The stench of death crept up Guanyu’s nostrils.

But he embraced it. Now, the smell of rot signaled his imminent victory. And with victory, would come his long awaited title.

Guanyu was the first inside the fort they were assaulting. The soldiers that were meant to be fodder for him were nowhere to be found. The bravest had died in the fighting. Now only the civilians who had sought shelter in the fortress remained.

“The enemy has run from us!” Guanyu announced, “Craven! But it matters not! We are victorious!”

Guanyu got no response.

Instead, his soldiers pushed past him and started grabbing whatever food they could take and whatever women and girls they wanted. They killed anyone who tried to stop them or beg for mercy without a second thought.

Guanyu stared in confusion.

These men barely gave a damn about anything except their spoils.

Guanyu set the pommel of his glaive in the ground and grumbled. The people here only followed his orders because they had to. No one really respected his authority. That much was clear.

Perhaps, he admitted to himself, it wasn’t the best idea to give him control of an army this big. He’d commanded small groups of Bane Knights and captained his own ship, but with how decentralized the power was, soldiers showed more loyalty to their officers than to him.

Guanyu strolled through the fort, the plundering soldiers ignoring him mostly.

Perhaps he would get his title, but without the respect of the men that helped him earn it, the victory would feel hollow.

But how could he make these men respect him? It was as though this entire situation was rigged against him. The army was used to being led by the Twelve. He wasn’t even the next greatest to them.

So then what to do?

They dug up whatever they could take for themselves, like dogs. No, worse than that. They just scrounged up whatever they could for their lords. The men of these levies were ethnic Nikan, first and foremost. They were forgetting they were even part of a cohesive army. He should gather all their spoils and distribute them among the men based on merit.

It was a concept the Khongirats used to great effect in the Age of the Great Khanates.

But it wasn’t as though he could walk up to the lords and demand they cease their looting. They would just turn their men on him or leave.

He needed power. More than what just his glaive could offer.

Oh, but I am so much more than a glaive.

Guanyu looked up, startled.

“Who’s…” the prince trailed off. A few soldiers gave him odd looks. “Carry on.”

I beg of you, master. Use me and you will have the power to command respect from your army.

It...was it the Shedim?

Guanyu looked at his weapon in bewilderment before glancing around to see if anyone else had heard it. Confirming no one had sensed the words, he moved to a more closed off section near the destroyed fortress wall.

Beyond this prison, I hold unimaginable power. You know this, master. You have seen it in your enemies. And in your sister.

It was. It was the Shedim.

Guanyu leaned his glaive against the wall and backed away. “You. What do you want?”

The princes and princesses of the Nikan empire held a special privilege and a special ability in their blood. Only they who possessed the emperor’s blood could Banebend an Elder Shedim. Each of them got one on his or her tenth birthday.

But the Shedim were a tool. Nothing more than a weapon. Guanyu had never heard his Shedim speak to him.

I simply wish to be free from these confines. I wish to serve, master.

“Your highness.”

Guanyu jumped and was about to rebuke the one who had dared to interrupt him until his eyes came to lie upon her.

A woman? A Nikan woman? This far West?

But his mind was occupied with other things. Guanyu wouldn’t have hesitated to call her the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her skin was as white as the snow atop the tallest mountain. Her black eyes seemed to give off a mysterious smoke from their pupils. She tied her ebony hair back with an imperial hairpin.

She wore scale armor under elegantly designed plates, both of which appeared to be made of gold. Over her armor, she wore an asymmetrical black silk robe with a collar rising on one side.

She carried a menacing Fangtian ji, a spear with two crescent blades on the sides.

“Uh…” Guanyu muttered, “What is it?”

“I wouldn’t trust the glaive if I were you.” the woman grinned knowingly as she walked between him and the weapon, “It was fool enough to get captured.”

“Are...Are you a Shedim as well?” Guanyu asked.

The woman nodded. “Bond with me. It is not through trying to command respect that you truly gain respect. I can show the way.”

Guanyu rubbed his temples. Is this what Yahui dealt with every day? He hadn’t the slightest idea how either of these Shedim would contribute to his goal. Moreover, both wanted to make a Shedim Master’s bond with him!”

No, master! Without determination, your efforts will amount to nothing! Would you believe this woman over me, who has faithfully served you for over ten years?

“Why?” Guanyu asked, “Why have you appeared to me? Why have you only started speaking to me now?”

The woman offered Guanyu her hand, “Accept me, your highness. It is only through virtue and prowess that you can achieve greatness.”

You must bide your time, master. All war is deception and thus your victory is earned through ambition!

“Shut up!” Guanyu hissed, drawing a straight sword from his belt. “Stop talking! Stop fighting!”

Both Shedim quieted. The woman broke eye contact with him and he felt a presence of shame in his weapon.

“Both of you have power, yes?”

Indeed.

