It has been two weeks since Mother and I established a camp not far from the city of Haji Meni, which was located near the border. The city was supposed to be lightly fortified. Human logic had it, that until the capital did not fall, everything is all right. Mother sent out spies to scout ahead of our operation.
They returned with unsettling news. They reported, that one of the Holy Guardians of the Empire was garrisoning the city. It was very unusual for a knight of such status to be in a seemingly unsignificant city. Mother advised us to play into their hands a bit and start marching.
Her train of thought went with the information she previously gathered about the Guardians. Ken'o, the 6th Guardian of the Zankoku Empire was an abhorent person. He despised the races and was short tempered. His hate for demons might have been even bigger, than his hate towards the races. He was often seen cruelly beating up any slave that dared to glance at him.
Scum like this should be burned alive...
I was filled with a lot of unease given the expectation Mother placed on me. I had to be sure, that Ken'o was nowhere near the city when I attacked. I might be one of the 10 generals, but I am the 10th.
It took great efforts to convince Mother I can handle such responsibility and then of all things I have to deal with an overly dangerous enemy on my first mission. That night I couldn't sleep at all, I was tense, lost in thoughts. I've thought up of countless scenarios, I had to have a plan for everything.
It took me three days to arrive. The spies constantly kept me updated of that fiend's movements. I was also informed that they reinforced the city walls with protective magic. It was no reason for panic. Moving objects were hard to reinforce in such a way and no gate could stop an army of this many demonic beings.
Created not long ago they had no battle experience. I had to brief them many times, but I wasn't against it. It felt like Mother really trusted me and there was no way I could betray that trust, not while having such a debt to ther.
I tried to raise my army's moral and we finally started the attack. From afar I didn't notice, the spies didn't say anything about it, I had no plan. We soon halted the advance to stare at a huge iron gate in the distance. Faint traces of magic could be seen on it.
N-no way... This can't be! Noo!
I panicked. They probably used some weird magic to turn the gate into a magically infused steel or iron one. In other words...
I was helpless.
I was contemplating about whether I should attack or just retreat when a loud metallic sound interrupted my thoughts.
The gate was slowly opening.
A-a miracle?
There were no such things, but I wanted to believe that this was one. I ordered a full charge ahead. The army quickly passed by me, seemingly reassuring me that they got this. With my nerves still very tense, I too started advancing. Soon a ghastly sensation overcame me.
What is this? Is Ken'o still her?!
When I reached the gatehouse, I knew that this unsettling feeling was coming from out of there. I didn't know who or what was in there, so I put on my best demon act and slammed in the door with full force. But when I entered, I only found a young man, pale from shock, sitting on the floor.
"A human?!" I exclaimed in shock.
Just what was going on. I had to collect myself quickly since we were still in an attack and I had to manage everything.
"Stay here. I will bring you to Mo-" I messed up...
Our Empress, the one who unified the Demon Kingdom. A ruthless murderer and overly powerful magician, once found a baby. Deserted and left to die. That baby was me, she raised me and looked after me. I had more than just a simple debt to her. Of course I called her Mother. After I became, or more accurately I persuaded her to let me become a general, I forced myself to behave one.
She did tease me a lot, that I called her Mother in front of everyone so, I wanted to show her I had it in me. I could behave like a fierce warrior in service of her Empress. Yet, I messed up in the most important moments of my life. I quickly cleared my throat and tried it again in a more serious tone.
"I will bring you to our Empress and she will bring judgement onto you."
Aaa... was that demon like enough? Was I scary? Will he even stay here, like he can just run away...
I felt embarrasement creeping up in me and quickly left the young man there.
He was dressed like a carriage boy... He looked like a human, but that weird feeling was surely a demonic presence. That means...
Another mixed blood just like me. At that thought I couldn't stop myself from smiling. What was I happy about it like some kind of little girl? He was my prisoner and I had to behave like the conquerer, but still, we were kindred spirits.
I quickly rushed over to my vice-captain. A tall strongly built orc. Even though demonic beings couldn't speak, he was the most skilled at communicating with the others so, naturally, I made him my right hand. His task was to oversee, that nobody was killed from the races and every book was stolen and in perfect condition. Mother wanted more information and a lot of books had stories about the Human Empire. After all 5100 years is a long time for any nation.
Everything went well and quick. For demonic beings to be able to use magic is a significant leap. The murder and carnage that we left wasn't something that bothered me. After all I had no pity for humans. They were evil to their very core.
When were done collecting all the books and freeing the elves and dwarves that were being held captive, I went back to the boy.
Should I call him boy? He seems my age though...
My thoughts were still in a mess so, I just gestured for him to follow me. I intentionally went to the front of our small caravan as to calm myself down. We didn't take quite long to arrive at the camp. We took the long way, because we knew spies were monitoring us, we needed to let our presence take effect. After finally arriving I had yet another blunder.
Aagh, I almost said mother agian...
It couldn't be helped, I just had to drop the facade at this point, he surely knew what I wanted to say. I lead him to Mother's tent, all the way I had different thoughts flying through my had and just couldn't keep very calm.
I let him wait outside for a few moments. I went ahead and told Mother about how the mission went. When I was done, I gestured for him to join us. Mother was lost in a pile of documents, as usual, she was working. Without looking up, she finally broke the silence.
"So you are the strange boy?" she asked.
