It was an early winter day. As a light snow fell from the sky a force of knights thundered into the courtyard of a high mountain castle. The leader dismounted and saluted the young man coming from the training yard.

“My Prince, I bring word from the capital. I saw your father’s banner. Is he in the keep?” The knight smiled as he sized up the young man. Prince Kylin was an outstanding talent and had earned a high position next to his father. He had a favorable mix of his father’s noble stature and his mother’s fine features. His long golden hair evoked an image of a young lion full of vigor and pride. The nobles and common folk of Serris had faith that this promising young man would continue King Kenneth’s legacy and bring further glory to Serris.

Kylin returned the salute before replying to his father’s old retainer, “Lord Duncan, father is inside. I will lead you to him directly.”

The two men entered the keep and proceeded to a long hall where King Kenneth Edris of Serris was providing some final instructions to his generals. With winter the campaigning season had ended and Serris’ mighty military was preparing to winter near the kingdom’s volatile borders. King Kenneth built upon his father’s military and civil reforms and Serris’ power grew tremendously during his reign due to this solid foundation.

“Lord Fenwell, I leave the logistics preparations for next year’s campaigns to you. Also, be sure to liaise with Lord Raleigh. I have assigned the rejuvenation of the Denaan floodplain to him. If he needs manpower for that, I expect you to support him.

“Lords Vale and Saman, begin recruiting and training the tribes and clans in your new territories. I expect two fresh brigades by next spring. Fenwell, see to it that they have the gold, provisions, and equipment necessary for this task. Is anyone unclear of my expectations for them this winter? Alright, dismissed. Return to your families. I will see you all again next spring.”

The men and women in the room all laughed, bowing to their King, joking and bidding each other farewell before leaving. This year’s campaigns had been long and most had not had a chance to return home since mustering this spring. Many of them shared pleasantries with the prince on their way out and when his father saw him and Lord Duncan he beckoned them over.

“Son, sit there. Duncan what news do you bring from the capitol that it could not be sent by spell or wait until I arrived this afternoon?”

Hearing this question, Lord Duncan laughed, “My liege I was just looking for an excuse to go for a ride when news of the successful delivery of our tribute to Redwyrm arrived, so I seized the opportunity and led some retainers to come deliver it here.”

“It is good that you did. That was the final payment for that tribute. Sir Jared’s son should be completing his clan’s coming of age ceremony soon and we no longer have any obligation to him. I am most pleased that this debt has finally been paid.”

Upon hearing this, Prince Kylin’s face changed, “Father, I have an idea. The Thorne Clan has their coming of age trials shortly after the winter solstice and neither of us have done a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Sword. Why don’t we use this as an excuse to visit Redwyrm and see just what kind of man this Derek has grown up to be. We will be able to see with our own eyes the results of our investment.”

When the two older men heard this they glanced at each other. Duncan laughed, “My liege, this is an excellent idea. If we set out now we can arrive just in time for the coming of age trials and return before our forces begin mustering in spring. There’s no reason to spend the winter in the capital anyways.”

The King looked at his son and his most trusted advisor. The three of them were men of action. They preferred to be on the move and wintering in the capital was a test of each man’s patience every year. The kingdom was blessed with many talented and loyal Lords with a diverse range of skills. It wouldn’t suffer if the three of them went on pilgrimage.

A smile crossed his face, “Fine, let’s go see what kind of talent this Derek has grown to be.”

Daren Thorne looked down from his dais at the sixty or so children sitting before him. These six to fifteen year olds were the hope of the Thorne Clan. So few, he thought to himself. In his childhood there had been a hundred children in classes like this but now there were only sixty.

He was the Patriarch and ruler of the Thorne Clan. It was a proud clan with an ancient history that traced its lineage back five thousand years to Derek Thorne, the Demon Slayer. Derek was one of the great heroes of the Demon Wars. It was his blade that gave the Demon Lord the mortal strike that enabled the mages of that battle the opportunity to seal him. After the war, Derek and his followers had returned to his town of Redwyrm and enshrined his mighty blade in a chapel he built within the castle.

