As Zell encountered the mysterious dwarf, Coralia, Agitha, and Arlim were just passing the northern border wall on their way to visit the developing village of Coralia’s new allies.

“So we’ll be meeting friendly kobolds, dwarves, a red dragon, and a couple demons?” Agitha said from her position reclining in a pile of folded cloth near the back of the open wagon they were riding in with her head resting on Merc’s flank.

“Not regular dwarves though.” Coralia corrected. “They’re called ebon dwarves. They have dark skin and really potent natural mana.” She added.

“Ohh I know about them!” Arlim suddenly perked up. “They are called Forsaken in dwarven lore though. The legend of their creation says that a former dwarven high priest fell in love with a devil from Primea Verdis and their first children were born with black skin and strange powers. The celestials themselves took such offense to the union that they declared the beings abominations to be killed on sight. I didn’t know any were still around. How exciting!” Arlim’s expression was remarkably boyish when his curiosity was fired up and it made Agitha giggle.

“He looks just like Bait right now!” She laughed, pointing at Arlim.

“It’s easy to forget how smart he is.” Coralia said as she leaned over to bump him playfully with her shoulder.

“Being forgettable is my most powerful skill.” Arlim added without losing his smile.

“Oh sure Dimensional Sever and True Erase Self are two skills that only a couple people have ever been able to master even one of and you can do both. But yeah the fact that no one can remember if you were at a party or not beats that!” Coralia retorted with a snort.

“Hey now don’t be telling these suspicious trees all my secrets.” Arlim joked with a mock glare at the forest around them. To his surprise, a high pitched voice answered from above them.

“Ohh he was able to detect us!” Said the voice with genuine surprise.

Arlim looked up and saw the speaker crouching on a low branch, it was a tiny humanoid with the head of a brown rat and a thick scaly tail wearing a combination of dark leather and cloth armor. A second voice joined the first from the side of the trail then.

“As expected of Lady Coralia’s allies!” The second voice was clearly female and belonged to another kobold that was stepping out from the foliage.

“You set a perimeter this far out, Laz?” Coralia asked the female kobold with a hint of surprise.

“We were expecting you back today so Nib and I decided we would come out and meet you.” Answered the kobold leader.

“I see. Well this is my husband Arlim and my teacher Agitha.” She said gesturing to her human and elf companions. She then reversed the introductions. “These are the leaders of my most elite kobolds, Nib and Laz.”

The two kobolds bowed deeply and the wagon continued along its path, shadowed by the deadly guerrilla kobolds.

Several minutes later, the rapidly forming village came into view. A large section of forest had been cleared and leveled using the earth magic of the ebon dwarves. The experience they had gained building the first village in the far north showed clearly and a few complete structures already stood. Agitha and Arlim observed the industrious monsters with wide eyes.

It was more than the efficient work that they found amazing. Nearly every face wore a smile, and they all spoke happily to one another in common.

“They’re more civil and cheerful than humans.” Agitha observed with a warm smile of her own. “And that’s a dragon building a cabin.” She gestured to the far end of the clearing where the massive form of Dalazog could be seen picking up whole felled trees and limbing them like a human might strip the leaves from a twig.

Word spread quickly that Coralia had returned along with new allies. Every single kobold or ebon dwarf they passed stopped and gave a heartfelt greeting along with a reverent bow.

They followed the directions of those they passed to the large cabin near the center of the clearing that was designated as the base of operations. They heard several voices inside engaged in a debate. As Coralia opened the door, the voices briefly rose in volume then immediately hushed.

Inside were Coralia’s three most capable leaders standing around a table with a map of the area drawn in charcoal on its surface. Hurstag, the former ruler of the ebon dwarves stood closest to the door. As always he was dressed for battle and carried his battle axe and shield on his wide back. Across from him were the tall and beautiful demon knights of Belithel. First knight Elisif wore her plate leg armor and greaves but had shed her breastplate in favor of a plain leather vest. Second knight Mathael wore his full plate armor and never compromised on the subject.

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They all turned at once to regard the two humans, elf, and dire wolf entering the cabin. They each dropped to a knee and offered their greeting.

“Welcome back Lady Coralia!” They said in unison.

“Hey now don’t embarrass me.” Coralia answered. “This is my husband Arlim, and my teacher Agitha. The wolf’s name is Merc. This is Hurstag, the ebon dwarf leader and the handsome demons are Elisif and Mathael, knight generals of Belithel.” Coralia looked around as she spoke. “Speaking of...” She began, noticing that the tiny toddler goddess wasn’t in the room.

“She’s riding around on Dalazog.” Elisif answered. “There was no denying them when they both demanded it.” She finished.

“Mhmm, an ancient all powerful toddler and a reincarnated goddess would make a formidable team.” Coralia chuckled.

“Was your mission to the human city a success?” Elisif asked. “I see some of your fears at least were unfounded.” She added with a grin as she looked to Arlim.

“All of my fears were unfounded.” Coralia answered with a warm smile. “My family is thriving, my son has become a strong warrior and my daughter is training with a respected mage. I’ve reunited with my husband and my closest friend. I secured our first shipment of supplies and Arlim will return tomorrow to organize regular shipments and establish proper diplomacy with the kingdom.” Saying it all out loud made Coralia swell with pride.

