“Shit!” I cursed out in a growl as I pulled backwards away from a flash of glinting iron on the end of a pole.

“Hrrrruh!” letting loose a burst of energy I thrust my own polearm out in a counter attack spearing the large devilish creature through its head before wrenching it back outward, a spray of crimson pooled at my feet when the body hit the ground with a hefty thud.

“THEY ARE ALL DEAD!!!” An enormous cheer erupted around on the battlefield that had been a town full of life and people not a week prior.

The hundreds of other voices of my compatriots who had signed up for this war continued making celebratory noises while for some time as the news went around the town. While celebrations started for some, the Anthró-Aspída, which I happened to be a part of, were yelled at by our unit captains to go around making sure that all the dead enemies weren’t faking it.

“Garland!” A voice called from behind me as I wrenched my short sword from the head of one of the many corpses I’d stabbed since getting the order.

Turning around I was met with my peers, I wouldn’t call them friends exactly, at least not yet. They were acquaintances for the most part, easy enough to talk to, but not anyone I’d actively choose to spend my free time with.

“We’re packing up and moving the camps to the large houses on the outskirts.” Col said, pointing a thumb in the direction he was walking about where I could see others already heading.

“Alright.” my deadpan response was met with a nod from Col whilst Ælfric stood next to him waiting patiently to say something.

The pair of them were dressed like myself in the dark reddish long coats and padded hose with the sabatons they’d handed out as a part of our armour over leather boots the three of us had found a few villages back. As well we had said armour which were bronze breastplates, the sabatons, a corinth helmet, bracers with gloves and a single pauldron for our shield arm. Our arms were simply a Kopis, large round shield, an eating knife and our main weapon being a boar spear, though we had been given the opportunity to use a halberd or longer spear but I was more comfortable using my own. Plus my boar spear was easier to carry.

“Want to join us at dinner later, Garl?” Ælfric asked, finding it in himself to ask right as I was about to turn away and head to the camp.

“Yea.” I answered before adjusting my shield slung over my back so it wasn’t hitting the back of my legs as I walked.

“Good!” Col said coming up to me and slapping his hand against the middle of my back as the pair took to either side of me.

Col on my right with his spear on his shoulders with his arms wrapped around it as he walked lazily and Ælfric on my left with his halberd on his right shoulder in a position we were taught by the regular soldiers early on to be one of the better resting spots because it allowed someone to swing it out quickly in case of attack.

As we slowly made our way toward the camp some kilometres away the man on my right started up a conversation. “Y’know I was worried you wouldn’t join us, you’ve been real distant since we met, but recently it’s been much worse- or maybe it just felt that way.” he said tilting his head and eyeing me from the side.

“Ah… yea I guess… I never really thought too much about it. But we’re just soldiers doing our job so I haven’t really stopped to think about making friends.” I responded to the tanned man.

Though that wasn’t to say I didn’t consider them friends at the going rate. He however caught onto this nodding as his hazel eyes glinted as he seemed to have an idea after hearing what I said, his expression morphed into a knowing smirk.

“Well then, sounds like we need to get you good and drunk so we can make merry!” He said unwrapping an arm from his spear to put it around my neck as he pulled me in closer with a laugh.

Some hours passed and I found myself sitting in front of a fire as I slowly ate the vegetable chunks in my soup, I was seat in a tree trunk that was cut down by our captain for everyone to sit on while we ate outside since there wasn’t enough space in the homes we’d taken over for us to sleep and cook/eat in them. We’d all be sleeping on top of one another for the time being basically.

Staring into the fire my mind was brought to the sights of the day's battle, we’d hardly made any dent in the damages dealt by the forces of the Odoacer, King of Vulgar. His was by far the worst force to deal with as we had heard, which made our victory as small as it was all the more sour knowing that while we may have won here- at least four or five villages might have been enslaved in half the time by the rest of his demons.

Our only real hope was the Drakons who were putting up the best defence though they’d had to deal with the Ebonheart’s genocide, so they were prepared for a war like this against insurmountable odds and impossible invaders. But hardly anyone could find them even though they were roaringly vocal about their position and fiercely defensive of their dragon ruled pride.

