The morning sun peeked over the horizon, and the red-clay tile roofs of Tolin could be seen in the distance peeking over the city's massive walls. While the city may have once been a large seaport, it was also pushing the frontiers of the Empire’s boundaries. The defensive capabilities of the city were second-rate to none. Tolin wasn’t as sprawling as Axio, but it had a certain grandness to it that tricked the eye to believe it was larger than it really was.

The buildings and walls were built of pinkish-white volcanic rock called Vyae. A large castle-tower with three adjoined turrets loomed over the market district, and a red-stone citadel shadowed the buildings in the western section of the city.

I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. With me, I had an army large enough to easily take the city; even if we encountered resistance. My harebrained plan, cooked up in a small village tavern, to conquer the city was almost coming to fruition.

Only the so-called Terror Demons and a horde of monsters might be in our way.

That was all.

As we approached, the state of the city and the damage it had suffered became more apparent. I borrowed Julius’ binoculars to get a better view of the external walls.

The gates of Tolin were splintered open. Scorched earth from a powerful magick explosion still marred the ground. The city walls were covered by decaying makeshift fortifications of raw timber.

The city had been made ready for a siege—A siege that ended before it even started.

Historical journals said that the demonic hordes materialized out of the Aethermist and devastated the city’s defenders. Tolin fell in a single night.

Our blessings endured, because the rolling plains and fields leading to the city seemed to be deserted.

The bulk of our convoy stopped to make camp at a rundown farm about a mile from the city gates. I saw Julius pass by me, he was helping some Divisionals carry spiked barricades towards the front of camp.

A small regiment of Divisionals continued on the road with more barricades. They would be creating a checkpoint and guard post closer to the city gates. A number of windmills dotted the fields, and would make for a great makeshift spotting tower.

Before sundown, we had a fully functioning outpost. Engineers were leading teams to dig out the earthworks around the camp, they would be finished before morning.

Most of the supplies and equipment from the forest encampment remained packed away in crates. We would make a determination on breaking those down once we understood our position better.

Hailey and I dispatched scouting parties. A total of seven teams. Four teams would head through the gates and stealthily move around the city. Three teams would remain outside and survey the perimeter walls for weak spots or alternative ways inside.

Alistaire and Soren showed up just as we sent out the last team.

"Commanders, the command tent is all ready. Paladin Vynn is waiting for you there, she asked us to find you both."

Hailey clapped her hands.

"Great! I can hand over responsibility for this camp off to Hanna," she turned to me and placed her hands across her stomach, "then we can track down something to eat!"

We took off towards the center of camp, but I turned back to address the two boys.

"Will you two be joining us for dinner, or are you doing your own thing tonight?"

"We’ll catch up with you two in a moment. Soren and I are going to get a tent claimed before all the good ones are gone." Alistaire gave me a toothy grin.

I caught up with Hailey and we walked to the command tent together. Hanna was waiting for us inside, the two of them started to go over camp preparation, section statuses, and other incredibly boring official business.

A voice called out to me from behind, saving me from having to be involved with that mess.

"Excuse me, Commander Airis?"

I turned around to find an elven woman standing there, Tatsuko Hirota, one of the scouting party members that stopped Julius and I in the woods. We had interacted a number of times on our trek south. She was assigned to Hanna’s party, so a few of those times were in mock battles.

She was level headed, and had a never ending list of stories and experiences to share. I never asked, but Mei had told me that Tatsuko was older than she was—but because she was a full blooded elf, that she was still very young in relative terms.

"Oh hey, Tatsuko. Did you need something?"

"If you have a moment, I was hoping we could talk about the Terror Demon."

I shuddered at the thought of such a monstrous thing. Terror Demons were an unexpected conversation starter.

"Oh? What did you want to talk about?"

"Mei and I had been combining notes about them. She and I both remember when Tolin was still a functioning city… Did you know I even lived here for some time?"

"I didn’t know that. I’ll have to pick your brain about the city one of these nights."

"My family fled to the Empire after our village was destroyed during the Apocalypse… The forests of The Vale were one of the first places destroyed by the monster attacks.”

“The Empire took in our clans on the condition that our militias would enlist in their armies, and so I found myself serving as a Battle-Mage in the Sixth Legion, stationed at Tolin. We received news of devastating losses along the western front. The whole war was one tactical withdrawal after another, until the City of Light itself fell. A runner arrived one morning with news that Vanixia had been evacuated after Emperor Alexandros had been killed, and that his son, Theodin, was enroute to Tolin with the survivors."

I sighed heavily at the mention of my father’s name. It was odd to hear a story about him that was before the founding of Axio, and it jarred me slightly. Tatsuko paused her story, allowing me a moment to clear my head.

"That night, they passed through the city. We had fortified as best we could, but the garrison commander ordered the bulk of the city to follow on north after the rest of the survivors. My legion and two others left the city to escort the civilians. We caught up with Theodin’s group crossing the mountain pass. Some of the officers there had seen the Terror Demons first-hand in combat."

Hailey and Hanna walked over to listen in on our conversation. Tatsuko continued on.

"So, you could say I have some experience regarding them. These things are on another level than us. They were usually the commanding force behind a monster invasion. If we do come up against one it’s going to take everything we’ve got to stand a chance. They are incredibly fast—so fast that even elven rangers couldn’t keep track of them."

I took a moment to absorb the story. If the Terror Demons did act like a commander to a horde of monsters, then there may not be multiple to deal with. Rather, just a single one.

"I’m not expecting them to be easy, but our Divisionals have thirty years of experience dealing with monsters and beasts."

"Commander, I’m not saying the people here aren’t experienced. I just want to make sure that everyone is fully prepared to face this threat. If one of those demons is still here, we’re about to walk into a literal hellscape."

Hanna jumped in, "Don’t worry, Tatsuko, I’ll brief all the teams tonight about what we’re facing. Our scouting parties should return soon and we’ll have a better idea of what to expect."

Tatsuko saluted and left the command tent.

Hailey’s stomach growled, prompting Hanna to let out a loud laugh. Hailey ribbed her with an elbow.

"Shut up, Hanna, I’m starving! Can we go find some food now?"

We found the rest of our party at the mess hall. I grabbed one of the hot meals that was being served, some sort of meat and bread, and found a seat next to Julius.

"So, you were busy today?"

"..."

Julius didn’t respond. He was staring at his plate, softly prodding his meal with a fork.

"Whatcha doing there, Julius?"

"Trying to figure out what kind of meat this is."

Mei lifted her head up from her plate, "It’s field marmot."

Julius’ face twisted with a trace of disgust.

"Oh."