The Thorne Clan was born then and flourished for many years but five thousand years is a long time and a clan of Demon Warriors can lose their relevance if there are no demons in the outside world to make war on. In this the Thorne Clan were victims of their own success.

The Hell’s Gate Mountains around Redwyrm are one of the rare places where demons naturally break through into this world. Every summer the warriors of the Thorne Clan scour the mountains of demons before they can spread into the lowlands around. Only the local hegemons know the threat that the demons would pose if the Thorne Clan were no longer there. The heavy casualties their armies suffer the rare times a lesser demon makes it out of the mountains is proof enough of the terror they would face without the Thornes.

Few of these hegemons are truly thankful though. The Thorne Clan’s history is that of a prideful and overbearing bunch. They have earned many enmities and if it weren’t for the demons in the region the local hegemons would have dealt with them long ago.

Daren looked upon these youths and asked, “And so, who can answer this question? Why is it that we are able to defeat the demons? Derek, you put your hand up first, you answer.”

This Derek, at fifteen, was one of the older boys in the room and was named after the first ancestor of the clan. Through the years there had been an untold number of Dereks. This one was from a branch family, the son of Jared, a talented warrior that the clan had once put a lot of hope into but who had died in battle fifteen years ago. He was a handsome youth with brown eyes and hair, the serious look on his face gave off an air of maturity that many of the other children did not possess. He spoke up, “Cowardice.”

A single word answer. This word caused a lot of excitement in the room with many of the children scoffing at the ridiculous answer and many others bursting with anger at the perceived slight. Cowardice? This was the clan of Demon Warriors! Is he implying that the Thorne Clan are cowards?

Daren scanned the room. He was pleased to see that his own great grandchildren had not responded in this way to the answer. Instead they were among the marked few that had pensive looks on their faces. He could tell that they were thinking about what this answer implied.

At this moment one of the older boys with a hawkish nose and a scowl that never seemed to leave his face in the room spoke up, “Derek, of course a coward would say that. You filth! How dare you say such a thing? Our clan has bravely stood against the demons since the time the Ancestor first took up the Sword in the Demon Wars. How can you claim that cowardice is how we defeat the demons?”

Daren’s mouth twitched. This boy was Elton Thorne. He was another fifteen year old and was very popular among the clan. His father, Jacob, had seven children and done much to slow the decline of the clan. Elder Jacob was so well revered in the clan that he had been given responsibility over the clan’s finances for over seventeen years now. Jacob has long held a grudge against Derek’s grandmother and this grudge has spilled over to the next generation.

Daren looked to Derek, “You had best explain your answer in detail. It doesn’t seem very many understand your meaning.”

Derek looked around the room before answering, “What I mean is that we can win because the demons are cowards. Demons are by nature stronger than the average human, they are tougher, and sometimes faster. They are immortal and the eldest of them have a degree of cunning that even the wisest human cannot fathom. Even when one dies it goes to a pit where it will merely be spat back out as another least demon. Due to this even if you kill every demon you ever encounter the total number of demons will never decrease.

“But therein lies their weakness. They are truly immortal. Even when killed they return to the pit where they experience great pain until they are spit out again in the lowest form a demon can take. They must then work their way back up to their greater forms while suffering countless indignities from the demons greater than them.

“After experiencing this so many times a demon will do anything it can to avoid such a state. Thus they are unwilling to take the kinds of risks a human would take to win. A human warrior facing a demon in battle may be willing to sacrifice anything to bring that demon down, but a demon would never be willing to make that same sacrifice.

“This is what I mean by cowardice. Because demons are cowards and unwilling to risk everything to win a battle as a human warrior might, they lose. Because humans are willing to sacrifice for victory, we win.

“Others might have answered with reasons our clan is more successful against demons than other groups, like because of our holy spells or our fighting techniques, but these merely make us better at fighting demons than other humans. The real reason humans are able to defeat demons is because of the demons’ cowardice.”