“How much longer do you think?” Serin whispers in his mind.

“Don’t distract.” Hargoil says beside her, arms folded and eyes trained onto the forest. His eagerness radiating even more than Serin and others of the troupe’s growing impatience. “Lord Circe will give the command at his time.”

“We’re all out here, some of us can get some hunting done while we wait can’t we? It’s been days.” Serin continues to gripe.

Atop Delsa’s laid back Mughuk snorts, “No one is holding you back, Serin, if you want to miss out on our greatest hunt yet, be my guest. More for us.”

The Noble troupe await their General in front of the Ruishia forest, Mughuk bore the most patience out of them all because he knows Circe won’t give this chance up, he’s a greedy demon like them all sure but more importantly, he’s vengeful.

Mughuk looks upon his comrades in arms, Serin, Acas to his right, Hargoil who’s stood it place since they arrived and Helis and Demersen who sit a step behind Circe as his body radiates mana from the scrying magic he’s employed to stalk the Lord Prime of the Trirax. Whatever the feud is between the two Mughuk can’t care less about it, his mind remains focused on the forest before them and the bounty it promises.

His own scheming will be put to test as well and if all goes well, the Noble troupe of fourteen Crimson tier demons will be cut down to a manageable size and he will rise to take Circe’s place as their General. The key to all of this happening is a single Vampiric demon only he and Acas know of.

Mughuk glances at his [Swak] companion, idly oozing acidic puss from his many pores. He worried the demon would let Lavinia’s existence slip before this moment came but he was being paranoid, the fool doesn’t understand her worth or the threat she poses to the balance of this hunt. A good thing for his plans to reach fruition, only he should know the true danger.

I wonder who will survive to see my rule…well, it won’t be long now.

Mughuk guards his mind like a treasure trove around his own allies as well as they do. Since the start of this hunt, everyone’s been locked up tight, those who can manage to protect their thoughts anyway. Of all among the troupe, Hargoil’s thoughts remain as unknown as Circe’s, and not for lack of trying to breach them.

Whatever he’s planning better not mess with my plans. The [Lardoa] stands impassive to the passing of days, patient as Mughuk and Circe himself. He’s donned a dusty old shawl with many holes poked through it as the only bit of clothing over his body, he carries no weapons other than himself and he rides no mount. Of all of Mughuk’s contingency plans for Circe should he survive the hunt better than expected, he has little to no plans against Hargoil and not for a lack of trying.

To make a plan against an enemy he has to know them first, that’s why they’re here, standing outside the Ruishia forest for days— because the enemy, Corym is known. Hargoil however, well, all Mughuk knows about the demon is that he wields only Essence to battle and he’s more ancient than the Noble Circe himself. To be cautious of him is all Mughuk’s known and that can be said about most demons present, with the exception of Acas.

Mughuk sets his mind to rest and strengthens his protections even though all that would bother peek in are busy protecting their own minds. Everyone has an agenda.

Finally, Circe’s torrent of mana ceases as he stands and his aides, Helis and Demersen stand with him. Turning to face his troupe of demons, moustache of flame burning bright, he grins as he locks eyes with Mughuk’s shadowy form, “It’s time.”

A chorus of hails, howls and cheers erupt from the demons before he can say anything else. Mughuk whips Delsa to rise, her mithril armour shined to perfection and twin cleavers enchantment renewed, ready to meet fierce battle.

Circe nods, pleased at his troupe, “Ulx has made his move on Corym with the bulk of his best demons and even some Vampire.”

Welp, there goes Lavinia’s secret existence. Should have known he’d see her too.

“Their camp is vulnerable, defended by a handful of easy chums for my fierce troupe. But the Stelc remains so do not let your guard down.” Circe says, pressing each of them with his fiery gaze, “Mughuk will show you the path, follow him and devour every last one of them in that camp, save me a healthy pile when I return.”

“We will follow you.” Helis and Demersen say in freakish unison, bowing their heads to the Noble General.

Circe shakes his head, “I will not be dragged down. Corym has many allies against us as some will remember, the forest itself abhors my presence and will seek to snuff me out. You will be caught in the crossfire simply following me on my way. No, it’s best you follow Mughuk and deal the death blow to their weakest first before meeting up with me.”