The woman only nodded in response.

“Then you will both obey me.” Guanyu declared.

While he had seen his brothers and sister wield multiple Shedim in Banebending before, he didn’t know if he could do the same with Shedim Mastery. But Yahui only had bonded to one, and she was incredibly powerful. If he could have two...he would be the greatest warrior to ever live.

“As you wish.” the two said in unison. The woman vanished as a stream of green light poured from his glaive and into his body. Cold infused his body as though he were in the middle of a blizzard before quickly disappearing.

He looked down at his gloved hands as a burning sensation tingled along his skin. He took off the gloves to find two sets of black Plague Scars, both wildly different in their intricate design.

He turned to find the false gods given form standing behind him.

The woman’s form was more or less the same, but her eyes were fully black now. The other Shedim was a massive, purple-skinned man with wild facial hair and a face so unsightly one might’ve considered it disfigured, glowing with an aura of pale green energy.

He knew their names from his studies.

“The Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens.” Guanyu said. The woman dissipated into smoke and entered his body, sending another wave of chills over him. He turned to the man, “The Scorned Hunter of Hell’s Demons.”

The man vanished and entered his body.

Guanyu put his gloves back on and picked up his glaive. He hadn’t ever noticed it, but his glaive always had a feeling of power to it when he picked it up. That sensation was there no longer.

He walked out into the fortress’s courtyard.

“Stop your looting!” he commanded the soldiers.

They offered him a few glances and scornful looks, but no one heeded him.

“I said stop your looting!” Guanyu let the chill of his Shedim flow through him.

His weapon erupted in a mixture of green flames and black smoke.

“We are an army. We fight together, we march together, we loot together. You will bring me your spoils and we will distribute them based on merit!” Guanyu announced, “Your courage will decide your keep, not your wealth! So long as you are under my command, you are not beholden to your former lords! Your one and only liege is the dynasty!”

A nearby nobleman scoffed, but looked as though he wished he could take it back as his men took the supplies in their hands and brought them to him.

“Get back here, you dogs!” the noble snapped. “Those items are mine! You are mine!”

Guanyu drew a small slip of paper from his belt, the character for ‘capture’ written on it. He walked up to the nobleman and slapped it on his helmet. The paper burned up in green flames, which caused the noble’s eyes and mouth to glow green as he screamed in agony.

The slips of paper had before only been good to immobilize enemies or afflict them with some kind of temporary effect. He was curious to see what powers a Shedim Master’s bond could offer.

The teal light of the noble’s soul was ripped from his mouth as a giant green tome appeared hovering before him. Magic dragged the soul into the book’s open pages before it shut and vanished in a flash of green flame.

The men who had witnessed it stared in shock. Those who had just heard the screams and were coming to investigate found the nobleman’s shriveled corpse on the ground.

“I may not be one of the Twelve, but I am still a prince of Nikan. You are all Nikan people first. In my army, I will not tolerate any allegiances not directly tied to me, the Empire or your countrymen.” Guanyu said, “My father came to power so he could oust and destroy the corrupt systems of the previous dynasty. I will ensure that our army adheres to his ideals!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Shakti squinted under the morning sun as she stepped out onto her room’s balcony.

Lokapele was already awake, having been awoken by the same thing. Aside from a bedsheet wrapped over the top of her bust, Lokapele was as naked as the day she was born.

Shakti had taken the time to put on a robe, at least.

The thundering noise that had roused both of them came from the thousands of feet that marched under an array of violet banners emblazoned with golden eagles as they entered the city of Koinelia.

Shakti had only heard stories of the Koini Legions. Where the armies of Nikan were massive, full of soldiers with superior technology, the Qahtanads were hardened and enduring and the Khongirats were swift and near untraceable, the armies of Koinelia were the most highly trained, proficient killers in the world, next to Bane Knights and Asasiyun.

The Legionnaires marched in solid blocks of maroon, almost purple bedrolls and scutum shields.

In time with their precise footfalls, the soldiers chanted, “Legio! Aeterna! Aeterna! Victrix!”

It was the language of the Empire that Koinelia was descended from. The Augustan Empire.

“Even away from the battlefield, everything I see has to do with war.” Lokapele muttered.

“At least these soldiers aren’t here to slaughter the city’s population.”

Lokapele scoffed, “Does that even matter? It means destruction all the same.”

The Aotearoan left the balcony and went back inside their room. Shakti followed her, “Wait, does that mean you don’t want to fight?”

Lokapele sighed as she cast her sheet aside and pulled on a green silk robe. “No. It’s just...this all feels like it’ll never end.”

“The war?”

Lokapele nodded. “We just move from battle to battle to battle. It’s like the Nikan have infinite men to keep throwing at everyone.”

“Well, it’ll end eventually.” Shakti promised, “It won’t be easy, but so long as we’re alive and still fighting, the Nikan won’t win.”