He looked taken aback a little and I don't know why, but I answered instead of him. I also, even though I repeated myself, mentioned, that without him I would have been lost.
The next few interactions were about his background. I did tell Mother that he probably was a slave, but he looked so different I barely could believe that he wasn't a simple human. Though, to him this was new information and it seemed it was hard for him to accept at first, until Mother made an offer.
She walked over to him at this point and bowed deeply, almost pleading for help. The Empress, who united an entire kingdom of the worst demons. Unified it and brought a magical revolution was bowing to a mere boy??
"Mother??!" I cried out, I couldn't compose myself.
I was quickly dismissed, but she was right. Our main forces were still on the move towards us. Our numbers were small and even though we were hidden nearly perfectly, there was always a chance that we could be discovered.
The agreement was that Mother teaches him about magic and in return he will be on our side. Quickly, Mother introduced us, but the young man looked torn.
He doesn't have a name?
At that thought, yet again, I remembered, that I too had a faith similar. I had no name, there was no one to give me one. When Mother saved me she gave me one, which seemed so beautiful to me that I always said it with joy and pride.
Tenna, derived from Cobra Lily, my beloved mother's favourite flower.
Mother reassured him, that slaves usually don't have one. Which just showed how careless humans really were. Like, even lifeless objects have names, even trash has a name. So, why does a slave, which works until death or to death, not deserve one?
I was lost in thoughts of disgust and hatred towards humans when Mother called out to me.
"Huh? M-me?" I said surprised.
I had to think of a name for the boy, but what kind of name would suit him. At that moment I remembered a fairy tale. The Demon King from 5100 years ago had a forbidden love with a non-demon. If I recall correctly his name was...
"How about Tousa?" I said nervously.
Mother saw through me right away, but remained silent. I think even the bo-.... Tousa noticed it. He accepted the name and even thanked me. A light smile appeared on his face and I was wondering what he was thinking about.
"Y-you are welcome." I said flustered.
I was embarrassed, because of many reasons, but the main one was that I named him after our Founder after all...
After the naming was settled Mother asked a lot about Tousa. He talked about his life as a slave, the terrible circumstances he had to live in and about his nightmares.
Demon or not, that much psychological trauma could kill nearly anybody.
I felt incredible sorry for him. Maybe that was the point where I decided that he should spend the night with me. Being a mixed blood has its advantages.
When Mother offered him a spare bed in her tent I quickly interjected. I probably seemed desperate and abrupt, because I was. I just decided something embarrassing and I wanted to go with it until the end.
During our way to my tent a very important thing popped into my head.
I only have one bed!!!
I got so flustered, that I couldn't speak at all. I wanted to break the ice finally, but there was no chance now. Just the thought of sleeping with somebody made me feel weird, but with a man....
I faked a composed expression so far, well, most of the time, but now it was all gone. I was so flustered I almost started changing in front of him. Thankfully Tousa noticed, that I didn't pay attention to his presence.
Aa, I have to say something... I panicked internally.
"N-never mind, I wasn't going to get naked anyways. It's just I started like always and forgot you were here and..."
I always slept half-naked....
"You just couldn't stop in the middle of it, right? Sorry, I'll go out, you should change." He said, he was just embarrassed as I was.
Wait, he is just flustered as I am...
"Wait! I u-usually sleep like this, so there is no reason for you to go out." I blurted out quickly.
Now what?!
I only had one bed and I couldn't let him sleep on the ground, no way. I already set the atmosphere incredibly awkward with almost undressing in front of him and now I am supposed to invite him into my bed?!
It was hard, but I mustered up enough strength to sit down on my bed and gesture for him to sit down next to me. He was quite surprised.
I was too.
We were awfully close, which just made me even more nervous. For once I was glad, that I had darker skin since I felt my face burning. I surely was blushing like a young girl.
"I know this is your way of thanking me, but you don't have to do anything, that makes you uncomfortable. I-I mean I can sleep on the ground, I am quite used to it by now." said Tousa, finally breaking our awkward silence.
At that thought I couldn't help myself, but feel my heart skip a beat. I was shocked. Quickly without thinking I turned to him. Before I realised, I was already holding his hand, but I couldn't back down. He surely saw now how flustered I was, but I didn't care.
"I-I can't allow that. Y-you sleep with me!" I cried out.
He surely felt embarrassed as well, because he gave in at last and we went to sleep. I turned my back towards him in an attempt to hide my burning hot face. Soon I drifted into sleep, but I woke up in the middle of the night.
He is sleeping so peaceful.
He layed there, defenseless. I wondered when his nightmares hit, but this night would be different. Having mixed blood has its advantages.
I watched him sleep for a bit, the Moon's light was creeping in through the gaps in the tent. A ray fell just right to illuminate his face.
This is the boy... no, man I saved and he saved me. We both are mixed bloods, Halflings. Cast outs from both sides. Would I have had the courage to do what he did? If somebody would have stopped him, he could have died.
These thoughts were shooting through my head and I felt my chest tighten. I never felt something like this before.
Is this what love feels like?
The concept was known to me, but I would have never thought I would fall for someone. There were no males left, of course they opposed Mother the most and were wiped out. All the other generals are women and I couldn't see how that would have worked out.
This will be my true thank you.
I leaned to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"They say, that a kiss from a young elven maiden in love can heal any wound." I whispered to him.
Of course he couldn't hear it, but I just had to say it. After that I grabbed a little of his shirt and fell peacefully asleep.
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