"Me, a wizard?" I muttered under my breath.

The idea was strange, not just the fact of a demon learning the ways of our hated enemy. But that I, Enkh-Bataar, a former lowly foot soldier in the great horde of Batu Khan. Would learn the power of the mystics or wizards as they were called.

In all my eight hundred years of being a servant demon, moving from one battle to another. I had never been asked if I wanted anything. Even when I was a mortal, oh so many years ago in the glory days. I was still just a rider in the army.

Sure the spoils of war were plentiful when we took Kievan Rus. But I was just a single soldier amongst the Golden Horde. Now I have the opportunity to serve a Khan directly and be taken as an apprentice.

Of course, he was a demon lord, not a Great Khan. But the glory of serving a great leader was too enticing to pass up. But I must be cautious, not every Khan is worthy. I shall judge my new Khan with a clear head, I swear upon Tengri himself.

"I think we should summon the others, they should be involved. Enough time has passed, they would have sobered up by now." Lord Asmordis suggested.

"Very good my Khan, they will serve well. You needn't punish them too harshly." I gently suggested, not wanting my friends of many abyssal years to suffer.

"There will be no punishment. I think the hangover shall suffice." My lord casually waved the idea off.

I was stunned, no punishment? Despite their incredibly poor showing with the new lord? That was far too merciful than I would have expected. Perhaps I should reevaluate a few things about our new lord, our new Khan.

"How very merciful." I bowed my head.

The Demon Lord chuckled, turning away from his work, he looked at me. His gaze was intimidating, but I held firm. A vassal should never show weakness to a lord.

"It is not mercy, merely that I have little interest in tormenting demons now days." He explained, getting a melancholy look, but I'm sure I'm misreading that.

Was it possible that our lord had grown weary over centuries of torture? I supposed that did make sense, but after a while, it does get dull. Of course, I never get bored of slaying vampires and Jiangshi.

"Oh Astragoth and Kalrun will be coming. I have missed them." Jelmak beamed.

The little imp was the most excited out of all of us. I suspected he enjoyed the material planes so much that he would willingly submit to being a demon slave. I wonder if he was a masochist, I had suspected that for a few decades when I first met him.

"Yes they are little one, hopefully they will have sobered up and not make such a mess as last time." Asmordis joked, that smile was unnerving.

Despite our lord and master's horrific expression, Jelmak beamed with joy. Yes, definitely a masochist. How many times have I made that conclusion and changed my mind? Probably a dozen times, he really was all over the place.

"Well lets summon the others. Gerald, I plan to bring in two second order demons." He let the wizard know.

This wizard must have a high position in our lord's court. I should be wary of him, but he seems so laid back. I shrugged and so chose to watch events unfold. It was rather odd to see this from the other side. Generally, I was the demon being summoned, not the one participating in the summoning.

Lord Asmordis began chanting a spell very similar to the conjury spells wizards used. It felt unnatural for a demon to use such spells. But thinking back to the demon lords in the abyss and their iron-fisted ways. Was it really any different? Wizards bound us to be sure and any demon would tear them apart and rightly so. But did not the rulers of the abyss bind us with terror and fear of torment as well?

These thoughts would get you torn apart in the abyss. But here on the planes of man, we had some freedom. I only hope Lord Asmordis proves as honourable as the Khan I once served. The glory days I hope are not behind me.

My two companions faded into existence, one after the other. Locked in place by the pentagram beneath their feet. The two were thankfully sober and didn't violate the floor upon arrival. The pair stood sheepishly, uncertain what to say. They were demons for abyssal sake, yet they were acting like scolded children.

"Be at ease." The lord boomed in his deep and powerful voice. "No harm shall befall you, I will release you from your confinement and my new apprentice Etragos will explain." He added before turning to his work.

I walked over to the two demons, sighing. It was lucky I could fill them in, their poor showing had made me very concerned about their place in the new order.

"Astragoth, Kalrun." I greeted both.

"So that's our new master?" Astragoth questioned, cautiously.

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"It is indeed, Lord Asmordis has graced you both with his mercy. Best not test his patience and come with me." I nudged them to the side.

The three of us walked over to a corner and I filled them in on the situation. I told them about my own summoning, becoming an apprentice wizard and the intentions of the master.

"You are going to become a wizard to a demon lord who is also a wizard?" Kalrun was aghast at the absurd idea.

"I know, very odd. But if you think about it. Fighting fire with fire would be quite fun." I explained with a shrug.

"Still it feels unnatural."

"I know, but if Lord Asmordis has learned such a craft, to become as powerful as he likely is. If we learn it to, we could gain the same power." Their eyes widened when I said that.

"You mean we would do spells and shit?" Astragoth inquired, far more excited than I had seen him before.

"Yes I suppose so."

"Wicked, my old D&D buddies would be so jealous. I always did like the wizard character class, been a sorcerer a few times." The demon started rattling off unfamiliar terms.

"What is D&D?" I asked, puzzled.

"Dungeons and Dragons, it's a game from my home world." He explained and I just accepted it.

"Lord Asmordis? That kind of sounds like Asmodeus? He isn't?" Kalrun said, looking over my shoulder at the master.