Lokapele shook her head, “You can’t know that.”

“There’s a lot of things people can’t know. But there’s an equal amount of things that are dependent entirely on the belief of success.” Shakti said.

“You’re sounding like the Sklaveni.”

“She has a lot of wisdom.” Shakti shrugged.

Lokapele shook her head. “People sometimes confuse childishness with wisdom. This war has been nothing but suffering and death for everyone. So if you believe that somehow more bloodshed is the answer, you’re a child too.”

___________________________________________________________________

“Look, do you want us to talk this out like adults or do you want to keep blaming me for your own issues like a child!”

Orhan’s voice came muffled through the door as Taya shut it behind herself.

“We are children!” Sila shouted back.

“That doesn’t excuse you from being a shitty person!”

“Tough day?” Bjorn asked as Taya collapsed on his bed.

Bjorn sat in a wooden chair with a mug in his hand. The scent indicated it was mead. Or the closest he could get to it this far from Ascomarch.

“Tough week.” Taya muttered, “Orhan is trying to make up with Sila again, but she’s not having it. Seang and Gustave are trying to put an end to it.”

“Any way I can help?”

“Be a decent person.” Taya sighed, “And listen to me complain.”

“I can do that.” Bjorn shifted himself in his chair to face her.

“It’s like...the more I try to help people, the worse tensions get. Like somehow all the people who like what I say, becoming better makes everyone else worse.”

Bjorn nodded, “I’ve noticed that people are starting to...fracture. Cecile doesn’t think she needs to train.”

“You heard the siblings.” Taya scoffed, “And Shakti tells me Lokapele isn’t doing too well. Why is all this happening? I thought they were all on board for this fight.”

Bjorn frowned and looked off in contemplation, “Well...you can’t really expect people’s growth to be linear, yeah? Change is hard. Really hard. And slow as hell. People sometimes get too caught up in the small stuff and forget the bigger picture. I think with the Legions arriving, everyone is suddenly aware of how much closer this battle is than they originally thought.”

Taya nodded, “And you? How’s this boot camp been for you?”

Bjorn chuckled, “I’d like to say I’m doing great. I’m discovering what I can do with my new threshold of power. I feel alright. But...if I’m being honest, I’m not really face to face with my problems every day. Everyone here respects me. I can’t really figure out if I’m as well off as I think I am.”

Taya smiled, “Oh, don’t worry. The world will take a dump on you soon enough. That’s a guarantee.” She laughed, but it felt hollow. Bjorn noticed it, too.

“What else is wrong?”

“I...It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it does.” Bjorn said.

Taya sighed, “It’s just...it’s all hitting me now. Trying to organize all these people, trying to teach them to use individualized abilities and trying to help each of them through their personal struggle...I’m wondering if I should keep going. It all seems so impossible now that I look at the big picture. I mean...save the world?”

Bjorn opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it, “Well...just know that we’re here with you. All the way. We’re here to help.”

Taya pursed her lips. “Thanks. Though sometimes, I think if I had an entire army, it still wouldn’t be enough. I can’t help but feel like...I don’t know, it was never meant to be. Will it matter in the end? Can a random collection of outcasts like us really stop Armageddon?”

Bjorn jerked up in surprise.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Not like me. Doesn’t change how I feel.” Taya muttered, “But...I see the battle that lies ahead. And I see all the people who are going to die because I told them the world was going to end. I mean...what if Armageddon is just meant to happen? What if it’s not as bad as the last time? Or what if they exaggerated it?”

“Where’s this ‘meant to’ nonsense coming from?” Bjorn asked.

“Yeah, see, normally I’d agree with you. But there are some things I just can’t know. What if I’m wrong?”

“But you still have some knowledge and that’s all you can rely on. If you were wrong, how is that your fault? You told me-told all of us-that we hold ourselves down with blame.”

She wanted to spit at him for turning her own words against her. But for what? He wasn’t trying to be an asshole.

If all he had to offer was her own advice, then she didn’t want to hear it.

Bjorn looked at her with concern.

Or was it pity?

Everyone seemed to think she was an indestructible demigod here to lead humanity to victory. But she was just as stupid and confused as the rest. Maybe she had a little better of an idea of what was going on, but in the big picture she knew she was clueless.

But everyone needed her to be powerful and certain. Even though she wasn’t. Sure, she could fight a demon one on one, but she wasn’t all-knowing. She didn’t always have all the answers. Her dream might be impossible. Or for the worst.

“Thanks, Bjorn.” she said through a false smile of reassurance. One that she almost recreated completely wrong despite having done it a thousand times. “I think...I think maybe it’s time I have a talk with my own Shedim. If I’m going to devote my life to stopping Armageddon, I want to know everything I can.”

Taya stood from the bed and left the room, feeling a presence of unease from within her. From her Shedim.