“We’ll have to try it out. I assume the energy comes directly from me?” I asked as we moved closer to where our non-fighting people moved.

“That would be my guess,” Sania replied. “Though if it turns out that I can, I don’t intend to use it. Not unless we’re desperate and you can’t for some reason.”

As she spoke, thoughts of potential opportunities sprung to mind. I kept them to myself for now, but I suddenly saw possibilities for a much bigger picture.

“You use what the hell you want, when you want it, Sania. Number one priority is to keep everyone’s ass alive. Especially your own.”

“It’s not safe to use it, in case you run out.”

I shook my head, checking my reserves of Ethereal energy. They were already full again. Those back in Far Reach must have been praying regularly to me. I never focused on the individual bonds. I could see now how actual gods could miss a great deal, with the amount of followers they had.

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. There’s a constant flow from home these days.”

“We’ll see. There’s no guarantee it will even work.”

As we spoke, I kept one eye on the forces of destruction. Their huge line of fighters pouring over the flat land were angled toward where we had fought our horrific battle with Justice. It appeared we would miss them completely, as our target of non-warriors still hadn’t come into sight.

I was grateful for them to not have had to be involved in the earlier battle. There were more than a few images I’d have to spend a very long time blocking out of my mind. I reckoned the single best phenomenon in Falritas was the ability to knock yourself out to sleep, or else I doubted I’d ever sleep again. It was a surprise traumatic images didn’t constantly plague my waking thoughts, but then no fucker ever gave me a moment's peace.

“Looks like we’re going to be okay,” Sania said, noticing me looking at the terrifying army thundering across the land.

“It does. But I’ll not be bloody happy until we’re home. I think I can see them,” I said pointing at a vague multi-hued spot in the distance.

“Yes! I can see them, Clive. I can hardly believe you have better eyesight than me now. I don’t know how I feel about it!”

We swooped down toward the slow but steadily moving people. Two elderly Drengalfar carried the box of Haulage between them.

“Coming in!” I shouted, landing next to the carriers. “Hey guys, let me take that.” I added, relieving them of their burden. “The battle with Justice is over, but there are troops of Destruction coming in quickly. We still need to keep pushing south as fast as we can still.”

“It’s a relief to see you alive and well, Lord Clive.” One of the Dokalfar replied. “May I ask after our queen’s safety?”

“She’s well, thank you. We need to meet them further south. I can sense her. If we can move quickly, we should be able to meet them in a little over an hour.”

He nodded, clear relief in his expression. “We’ll take to the air again and watch over you.”

Before we could even take off, Sania pointed. I followed her finger to the south of our position. Barely a mile away, a huge portal had opened. I recognized it instantly as the same kind we had used to come through to Falritas originally.

“Holy fuck,” I groaned. Then I spoke across the bond to Danivra. “We’ve just had a portal open up in front of us, Dani. Sorry… again, but we might need a little help.”

Her reply came back as a tired sigh, which wasn’t something I’d normally associate with him. “We will try and get to you. I will come ahead.”

“Sorry. I’ll try and smash them up before you get here.”

I ended the conversation just in time to witness a demon of the mountain class category stepping through the portal. While the mountain class category was a completely made-up thing, it amply described what we were facing. While generally very close in appearance to a Baatazu, every dangerous aspect was amplified. I couldn’t help but look at the extended ridges and wicked looking spikes and wonder how the hell I would sleep once I reached that level. By the expression on his face, It didn’t look like he got much sleep.

Kraeyuk: Level ??? Prince of Karoth. Demon Lord. (Demon VI)

“Grimstrom keeps telling me to hurry up, but I didn’t expect much more than higher level Baatazus and Gadashokuros from Destruction’s side of things,” I said. Still watching in awe but moving to the front of the Column with Sania at my side.

“I hadn’t expected such strength from Justice either,” Sania replied.

“Yep, the fuckers are really bringing out their big guns now. No wonder Natom didn’t fancy a flight into the heart of Akomoka to fight. It’s one thing being able to survive a fight, and possibly even edge a victory, but...”

“Come on, Clive,” Sania interrupted. “Let’s do this properly this time. Stay apart and let’s both focus on the Demon Lord, first.”

“Seems like a solid plan,” I replied, trying to remain positive despite the odds. While I was certain we could do some serious damage here, a victory was very far from guaranteed.

As we approached, Kraeyuk raised his hand, a huge flaming trident appearing in it, which he pointed directly at me. Baatazu continued to flood out of the portal all around him, increasing the general sense of doom I was already feeling. If it was just Sania and me, we could have run.