Helis and Demersen share a look before turning to Mughuk, the reluctance to follow his orders radiating from their being. But in the face of Circe and the great hunt to come, they can only obey.

As they fall in line behind the rest of the troupe, Mughuk struts forth on Delsa, still only reaching Circe’s shoulder despite the fact, “I will guide the troupe to a glourious reaping of Essence, Lord Circe and once we’re finished, we will come aid you in the destruction of-”

“Don’t you worry about me, Mughuk, I’ve learned the lesson once but Trirax, weak as they are, are still capable of ending illustrious ambitions. Watch the skies.” He looks to his troupe, inferno’d face raging as he nods to each of them, “My warning to you all. Watch the skies.”

Without another word the Noble General dashes into the forest, a trail of flame lighting his footsteps and as he said— the forest loathes his presence. Vicious rootstrikes leap out from every angle the moment he comes close but his flames burn them to ash before they can touch him. He continues into the forest unharmed but not for lack of trying.

Once Circe’s light recedes farther than Mughuk can sense or see, he turns to the troupe of thirteen Crimson tier demons now fallen to his command and a terrifying grin stretches over his shadowy form, “It’s time.”

***

With Hargoil and Acas at his side, Mughuk traverses the thick of the forest, ignoring the occasional heat waves washing over them in favour of retracing his steps. There isn’t an issue finding the camp again, even if its hidden behind a veil, Mughuk ensured to memorize the spot and his [Soul Sight] has never failed to serve him.

However, manoevering his new, obedient subordinates into position to completely envelope the camp without getting spotted through the veil is another issue.

“Where are they now?” He utters in Hargoil’s mind as his shaded form scouts the skies. Circe’s warning about watching the skies was unnecessary, at least for him— permanently intangible and capable of flight as he is. But his troupe don’t share the same virtues.

“Helis has the north position, Serin is closing in on the west after getting sidetracked and Demersen’s impatiently waiting your order to attack from the east.” Hargoil relays instantly, his own impatience thinly veiled in stoic.

Mughuk doesn’t pay either any mind, the time for stealth and reservation is at an end anyway. Having one more cursory look over the tree tops, filling his eyes with Essence as his [Soul Sight] highlights the gathering of demons and monsters he’s previously possessed, Mughuk returns to Delsa’s back and nods at his companions.

“Go, kill them all.” Hargoil says, relaying the order through his com-ring as he launches into a steady sprint.

Whipped into action, Delsa gallops and weaves through the trees. Acas trails a pace behind as the least eager of the troupe to see battle but present to reap its rewards nonetheless.

“Careful, Hargoil, there’s some guard or someone waiting right-”

A massive, fiery beam descends from the skies, scorching past Delsa and narrowly missing her right side as it envelops Acas and his tortured mount. The words die on Mughuk’s tongue as he turns to look, finding nothing but a Soul Crystal and a thoroughly cauterized lower half of a drake falling over from the sudden loss of its forelegs, head and most importantly, rider.

“Acas!”

But its too late. Hargoil launches into Mughuk and Delsa, ploughing them along just as another fiery beam digs a lava pit in the spot they stood a mere second ago. Snapping to his senses, Mughuk floods his being with Essence as Hargoil spins on his heels, manifesting a bone-like javelin from his forearm and launching it into the sky.

Surging with Essence, Mughuk presses against Delsa and his shaded form seeps through her pores as he seizes control once again. With the might of his armoured Drake, Mughuk gallops to cover, eyes once more of the physical world as his Soul subsumes his trustee steed as vessel and weapon.

“You seriously thought I wouldn’t sense you coming a second time? I’ve been waiting for you!” A voice booms through the sky alongside another scorching blast that immolates the grass and trees providing what little cover he’s scrounged for.

Cursing his incompetence, Mughuk quickly brings Delsa’s feet— now his— to bipedal form. A short burst of Essence through her body to reinforce the awkward gait and another to adapt her arms and clawed paws to hands capable of gripping and unsheathing the twin cleavers hung at her side.

