Dreu looked hesitantly at the bowl of gruel before him. He couldn’t identify the contents in the gruel and the scene of him dying through dysentery played through his mind a few times. When he looked below the table, both Ilveroz and Aggich looked up while their bowls were already empty. A few deep breaths later, the young man scooped up a spoonful of the gruel to put it in his mouth. After one taste, he shoved the contents into his mouth, only just realizing how hungry he was. Once he realized the bowl was empty, Dreu considered the idea of getting seconds. Yet, he went from somewhat hungry to stuffed within seconds.

“How are you two doing?” Dreu asked as he looked down the table. “What am I going to do with you two?”

Both Ilveroz and Aggich curled up on the ground asleep. Dreu gently scooped them up and placed them on his lap.

Is this how it feels to adopt a cat or a dog as a pet?

Given how well behaved the two were, Dreu had no issues having them tag along with him. They were also very obedient as they came to him as soon as he called for them, regardless of what they were in the middle of. Ilveroz was still the more bold of the two as he happily played with the young man if given a chance. Aggich, despite getting comfortable with him, was still generally shy. She kept her distance but still remained close enough to not get separated. During their playtime, Aggich showed a side that Dreu had yet to see when she was near him. Then, a horn was sounded, waking up both Ilveroz and Aggich. Dreu didn't know for certain what the horn was for but it reminded him of when the demons attacked Xante.

“Human army here!” shouted a demon. “To the walls!”

Dreu put his two companions down on the ground.

“Go and hide in the city,” he said to them and added some gestures to get his point across.

As the young man stood up, he frowned at the sight of the two creatures staying close to him. He stopped himself from yelling at them when he recalled something Tragthan told him. The old demon mentioned that Ilveroz and Aggich were depressed when they learned of Eglallin’s death. She had apparently told them she would return and didn’t do so.

Maybe they fear that I will leave them behind too?

Knowing that there wasn’t anywhere safe in Gujash, Dreu told his companions that they could tag around as long as they stayed out of trouble and danger. Hearing this, the two creatures barked excitedly. Dreu placed his index finger over his mouth and the two creatures immediately stopped their barking.

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“Let’s go defend the walls!”

Dreu and his two companions ran up the nearest stairs to reach atop the walls. The human army split up into four groups with the melee infantry of each group forming a rectangular formation several columns deep. The ranged infantry and spellcasters were behind the melee infantry but they were still too far out to engage with the defenders. Meanwhile, numerous individuals, all wearing no armor, toiled behind the soldiers as they put together siege equipment. Having not asked Tragthan how the demons were going to battle the humans, Dreu could only stand behind the battlements waiting for the humans to make the first move.

“Time for them to go boom!” shouted Rorgath.

A portal appeared above one of the human army groups and a gaseous ghoul dropped from the sky towards the humans below. Upon making impact with the ground, the ghoul exploded, killing numerous ranged infantry and spellcasters. Dreu waited patiently but no other portals materialized. He turned to Rorgath and asked about the other gaseous ghouls.

“That one was the only one we had left,” said Rorgath. “The rest were sent in the invasion of the human kingdom.”

The glimmer of hope Dreu had shattered upon learning how poorly equipped the demons were for battle. The blast might have killed at most a few dozen humans which barely made a dent in the human’s fighting capabilities. In addition, the humans were in panic initially and, when no more gaseous ghouls rained from the sky, they quickly reformed their formations. Dreu feared that the attack only made the humans more angry than anything else. Then, the walls shook, causing the young man to lose his balance. He peeked over the battlements to see the human catapults in action. Spellcasters set the projectiles aflame before they were launched at the walls. The ones that hit the walls squarely inflicted a bit of damage before they harmlessly fell down to the ground. A couple gained enough altitude to hit demon soldiers atop the walls, killing the demons immediately or through the slow painful death of burning. While the siege weapons flung fiery hell at the defenders, the human soldiers began their march towards the walls. Dreu had to duck his head when a projectile flew too close over him. He stayed low as he waited for the humans to run out of projectiles.

“Humans are scaling the walls!”

Dreu peeked over the battlements until he saw the approaching human soldiers. Unlike the demons, they didn’t carry any ladders with them. Instead, the spellcasters that came with the infantry casted magical ladders which they used to scale the walls. Dreu debated if they still wanted to fight the humans.

Maybe if I surrender…

As a human soldier leaped over the battlement, Dreu stabbed the man in the back, severely wounding him. He then swung his blade at a soldier who froze on the battlement, slicing through the man’s knees. The young man then delivered the killing blow to at least give the soldier a merciful death. The other soldiers, having overcome their shock, came at him with fury while they called him a traitor. When surrender crossed his mind, Dreu recalled his parent’s smiling faces and the brotherly love he shared with his sibling. While he agreed that revenge didn’t make him much stronger, he knew that, for the time being, it was the only thing that pushed him forward in life. He could always ponder on Tragthan’s question when he avenged his family members.