wasn't so amused by the comment.

"There is nothing fun about this," he said. "These men need to be prepared in time before Sargon launches his assault."

"And we have nine months," Jacob chimed in. "Ten at most. I'm sure that this army will be very well trained by then."

"But with all due respect, Sire," Joshua said, "You know very well that Sargon's armies will be vastly superior in numbers."

"That is true," Philip agreed. "Like a colony of ants, they use their numbers to overwhelm their enemies."

"Exactly," Joshua concluded.

"But also," the General continued, "no matter hard many ants they send in, they cannot penetrate that one beetle's armor." This through Joshua off quite a bit. He thought about what the General said and felt quite ashamed at himself. He was the Captain of the Guard for Queen Uberta, and a brilliant soldier, but he wasn't able to see that not every war is won with superior numbers. They are won with strategy and skill. He looked over at his Superiors and bowed his head.

"You're right," he said. "I still have much to learn about the skill of war."

"You are not the only one," Jacob said as he continued to look at a certain prince.

The sun had set and the soon-to-be army was heading back to the Barrack tired and hungry. Jacob had ordered the call to return to the Barracks so the men could get their supper before resting for the night. They had done a lot of training today and their muscles were all sore. It was only day one and they felt like they were going to collapse at anytime. But strangely, not one of them complained. They felt that it was their duty to serve in the army after all that the Prince and Princess for them. Even the ones from Uberta's kingdom. They felt proud to be apart of this army and would trade it for the world. It made both Jacob and Rothbart proud to know that they had such faith in them to risk their lives in the coming war. They both knew about this because they sent a few soldier to interact with the recruits to see how they felt in all this.

The Prince was heading back to the castle while the others stayed in the Barracks to discuss today's progress with the Drill Sergeants. Derek had offered to stay with them but Jacobs sent him away to be with his wife. Of course Derek didn't object when Odette's name was brought up. so he said his goodnight and proceeded towards his castle. The sun had fully set when Derek entered his bedroom to see his wife in her nightgown sitting in front of her mirror. he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey Beautiful," he said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. Odette leaned into the kiss with a loving smile.

"Hey," she replied. "How was it at the Training Fields?" Derek released his arms from around Odette's waist and walked over to the bed. Once his was there he jumped up and landed flat on his face on the mattress.

"Intense," Derek said loudly so Odette could hear him. he then rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "It was intense, but fun at the same time. I really enjoyed it."

"That's good," Odette said as she stood up and made her way over to her husband and sat on the side of the bed next to him. "It has been a while since you've done anything like that."

"Yeah, and it feels great." Odette then moved so she could snuggle up with her husband. Derek wrapped an arm around her to bring her closer.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked as he placed a kiss on Odette's forehead. "I heard you throwing up this morning." Odette looked up at Derek with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine," she said. "It's just a bit of morning sickness. It happen's when you're pregnant." Derek smiled and placed a hand on Odette's stomach.

"I still can't believe that I'm going to be a father," he said, causing Odette to giggle.

"I know," she said., "you said that a dozen times already." Derek blushed and chuckled a bit.

"Sorry, i'm just excited."

"I know you are." She placed her head on Derek's shoulder. "I am too." They laid there in a peaceful silence for what felt like forever, just enjoying the company of one another.

"So have you thought of any names yet?" Derek asked. Odette looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I think it's a bit early don't you think?" Derek chuckled some more.

"Maybe, but I just wanted to see if you thought of any names yet." Odette looked to the side for a moment.

"Well," she said. "I do have a couple names picked out already." Derek looked curiously at his wife.

"Really?" he asked. "What are they?" Odette looked back at Derek with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Well," she said softly. "If it's a boy, I was thinking between either O'ryan, or Dmitri." Derek looked surprised by Odette choice of names. He wasn't expecting his wife to want to name their son after his father, but he was grateful nonetheless. He gave his wife a sweet kiss on the lips.

"I think those are wonderful names." Odette smiled.

"I haven't even told you what the girl's name is." Derek smiled wider.

"Okay," he said. "What is it?" Odette blushed.

"I was thinking of naming her after my mother. Cassandra." Derek smile, if possible, grew even wider as he kissed her again.

"That's a beautiful name," he said. "I almost wish for it to be a girl more than a boy." Odette smiled lovingly at Derek.

"Yes." Then suddenly, without warning, she pushed Derek off the bed and watched him fall. "Now go take a bath because you stink."

"Hey," Derek shouted, though he still had a smile on his face.

Back in the Barracks, Jacob, Rothbart, Philip, and Joshua were all sitting in the main office discussing the future plans for training the army. They were just discussing the formations that they would be teaching the men when Lord Rogers walked into the room.

"Ah Lord Rogers," Jacob said. "Just in time to inform us on our orders."

"Yes Sire," Rogers said. "I have the information that you require for the troops."

"So when will the new horses for the Cavalry be arriving?" Jacob asked.

"They should be here within the next three weeks," Rogers replied. Jacob nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good," he said. "That should be enough time to get the men's physical strength up before they are start learning to ride."

"But what about the armor and weapons?" Rothbart asked. "When will that be arriving?"

"The blacksmiths are doing all they can. But with the help and material that many people are giving, the armor should finished by four months."

"That's Good," Jacob said. "The men should have the strength to be able to carry the armor around while marching."

"But Sire," Rogers jumped in. "If you need all these requirements for the army, why not have Lord Rothbart make these items for you? That's what his powers are for right?" Jacob looked at Rogers with a straight face.

"I can't keep having Rothbart do everything for us," he said. "He's already constructed this Barracks for us and that left him completely drained."

"Plus making weapons from the Forbidden Arts wouldn't be as strong as making them from scratch," Rothbart finished. "Making a sword requires a certain technique that making out of thin air doesn't have to keep them strong. Conjuring a sword would be like having a boulder smash a diamond. Sure the boulder looks big and strong, but the diamond is tougher and more dense and wont easily break. The same goes for the armor as well. Now conjuring food and drinks are another matter entirely. You don't need it to be dense, you just need it to taste good and be able to go down the throat to be digested."

Lord Rogers was listening to every word that Rothbart was saying. He thought having powers and being able to create items like that would make thing go a lot faster and easier. He didn't know that there were loopholes in being able to create certain things.

"So now do you understand?" Jacobs asked.

"Yes my lord," Rogers confirmed. Jacob smiled.

"Good. Now there's one more thing I need you to do for me."

"Yes, Sire." Jacob's smile suddenly turned into a smirk.

"How do you feel about leading men into battle?"

A/N: Really sorry that these chapters aren't being updated so frequently. I have been working on my own Official novel and it's going to be taking a lot of my time. But I will try to update as much as I can. I will not leave this story unfinished. Please leave a review.