A Show Of Strength (Part One)

The sounds of the approaching army grew louder and louder until everyone in the northern districts of High Fen City could hear the steady beat of drums and the clinking of armor as soldiers marched toward the city. The glow from more than a thousand torches and lanterns lit the sky and dozens of wagons trundled across the canal bridges outside the city gates. 

"Look, look! The Golden Eyed Clan," an excited young man from the Glass Eyed Clan shouted as he strained against the ropes, hoping for a better view of the approaching army. His sinuous neck stretched out far enough that one of the stone-faced soldiers from the palace rapped him on the back of the head with a mailed gauntlet before jerking a thumb in the direction of the side street the boy was standing in.