Aednat went over the numbers in her head. Herself, Bo, Delia, and Anya made four.
The child conscripts made seven. The ten from the hunt log. And the eight from the salon, and finally the two teacher.
4+7+10+8+2.
That was thirty-one.
That gave them thirty-one. But at Anya suggested, the seven child Dullahan recruiting the families of the humans they were created from would perhaps the kinder fate after a fashion... after all... was not their sacrifice to protect their loved one? Or perhaps their families' kinder fate would be to join them? Or perhaps applying any sort of logic or system to who she'd conscript was nothing but a veneer that this entire thing was somehow 'fair' to anyone.
"Anya, sent forth your cavalry, tell them to go the houses that simply feel 'right' to them, and have them conscript every human they find within." Aednat commanded.
"Yes, eldest sister!" Anya bowed, summoning Ayna and riding her at top speed to the circle of Dullahan that surrounded the four, focusing on the seven she'd personally recruited as her own unit.
"Welcome back lady Ayna!" said the red-haired Dullahan that had once been the human youth Ryan. '
"The time has come for you to recruit humans as well for our war. Go to whatever house feels the most 'right' to you. Then convert every human you encounter within. Ignore everything they say. They are nothing to you. For now, they are merely sisters you have yet to bring into our fold, nothing more. Do not hesitate. Repeat this to yourself, and know it to be true."
"They mean nothing to us, they are only sisters we have yet to add to our fold," they echoed back, locking in their lack of the humans they'd once been.
And the Dullahan rode, leaving trails of burned grass in their wake. The sun was already setting and evening was already becoming night. Parents were fearful for their children not returning home when they should have. They'd called the police. Who themselves were swamped with the strange sights and calls they'd gotten (in particular a group of terrified campers insisting on people having a gold coin around their necks).
The little Dullahan cavalry all shouted out the fate of those who dwelled within, the doors and windows blowing open for their entrance. They made no hesitance, no question, only their duty to build the army that their commander desired of them.
Ryania:
Bessy:
Luara:
Roberta:
Eve:
Mary:
Sally:
The human Sally's grandparents, her parents she no idea her parents had died at the hands of the last troll invasion.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven homes. Fourteen parents added to the their corp. But that wasn't the end. Mary's dying grandmother was added their ranks, her beauty and strength that few alive had seen returned to her. Sally's collage age brother was next. Along with Eve's twin brother. And finally, Laura's little sister, following her commander's orders to the letter. The baby headless horse carrying its duty driven rider.
Nineteen add to their ranks.
Fifty.
Now the Dullahan were halfway to their goal, and it was only the first day. The second day ended, the seventh day of the troll invasion seemed so far off by comparison.