"That went rather well, don't you think my apprentice?" I conferred with Etragos and he nodded. The battle had been over for a while and all the rats had fled.

The five of us were slowly gliding across the battlefield, following our bombardment of the invading army. We had used up most of our stock, and many of the wands exploded. That was an issue I needed to correct. I mean it wasn't a problem for demons, a little fire is pleasurable, to be honest. But for mortals, they could lose a hand.

Examining that line of thought, I found myself differentiating my existence from that of humans. Even though I was a human at heart, I don't feel human anymore. Sure I remember being human and acting per my old human morals.

I shrugged, sighing heavily and trying to let the tension go. I have been noticing far too much that my instincts have changed. And what's terrifying to me, is that I don't seem to have a problem with it. Being a demon just seems natural to me now.

I wonder if that is how all demons feel. If this case of humans being converted into demons is widespread, would this explain why most demons don't usually act like humans? Is it part of the conversion process that changes them both in mind and body?

I shook my head, setting these thoughts aside for another time. "What's wrong master?" Jelmak asked, concern in his voice.

I glanced at the little demon, he was floating alongside us. The four of us were lined up side by side in mid-air. The little first order was holding a rather large sack of backup wands and staves. He was distributing them to any demon that had used up their own.

"I am fine Jelmak, just lost in my thoughts." I answered, trying not to show any of my true feelings.

"Ok master." The little demon spoke in a soft and low voice.

Glancing towards him, I noticed a gleam in his eye as he scanned the destruction. I wondered what had drawn his attention, was it the corpses or was he marvelling at the destruction? Then it hit me, I had completely forgotten.

"You may loot the corpses, take anything you fancy." I offered and the demon turned to me with eyes wide and a terrible grin.

Jelmak made a dive and flew down to begin his pilfering. The others looked to me as if waiting for their turn. I nodded and gestured for them to go nuts. They whooped in glee and flew after him. Only one demon remained, and that was Etragos.

"Do you not wish to indulge in the spoils of war?" I questioned my apprentice, grinning happily.

"I would not presume to partake in a mass scramble for loot. It is only prudent for the spoils of victory to be allocated to those of proven merit." My apprentice explained proudly.

"I would agree, that seems a more effective method. Is that the norm for the Abyss?" I wondered aloud.

Etragos turned to me, perplexed. "Not particularly, the lords of the Abyss care little for us lowly second orders. We tend to take what we can get and hope no one bothers to destroy us." He stated rather frankly and without a preamble.

"Seems like a bad system." I muttered.

"Yes, the Abyssal lords could do well to study the way of Yassa." He spoke, mentioning another unfamiliar concept.

"The way of Yassa?" I asked, curious.

He nodded sagely, turning to me to begin his explanation. He tried to kneel but remembered we were floating far above the ground. His explanation didn't take long and was fascinating as it depicted a legal system unfamiliar to me. He also mentioned a culture I had never heard of. When I asked from what culture this code came from, he stated they were not in this localverse.

The Code of Yassa as described by Etragos, was a set of legal codes used by the Mongol Empire. A powerful culture that spanned across nearly an entire continent on a world called Earth. I chuckled at the lazy name and he shrugged.

Yassa was a secret code of legislation known only to the Great Khan their version of a king or leader and his subordinates. That way the code could be modified at the ruler's discretion. The code encompassed the legal structure of wartime and expanded into a code of conduct in peacetime.

"The way you describe this code, suggests you had personal experience with it?" I queried, attempting to probe for more information.

"Yes, when I was human, many years ago I served in the Golden Horde under Batu Khan. I died shortly after the sacking of Kievan Rus. Conjured to the world of Nysegard by my very first master." He explained, revealing another victim of this conspiracy.

"You must hate your master to have ripped you from your home and bound you," I spoke softly, hiding my complicity in such acts. Astragoth always served as a reminder of that.

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The Mongolian demon titled his head, he didn't seem to completely agree with that. "He wasn't that bad of a master, never had any interest in torture like others. He was a soldier in war without end and I was his demon. We fought many battles together and I saw first hand the scale a war can reach when it became routine." Etragos sighed. "I mourned his death when it inevitably came." He added, genuinely sorrowful.

Digesting his words, I came to understand my apprentice a little better. He was another victim of this inconceivable idea that conjury can create demons from mortal souls. And yet he held no real animosity towards the wizard who perpetrated such a violation. It was in stark contrast to my own experience and the feelings Astragoth felt towards me.

"We honour the fallen, that die in service to something greater than themselves," I muttered, recounting the words spoken by an old friend from my human days.

"Yes my lord, the fallen deserve respect when they fought honourably in life, in service to their Khan."

The two of us had a moment of silence for the many warriours that died in service to such an ideal. I am not a warriour, but even I could understand this much.

