The bells of the city continued to ring for over an hour, alerting everyone to the current threat.

The entire garrison stood at the ready, the walls filled with soldiers, the towers filled with archers and engineers, and the few in the garrison remaining in their armor until they were called. Siege Engines are armed and aimed at the Demons, just waiting for them to get into range.

Alaster had even spotted a few Hwatchas aimed at the sky ready loose their dozens of arrows into the sky in order to deter any winged Argalon.

After the bells began, Lord Siphas motioned for Alaster to follow him. Together they quickly made their way back into the secret War Room deep beneath the City Lord's Castle alongside the rest of the Ministers and Generals.

The City Lord was the last to arrive, officially starting the meeting with his presence.

"What is their number?" The City Lord immediately asked to no one in particular.

Nonetheless, everyone turned to one of the three Generals. Apparently he was the one most likely to know, despite how recently the Demons had arrived.

"The scouts estimate ten thousand, but we are not sure if there are any more on the way. Or if this is it."

Ten thousand was not an insignificant number. Though it would be a struggle to take the city with that many.

"The Demons have the numbers, if they are only committing ten thousand to this city, they must have a plan." Alaster said, looking at the map as another of the three Generals held up a paper and began to place figures on the table map.

"Agreed, all reports we have received indicate that the Demons have no issue throwing twice this many at much smaller cities. Any thoughts as to what their plans are?" Keylan asked, similarly staring at the figures.

"Perhaps they mean to simply starve us out? Ten thousand would struggle to take the city, but it would be plenty to keep us here." One of the Ministers suggested.

"Possibly, but unlikely, the Demons have so far acted as if they were desperate to take as much land as they could. Which is not surprising. If the stories about them are true, this is their home, they want it back." Another Minister claimed.

"Maybe they are waiting for reinforcements? Perhaps this is merely an advance party."

Alaster decided to speak up, "I think this is a negotiation party."

Everyone looked at him, "A ten thousand strong negotiation?"

Alaster shrugged, "What's the point of negotiating if they have no leverage? Their leverage is that they can destroy us, but maybe they don't want to, or don't want to spend the resources and lives to do so."

Keylan scratched his neatly trimmed beard, "That makes sense. General, are they moving? Setting up camp? What?"

"No sir, since they have arrived, they have not moved from their formations."

"Attack formations?" The Minister of Finance asked.

"Negative. In a siege battle, closely knit formations like the one they are in currently would just be one big target for out Mages and Siege Engines. These formations are Parade Formations, its for show."

Lord Siphas hummed, "That makes Alaster's suggestion more likely. Alaster, you claim to have spoken amiably with one of their leaders, did they seem to be a people to stand on ceremony?"

"I only spoke with a messenger, but yes. Once I asked for a parlay in their own tongue not one attempted to attack or pursue me until I had left Zolis entirely."

The City Lord nodded to himself, "Then this is most likely their intention. Stand there, making sure the entire city knows they are there and ready to attack, therefore giving the messenger to have more impact once they do send him forward.

Generals, make sure to alert all the troops, if one of the Demons step forward, under the white flag or not, they are not to attack unless given direct orders.

If they do wish to negotiate, I will not have some common soldier screwing up our chance to ensure the survival of our people.

Alaster, since you know their language, would you be willing to translate for me should they wish to parlay?"

"You will be coming with?"

"I am the Lord of this city, I must. Besides I trust your words. They won't attack during a parlay. And if they do, I most certainly trust your ability to get me to safety." Keylan smirked.

"Regardless," He continued, "We will continue to act and prepare for their attack. If nothing else, this parlay, should it happen, will buy us time to further prepare. So, how are our medical supplies, food, arrows, and how many soldiers do we have, both ready, and still in training?"

The next few hours were spent in talks about the readiness of the city in the event of a siege, and how to best counter any actions the Demons are likely to make.

For the most part, Alaster remained silent, as he did not know or did not know enough. After all, it had been many years since he spent any real time in Onigas, and he was just a child back then. Times had drastically changed, and so had the city.

He knew that since the Subterranean trains had been completed, they had not once stopped. Once a train arrived, it would be moved off the main track and unloaded while another loaded train was placed on the main track and sent off.

