Trusting Fox, Trusting Fox only laughed. "You're
doing the same thing to him, aren't you?" and went back to his plans.
38 A few days later, though, an agent arrived from The Land of The
Oneness with news that was not so pleasant. They had witnessed enemy
soldiers training with a terrible new weapon- a rifle with a lever on
the bottom that could fire round after round without being reloaded.
They had also seen cannon, hundreds of them, twice the size of their
own.
39 In every city of The Oneness the men were donning uniforms. In their
harbors ships that were once merchantmen were now heavily armed and
ready
for war. They believed the enemy would strike in the south first, as
soon as summer came, and then, march north against them in the winter.
40 When Trusting Fox heard this, he shook his head. "Impossible," he
insisted , "totally impossible! I have fresh letters from The Priest of
Priests arrived only yesterday. What you say isn't possible. It can't
be."
41 "Just in case it is," argued Bold Fox, "let me have enough funds for
cannon and rifles, and more regulars."
42 "No, it's all some kind of mistake. They're just training or
something. We have maneuvers, don't we?" insisted Trusting Fox.
43 Bold Fox didn't know what to do. So he called in his Field
Commanders from the different districts, and at an inn outside of
Northern they met.
44 From Southern came Screaming Hawk, from Western came Bright Sword,
from Mi came Little Blossom Crow, and from Hawk came Red Serpent. These
were the best Warlocks Bold Fox had.
45 For many hours they sat and discussed what little they could do,
finally agreeing that they would