“Are those Uriri?” Izotz asked.

“No they’re the same breed as that guy.”

“Are we even friends with Uriri?” Jafar asked.

“Are we even friends with the peasantry?” Izotz said half sarcastically.

Everyone turned to Jafar first, admonishing his stupid question, they looked at Izotz with doubt, for the loyalty to Sumar in the countryside seemed dubious.

“We are only temporarily at peace due to the advent of the Cahov invasion, everything is temporary,” Elana explained angrily.

“I see,” Jafar muttered, “such a shame.”

“No it isn’t.” Elana whispered breathlessly, “let’s take back our kingdom!” She shouted for all to hear.

Elana marched through the Demon corpses, but what she saw were countless destroyed villages, dry fields that didn’t seem to have much going on, tax collectors and Lord’s retinues slaughtered by Human hands not Demon.

“Now!” A voice was heard screaming.

Elana braced, the Golems fanned out to find the commotion, but it was followed by the groans of slaughtered Demons. Some impaled, some merely decapitated, others alive and fighting, but Elana killed those ones. Nonetheless the land was charred, scarred, and had few survivors. They marched along, and it seemed Cahov had encountered resistance, other camps were found absolutely trashed, their supplies taken, angry Human eyes looked at Elana, not a shred of thanks to give her.

“The army was defeated or ran away, the Lord was a coward. What are you doing here?” A peasant woman growled.

“I am admiral Elana of the fourth fleet, I have come to liberate the- kingdom…”

The peasants hissed at her, some even throwing things, and so she moved on. The devastation was palpable, but some peasants looked at her with just as much hostility as they would the Demons. Elana marched along, seeing few Cahov Demons, the next village had grilled a bunch of them on spits, eating the flesh. Elana’s retinue twitched in horror, some clasping each other’s shoulders, other’s merely looked away.

“They have nothing to eat Elana,” a crossbowman explained.

In that moment Demons poured out of portals, Elana’s metal Golems sliced them open, other’s came out, Izotz ice elementals gunned them down. The villager’s still seethed at the Sumar retinue, but were at least a little bit more forgiving.

“Take that field and leave us alone!”

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A ‘field’ was being extremely generous; it was a scorched wasteland, ashen soil, small sprouts of grass here and there, and wooden stumps where trees once stood, some scorched corpses and some skeletons. Not even the carrion bird squawked for they feared what lurked down below, instead flying abroad to have their meals. Humans feasted on Demon flesh, looking with hostile eyes at the countrymen who came to ‘save’ them from the Cahov army. Elana elected to continue marching, going across the ravaged country.

“I am from the coast, but I didn’t realise so many rural people hated the Kingdom, and this much,” Elana said entirely to herself.

A loyalist appeared from nowhere, very happy to see Elana and her small retinue.

“Someone to save the kingdom. Finally! The King sent someone.”

“I’m not sent by the King,” Elana said, “I decided myself on this.”

The loyalist was enthralled, a chubby man whose clothes had smouldered with all the flames that had flown past him courtesy of the Demons.

“A true patriot!” The man said excitedly, “I wish you luck. My house was burnt down by the Demons. If I could merely accompany you.”

“Whatever you wish,” Jafar answered for his commander.

“As he said,” Elana said, “you will receive the same rations as everyone else.”

The chubby man’s enthusiasm was quite the thing, untouched by Elana’s biting comment, he pointed to a supply depot run by the Demons. Elana immediately pounced on the badly defended Demon supplies, metal and earth Golems slicing and crushing the Demons before they even had the opportunity to strike back.

“Jafar, Izotz, get ready, that seemed to be too easy.”

“Why couldn’t you use the summoned creatures to help us!” A villager said, “our farms could have used the help!”

“Yeah!”

The loyalist began berating the angry peasants. They were having none of it, shouting aspersions back at him, some even throwing rocks.

“Admiral Elana!” The loyalist said, “ow, ow, ow!”

Getting in the way of the rocks, he glared at the peasants.

“She could have sat in the harbour you know!” The loyalist hit true, his words reducing their hatred to mere glares.

Elana shared the bounty she had plundered with the local villagers, again there was only less hate, but they were at least willing to listen now. Thousands of Demon soldiers descended on their position trying to destroy them. Izotz slaughtered them, gunning them down, before an eery silence permeated the land. The hostile peasants looked at Izotz like a god, gaping despite the hostility.

“We should move,” Elana muttered, “let’s fortify a hill or something, and rest for the day.”

They found the right target, fortifying a hill before sleeping. Jafar helped wash Elana’s hair that was full of Demon blood.

“Well done for today.”

“You too ma’am,” Jafar said, “you fought like a wolverine. Even those villagers, their emotions were complicated, but deep down the fact an admiral decided to fight on land is already something.”

"Thank you Jafar,” she murmured, “it’s nice of you to say.”

All of them collapsed for the day. Izotz and Jafar were in state’s of semi consciousness, only controlling their summons in their dreams, while their bodies rested. They were not needed, the night was calm, too calm.

“They were right though,” Elana muttered, referring to the peasants earlier comments, “I am not a great person.”

The loyalist turned and looked introspectively, tutting. The loyalist began speaking:

“You are more than that,” he whispered, “I know the kingdom is not perfect, but when someone is trying to make it better…” he left his words unsaid, biting them down.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly, “thank you.”

Izotz laid back on a tree, his silver hair shining in the moonlight, smiling at the encouraging words.

Emotionally a wolf, the way she fights for kin and against enemies; and perhaps martially a wolverine in her shear ferocity. And I am perhaps far more than that.