A Demonkin Roared as it threw itself against the tower doors. Dozens of fire glyphs rained down from above. The demon struggled furiously as it slammed against the door again and again, but in the end, it succumbed to its injuries and fell still. Despite the Demonkin’s ferocity, now it was nothing more than another corpse surrounded by nearly a thousand others.
General Arthur had guessed the Demon’s action perfectly. She had pulled back her army, and surrounded the tower with the remaining Demonkin. There were still at least nine thousand of the creatures out there. When they all roared in rage at the lone Demonkin’s death, the whole tower seemed to shake, but under command of the Demon they were able to resist their primal instincts. They remained out of range of both glyphs and arrows.
Every few minutes, another lone Demonkin would charge the tower in an effort to damage it in any way, or maybe just in hopes of tiring the soldiers and force them to use their supplies faster. Regardless of the reason, the Demon had started using her head. She had commanded a few of the more dexterous Demonkin to start gathering large rocks and boulders to hurl at the tower. The insane strength the Demonkin possessed was more than enough for them to pelt the tower from outside the range of our retaliation.
The Demonkin had even begun tearing down many of the nearby trees. It almost seemed as if they were constructing something from them. It proved that the Demon was getting more and more accustomed to commanding the Demonkin.
From the top of the tower, I peered out at the horde of monsters surrounding us, thankful that Aurielle’s teacher built this tower sturdy enough to withstand the endless bombardment. Despite that, I could still see the dents and scratches at the base of the tower. The walls would not be able to hold forever. I could only hope they would stand strong just a bit longer.
General Arthur had sent over twenty thousand men to work in the catacombs, preparing for his counter attack. If his plan worked, we might really have a chance of ending this Demon before she became powerful, but if it didn’t...
Nearby, Charly also peered over the edge. He squinted his eyes while scanning the Demonkin horde. “Have you seen her yet?”
I shook my head. “There are too many of them. I have no idea where to even start looking.”
“The Demon should still look mostly human right? Why is a Demon different than a Demonkin? Why are they smarter, and why can they control Demonkin?”
“That is something the Thirteen Divisions have studied for centuries. Short answer, we do not know why some people become Demons, but we think it has something to do with both their biology and the personality of the person they were before they transformed. When a Demon is born, they are absolutely obsessed with a single idea or feeling. That obsession is what keeps them from losing their mind completely. It can be anything, love, greed, hatred. So long as the emotion is powerful enough, a Demon can be born.”
“What if the emotion is something wholesome, like the love for their family?” Charly asked, “Is it possible for a good demon to be born?”
I shook my head. “Aurielle has seen many Demons over her long life. None have ever been anything but monsters in human flesh. Love is a common emotion for them to latch on to, but it never ends well. More often than not, they accidentally kill their loved ones, and then they are consumed by rage as they go on a mindless killing spree. I remember one time when Aurielle killed a demon, she found the remains of a family and a single survivor who told her what happened. The Demon had cut off their arms and legs so that they could never run away or be apart from him. If ever they cried, or behaved differently than what little of the family the Demon remembered, he would torture them until they did as he demanded. When one of them died from his torture, he preserved the corpse and made it act out bizarre fever dreams of what he thought a family should be. Once, he was a man who truly loved his wife and children, but as a Demon, he hurt and tortured them more than anyone else. That is what it means to be a Demon. They are intelligent, but they are also completely insane. Their leaps of logic rarely make sense.”
Charly looked out at the horde of Demonkin thoughtfully. “What do you think this Demon’s obsession is?”
“I have no idea,” I replied with a shrug, “She conquered the city of Téves, but she did not stay there. Instead, she chased after the fleeing soldiers when she could have just sent her horde of Demonkin to do the work for her. I can only guess her obsession has something to do with hatred of soldiers or maybe she wants to be the ruler of this land, but it is impossible to know for sure unless we meet her face to face.”
“And… what obsession does Envy have?”
“His name says it all, doesn’t it?” I said, leaning casually against the wall of the tower while trying to recall everything in Aurielle’s memories, “Envy and the other seven High Demons are special. Their obsession is basically insatiable and the more they feed it, the more powerful they become. Envy hates everyone and everything that was ever more fortunate than he was when he was human. Problem is, before he became a demon, he was a crippled orphan abandoned in the streets of one of the worst cities you can imagine. Just about everyone ever born is more fortunate than he was. Therefore, so long as a single human lives, his obsession will never end. He will forever continue seeking vengeance on those he is envious of.”
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“Do all Demons engage in war? What if their obsession is just to be alone?”
“All Demonkin are dangerous to humans, but it is true that not all of them are warmongers. Many might have perused their obsession quietly, away from civilization, if not for the Archdemon. The Demons instinctively obey whoever is the strongest of their kind, even if that goes against their obsession. Just like how Demons can control Demonkin, an Archdemon can control Demons.”
“Then, what was the Archdemon’s obsession?”