Pressed against a giant, wide tree, Mughuk takes his first breathes through Delsa, having the smouldering of timber invade and sharpen his senses against the looming danger. Exhaling a hot puff of his own he dashes out, brandishing the cleavers above his head as he searches the sky for the Trirax. He doesn’t have to look long as another beam descends, scratching off the back of his two cleavers in a glancing shot that nearly takes of his arm as he leaps behind another thick tree.

“Don’t think I won’t burn them all for a chance to incinerate you!”

As the tree bark he leans on begins to heat up, Mughuk spots another wide tree further away from the camp but running away and hiding is not what he rallied the troupe here to do. “Hargoil! Where are you? Get me an opening!” Mughuk commands, hastily rolling away from a falling tree.

Hargoil’s impassive thoughts resonate in his mind, “No. That demon is the only true defence the camp has and right now he’s looking away. You’re our commander, you can keep him busy can’t you?”

Mughuk would scream at the audacity and insolence beneath Hargoil’s manipulations, but there’s nothing to do but leap away from another beam scouring the forest. Sending a flare of Essence through Delsa’s mithril armour, it shutters and expands to wrap and cling closer to the body as he dashes out through an opening.

“I see you!” the Trirax yells, dissipating the beam trailing after Mughuk all to generate another one with better accuracy. But that’s just the breather Mughuk’s needed all this time— Delsa’s calves launch him into the air with easy, the skies were made for her kin and though she has no wings of her own soaring through them is the easiest thing for her body to accomplish.

As he ascends he catches a clean view of the Trirax behind all the torment and true enough it’s the same one that fended them off last. His single, scorched eye widens in surprise and disdain as Mughuk brandishes his cleavers to slice through his flimsy flesh. The fowl Trirax smirks and flicks his wrists and three others Trirax shimmer to existence around them.

Ensnared in a trap, Mughuk hastily floods Delsa with Essence, strengthening her muscles, skin and reinforcing her armour in haste as four searing beams meet their mark. Smited with such intensity that he’s held in mid-air for a moment, Mughuk gladly welcomes the harsh, unforgiving forest floor as he crashes down in it a smoking, mildly cooked drake.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Cursing himself yet again, Mughuk escapes into what thick of forest is left. I should have known! He was firing from too many angles even for a Trirax that can fly.

“Bwahahah! Come out! You thought I wouldn’t learn my lesson and face you alone again? No. We’re going to end you all!”

I’ve underestimated him…who is he anyway? To find out, Mughuk extends the range and intensity of his [Telepathy] as he runs through the forest, enhancing Delsa’s eyes with Essence as well he begins to sense sliver traces of mana and consciousness he best sense in his incorporeal form.

Only two minds are near me…why did I see four Trirax? Growing suspicious Mughuk decides it’s time to give taunts of his own, “I didn’t expect it because I thought you were strong enough on your own, Jonn. Now that I know this isn’t just you, I’m much less impressed!”

Another beam boils soil to lava as Mughuk scampers away, hauling his cleavers along as he zigzags further away from the camp site, “I get it! Aerial advantage is so rarely beaten but you’ve got to show yourself a bit right? Or are you that weak? I think a single strike wou—!”

“Shut up and die!”

As if seeking to cleanse the entire forest, Jonn emits a torrential wave of his ocular beam down at Mughuk. Incinerating trees in seconds and boiling rocks. Mughuk sheathes his cleavers, not finding much chance to use them but his [Telepathy] does tell him something very interesting. With his hands free, Mughuk falls on all fours and prowls faster, escaping the cleanisng beam that’s scarred the forest to leap into and over the first three still standing ahead of him.

Upon its peak, Mughuk takes another leap into the open air and unsheathes a single cleaver as he soars, “Your magic may conceal your body, but it doesn’t hide your thoughts Trirax!”

His cleaver hacks into what should be open air and a geyser of blood explodes from Jonn’s hidden ally as an arm and good chunk of shoulder fall off uselessly. The Trirax screams in horror as the veil of invisibility falls, but Mughuk isn’t done. Expelling his incorporeal form from Delsa’s body he quickly invades the startled, pain riddled Trirax. Delsa plummets but finds footing well enough to immediately scamper further into the forest as his last instructions dictate.