"Let us inspect the battlefield, I am curious about what the enemy has left behind." I suggested, but Etragos saw that as a command.

We descended at a leisurely pace, I could see the rest scouring the field of battle, taking anything of value. The spoils of war, too bad much of it was scorched. But there was still much to be taken.

I let them continue their work and we soon landed upon scorched earth. Examining the remnants of the enemy's makeshift camp, I could spot the abandoned catapults. They were in a sorry start after the bombardment. They were not set ablaze, merely impact damage. I casually considered the efficacy of transporting them to the castle. They could use such weapons on the wall.

"Kalrun, would you be able to drag these catapults to the wall?" I called out to the demon, he looked up from stripping a corpse of its armour.

Dropping the dead man like a sack of potatoes, he came over and inspected the siege engines. "We could do it, hey Astra come help me lug this stuff to the wall." He called out, receiving a loud and very annoyed groan.

"But I'm looting, it's not right to interrupt a gentlemen when he is looting the corpses of his enemies." He complained, inspecting a melted axe.

"Take it up with the boss!"

Those words seemed to compel the young demon to jump to the occasion. He dropped his disfigured weapon and ran over quickly. Head bowed slightly he timidly spoke. "Sorry boss, thought Kal was trying to loot the catapults for himself." I waved away his concern and had them continue.

"Keep an eye on them will you, make sure they don't goof off." I requested my apprentice, and he agreed almost immediately.

With that done I flew back to the wall, landing on one of the battlements. I chose this one because I spotted Gerald hunched over some wounded. He was tending to them like a good healer and so I flew over. The moment I landed a few of the soldiers fearfully pointed spears at me. Guess they forgot I was on their side.

"Do you greet all your allies with sharp sticks?" I grinned at the sweating men.

One of them pissed himself, I could smell the ammonia. Out of respect for the man, I didn't mention that to his colleagues and luckily they didn't notice. Codpieces are good for something I guess.

"Asmordis, I'm working, can you come back later." He palmed me off, trying to pull an arrow out of a crying man's shoulder.

I looked at the injury, puzzled. "How did he get shot by an arrow? I don't recall the enemy using many bows." I wondered aloud.

Gerald started to laugh, pointing to a rather sheepish-looking young soldier, standing at his right. "This genius thought it was a good idea to start shooting arrows all over the place. Ended up missing every single enemy but got this guy right in the shoulder." He gestured to the young man, waiting patiently for healing.

I leaned to the side, ignoring the spears levelled against me. The young soldier seated against the wall was groaning in pain, so in pain, he didn't even register the gaze of a demon. So affixed to the arrow lodged in his shoulder.

"No, no please don't." He begged while an uncaring Gerald got a grip on the arrow shaft.

"You want me to heal you with the arrow still stuck inside. That is a brilliant idea, you should be a thaumaturge." The wizard spoke sarcastically and the patient seemed to not like his bedside manner.

"Not very comforting is he." I commented, grinning at the spear wielders, they did not appreciate my joke.

"I know, he should really learn some bedside manners. Like that girl Emily, she is way sweeter then you." The injured fellow declared.

"Then how about you go and have her help you. I'm sure her minimal experience will work so well." He told the man and I chuckled.

I sometimes wondered how he ended up a healer, considering his terrible personality. Well, I am a demon so I can't judge and reflect back, I had an ego when I was human. And there I went again, thinking of myself as not human, I needed to get a handle on that.

The sound of a pained yelp was heard. I looked at Gerald, he had a bloody arrow in his hand and was a very upset patient. Luckily the healing magic came soon after and the man stopped vocalising his pain.

"Can you tell the castles finest to stop waving their spears at me. I feel the urge to snap them in half." I requested and Gerald waved them off.

"But Master Gerald, what if the demon rampages?" One of the soldiers asked.

"If he did, do you really think spears would help? I have the ring, he is under my control." He spoke and they visibly relaxed.

I mean he just lied to them, but best not correct him. "Is the lady of the house awake yet?" I interjected, wondering how she was doing.

"Not yet, but she should wake up any moment now." Gerald said, rising to his feet as his patient was taken away.

He turned to me, and his bloody hands reached for a nearby bucket of water. Cleaning the blood off, he asked a question. "What of the invaders?"

I gestured to the field of battle. "Scorched and fleeing." He nodded, likely happy we weren't all dead.

Before I could say anything else, I sensed the approach of Jelmak. The little demon flew over to me, his bag filled with loot. "Master, something is happening at the enemies camp. Undead are pouring out in mass. Many coming this way." The little demon explained, oddly excited.

"Oh by the gods will you give us a break!" Gerald cried out, cursing the sky like a cleric to his silent gods.

I could see the rest of the men pale and so I approached the wizard, he flinched as I leaned over to whisper into his ear. "I can help, but that would require another deal." I smiled and the wizard did not like that.