Commander Cedrick had thought the academy had prepared him for war, but it did nothing to prep him for the heart pounding terror that he experienced as he and Luke's men slunk through the trees with the demons within earshot.

There was no way Cedrick would have made it through on his own.

Thomas, Luke's second, was not pleased to be out here following Cedrick, but he practically forced Cedrick to walk in such a way that he remained hidden. It was a crash course in stealth tactics.

Cedrick's opinion of Luke definitely rose after those first few nights. He'd always thought of his commander as shamelessly boastful, but after doing only a small part of what Luke would have had to endure for an entire season, it was hard not to respect him.

It was a shame that his men didn't feel the same way about Cedrick.

They never accepted his orders outright and always questioned his choice of path or approach. Now away from the demons, it wasn't a bad thing necessarily. In fact, that's how Cedrick liked to lead his own soldiers.

But he knew they would never do that with Luke and it was simply a sign that they didn't trust him. A fact that didn't seem to change over the weeks that they pushed south.

Thornridge hadn't had any additional information for them which was to be expected. Cedrick had simply hoped that this ally might have revealed themselves to them.

No, what was interesting was when they pushed into the cities further south.

"No, I swear," one of the guards for a city called Tolin's Ridge said, "it was a host of men and monsters marching side by side like they was friends!"

Thomas looked skeptical. "They can't have all looked like your girlfriend. How much did you have to drink, lad?"

The guard looked ready to spit. "You can ask anyone that was on the walls that night. Most of our troops are gone, but they were asking for more fighters to join their army. Some of the women left in the night to go join them!"

Thomas smirked. "To join the army of friendship?"

Before the guard could get further riled up, Cedrick cut in. "What kind of monsters were they?"

"Otters, if you'd believe it. Some of them were even taller than a full grown man. The biggest otter and the fella that came to talk to us seemed to be leading it together."

Cedrick nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell us about them?"

The man estimated their size and numbers for them. It seemed a little small to have taken out the wandering company of demons, but something strange was definitely going on.

As they were leaving Tolin's Ridge, Thomas could barely hide his disdain. "Surely, you don't believe him... sir?"

"I believe that he believes it, " Cedrick said carefully, "The timing that he said they came by matches up with when Thornridge saw the harrying force of only humans. That leaves a lot of questions though.

"Why would humans and monsters work together? And how? If it was a mixed force, why did Thornridge only see humans attacking the demons? And if it was only the size estimated by that guard, how did they defeat an enemy twice their size?"

Thomas snorted derisively. "We easily killed more than twice our number during the winter campaign."

Cedrick bit back a sigh. Of course, that was the part that he hooked onto. "Yes, and that was incredible, but for this mixed army, it becomes much more improbable for all of those things to be true."

"So you don't believe him then?"

This time, Cedrick did sigh. "I don't know what to believe yet, but it also seems improbable that the Thousand Kingdoms came in behind this small group and wiped out the demons without revealing themselves. We simply just don't have enough information."

"Do we head back?" Thomas asked hopefully.

"No, we continue south, but we need to try and find the path that one of these groups took and see if we can find remnants of a battle. Knowing that the demons were defeated would be a good bare minimum success."

So they continued. They reached a few other cities who had similar stories as the first man which left Thomas feeling a bit less sure in his snide remarks and more in the territory of mind control.

The academy taught well all of the possibilities of Skills and mind control just wasn't one of them. Coercion and suggestion couldn't be ruled out though.

Eventually, they expanded their search to the east, getting out of the forests and into the plains. There they found their first clue.

Tiny holes were ripped up out of the grass and dirt flung forward in a path straight to the south. It was hard to miss once you were looking for it and it created a straight line from the direction of Thornridge towards the coast.

"Is this the demons' work?" Cedrick asked.

Thomas nodded. "It's the common aftermath of their marching, sir. Luke suspected that it's the work of their Earth Aether users."

It would have been good for Luke to report that, but Cedrick let it slide. He'd file a report on it himself once he got back. This did explain their speed though. During autumn, they'd moved far quicker than could be explained by a mere [Marching] Skill.

Cedrick poked a finger in one of the holes, but it wasn't deep, just enough to get a small amount of dirt. Did they use the dirt to float above the ground? Or was it like an explosion that threw their legs forward?

"Sir," Thomas started, interrupting his thoughts, "Do you think they met up with their navy and retreated?"

"Possibly. Only thing we can do now is follow this path."

So they did.

It only took a few days before they saw something. The seagulls in the air meant that the coast was just out of view, but what hit them first was the stench.

Tunics over their noses, they pushed forward until a horde of bodies became obvious on the road. Rodents and flies darted from corpse to corpse picking through holes and pulling off whatever piece of meat they thought might sustain them.

It wasn't hard to tell even with the rot. These were the demons.

A few of the soldiers threw up trail rations off to the side, but thankfully, Cedrick wasn't one of these. Thomas came over just as Cedrick finished counting.

"What happened?"

"Something unexpected."

"Was it the Thousand Island Kingdom?"

Cedrick shook his head. "Look at the bodies. Many of them are still in formation, killed before they could even move. This was someone powerful."

Cedrick ticked off on one hand the people he knew powerful enough to achieve something like this. "King Rellington of the Thousand Islands. Ellen, the Swamp Mage. Emperor Veritas. The Frost Emperor. General Rowan."