“There have actually been two Archdemons. The first was obsessed with ‘improving’ humanity. He created the Demonkin as we know them. The blood mist and infection that Demonkin carry with them are all his legacy. His reign was short, and in the end, he was slain when the three first innate talents sacrificed themselves. The second Archdemon was a completely different matter. His obsession was war, and he got his wish. For a thousand years the Thirteen Divisions fought that monster and all the Demons under his command. I am not even sure he wanted to win the war. He had many opportunities to cripple the Divisions completely, but never did. Instead, Aurielle is convinced he simply enjoyed the process of war more than the idea of victory. Countless billions lost their lives because of his obsession.”
“But he was slain too, right? The church held a festival for it less than a year ago.”
“That’s right. The Thirteen divisions came up with a plan to separate the Archdemon from his army. It worked, but even alone, the Archdemon killed more than half the Division leaders and completely crippled their armies. Aurielle died in that battle as well. Now, the remaining High Demons are scrambling to prove who is stronger and which one of them is worthy of taking the mantle of Archdemon. Envy wants to conquer our realm and capture Aurielle to prove his worth to the others.”
Charly fell silent as he watched the countless Demonkin. It was only many minutes later when I finally her him lightly whisper, “I will not let that happen.”
“I think I see the Demon!” Donte shouted from the other side of the tower, “She is near the eastern tree line.”
I walked over, and looked where Donte was pointing. It was hard to see from so far away, but the figure did indeed resemble a woman with incredibly thin, birdlike legs. Around her, thousands of Demonkin were working. They were stripping the trees of all their limbs, and binding them together with something excreted by one of the Demonkin.
“What do you think they are making?” Donte asked curiously.
“My guess is a giant battering ram,” Charly replied, examining the giant mass of logs all stuck together, “The Demonkin are numerous and strong enough that even if they lash hundreds of trees together, they can still probably carry it. The mass of logs will also act as a shield, protecting them from Glyphs and arrows during their next assault.”
Donte’s eyes widened as he watched the Demonkin work. “Isn’t that really bad? Should we go tell General Arthur? What are we going to do if they bust in here before the general finishes his plan?
“Then, I guess we have to fight.” I spoke, checking the dagger at my belt. The feel of the cold steel brought me some comfort. I was not sure I could kill a Demonkin without Aurielle around, but I would not cower behind everyone else. I would prove that I am just as useful even if she is not here.
Charly tugged on my arm. “Let’s go tell Mom and Dad. They need to know.”
I nodded and the three of us traveled back down the tower. Throughout the entire walk, I could hear the constant rain of stones pelting the side of the tower. We moved past the guards and entered the catacombs where my dad was working tirelessly.
He was drawing a rune, bigger than any I had ever seen. Over a hundred other soldiers were also working on the same rune. It did not just cover the floor, but also every single pillar, and even the ceiling. They had only been working on it for a day, but already it stretched out for as far as I could see.
I ran over to stand in front of my dad. I practically shouted as I spoke, “Dad! The Demonkin are building a giant battering ram! They have already cut down hundreds of trees and are still working tirelessly.”
My dad nodded without looking up from the rune he was drawing. “I’ve heard. By this time tomorrow, the real siege will have started. We do not know how long the doors will hold out against something like that, but we will do all we can. We need at least two days to finish this glyph even if we work through the night. We have to hold out until then. If our defenses can last long enough, we have a real chance of victory. If we fail, the only option is to flee in every direction and pray the Demon does not catch us.”
Charly watched his dad draw the rune carefully. “What is this glyph dad? Why don’t I know it?”
“This is known as a war glyph. It is against the law to teach it to anyone outside the army and anyone who is not high enough rank. It is the single most powerful type of Glyph the Novus kingdom knows. It takes days to draw and more than a hundred runesmiths working in unison to even attempt using it. The glyph is extremely rare and it almost never gets used due to how much the glyph stands out. No army with half a brain would ever just watch the enemy create a glyph like this, even if they did not know what it was. Usually, it is just used as a threat to keep an army from attacking from a specific direction, or as bait if it is less complete. However, thanks to these catacombs we can draw to our hearts content without worrying about any of that. If all goes well this one glyph can easily wipe out half the enemy forces. Maybe more if we are lucky.”
“Is there really nothing I can do?” Charly asked, examining the rune on the ground.
My dad hesitated. “Maybe, I wanted to do everything as one giant piece, but the battering ram changes that. You see the rune on the pillars? You should know that one. Draw it on all the pillars you can. Do not connect it to anything yet. I will do that myself.”
Charly nodded before hurrying off to get supplies and start working. I looked down at the complicated rune my dad was drawing, and I knew from experience there was no way I could possibly recreate it.
“Is there anything I can do to help dad?” I asked, feeling useless.
“That’s right, I want to help too!” Donte shouted.
My dad sighed as he looked at both of us. “If you really want to help, I can put you to work. Go fetch some food and water for all the runesmiths. Just be careful not to step on our work. A single smeared line, and the whole glyph will stop working. Once you are done with that, go find General Arthur as soon as your innate talent finishes recovering. Moral is more important than you might think.”
I hurried off with Donte to get what my dad asked. Anything I could do to help was better than just sitting there, listening to the endless roars of the Demonkin and rain of stones against the tower walls. Tomorrow the true siege would start. Everything would depend on how long the doors could hold and the bravery of our soldiers. If we failed, thousands would die.