The air smelt of pollen somehow, some trees not turned to cinder had bees buzzing in the night time, collecting the plant material to synthesise into honey. The smell was pleasant, a pleasant smell to forget the unpleasant ones. Pleasant thoughts to forget the unpleasant ones.
Admiral of the third fleet, Admiral Roderic had sailed his fleet away from Suno toward the military port of the Cahov Demons that was on the Continent of Sand. He sailed at tip top speeds, he found and sunk 300 ships with the mere power of water; water elementals punctured holes in hulls, the ships croaked into the sea, the crew scrambling overboard. The sailors mostly survived, putting themselves on drift wood, they had abysmal morale, and other ships merely surrendered, leaving Roderic confused. His fleet had raced into their harbour of the Cahov Demons, and he was going to sink the ships in the harbour, but they surrendered too.
“What’s going on?” Roderic asked bewildered, scanning for possible traps.
His lieutenants scoured the area, but the Demon surrender, seemed to be genuine; there was clear evidence of infighting, some Demons having stabbed others, Nina stared with bird eyed concentration, and could see evidence of Demon blades having stabbed Demon bodies, claw marks from Devils and larger Demons, she audibly gasped.
“Something very strange is going on…” she uttered with little confidence, not sure herself of what to think let alone say.
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The Demon soldiers and sailors they encountered also surrendered, raising white flags. Large Scorpion-Men and ants descended on the makeshift city; the Cahov Demons managed to hold them at bay, but they were a beleaguered lot. Much of the harbour was in tatters already, even before Roderic came by, and the sailors and soldiers had low supplies.
“Please admiral, spare our ships, so we can fish for food!” One captain of a ship begged Roderic.
Talida’s air elementals scouted the area in case this was some sort of trick. There was not a single structure left standing, and many corpses littered the sand, turning the otherwise fine and orange sand rouge. The carrion bird had a feast, some of the bodies washed into the sea as the constant sound of the tides was heard over squawking birds.
“Nina? What have your gryphons spotted?” Roderic asked.
“Destruction.” Nina said solemnly, “a lot have fled.”
“Fled?” The admiral said, “why? How?”
“I think they can portal away. As for why, there are many reasons why a war could end.”
The boards of his ship creaked and Admiral Roderic turned his head, staring over the bay, in that moment a Demon appeared before him and bowed his head.
“On behalf of all Cahov forces in this world, we surrender and will withdraw from your lands. Our empire is in strife, we shall disband now.”
Lord Agelas a Devil had started a civil war, and as such many Cahov Demons stayed in the world they had attempted to conquer, these exiles formed a civilian port where the military port used to be, situated on the edge of the sand continent. Goblins, traitors and defeat had forced the Cahov Empire to flee the continent, the world, and had thus retreated back to their own realm: Cahovia. The omnipotent Cahovian armies were defeated, whether they could have won if they were united at home would be a question many would wrangle with for some time to come.