"Which was it?"

"None of them," Cedrick started pointing to the bodies. "Each of them seems to have been killed by a precise piercing attack or the ones near us at least and there are no other signs of Aether use. That rules out Ellen, our Emperor, and the Frost Emperor."

"The King then?" Thomas asked hopefully.

"I doubt it. He uses Fire Aether. I'd expect to see much more intense burns if he was responsible."

"Well, it can't be the General. He's been in the capital the entire time!"

Cedrick stood up and his eyes caught something off into the distance. "No, it can not, but I suspect we will find out who it was soon."

"What do you mean?"

Cedrick pointed off into the sky and they could see three figures flying towards them at speed. His hand shook at the thought of whoever had done this barreling towards them, but his mind told them they were friendly.

Enemy of my enemy after all.

Cedrick started barking orders. "Everyone fall back from the dead. Get in formation. Under no circumstances should you draw a blade or conjure Aether without my command. I don't care if your best friend gets struck down in front of you. You wait for my command before you move a muscle."

Cedrick grabbed Thomas by his uniform. "I know you lot don't trust me and that's fine, but right now, follow my orders. I want you to treat whatever comes here with the respect of Emperor Veritas himself as I guarantee they have that kind of power. Do you understand?"

Cedrick didn't know what Thomas saw in his eyes, but for once, there was no borderline insubordinate words. Instead, he started repeating Cedrick's commands with all the skill he'd shown passing the demons on their way out of the capital.

It wasn't long, not even a minute, before the figures in the air resolved and some mutterings rippled among the soldiers.

It was a monstrous Otter and two humans who appeared to be sitting on the backs of two more otters. It was the strangest sight that Cedrick thought he'd ever seen.

He and Thomas shared a look. "Emperor Veritas," he repeated and Thomas nodded. The man looked concerned.

Good. He should be.

As the group started to land, the extra otters winked out of existence and Cedrick's mouth dried up. On the left was a woman wearing an elegant, enchanted brown robe. The Swamp Mage.

On the right was a man with a regal bearing and sun dusted blonde hair. He wore equally enchanted robes that had the sigil of the ruling house of the Thousand Islands. King Rellington.

Even more troublesome was the Otter. Both of those legends let the Otter walk forward first as though somehow he was in charge of them. The Otter wore a bright white robe with a polished breastplate over it.

The Otter's aura struck him a moment later and Cedrick felt like he'd been transported into an ancient church that had stood for millennia. The drifting sounds of a choir seemed just out of reach, providing their worship to this god that stood before him.

The harsh tones of the monster tongue burbled out of the Otter's throat, but was swiftly followed by a translation in the common tongue that sounded both warm and inviting - like a priest speaking to a troubled street urchin.

"I greet you in peace, my friends. You may call me Gi. My companions are King Rellington and Ellen Swamp, both of the Thousand Islands."

"I am Commander Cedrick of the Veridian Empire," he announced, proud of himself that his voice didn't crack. "May I ask what you're doing within our lands?"

He flinched after saying that. It sounded accusatory. If he offended this monster, knowledge of its existence would die with him. General Rowan needed to be informed.

"Peace, my friend," Gi said. "You're not aware of it yet, but we are allies. We both seek the same end - to protect Veridia and to rid this world of the threat of the demons."

Thomas spoke up from beside him, but the words felt pulled from him as though he couldn't keep them back and needed an answer. Surprisingly, there was no venom or heat to his words. "But you're a monster..."

"I am," Gi responded. "Yet, I am still a person and I do not wish to see others enslaved beneath the yoke of the demons. Humans and monsters have been fated to battle against one another, but sometimes, we have to cast off our undesirable fates, if only for a moment, to create something better for ourselves."

Cedrick wasn't sure if it was the holy aura or some suggestion like Skill that overpowered his [Structured Mind], but he wanted to believe him. Damn his thoroughness, but he just couldn't just stop there.

"How do we know that you have not already enslaved or coerced the Thousand Islands and now intend to do the same to us?"

Gi laughed. "I'm strong, but I'd be hard pressed to defeat both of these two. Let alone enslave them."

"Let me," King Rellington said, stepping forward. He placed one hand on his opposite shoulder and Cedrick's eyes bulged when he saw that the man's arm was missing.

Working under General Rowan, he was confident that he'd have heard of such an injury if it had happened during the Civil War. Had it been sustained during the Surge or...?

"I had fallen prey to a dark evil and even my people thought that I was lost. Gi saved my life, at great risk to himself. Losing my arm is nothing to what was at stake. Despite our past, I owe Gi more than I could ever repay."

Was that something the King would say? Or was the further evidence of a Skill at work?

"Don't be so suspicious," Ellen's sharp voice cut in from behind. He'd obviously never met her, but her irreverence was legendary. She was a pure adventurer. "This Otter's the real deal. He's got more humanity than some of the shitheads I know."

Gi smiled. "I appreciate the vote of confidence."

"I... I should report this to my General," Cedrick said.

Gi nodded. "That's a good idea. It would take a long time for you to return to Harlond on foot though. It might be faster for you to sail with us and send word from Stonereach."

"Stonereach?" Cedrick licked his lips nervously.

"Yes, we were just on our way to break a blockade."