Even though it was my day off, I found myself standing in the war room, waiting to be picked up by one of my teachers… 'Was it… Out of habit that I came here? Or… Maybe to clear my head…' I got up onto the table and stared at the maps. 'Maybe the thing that worries me most… Is that… I'm kind of excited… This is the closest thing I've seen to a gameboard. A real strategy game. It's been… Wow… something like 16 years now. Not quite, I guess.'
I set up the pieces exactly how I thought things would play out. From the last war, we had estimates of their force size, as well as the force size it would take for them to win. 'Going off of that, it's likely it would look something like this, right?' I had imagined it several times in my head, and the appropriate responses as well… But we were outmatched, outnumbered, and outgunned… 'Then again… Bhaltair can stand against my fire breath, so… We basically aren't human, having magic might not make as big of a difference as I thought.'
I picked up a piece representing a full 50-man guild from our side and spun it around my fingers. 'Then again… Even the 300 Spartans eventually lost… Against overwhelming numbers, a crack will inevitably go somewhere. And I doubt they are planning on that as they go to strategy either… In all likelihood… We will have to retreat and give up the northern half of the country, falling back to stalemate them again at a new "Black Gate" with a new war hero named a butcher… We evacuate via boats under the support of our navy, and then we defend the other side of the mountain pass that's infested with monsters, while our navy secures the bay, and we keep our resources fresh through trade with the orcs and living off the monsters in the sea… Even if we lose, it wouldn't be a bad setup for the start of the campaign when I come to power. Actually, it would make it even easier. Everyone south of the pass is either a relative or weaker than me. I've already exhibited my skills there, so taking power wouldn't be that hard compared to the entire nation.'
I sighed, leaning forward on the table and resting my eyes in the crook of my arm. 'So that's what's bothering me then… Maybe it's just coming to terms with the fact that it would be objectively good for me if all my superiors died…' After some time and wither another heavy sigh I grabbed paper and a quill, beginning to write several letters. Each one held detailed instructions. I wasn't sure if half of the people would listen to me… But, they were all I could do… As a commander. 'Regardless of the outcome… War is where heroes are made, right? I'll take this chance and elevate myself to at least general. If I can become acting or temporary king that would be even better for appearance's sake.'
A solid stone wall on the other side of the mountain pass set up defenses against monsters, but it needs to withstand a siege. As for Riverhold, it needed several things added to the fortress to make it more medieval, more impenetrable, and a whole lot nastier for anyone trying to take it. Next, I wrote down detailed instructions for creating a coastal defense system that involved underwater nets, weaponizing monster bait, and other tactics we hopefully wouldn't have to use.
My letters had three major recipients. The commander of Riverhold, My grandparents, and my parents/the town hall of Nayana. 'When worse comes to worst… We will retreat with scorched earth if possible, and stalemate them with the sea and the mountain pass… Unlike the Russians, though… We are tiny and not very populous, so scorched earth isn't something we can afford to commit to; it'll have to be used as little as possible. Maybe… Here in Kasesh, and the coastal town of Elianar, in the open plains. Everyone else should be able to conduct gorilla warfare in the hills or swamps, which would be better than burning everything and running away.'
I closed the letters and sent them out. After hours of consideration… I also sent word to the general of the southern border in the swamps, letting him know of my predictions and plans if everything went south. 'But until then… We have to buy as much time as possible. Then again… That all depends on how long it takes for them to actually declare war… If they stall for too long… I mean, we're already preparing. How are they even going to make it past the black gate? They couldn't last time, right? But if they are so aggressive, they must have a plan.'
'Then again… Some people… Really are just stupid… I… should… I'll go for a walk and clear my head. I shouldn't think about the same thing for so long.'
I took a shower, my training for the day ending early on account of it not happening, and after helping Rune get the knots out of her hair… That seems to keep coming back… I went out while she decided to go back to sleep.
My hair hadn't even fully dried by the time the stress-relieving effects wore off as I made it only a few steps into the market district.
'There's a demon nearby…' After quickly looking back and forth, I ducked down a narrow alleyway. Keeping my senses sharp and walking for a while, I found an old, worn-down shack that seemed to be home to a bunch of otherwise homeless kids. 'We have a pretty robust orphanage system here… Because of how common it was a few decades ago to die… Did they run away? Or…' My eyes traced and examined every inch of them in seconds, with how sharp my vision was, it was almost impossible not to… The common theme… They were all pretty short, skinny, small bones. An odd one out was disabled, either visibly lacking eyesight or something else… It wasn't like we discarded disabled people, many famous warriors fought with one arm or no eyes… But the possibility that they were simply never given a chance because they were assumed to be too weak gave me chills, even though I didn't know for sure… It wasn't common practice among commoners to discard weak children, only nobles… But… Well, they all ended up there somehow…
Most of them didn't even look up to show me their faces, the ones that did scowled at me or bared their fangs. Some with animal ears or tails, human children, along with probable half breeds, goblins, or others… Human children… But no orc, ogre, or troll… It's almost impossible to be physically weak if you are one of them after all, as even a runt would be stronger than an average human.