“Oi Garland Captain’s calling us to his fire to discuss something.” A voice said behind me, standing up with a sigh I turned and walked my bowl over to where our leader was.

I hadn’t even realised the others had left me alone, though I could be dense some times.

You could always see him in a crowd, our leader, he was easily seven feet tall, bulky and had hair like fire, Agni was of a different breed that was for sure though it was a rumour around the battalion that he was actually some kind of demigod son of Solas. In particular what had inspired it beyond his large size and hair colour was his poor temper and pyromantic abilities.

“Garland, Reporting in Captain Agni.” I said stiffly, standing at attention with my food still in my hands.

“Garland, you're here just in time. I wanted to make sure everyone was here for this.” My deep rugged voiced captain said as he eyed me from the side.

Everyone in our company was here, roughly thirty of us, all around the fire mentioned before awaiting our new orders.

“I’d like to thank all of you for your work last battle and give you all some good news for once.” He paused for a moment to adjust his position on the seat he was on. “We'll be marching to Cordova tomorrow and the orders are just to hang around and help establish fortifications keeping the populace safe for a few months before we’re rotated to another frontier town to help.”

There was a murmur of voices as everyone, myself included, talked about it to whoever was next to us, in my case I’d ended up next to Col who wondered if we would not be attacked while staying in this new town. My worries were set in the idea that we were about to make good on being the “Human Shield” Unit and just be bodies put in the way to hopefully slow the influx of lesser demons that were in the area of Cordova, news was slow, but it still reached us and what I’d heard of the town it wasn’t fairing well. Much like most places at this point.

[Warring Days]

A few days passed and our caravan of soldiers were walking along one of the many backwood dirt paths that had been created for quickly traversing between towns without using the larger roads. Since we were meant to be travelling unannounced there weren’t any banners, horns or most loudly amongst what normally happened- chanting and singing. Just the sound of thumping footsteps damped by the overgrown forests.

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I made some small talk along the way with my friends, though it was under our breaths seeing as when we got to somewhat louder than we were a stern glare was shot down the line by Captain Agni, his super human abilities not being limited to his strength.

As the day ticked on slowly the distant view of worn down partially broken palisades and the tops of houses, the treeline eventually parted and we halted before the open space between us and the wall as someone was sent forward to get us let in through a small door in the side of the palisades. It was hard to tell if it was exactly who I thought it was being sent forward from where I was, but my guess was it was Nyx by how dark the hair was, one of the five women that was a part of the Unit. Said women made up the healers we had, no truly holy maidens, but those who could harness divine energies from simple prayers to Sana or Vestia- the Goddesses most willing to chip in and help during these times.

However small the limit of their healing magics were, they were an enormous help to keeping everyone alive. The last three months of fighting they’d made themselves invaluable as members of the Unit earning their own nicknames and becoming everyone’s friends ‘specially those who were prone to being reckless like Clovis and Abel. Those two had a particularly bad streak of recklessness flying into heavy rages and flailing their weapons about in a brutal animalistic fashion, always leaving bloody messes and strewn internals thrown about.

Anyway we only had to wait five or so minutes before the pawed woman came out of the door with a few of the town's soldiers and we started moving inside, passing into the worn cobbled streets of Cordova. It was nice to see actually paved walkways again after weeks of dirt paths and muddy roads, aside from that it would mean our boots wouldn’t get worn down so bad we were barefoot again- hence why Col, Ælfric, I, Émile and even Élizabeth our healer had stolen some boots from one of the abandoned villages like I mentioned before.

Our Unit was led to an old lord's mansion to use as our forward operating base of command while we were a law unto ourselves, the building itself was made from expensive dark woods not native to the area with stoneworks making up the outer supporting structure. Large somewhat misty panes of glass in the windows compared to the rest of the town with entirely wooden buildings that had thatch roofs and windows simply covered by a curtain or a kind.

There weren't any paints to be found either, normally there would be some at least, but when we walked through the streets up to the mansion there wasn’t any in sight. Though we had seen roughly half of the town's population that came out to see who their protectors were.