Meshing his Essence and shaded form with a still living demon is one of the most difficult possessions he can employ. But a wounded, startled and moreover weak demon like the Trirax he feasts on now is nothing as even in the height of battle the inexperienced fiend doesn’t even offer up resistance to his hostile and rapid takeover.

Fast as an arrow, Jonn soars to her aid, catching her before she falls any further, “Wren! Can you get to camp?”

Not bothering to feign her personality, Mughuk lashes out at Jonn. Grasping his head with an Essence-soaked hand and bombarding his mind with the useless memories of the Trirax he’s stolen, “Hello Jonn.”

“Aaagghh!”

Jonn screeches in horrendous agony as his lived experience suddenly doubles, expanding with information and knowledge he didn’t ask for nor can he digest. His eye bulges, veins erupting tears of blood. He lets go of Wren but Mughuk’s impersonation of a hand digs into his skull as her arm and body slide off Jonn, bleeding all the way to the forest floor where Delsa’s draconic maws tear her head off before she can pick her knees.

Mughuk’s incorporeal form clings on, soaking Jonn with his smoky presence as his mind rips apart and reconstitutes at the shade demon’s will. He only wanted to paralyze the pesky Trirax but his mind proves porous and interesting enough for him to linger and digest.

Through the many images of Ulx, another Trirax, Seraph and decades of living in Corym as the Primes aide and prodigy, few memories interest Mughuk until he comes upon her— Lavinia.

“You know her…hmm, good thing she’s not here to see this.”

It would more than complicate his future plans if she were present. Not only would she be an obstacle to the troupe, she’d be an obstacle to him and that can’t happen. The best partnerships start with mutual agreements. Nothing mutual about killing her allies.

If it comes to it, I’ll have to forsake her recruitment, too powerful to—

“Aarrrggghh!”

Jonn’s screams turn to bellowing roars as a spike of raw mana smashes against’s Mughuk and even for an incorporeal shade there’s no evading or phasing concrete natural powers. His form shudders against the attack, reinforcing with Essence to keep to a single cloud of darkness as his hand presses harder into Jonn’s bleeding skull.

Jonn continues to roar, his single eye glaring loath up at Mughuk and promising a scorching death by the surging Essence heating up behind them. “You…won’t have Corym!”

Mughuk scoffs, “You can speak even when I do this? I’m impressed.” Mughuk has long understood that the key to suppressing any demon is confusion. Whether they have psychic defences or not the simple act of bombarding their minds with compromising thoughts, contradictory ideas and commands intrudes on their ability to consistently manipulate any part of themselves, especially the natural forces within their control.

That’s why he loves [Telepathy] so much. Most demons resign it to a simple tool for communication and smarter ones use it to specialize in espionage, but so rarely do any bring it to the battlefield. And yet, this Jonn presents resistance like he’s trained for it.

Wait a minute… A flash of memories from his earliest memories, his Master Ulx reading three books into his mind while masters [Mana Sense]. He was!

A flux of Essence and mana rage within Jonn’s pathways, fusing within them into an impossibly volatile force that burns away at Mughuk’s shadow cursed hand and engulfs Jonn’s single eye, “UniBeam!”

A scarlet ray blasts through Mughuk’s shadow, taking out a chunk of his fragile and supposed incorporeal form before he can fly away. Groaning in agony as he witnesses his shaded being burn and crisp at the edges of what remain, Mughuk plummets away from Jonn and into the forest. His mind seeking Delsa for a tactical retreat and regeneration from an experience he’s dreaded since the first light scald his soul.

But as he flees Mughuk is quick to notice his foe doesn’t give chase. Jonn hangs in mid air, heaving and pouring blood from his skull. A flash of mana on one of his fingers summons a handful of Soul Crystals he immediately crushes and absorbs. Mughuk is about to curse his luck at having to go up against an opponent stocked with Crystals when Jonn takes off in the opposite direction, booming through the sky towards the camp.

Shit! That’s almost worse. If the camp and its defenders put up anything like Jonn has, his reinforcement will make things a little more complicated. Thinning the troupe to a manageable size for when he ascends as Noble General has been a part of his plan but culling the herd and crippling them severely is not.

