Sadrahan’s return came on fast, or so it seemed to him, his mind was occupied, and the weight of the two waifish demons that clung to his neck was negligible to nothing as far as he was concerned, they slowed him down barely at all.

When he came close to the looming mountain, the demons down below raised their crude tools above their heads and welcomed him with shouts of enthusiasm, their arms pumped up and down by the dozen, where they began to gather, he began a circling descent.

“You are popular, Lord.” The soft and weary weak voice of the blue skinned demoness said, tightening her hold around his thick neck as the ground came closer.

“Sadrahan.” He replied.

“Lord Sadrahan.” She corrected herself.

“No, I-” He stopped, “Never mind.” He cleared his throat, “They’re just glad I was able to help them, that’s all, now hold on so you don’t fall when we hit the ground.” He cleared his throat again and straightened his body slowly so that they had time to react and put his arms out at his sides so that they wouldn’t fall forward if they lost their grip.

When he landed, the pair slowly released their hold, their hands slipping down his back as their feet came close to the soil, and when they touched the ground again they looked around, trees were being felled and crops were being planted, the tools people had were wood and stone, nothing of the normal sort, and it prompted an immediate question.

“I assumed this was like the human lands, you-” The blue haired waif began, but before she could even get it out, a demoness spoke for him.

“The Lord of the Mountain lived alone until he chose to reach out to us in our time of need. We will make it into more.” Liln said and turned her eyes up to the Demon Lord. “Welcome back.”

“Yes, welcome back, My Lord.” Sarthas said as he stepped into view, “Liln,” he said to the bright eyed demoness, “why don’t you make sure these are fed, I need to go over a few things with our Lord here…”

“Sarthas, you’re looking better.” Sadrahan said, and it was true, some of the color returned to his face and he was able to actually stand up, not to mention that despite still being thin and a little wobbly on weak legs, he seemed clearer eyed than before.

“Thank you, My Lord,” he patted his belly, “I could still use a few more meals but,” he smirked, “I’m doing better after some rest and plenty of goat’s blood, water, and meat on the bone.”

“Good, but yes, these two need food, also, I’ll need a volunteer to act as a guide for the others.” Sadrahan said, and a rumble went up among the little cluster of faces, they searched each other’s eyes for answers no one had.

“What others, Lord?” Liln asked, “Are there more than these?”

“Yes. The ones from the human mining place.” Sadrahan answered, “They’re on their way here.”

“How many? Five, six?” Sarthas asked, and from out of the belt at his waist he drew a thick, wide red leaf, his claw poked it and a little white fluid emerged, and he began to smear it into lines to tally what he would need.

“All of them.” Sadrahan said, “There are over five hundred more coming.”

A collective gasp of dismay went up from the gathering and the cacophony of questions flew like a sea of leaves picked up and scattered in a high autumn wind.

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“Was there one named Sadorn there?”

“A catdemon named Shilvana?”

“What about my son?”

Sadrahan raised his hands over his head, “I don’t know. I didn’t get their names!” He exclaimed, “After I killed the humans that came after the first group I took one prisoner and…” He went on to explain the process of getting the mine emptied of demon prisoners, starting from his first rescue and ending with his departure to return to the mountain saying, “I was just lucky, is all. They have food to get here, but we’ll need a lot more for that many, and more land, and we will need to build homes, the single cave won’t hold them all.”

Sarthas was scratching lines on the red leaf as fast as Sadrahan spoke, and a multitude of heads began to nod. “How soon till they arrive, Lord Sadrahan?”

“A week, two. It depends on how strong they are.” Sadrahan explained and scratched his left horn with one claw, “I need someone to guide them here so they don’t get lost, and I suppose we need proper tools next. That will do for now, but where is my daughter?” He gave the suggestions offhandedly with a casual wave before asking about his child and turning to face Liln, oblivious to the moon-eyed worshipful stares at his back from the two waif thin demons he’d brought with him.

Sarthas inscribed the instructions on the leaf as quickly as he could and then answered at once, “I understand, Lord Sadrahan.” Just in the gap before Liln could answer. ‘I see, he’s given his orders and I’m dismissed to carry them out, decisive. Just as a chief of chiefs should be.’ A glow of satisfaction settled in his gut as he began to think about how to fulfill his orders.

“Sleeping for now, watched by my son.” Liln answered, her skin did not allow for a blush as Sadrahan recalled from his few observations of humans when they felt somewhat uncertain or embarrassed, but her eyes darted briefly away from him in the moment she said it.

“And what about the ones to walk to the other villages?” Sadrahan asked.

“Six went out who know of other places, but whether they’ll find anything, who can say?” Liln answered and shrugged, “We can only hope.”

“I suppose.” Sadrahan said and scratched his horn again, “Are you strong enough to act as a guide? I need to be here, so I can’t go back and forth and bring so many to us.” He explained and turned an eye up past her and toward the entrance to the mountain home. ‘I need to be there for her after all, I can’t just leave my daughter alone like that… I have to stay with her.’

Liln gave a sage nod that was mirrored by those around her Lord. “Of course, My Lord. I understand completely and can easily guide them here after seeing the path from above.” She answered him with confidence, his glance at the cavern was not lost on her. ‘Naturally, he needs to stay here and rule us and that is the seat of his power, like the house of a village chief, but a mountain, as befits a chief of chiefs, our Demon Lord. He needs to be here to give his instructions like he just did to Sarthas, and I’ve proven myself by minding his daughter. He’s given me his trust.’ It wasn’t the same as being accepted as his companion or a mate, but in her mind, it was a step in the right direction.

“Then I will take you now and drop you close to them, be careful, and bring them all in safely. Hunt what you can and bring back anything that can help us.” Sadrahan added. ‘Any scrap of food we can wrangle out of the wilderness between here and there is a good thing after all.’ Then it occurred to him, “Also, be careful, the humans were settling in villages that were slaughtered. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself.” Sadrahan’s claws and fingers, and his whole body with them, all tensed at once, his teeth bared and his rage boiled over into a rumbling growl of fury as the memory he hadn’t had time to obsess over came rushing back.

“I understand.” Liln replied and lowered her head to him. “Everything will be fine. Please leave everything to me, My Lord.” She promised.

“Then let’s go.” Sadrahan put his back to her and crouched down so that she could clamber onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and when he stood up wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he launched himself toward the sky as fast as he could. ‘The sooner I drop her with the rescues, the sooner I can get back to my daughter.’ He told himself, and batted his wings as hard as he could against the cool rush of wind beneath him.

‘He’s in a great hurry, of course I understand, he wants them all back as soon as possible, and no wonder, there’s so much work to do, he will need many people to do what he wants, and who knows how deep the Mountain Lord’s plans even run?’ Liln reflected, and watched the distant world below race beneath her eyes, memorizing every landmark and feature along the way.