AN: I've added something new to the story, which is simply a different use of the asterisks (*). The standard five, as you all know, symbolises a point of view change. However, there will be instances where there is only one asterisk in the middle of a page. This is simply to show a minor time skip for the main character. Hopefully it's less confusing when you see them.

As always, folks, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know down below.

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Perhaps it was a mistake to speak up the night before, as Nox came to my side in the early morning, demanding to know who his mother was. Of course, I did not tell him, nor would I. How do you explain to a child you killed their mother just because she was in the way of my rise to power? What would happen once he learned the truth? Well, his incessant pestering of my person for answers did, at last, cause my person to snap at him.

It was on the fourth day, the day that we were leaving, when he came to my person and demanded, once more, that I tell him where his mother is. "You wish to know where she is?" My voice rumbled thunderously. His body shook for a time, but his head did nod in ascent. "She is dead."

There. I had said it, and his reaction to this statement was a common one. "Dead? How did she die? Who killed her? What happened Father?" The first question was barely audible, but the last he shouted, drawing curious faces.

"She died soon after giving birth to you," which was the truth. She did die after he was born, but by my hand and magicks. Though, of course, I would not speak of such things.

"What of her family, Father?" His voice was quiet now, "Do I have any grandparents? May I see them?"

"No, you may not." His eyes widened at this, and tears began to trickle down his face when I continued with, "They were all killed off by an unknown enemy, and those humans, beastmen and women, and kin who went to rescue the family were slaughtered. None survived." I was human at this point, and placed a hand upon his shoulder, "I am sorry," my voice rumbled, then left towards the eastern gate of the city as he silently cried.

Yes, it was heartbreaking to see him cry like that, but he would need to "man up", as the saying went, and continue on with his life. Although, I did see many rush to his side, expressing remorse over the news of which they had heard. However, "Brutus," I called out to the large creature whose flesh seemed to desperately cling to its skeleton. As you know, Brutus was my first "thrall" upon this world, and the first to ever be able to break free.

Now, however, he became the first Lich upon this world, and was still trying to understand his powers. I did my best to supply him with some knowledge I had of other Liches, but he seemed to be unique. For you see, a regular one is able to summon and control the mindless undead. They can also cast a variety of spells that revolve around death, blood, and curses. This one, on the other hand, can indeed control the undead, but only spirits, ghosts, spectres, and the like.

He had tried summoning and raising the dead bodies, but to no avail. Instead, he seemed to have entrapped the essences and 'souls' of the dead and dying, forcing them to obey his every command. However, unlike when he was alive, when he was able to resist my enthrallment spells, he had become most susceptible to them. Indeed, and he had become my right hand man, a Lieutenant, once more.

"Brutus, is everything ready for us to depart?" My voice echoed out of the now opened gate, revealing a horde of monstrous creatures atop equally monstrous mounts. There was a total of five thousand armed and armoured creatures just waiting for my order to depart. No, it was not half the city, but it was close enough.

"Master," his voice echoed throughout my mind, and it hissed and stretched for an eternity as it did so, "We found stowaways." Behind his form was a small table with Lupa, Puella, and the kobold pups staring at the procession with widened eyes filled with curiosity and fear.

I sighed as my body approached them slowly, becoming my kobold self as I did so. Four pairs of eyes locked onto my body and ran towards my person. The girl-children's arms were stretched out and hugged my waist, whilst the pups latched themselves onto my calves. All were crying with relief, and, once more, I sighed down at their forms.

"Puella, Lupa," their small heads turned up towards my own, as tears continued to flow freely, "What were you thinking? We are not going on an outing, but to war against humans."

Lupa was the first to speak, whilst sniffling in between sentences, "We don't want to be left behind," her body now began to hiccup, and I turned to a nearby Undying, ordering them to bring Nox here.

They rushed off, as I began to pet their heads slowly. "Why did you bring the pups with you two? You know they are still very young; by human standards, they are called 'babies'." They did not answer me at this time, to which I sighed a third time, and sat with my back against a leg of the table. All four of them crawled into my lap almost the very moment I did this, and began to snuggle up against my person in an adorable manner.