Jonn is apprentice to Ulx. Mughuk didn’t see any instance where some ancient power to control the Stelc was passed on to him but on the off chance that it was…

Delsa catches his shaded form mid fall and he seeps in control of her limbs seamlessly, sending them galloping towards the camp and his troupe. The sweet taste of Trirax filled her tongue and a Soul Crystal sits underneath it, waiting for him to absorb— Delsa is ever devoted. Smashing the Crystal between her jaws, Mughuk temporarily phases out of her so his Soul Crystal can absorb the measure of Essence.

Barely anything but better than none. It does little more than recover a slim percentage of the Essence he’s spent already but having more is always better than having less, especially against someone with reserves of Crystals like Jonn. Together, Mughuk and Delsa zoom through the forest, clearing the distance they’d drawn Jonn away from the camp in under a minute and as they charge through the unsuspecting veil hiding it Mughuk unsheathes the cleavers.

The illusion breaks and the first Mughuk lays his eyes on is Demersen. The same impossible scarlet beam pierces through his fluid body, boiling it away just as he reaches around some screaming Trirax. A field of bone with Caldri skewered and a burning from the miniature lake of lava pouring from Helis’s sliced arm.

“Helis, Demersen, follow!” Bursting Essence through his cleavers as Jonn fires off another scarlet beam, Mughuk manages to deflect and slip underneath the searing blast. Running Delsa’s draconic hide through the lava lake with little care thanks to her immunity.

His injured subordinates on the other hand are sluggish to rise. Jonn’s sudden appearance must have taken out several of the troupe in the decandent feast of souls and now they’re all he can sense nearby.

Demersen’s Trirax form whips around, stretching off the ground in a twisted, confusing pattern that guarantees only a portion of himself can be evaporated by Jonn’s scarlet beam at a time. His fingers and torso let out a salvo of compacted acid into the sky where Jonn hovers with a blue-green barrier let out infront of him.

“About time you showed! What happened? Couldn’t give us a heads up!” Demersen laments, burning through Essence to keep up the barrage lest Jonn find space to fire his scarlet beam.

Helis gathers herself, commanding the lake of lava into a splashing cyclone of heat that wafts underneath Jonn, cooking him from below even as she fails to reach.

“And what about you? Too busy eating fodder you couldn’t stop one Trirax from decimating the troupe!” Mughuk screams in their heads, the magnitude of their loss dawning on him as the words form. He can’t believe it, this can’t be all because of him, because of Jonn.

Delsa’s feet propel him forth so he reaches Jonn’s barricaded side in a single bound. Cleavers coated in Essence and Delsa’s arms bulging with enhances strength, he strikes against the pesky shielding and to his pleasure finds it buckle and crack.

The Trirax within it lifts a dead gaze to him, revealing three scorched eyes rather than the one he possessed moments ago— When did he evolve!?— each one is lined with multitudes of cracks and fissures running down his face and coursing through his body with a throbbing pulse of Essence leaking through.

The shield shatters, letting Mughuk fall forward— Somethings wrong..— before reassembling behind him as Jonn’s cocks his fist.

A punch from a Trirax is not something Mughuk’s ever worried about but something about the way it pulsed set alarm bells all over his mind and so he guards. Delsa’s tail isn’t the most dextrous given its thickness but Mughuk’s Essence and manipulation stretches it out regardless.

His fist connects to his chest, confusing Mughuk for a fraction of a second before his back shatters againsts the reformed and spiked inside of Jonn’s barrier.

The same impossible wave of energy behind his scarlet beam rocks through his punch and Mughuk’s incorporeal form is washed away in the wave of its impact as Delsa’s skull, chest, torso and legs are skewered.

Mughuk’s been knocked out of many vessels because of their sudden deaths and each time the world slows to a crawl before his demonic perception kicks in again. It’s a plus side ususally as he gets to comprehend his enemy and think up a counter plan in the precious moments he gets. Sometimes he even manages it when he’s willingly leaving the vessel.

None of that this time though. There’s no plan or counterattack that can rescind the torrential loathe rising in the pit of his stomach as Jonn’s eyes gleam scarlet and release a—

“TriBeam.”

Delsa’s body is incinerated in an instant. For the second time Mughuk suffers a near fatal blow to his supposed incorporeal form. Cursing, Mughuk thins himself out, spreading out his darkness as he flees to hid himself, his Soul Crystal.

