To speak of War

(Leto attempted to parry the blow, but didn't connect fully. Instead, he had to push his opponent's blade away as it met his. As this happened, Leto quickly positioned his foot behind the trailing leg of Tiberious, and then again rammed his shoulder into his sturdy frame.)

~Tiberious was focusing on the sword blade, and not paying attention to the leg. he had thought he'd spotted a weakness in Leto's attackining style and was planning how to use it best as the man slammed into him. He held his ground, but the leg behind tripped him, causing him to stumble. His right hand let go of the sword as he put his hand out to steady himself, cursing silently to himself.~

~He remained in that pose for a moment - right hand on the floor, right leg tucked under his body, left leg stretched outwards and left hand holding the sword towards the man.~

(OOC: Sorry for the delay, out of town for the weekend)

(Leto tried to press home the advantage he had fought hard to win. He attempted to swat Tiberious' sword to one side with his own, and then attempted to stand on the arm which was holding it, to pin it down.)

((OOC: No worries - we all have lives ))

~He parried the blow to his sword, remaining in the same position, but fell for Leto's trick, his hand getting trapped under the mans boot. His left hand let go of the sword.~

~He moved his legs to better balance himself, then swung a punch towards Leto with his free right hand.~

(Leto yelped out in pain as the fist slammed into his leg, the sensation quickly disappearing from it. Thinking quickly, he turned his attention to Tiberious' hand which was still somewhat trapped under his foot, and attempted to slash his sword across the open palm.)

~He saw what was going to happen, but his hand was trapped. He tried throwing another punch towards Leto's sword hand, but he knew it would be too late. One little nick was all it took.~

~He made a fist with his trapped hand, so the blade wouldn't cut into his palm, and accepted his fate. Dammit.~

(Tiberious caught Leto's arm mid swing, but this just caused his arm to drop. The blade swung across the top of Tiberious' clenched fist, grazing the fingers)

~He didn't make a noise as his knuckles were hit, instead he move his right hand away from Leto and looked at him. His sword was still within reach, but he made no attempt to take it.~

"First blood is yours." ~His voice sounded slightly hollow, it was clear he didn't like losing~

(Leto steppped away from Tiberious, and immediately offered his hand to help him up.)

"Well fought Lietenant - though I hardly think this proves who is the better fighter. I thank you, for an entertaining duel."

~He accepted the outstretched hand and got up to his feet, shaking Leto's hand. he then bent down and picked up his sword, putting it back away.~

"It will be an honour to fight alongside you, My Lord."

~He meant it too. He didn't normally have muchtime for Dukes, with their stuffyness. But this one had earnt his respect.~

"Tomorrow I'll head back to Grorr with my squad, then return back here as soon as possible to begin forming the new battalion."

(He nodded enthusiastically)

"I look forward to this. It will hopefully give us the edge we need. Would you mind if I helped in this endavour as well? I would be most keen to see what we can do together."

~He nodded.~

"I was hoping we could work together on this. I have a few ideas that still need fine tuning, but hopefully we can work out finer details."

~Yes, he did already have plans for training, to improve on skills already gained during normal training. He just wanted to think ti through a little more before explaining himself. The ride to and from Grorr should give him ample time to think properly; he was too distracted tonight, what with the fight and knowing Jade was waiting for him. The ride back... That got him thinking. A small smile crept onto his face.~

"Do you know who the current Duke or Duchess of Draco is?"

(He pondered what Tiberious said for a moment before replying)

"The last that I heard, it was Duchess Amarra. But i've been gone for some time - that may have changed in my absence."

~He nodded, forgetting the Duke had been away for a while. Even so, Amarra was a good place to start. If she wasn't still Duchess, she would probably know who was.~

"I don't know how much you know about magic, but some of the more powerful users can create portals to move around. If we could 'borrow' a few of these mages, then the squads could deploy much faster where ever they were needed."

~He knew Rensain used portals, he had seen it with his own eyes enough times. And he was sure he'd seen other people use them on occasion.~

"Yes - that's a very good idea. I shall write to Draco and pursue this. For now, lets get started on the tasks that we can manage ourselves."

~He nodded and smiled. Yes, this partnership could work very well.~

"We'll need some extra equipment. Several large sheets of wood for a start, and some leather strapping."

~He had a quick think~

"And if you know of any healers nearby, it might be useful to warn them their services will be required." ~He had no doubting at all that the training would get rough. He looked at Leto, thinking eh should explain his earlier cryptic shopping list.~

"I'm thinking of making several large wooden shields, which can be worn on a persons back. The shields can have designs on them, for long range target practise. And being mobile, means they will be harder to hit. After all, the enemy doesn't usually stand still while we get our sights lined up on them."

(He nodded in approval)

"I have several resources from which I can draw upon to make this happen. I have good medics here at the keep, so that's at least a start.

The shields I can have made by the time you return, though you may have to provide some of the other equipment - my garrison here is stretched as it is."

~He nodded.~

"I'll head out tomorrow and be back the following day. I don't wish to tire my horse out by making the full trip."