The mansion had enough rooms for each squad of the Unit to have one to themselves, large enough that we weren’t sleeping on top of one another either which was also a bonus. Six of us to a room plus the staff of the old lord were still taking care of it and us. We had a level of luxury no one with us had experienced, might even be the hero's welcome we’d been told we deserved once we got home. I mean come on, maids and butlers! This was tall tale stuff- the kind of thing we’d never dreamed of!

And all it took… all it takes is fighting tooth and nail against the demonic forces of Odoacer, might just thank that grouchy old cunty-fuck

Gods I couldn’t fucking wait to slit that dogs throat ear to ear and wear his skull like a helmet. We deserved that much at least.

But for now I’d settle for living in a mansion while we did patrols and spent our days helping build stone walls around the place, probably even training the guard here on how the fastest way to put an Imp down or something.

By the time it was late afternoon we had spent most of the day out and about meeting and getting to know the people of Cordova, they seemed to be a good people that were very thankful for us being here especially with how things had been for them. Which is to say that they'd been experiencing kidnappings recently with four of the hundred or so kids having disappeared leaving the adults under the consensus that they'd been whisked away to be used by the demons or enslaved for whatever reason.

So there was that to deal with on the side, Agni had ordered a double watch- or two squads to patrol at night whereas before he had told us it would just be one. Not that anyone was fussed considering practically everyone was clamouring for a chance to take the first night shifts for the simple reasons of butchering demons. Something that had started to bring more pleasure and freedom to a growing number of the Unit, I still found myself seeing this as a job to be done in order to protect our way of living, Elizabeth and Col did as well of course, but for how long?

Speaking of Her, as I was returning from using one of the toilets in the mansion I found the ruby haired blind woman making her way through the halls with a hand against the right-side slowly moving along with no one else around. Moving closer I spoke while walking somewhat louder so she wouldn't be surprised when I talked.

"Would you like some assistance Liz?" I asked, walking up on her side.

She turned her head tilting it slightly, a soft smile forming on her pale lips, it was something I'd grown used to accepting as I stepped closer and she put an arm around my chest leaning her head on my shoulder as I guided our walk back to the room.

"What did I do to find such a lovely son?" She asked slightly sarcastically.

"Hopefully nothing too bad, you've been a great mother to us so far." I answered somewhat truthfully.

A sigh escaped her and tension seemed to flee her body putting more weight on me. "This is why you're my favourite Garl always so lovely despite your deadpan."

Adding to what she said Elizabeth patted my head like I was a child.

I didn’t bother trying to stop her or acting out against it, she’d brought all of us back from the brink of death at least once so far and was the majority of the adhesive keeping us sane at the going pace so I was fine with the woman treating me or even the others like her children. Though she was older than us by a decade or so, the rest of our squad being nineteen to twenty-three, I was twenty myself not that any of us felt our ages with the wear of years to come having started to set in when we weren’t lost in orders.

One such thing for me was my habit of smoking tobacco, a dark leaf from across the spectral seas where a land of dragon people roamed and warred. It was something I picked up from a pirate who docked at one of the ports when I first signed on, he sold it to me for months wages since he hadn’t been able to rid himself of the stuff. I could understand why, it smelt foul and the smoke that came off it left an awfully harsh and distinct scent you could neary miss, but for whatever reason it seemed to douse my afflictions and rest my anxieties for a short while at least.

There were more leaves that were smokable being sold by the pirate but of the ones I tried- for a fee of course- it was the only one that’s effects stood out immediately there was this odd thin green leaf that also smelled awful but it seemed to make me hungry so I kept away from it.

Not before long to get back to things, Elizabeth and I arrived at the room, opening the door we found Ælfric, Guy and Émile talking about something I didn’t hear before they stopped to see what was going on, only staying quiet for a second before continuing. As I got a pat on the back from the ruby haired woman as she sat down on her bed- and yes that was right we had real beds for once.

“How bout it Garland?” Guy asked dragging me into their conversation.

“What?” I questioned with a raised brow.

“Em and I are gonna try a couple of the gals around town, Ale already said he wouldn’t ‘cause his girl would know- so wat’ about you?” He explained, his bluish eyes glinting at the prospect of me saying I’d go try and score with them.

“Where’s Col?” I asked back not answering them just yet.