The Barbazu or bearded devil are used as shock troops on the rare occasion that the infernal army is needed. Each is armed with a two-handed weapon, and most favor pole arms such as the glaive and halberd. They are trained to bleed mortals and use infernal magic to force things that do not normally bleed to do so, all in order to make their fighting style able to be effective against any foe. Barbazu are rather unskilled in magic aside from this make anything able to bleed though their hair is also toxic to nearly every living thing that they have ever encountered.

Barbazu are not leaders nor are they thinkers, they are made to be shock troops and aside from this find themselves often useless. They can sometimes be mistaken as thin lizardmen or some sort of human sized kobold-goblin hybrid, though once again they are not skilled in anything aside from being shock troops and only the dumbest of fools fall for such a rouse. – Common Monsters

Adrian

It is not long until our conversations have to stop due to the goblinoid hoard crossing our path.

As soon as they are noticed I tell Bryan, “swap with me”, as I pull over and open my door.

No one speaks and aside from those in the other car giving me a weird look as they cannot see as far nothing aside from us switching happens.

Now sitting shotgun, I am not going to have to pay attention to the driving. The less I am distracted the more potent and faster my magic seems to be.

Bryan knows the direction that we to drive and so I roll down my window as I full well mean to release blasts of fire and lightning on anything that threatens to harm us.

All too soon the little monsters see us as we are moving close to their line, if a line it could be called.

A few of them raise horns carved of some animal’s bone or horn to make a noise different than the occasional horn and slow drumbeat that has been echoing over the gentle rolling hills and woods.

I frown at the clear sky as it will not give me easily accessible lightning, forcing me to have to generate my own or ruin the electrical system of the car.

I quickly build a ball of electricity in the palm of my hand, before throwing it towards the creatures in the near distance.

I fell some of that backlash energy build, and know it must be from my mother, as the ball travels the short few hundred feet before erupting ruining the near uniform equipment of the few goblinoids and silencing their horns.

The backlash trickles away from me towards Lykou, but I know there is no way that he can just be an endless pit to have it go to.

After a few breaths another horn nigh identical in sound to the horns used by these few goblins echoes across the landscape, followed by other louder horns.

Raegaz

I cannot help but smile as the horns of the goblin scouts roll over my marching soldiers as I ride on one of the truly tamed wyverns.

The horns are just too the left of the setting sun, at least where that sun will be in another quarter. After a short complaint from my semi-sentient mount I glance out over my soldiers and point the thin spear to the right of where the sun will set.

There is supposed to be a sunfire lizard to the left of the setting sun, if this prey is fleeing they will go north to the other manlings in the city that spans horizons.

My riders turn and with us will the army, in all reality I hope they are not travelers but a village to raid.

But I did not get to being a chief general by waiting around, if they are travelers this move will cut them off, for a village the scout’s reports will tell me before we get too far and this will become a move to flank and surround.

Some of the newer members of my army give me looks of disapproval, we aren’t moving straight at the food. They will learn to follow, or they will be made to learn.

A smirk appears on my twin sister’s face, she cannot wait until someone challenges us for the right of rulership. I myself lick my lips at the younger females that have yet to join the breeding stock of my tribes.

Soon enough the newest scout chief approaches.

“Report”

“The the, scouts n na none of the scouts have come back.”

I raise my eyebrow, and my pointed teeth are bared to the sniveling whelp. My sister asks the question I want an answer to.

“How, is not your role to find and retreat? What was found, or do you need to be replaced like your predecessor?”

The tiny ball of fear that each and every goblin is just cowers for a moment. His scouts had to have seen something.

“Speak now” I declare and let the tiniest amount of my might and mana into my voice.

“Th they lie, they say two sh shiny horseless cha chariots k kill them.”

I smile, that is too absurd for a goblin to concoct as a lie. Many foes or enemies that are too big and strong would have been a lie but this?

This must be true, goblins may be crafty and clever but they are not something that would come up with this.

“You are dismissed, go back to directing the scouts.”

The terrified mongrel almost immediately begins to flee at my voice. At least some of the fresh troops fear me as they should.

Anthony

I cannot help but stare at the other car, or more specifically the twisted fabric of reality around it.

At first there was looks of confusion on Kathrine’s face but now she isn’t batting an eye as bolts of crude lightning and swaths of fire come out of the front passenger window to destroy the few goblinoid packs that have been approaching us and sounding crude horns.

An arrow strikes against the window I am looking through, breaking it but at least the piece of glass stopped a few.

Kathrine panics for a second until I just pick up the arrow with a smile. Crude and little more than trash is all goblin craft can amount to. I would more likely to die of infection from this arrow than for it to pierce something vital.

In the past I could have repaired the window but I no longer have the raw power needed to split into the multiple tasks that would be needed for such a task.

Glancing at the dash to check our current speed of some twenty-odd miles an hour I find myself impressed that some of these little creatures have managed to hit vulnerable parts of this vehicle.

A ding of one of the lights calling for maintenance turning on draws my attention as we have passed this last group, leaving behind few if any survivors.

The oil light that Kathrine has been ignoring for over a month is still there and now the gas light has lit up. With a frown that the easy travel will soon stop, I turn my attention back to the car in front of this one.

How is it that Adrian is handling the push back from reality? It has been centuries since twists such as these lightning bolts and fire blasts.

He is only partially trained by Geldath, so how is it he can get away with such blatant alterations?

Fabricio and me glace at each other with the same question in our eyes. We want to know how he can maintain this magical onslaught for so long.