'Rune was on the streets when Bear found her, right? She was small and frail, and if they blamed that on her species, or the way she was born, of course, they wouldn't bother giving her a chance…'
I continued walking past another shack that was much the same, only a dark and eerie presence was emanating from within… And the moment I opened the door, the smell of death became potent in the air, so much so it forced me to cough. My instincts told me to just burn it all down with fire. It was disgusting, but not because of any actual corpses or rotting flesh… It wasn't anything like the undead either… It was its own distinct scent that burned my lungs until it felt like I was inhaling spicy ramen while trying to breathe fire even though I was in my smaller form. 'This isn't going to be a weak demon… Is it…'
I slowly gripped my greatsword on my back, kicked a collapsed beam over, and stepped into the building.
"Not a grown-up?" A soft, girlish voice echoed like the whispers that followed Rafi. "Not a child either…"
'Well, it can talk… That's already a bad sign…' "Something like that…" I muttered back. My senses sharpened, but I still couldn't pinpoint their location… Almost like the entire house was a demon… A worrying thought… But not exactly out of the realm of possibility…
"Privileged… But still, suffered? What suffering. You've seen nothing…"
"HELP!" A sharp echo broke out, much louder than the demon's voice, but as if they were one screaming, trying to split in two.
'That's… new…' "So what then… You're going to show me what real suffering is? Are you a ghoul that feeds off fear? My track record so far is pretty good with them…"
"Ghoule, no… No of course not… But… I will show you…"
Everything turned black as I was sucked into the abyss with black flames enveloping everything around me. My heart started to feel overwhelmed with an intense sense of grief as the feelings of all the children I had seen pooled together and were forced inside of me all at once. "Fear is nothing in the face of despair…" The voice said softly.
"Help! Please!"
'What is that voice?' I gripped my sword tightly, my shoulders slumping forward as memories flooded through me in the form of emotion. My eyes widened, and tears began to flow, but my grip on my sword never wavered, and my stone like eyes never blinked.
"And yet you stand…" The demon sighed. "I get it… You're one of them, aren't you… You basically only have half a soul left… Of course… You wouldn't be able to feel all of their pain. Oh… And a bit of dragon's blood too if you've those eyes… Now… You're starting to just piss me off!"
After a few short breaths and a change in her voice, she calmed down. "Sorry… Sorry, that was a bit rude, wasn't it?" She sighed again, finally showing herself. Shadows unwrapped around her like a blossoming flower, and out from them, she appeared sitting atop a coffin, over half her tiny size. With pale white marbled skin and long goblin ears filled with scars and holes, her blank white eye,s pierced through me as if she didn't even have pupils. Her wide smile, sharpened like a crescent blade grinned with teeth more deadly than a wild animal, and resting on her shoulder was a massive scythe with a black iron blade and a shaft that was wrapped entirely in leather… Not human leather… Thankfully.
"So you feed off despair, not fear… What does that make you then?"
She flipped her scythe up across her back, resting her arms on it. "Well, isn't that an interesting question? I'm not sure you rift walkers ever classified me. At least not the last time I saw one of your little booklet thingies. Very informative by the way. This body, though. You do have a name for that, this is what you would call a gremlin, not a demon. The brat was only half-human…"
'Right… And since only humans can become demons… But…' Her face twitched slightly, and she tensed her neck, black veins bulging against her pale skin as she resisted the second voice, snuffing it out before it could speak again.
"Well… Do you have a name?"
"I am what you would call Kumbakarna."
"So you're what… A demon that possesses other demons?"
"Something like that." She smiled, using my words from earlier.
I tried to scan her, but all the stats just came out blank or with question marks.
"PLEASE, HELP!" A glistening figure momentarily separated from her before being dragged back in.
"And that… What's that about?"
Her smile somehow widened even more. "Maybe… If you beat me, I'll tell you? Oh, but if I win. I get to eat you're heart."
I sighed, pulling my second sword from my hip and enhancing all of my muscles to their limit. "Well, I guess this is where the negotiations end… Come on then. Let's see what you've got."