"No, Asmodeus is a demon prince, I doubt someone as powerful as that would waste there time here." I said, secure in my words.

I mean being the apprentice to a demon prince, is ludicrous. Such powerful demons didn't care about lowly demons or mortals. They were too busy with their schemes.

"Yeah, you are right. I was just taken aback by his name and the fact he wears clothes. But you are correct, the best-dressed demon prince in the abyss wouldn't be caught dead in those robes." Kal nodded to our master's apparel.

I mean he did have a point, our lord was not dressed in the best wares. I wonder why he would stand for it. Perhaps he forgot his clothes in the abyss? I pondered that for a moment before shaking my head. Clothes wouldn't survive in the abyss, they would burn up.

"Etragos, bring them over, we have much to discuss." The Lord commanded.

"The Lord has summoned us, be respectful or I'll cut out your tongues." I threatened the two and they responded with mock salutes.

These two were insufferable, they would not have lasted under the Khan. Not enough loyalty and the disrespectful manner in which they acted. But for better or worse, they were my comrades and friends. So I must do everything in my power to ensure our lord doesn't destroy them.

"They have been educated my lord." I quickly said as we approached.

"Good, do any of them have an interest in Wizardry?" He asked, smiling maliciously.

"Me man, totally stoked to learn how to fireball people." An excited Astragoth posed as if blasting his enemies with deadly flames.

I would die of embarrassment if we demons could die at all. Immortality problems, I never thought all the way back when I was mortal, that I would have that issue.

"Perhaps you will achieve such skill in the future. If you can hold your liquor. Wizardry requires a clear head and discipline." He turned to Astragoth and glared down at him.

The Demon gulped, I could almost feel the oppressive aura bearing down on my friend. He winced from that gaze but stood his ground.

"Come on man, we were celebrating the death of our accursed master." He pleaded, defending our previous inebriation.

If I didn't know better, but did our lord just wince? I must have been seeing things, we were sure that Lord Asmordis killed our accursed master. But to be honest, I am pretty leery to ask him.

"Perhaps, but if you are to be my student. You must dedicate yourself, are you willing and able to be my student? To stand shoulder to shoulder with your fellow apprentices and learn the noble art of Wizardry?" Asmordis said, expecting an answer.

"Hell yeah!" Astragoth replied, rather crudely.

"I guess that will do. What about you two?" He gestured to Kalrun and Jelmak.

The two shook their heads in the negative. Understandable for Kal, he never liked wizards, a former master was quite brutal with him before he ripped the man's spine out. We celebrated that death too, it was a good week.

Jelmak on the other hand was an imp. Not known to be mana wielders, but he was quite excited to help nonetheless.

"Very well, attend me. We have much preparation to do, if we are to prepare for war." He declared, waving us over to the table of spell components.

"Woah that is a lot of freaky stuff." Astragoth said, his eyes wide.

"Glorious spell components, provided by the mistress of this castle." Asmordis nodded to Gerald who returned the gesture.

"Mistress, like a married man's side piece?"

"I don't believe so, but I am not sure of our patrons position in society." He gestured to the wizard.

"Baroness, but I suppose she is persona non grata in the court. But she is the lady of Wildhold and Mistress Wizard." He explained, shrugging.

"The court, like the courts of chaos? Is she a demoness?" Kalrun asked.

"No she is a human wizard and ally to the master." Jelmak excitedly answered, scribbling in that journal of his.

"You must let me read that journal some time." Our lord requested, but he said it oddly as if reticent to make such a simple request.

Jelmak frowned, clunching the journal tightly but slowly nodded, accepting the rather reasonable request.

"Good, now let's get down to business." Our lord declared.

"To defeat, the Huns." Astragoth added in a sing-song voice.

"The who?" Lord Asmordis asked, puzzled.

"Never mind, please oh lord continue."

Our lord looked at the youngest member of our group curiously, but ultimately shrugged and continued.

"What was that?" Kal whispered to Astragoth.

"Just an epic song in this movie me and my buddies used to watch while getting blazed." He explained grinning from ear to ear and gesturing to his mouth like he was smoking a pipe.

The two started chuckling, probably an inside joke they neglected to get me in on. I shook my head at these juveniles. Especially Kal, he was pretty old but acted like a teenager sometimes, mostly with Astragoth.

Suddenly the door to the chamber rattled as someone removed the wooden plank and pushed them open. It was a young man in leather armour clutching s sheathed sword at his waist, keeping it steady. He ran up to Gerald and frantically detailed whatever issue assailed him.

"The enemy is moving, they will approach the gates any moment." He announced fearfully.

"Looks like they plan to attack as soon as possible. All the wounded are going to be such a pain. But that's what I get for having a talent in healing." Gerald shrugged.

"If the enemy is at the gates. We will have to speed up the timetable." Our lord declared.

"Meaning?" Gerald asked.

"Meaning, we will need some staves and wands. Preferably unenchanted ones, oak will be fine." He requested, grinning broadly.

The Wizard had a double take, stunned for a moment before sighing and shrugging.

"How many do you need?" He asked.

"All of them." Our lord proclaimed with a booming voice and a malicious grin.