"Ah, lieutenant. Finally. Have you got the scouts' report? I haven't found anyone who can tell me what we're up against."
"No, sir."
"No? Where are they! They were supposed to report back hours ago."
"That's what I'm here to tell you, sir. They're dead."
"Dead?"
"Quite."
"All of them?"
"Indeed."
"How? How is this happening? It's those. . . those Sylesti tamers again, isn't it? Every year, they just come in and ruin everything."
"Yes, sir."
"How is this possible? We outnumber them by thousands. Thousands, lieutenant! We could drown them in the blood of those who've fallen, drown their whole cursed town, their whole valley. How are we losing this war?!"
"I have no answer, sir. But we need to assign some new scouts."
"Why?"
"So we can find out what's happening out here."
"But they'll just be killed, like the last ones, and the ones before that."
"Sir, they aren't always killed. Some survive. Today was just a particularly bad day."
"Are they doing one of those 'contests' again?"
"Sir?"
"Oh, spare me lieutenant. Don't pretend you don't know. They set up these massive contests, hand out gold and accolades to whoever slaughters the most of us."
"Er, well. . . now you mention it. . ."
"Don't send out any scouts. I'll not feed into these beast-tamers and their sick games. In fact, tell everyone to pack up. We're leaving."
"Where, sir?"
"Back to the fields. I'm sure they're lovely his time of year, and the Cove clearly isn't a healthy location for us to remain."
"But, sir, during the fall and winter--"
"Are you questioning my orders lieutenant?!"
"No sir. Sorry. I'll send the orders."
"And here I'd hoped this summer we'd be free of hem."
"They do come later and later every year, it seems. Maybe one day they'll forget about us."
"Not likely, lieutenant. But you're allowed to hope."
"Have. . . have you considered negotiating for peace? There are enough of us, we could form an entire city if we were willing to--"
"Make peace with those murderous creature-lovers? Never! And why are you still here, anyway? Don't you have packing to supervise?"
"Yes sir. I'm going. At once."
"Cursed beast-tamers. Wherever we go, they follow. But maybe this time we'll slip from their-- who are you?!"
"Aha, another bandit! I only need 300 more to earn another reward pouch. Sylesties, kill him!"
"I hate you people."

-fin-