“Sapling of Creation. Why are you here?” he boomed in a grating voice. Sounding like an avalanche and catching me totally by surprise with the question.

“Err. Just passing through, Kraeyuk. What about you? Just fancy a bit of sight-seeing?” I asked conversationally, eyeballing Sania.

“Annexing the land of Kalabri, and being curious as to why you are on the surface. You traveled the tunnels of the Nideland to make your way north. Do you fight for Darkness and the Nideland on the surface now?”

“Nah, mate. They want nothing to do with the fighting up here, and I’m not on best terms with the Dwarves if you get me. I'm just trying to get my people back to Malatia.”

“You are not the allies of Darkness?”

“Friends, maybe, military allies no,” I replied, cocking an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you trying to kill me? Destruction wants me dead, right?”

He let out a ground shaking laugh. “My god, she is relieved to have not killed you. Apart from our troops you killed rescuing the Nystiobek, you have done far more positive for Destruction than you have done negative. You are an unknowing ally.”

I looked again at Sania in my confusion. She looked equally baffled.

“What do you mean, exactly?” I asked.

“You removed Natom and gave us Knuntang! You have cleared Kalabri of Stada the Gran and Cushec, two of the area’s most fearsome warriors. You have even removed the Wind of the Wild from the Palathi Peaks all while reducing Justice’s military presence here. You, Sapling of Creation, are a hero among the people of Akomoka now.”

“You took Knuntang?” I asked, in horror. It wasn’t something I had even considered.

He nodded smugly. “The Capital fell yesterday. The work you have done here against Justice, will ensure it will not take much longer to capture Kalabri, too. Would you be interested in a more formal Alliance with Destruction?”

My mind was reeling. This was not what I’d been expecting.

“Er, I honestly don’t know how that would affect my relationship with Darkness and Devotion, but… I can offer this. How about I don’t kill any of your people on our way south, but I will kill any of Justice’s troops if our paths cross. As long as you agree to the same, obviously.”

The enormous demon lord, pursed his lips, which was the second weirdest thing I’d seen all day, and it had been a hell of a fucking day.

His eyes seemed to roll to the back of his head. After a moment of being a freaky weirdo, his eyes settled back on me, and he nodded. “We will come for Malatia eventually, but for now, we will agree to an amnesty with you. Our troops are needed to fight Justice here.”

With that, he turned and waved his demon minions back through the portal.

As the glowing disk snapped shut, I continued to watch the spot for a few moments. At a complete loss in unpacking what had just transpired.

“Did that really just happen?” Sania asked.

“It did. And I’m fucking taking it. But I think we should get moving again before they change their minds.”

“Absolutely. You should let the others know what happened.”

With a nod of agreement, I contacted Danivra. “Hey Danivra. We’re all good here now. But we’ll just head directly toward each other now. I’ll feel a lot better once we’re all together.

“Sorry, Lord Clive?” she asked. The bewilderment was clear to hear. “What of the portal from Destruction?”

“It was a Demon Lord by the name of Prince of Karoth who came through. My first time meeting an actual Prince. Nice fella.”

“You defeated Prince Kraeyuk already?” she asked. “Was he alone? How did you manage it so quickly?”

“Ah well, he basically thanked us for killing Natom and letting Destruction conquer Knuntang. And for all of our hard work fucking Justice up here. We’ve agreed not to attack any of his people on the way south and they won’t attack us, either.”

“That… is difficult to swallow after what they did to Helvien and my people, yet I cannot pretend that such an amnesty won't save a lot of lives. If this is the case, then we should move further east toward the Craster Mountains... Did he know I was with you?”

“I’d assume so, Danivra. Didn’t seem bothered in all honesty. Just giddy as hell to be kicking ten pails of shit out of Justice.”

There was a pause before she replied. “It still seems so strange that they would just let us go. What will we do if we see neutrals being attacked by Destructions forces on the way south?”

“Rescue them, of course,” I said nonchalantly. “I’m not gonna turn a blind eye, just for an easy ride. But I’ll take the pass while it lasts. And as for why they're letting us go. I’m not thinking about it like that. I mean, while I accept we can’t win overall, we can seriously hurt them. Destruction doesn't want no part of us tearing through them trying to get home. They know what we can do and they want to save their forces to conquer this place. At least that’s how I’m looking at it.”

“A fair assessment I suppose. We will not be defeated easily and while it hurts, it is sensible.”

“Yeah, now we just need to run all the way home before anyone changes their mind,” I replied.

“We will need rest too, Clive. I’m not far away now, and the others shouldn’t be too far behind.”

“See you soon, Danivra,” I replied, bringing the conversation to an end.