“Open the gates! Open!” I cried, my horse racing up to the front.

“Who are you?” A demon hissed from the wall.

“Who am I? I’m Captain Darthweather! We’re about to be attacked! Let me in! I’m giving a warning!”

“Attacked?” He narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying?”

Roooooooaaaaar! A bellowing roar came from the woods, and there were loud creaking and breaking sounds as if something massive was fighting through the woods. The guy’s face turned white.

“Ah… let him through!”

They opened up a small single person gate and I rode through, letting them shut it behind me. As I disappeared into the fort, the giant could just be seen through a break in the trees. As for the others, only their sounds could be heard. They were all roaring and shouting, making no attempt to be quiet, and sounding like there were ten times more of them than there were.

“Captain!” A commander who was only partially dressed came running out, looking like he had just been woken from sleep, or perhaps some other nightly activity considering his level of undress. “What is going on?”

“The beasts of the forest have gone wild!” I cried out, using every ounce of my acting ability. “They already besieged and destroyed the other fort. They’re coming here next. It was all I could do to provide you this much warning.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As if to punctuate my words, there was more roaring in the forest.

“This… the monsters, not the humans? You’re sure?”

“My lord…” I shook my head helplessly. “Orcs, goblins, all manner of beasts, but I didn’t see a single human.”

Thankfully, they seemed to see me as a demon. I had absorbed the karma of the captain. I didn’t have as much information on him. For example, I didn’t know his name. When I absorbed the others, it always gave me their name. I had made up that name on the spot. I only knew he was a captain because the skeletons knew what the insignia ranks meant. I wore his clothing, but even then, I worried they might not let me into the fort easily.

So, by creating the army of monsters, I both confused them and caught them off guard. They were now too concerned about the threat outside to care about a threat inside. Speaking of which…

“You’ve done well, captain.” The commander seemed to buy what I said and clapped my shoulder. “Do you have news of the prince.”

“He left to attack the human fort right before ours was attacked. I don’t know what happened to him.” I found the truth did a better job than a lie right there.

“I see…” He nodded. “We’ll have to take care of this threat before we can send out anyone to search for him. Men, on the walls! Increase security! Barricade the doors! You, captain… go get some rest, and then return at once. I’ll need every man to protect this fort. We hold a strategic position. I don’t mean to be crass, but your fort could afford to fall. You did well in running here, but we can run no longer. If the humans managed to conquer this fort, they would have secured a route straight to the capital. There is no telling what damage they could cause.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t want that…” I responded, smiling.