“We are very honored to meet you both, lord Arlim and lady Agitha.” Mathael said with a bow. “Without the master there could have been no pupil, and the alchemy techniques passed along to us struck a great blow to Maiphon’s horde.”

“Aye. I’ve been looking forward to meeting the ones our queen spoke so highly of.” Hurstag added.

“Just Agitha, if you please. The royal treatment makes my damn skin crawl.” Agitha replied, stepping forward and extending her hand to each of them in turn.

“Likewise please just call me Arlim.” Added the blushing man.

“Now, is there anything urgent you have for me?” Coralia asked, stepping up to the table.

“Not as such.” Mathael answered. “Nib’s group reported a tribe of orcs a mile to the east. We’re debating on whether to simply annihilate them or try to communicate first.”

“It may sound cruel to you but they should be destroyed.” Coralia said grimly. “Southern orcs might well submit to our might but they are a bloodthirsty lot and would look for any chance to act out their base urges which would reflect on us directly.”

“I’ll give the order.” Mathael answered. “Who would you like to handle it?”

“Send the kobolds. They’ll take care of it quietly without unnecessary chaos.” Coralia answered. “Was there anything else?”

“No my lady.” Answered the demon knight.

“Then I’ll go check in with Dalazog and the others. Thanks for your hard work, all of you.” Coralia said, stepping back toward the door.

“Nice to meet you all!” Arlim said as he followed his wife outside.

“How many hundreds of kobolds are you planning to send up against a whole orc tribe?” Agitha asked when they were once again outside.

“Did you not pay attention to my story in the study at all?” Coralia snorted back.

“I was ten out of ten hungover. Be amazed I made it out of bed.” Agitha groaned back.

“Forty kobolds will eliminate every last orc without a single loss.” Coralia finally answered with absolute confidence.

“Forty...” Agitha repeated with a slow blink. “Can I go watch?” She asked.

“It wouldn’t do me any good to say no, would it?” Coralia answered.

“None whatsoever.” Agitha confirmed.

“Fine but only join in if something happens. The training is good for them.” Coralia conceded.

“Deal” Agitha answered.

As they moved closer to the end of the village where the dragon and several kobolds were working, Agitha began to feel a strange stirring on her back. Onigoro, the devil possessed sword was growing restless. Before she could think too much about it, a deep booming voice greeted them.

“The Apocalypse Queen returns!” The titanic red dragon bellowed happily, tossing a forty foot long log like a twig. On his back was a tiny child bundled in cloth with a wide open mouthed smile and sparking eyes.

“I told you to stop making up new weird titles for me. Pick one already.” Coralia hailed him in return. “Come say hello to my mate and my master.”

“Master indeed.” The dragon covered the distance between them in one stride and dropped his head to level his glowing eyes with Agitha’s. “The elf’s mana is greater than yours, though far less refined. The male’s is fully concealed which is impressive in its own way.” The dragon reported as though he had been asked.

“Sounds about right.” Agitha said under her breath.

“You have no tact. Why don’t you just start blurting out bust sizes while you’re at it?” Coralia scolded Dalazog with a wave of her hand.

“Humph! Dragons are masters of tact and have no need for knowledge of a ‘bust size’, whatever that might be.” The proud dragon retorted with a smoky snort through his flaring nostrils.

“Looks like Belithel is asking to come down.” Coralia quickly changed the subject before a familiar Dalazog inspired headache could set in.

The toddler goddess was indeed fiddling and quietly fussing until Dalazog offered a huge scaly palm for her to crawl on. The tiny girl walked directly up to Agitha with her big golden eyes locked intensely on to the elf woman. She held her arms up.

Outwardly Agitha liked to pretend she didn’t like children. She openly sneered at the thought of having her own. The reality was that she absolutely adored small children and believed that to be an unforgivable weakness. This child was on a completely different level of cuteness than she had ever encountered and before she could prepare her defenses she had already scooped Belithel into her arms.

The sword on Agitha’s back was practically vibrating now, and suddenly the voice of the devil Onigoro himself finally sounded in her mind.

“Where in the universe are you, Defaria!? What is this familiar and suffocating presence? It’s almost like...”

The voice was abruptly cut off as a tiny white hand with black fingernails touched the hilt of Onigoro with a single chubby index finger.

Agitha gasped and turned around, still holding Belithel as the feeling of the sword on her back vanished to be replaced by a thrumming energy source that she recognized from another time. It was the energy of the devil Onigoro himself manifesting into the material world.

Belithel squirmed and Agitha set her down behind her, readying her other two demon bone longswords.

“I didn’t invoke him!” Agitha warned those around her. “But a devil is about to appear.”

Before the rest of them could react, The Sand Devil of Ten Thousand Arms had manifested in his full terrible glory. Seven feet of muscle and unearthly power wrapped in blood colored chainmail had appeared in their midst. Onigoro was prostrated with his horned forehead touching the dirt before Belithel whom had tottered around Agitha to stand before him.

“Greetings and congratulations on your reincarnation, Mother.” Onigoro said reverently.