A few females were nearby to see this, exclaiming with child-like sounds. There were a few that began to ooze with envy towards my person, and even tried to approach, but were barred by the Lich. He stated something along the lines of not disturbing my person and the children, or face his ire. His magicks sparked out of his body, and summoned a small host of spirits to play as guards around the five of us.

However, as they were settling down around us, Nox showed up with slightly puffy eyes. It seems he had just finished crying, but was still upset. "Look who it is," my voice whispered to the four in my lap. They looked up towards my eyes, then towards Nox, and scampered towards him. They, then, began to cry and whine up towards his person, as Lupa and Puella apologised over and over for sneaking out.

Once they calmed down, however, and looked more closely at him, they noticed he, himself, had been crying. He only shook his head towards their inquiry, and turned towards my person. "Keep watch over them, Nox," my voice grew thunderous as my body stood tall, "I shall return once the humans are dead, and all is well." His head nodded at my words, and left with the pups in his arms, and the girl-children hugging his sides.

Once it was confirmed they had left, my body turned to face the horde of creatures. "Gather up everything we are taking," I roared to the heavens, as I took on my skeletal form once more. All fell to their knees in worship, as I began moving south-east where the war between human and demon was taking place. "We march!"

*

It was only a day since we left the city, and already there were problems. You see, there were about a dozen, or so, villages of humans and Kin along the way. Going around said villages, and avoiding detection, would take too long. However, going through them and slaughtering everything and everyone would be too much of a hassle. For this issue alone, I conversed with everyone in the horde.

It was late evening when I had gathered everyone about my skeletal form, and had to bar them all from falling down in worship of my body. "We have a problem," I rumbled slowly, "There are human villages along the-"

"Kill them all," shouted a shadowed-human with tentacles growing out of its left shoulder, and those around it agreed with the statement. While others, still, began to voice their own methods of killing, a mental shout from Brutus caused everyone to fall still.

"Yes, they will die," came the rumbling of my voice once more, "However, we must make haste, if we are to reach the warfront soon. I do not wish to see them summon up a band of heroes, watching as they, and those who summoned them, undo everything I have accomplished thus far. Instead, I desire haste, and killing these insignificant humans will do nothing, but slow us down considerably.

"So I ask you all this," my clawed hands swept around to those who had gathered, "What is the best method to journey to the front, as well as killing all the humans who stand in our way. As I see it, everyone wants the humans to die, correct?" Angry shouts filled with bloodlust filled the air in answer. "Good," my imaginary lips began to stretch into a feral grin, "For now, I want you to think well on how best to kill all the humans as quickly as possible, as we destroy the village just over the next rise."

*****

Night had fallen onto the village of Stormhollow, and all was peaceful. A few guards could be seen atop the spiked, wooden wall that served as a barrier against wild beasts and creatures. However, the guards had grown complacent due to the lack of activities one would believe commonplace upon the frontier. Indeed, and it was of their slothfulness that they failed to spot the movement of thousands of creatures until it was too late.

A brass bell was frantically being rung, as the first of the large horde of monsters leapt over the wall, slaughtering the guards quickly. Five heads were rolling in the dirt, when the bell began to ring throughout the night. However, even though the bellman was silenced, its ringing still served its purpose, drawing forth many from their homes. These people, human and Kin alike, shouted in fear and anger, as wave after wave of shadow-like creatures began to pour over the walls in an unstoppable motion.

However, an old man from an even older church began to pray fervently to his god. It seems his god answered his frantic prayer, but not in the form people would have believed. They thought it would be a weapon, or a spell of divine judgment that would destroy the creatures. No, instead, they received an answer in the form of a barrier placed around the old church, and it was here the survivors began to congregate. They hoped and prayed for deliverance, but it would not come to them.

Instead, looking outside, many began to shout and point, as a large skeletal creature was walking towards the building they took shelter in. They watched, in horror, as emerald and sapphire coloured lightnings arched out from its four hands, ripping through the barrier with ease. These people then began to scream, as shadow-like creatures leapt through the windows, roof, and doorway. Whereupon they began to slaughter the inhabitants with glee.