Helis and Demersen’s attacks press on but he’s touched their minds. He knows what they’re thinking.

This…this is not that plan. The troupe is done at this point. He couldn’t imagine how a Trirax managed this on his own and so quickly too. Were the defenders stronger than I anticipated?

From his hiding place among the field of staked Corym born demons, Mughuk finds Serin, the [Hezzura] rotting amongst them with her leftside missing. Damn it all!

Overhead Jonn abandon’s his shield and drops into Helis cyclone of lava. She smirks and shouts something thoroughly arrogant but immediately bites her tongue as her cyclone breaks apart from within. Jonn’s blue-green shield rotates and revolves around him at terrifying speed, the spikes on it’s surface ripping and spilling her lava till its too scattered for her to gather.

“Not that again!” Demersen curses, snapping his stretched out form into a compact ball of slime that bounces off the ground and sprouts legs to run.

With the spinning shield active, Jonn zooms toward Helis. The sound of her encrusted armour coating being grinded away grates on Mughuk’s senses but no more than his utter failure of a hunt.

I can still salvage this. If they can manage this, then maybe…maybe Circe is dead!

If the Noble General dies then he’ll only have to fear retribution from Corym, which he’s always been prepared for. Escaping them is easy but Circe won’t let him breathe if his troupe doesn’t.

Yes. Yes, I just need to get out of here and hope Circe’s dead from facing Ulx and Lavinia. Then I can start over somewhere else, I’m still strong enough to do it!

With his mind made, Mughuk begins to gather himself and move as discreetly as quickly as he can away from Jonn and his next victims. But then the impossible energy sputters and Jonn’s shield fades into nonexistence as he falls to the dirt.

Freezing, Mughuk’s mind pokes at the leftovers of Helis and finds she’s still alive, “Can you move?”

“In…a minute.”

“Demersen! Get back here and help us! Damn it. What happened to Hargoil? He shouldn’t have let this happen!”

Helis answers, “Hargoil? When I saw you come without him I thought the bastard got him too…”

“What! He never…he never..”

Mughuk’s spiralling thoughts of murdering the Lardoa when he next sets eyes on him snap to alarm as that impossible energy pulses from Jonn again and he struggles to his feet. He stands above them waving in place as though a stray wind could send him tumbling. His face is in ruins, fissures turned to gaping holes that glimpse the inside of him, blood but mostly Essence soaked the inside as flakes of his skin fall off.

At the sight it all begins to make sense to Mughuk and he confidently reassembles himself to his shaded form, “You…how many Soul Crystals have you absorbed?”

Jonn’s lips curl into a disgusted sneer, “Not enough to kill you all unfortunately.”

“Helis, let’s go. There’s nothing more to do here.” Mughuk says, watching Jonn carefully as he scratches his feet over to them.

Helis manages to get up with only half an arm to aid her. She groans and curses but she’ll live assuming nothing in the forest gets to them as they escape.

“What about the Soul Crystals? It’s the entire hunt, we can’t leave without it!”

“Then gather as much as you can if you have the fucking hands to pick them up.” Mughuk seethes, as much as Jonn is walking to his death he wasn’t leaving the door closed, he knows. “If we don’t leave before he becomes Abomination then—”

“Jonn! Jonn!”

Not for the first or even second time this day, Mughuk freezes as he luck turns as sour as it can possibly get. Back behind the chaos of destruction throughout what used to be the camp, behind the smouldering trees of the forest beyond the veil is Lavinia.

She spots him as she did in the wastes the first time and her open mind makes a dangerous connection between the simultaneously inflating and degrading form of the Trirax and him.

Jonn turns his gaze but before he can utter a word his head shatters, making way for the torrent of Essence he’s hastily absorbed all this time. Like a geyser the Essence bursts through every fissure and crack until the form of the Trirax is enveloped completely.

And then the competing souls of his victims bulge to physical form, having a Soul Crystal for each of themselves as they consume and are consumed in rapid succession until only an amoeba of Simak, Kimpe and another kind of demon remain as a whole but separate.

An Abomination.

“Jonn!”

An Abomination she thinks I created.