Thousands of tons of materials, weapons, and personal had already been transported using these trains and they showed no sign of stopping. While most of the loaded trains were being sent to Zalar, since their entire country was being attacked, the alliance ensured that all three were equipped. And now that the Demons had appeared at Onigas, Alaster imagined that the alliance was now diverting a few of the less urgent trains towards the city.

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As it was, through they ethereal eyes of one of his Shadows in the train station below the city, Alaster could see a train full of Galmorian Soldiers being unloaded. These Soldiers were all from Onigas, but with the higher grade of training they received from the Experts of Galmore, they were quite valuable.

These trains and tunnels had proven to be invaluable and well worth the cost to create. If she survived the war, Claire would become one of the riches individuals in the entire continent, as the one who had 'invented' the trains. Even if she had only found ancient mentions of them and recreated them.

Alaster just hoped the Demons would not learn of their existence. If they did, he had no doubt they would stop at nothing to ensure their destruction.

The tunnels were all enchanted and reinforced to prevent any Magical interference, but they were still vulnerable to a physical attack. If they somehow breached the tunnels, the Demons could flood them with soldiers. Alaster and King Heradon knew this well, which is why the tunnels were full of defenses and soldiers as well as being one big chokepoint.

But if the Demons learned of the Tunnels and breached them, it would only be a matter of time before they fell, and once they did, they would lead directly to the heart of each city, including Zalar's capital.

Had these tunnels existed or been used during any war between the Humans, Alaster had no doubt their existence would be quickly revealed, simply too many eyes and ears were required to make the tunnels operate as well as traveled through them. But since they were a recent creation, without the time to have their existence leaked to any of the other Kingdoms, Alaster was confident it would be quite some time before the Demons learned of them, let alone where they were.

Hopefully they never would.

Alaster sat down against the wall, out of the way of the others, but still present so he could provide his opinion if he was asked or felt the need, but his mind was elsewhere.

'Belgroth, I really need to set aside time to make you a body, even if its not as powerful as your original.'

'They would explode, unable to handle the strength of my soul.'

'Not if we make one designed to contain a soul like yours. It might be lacking in other regards, but it would be a body, a body that you could use to create a much stronger one. One like your original.'

'Why are you so insistent to be rid of me?'

'Because this is a war, a much larger war than any Human alive has seen. I have no delusions to believe it is impossible for me to die. And if I die, while you are still with me, so will you.'

'The body you suggested would work, though it would likely be too weak to even stand in order to contain my soul, but it would still take a lot of time to create. Much of which would not be able to be interrupted. I would suggest leaving it to one of your other bodies, but Fenrir is too busy in the Jungles of Athera, and I don't exactly trust Vivian not to play some sort of prank such as making it bright pink. Regardless, both of your other bodies are busy hindering the Invasion.'

'How does that feel? Helping me kill several thousand of your own people?'

'How does it feel to kill thousands of yours?' Belgroth countered.

'That is different, I don't care about them, directly or not, they stood in between me and Evelyn.'

'A similar situation. You forget, the Devils might have been our loyal servants and maybe even friends, but they were never our equals. I especially never cared much about them. While its regretful seeing so many Argalon perish, I am not naïve. Besides, the sooner I get a body, the sooner I can act independently and perhaps even convince the War Masters to leave you be.

You don't care about the other Kingdoms, do you?'

'No.'

'Then it doesn't matter if they were wiped out. If Onigas and Galmore survived, you would not leave to attack the Demons would you?'

'No, though I doubt we would stop the trains headed to and from Zalar.'

'Meh, in truth, the Demons would not care. They would likely break the tunnels if they found them, just to hinder Zalar, but if I asked them to ignore the Independent Cities, unless attacked first, they would.'

'You know, I've been meaning to ask. What exactly is your position among the other Argalon, and after so long, does it even hold any weight?'

Belgroth took a moment to think before responding, 'I have told you before that the Argalon People were originally quite peaceful.'

'Yes.'

'Conflicts between the tribes were rare, even rarer to result in bloodshed. As such, most Argalon preferred to learn and master more peaceful arts, such as song, dance, farming, building, or even just reading and writing. But it was still a dangerous world, and some Argalon preferred to master combat arts. Such as I.

These Argalon were very few. In the centuries of my life within my tribe, there was only one other who preferred combat.

It was the responsibility of such Argalon to defend their tribes, whether it be from the various wildlife of the world, or other tribes.

We were called Guardians.

It was a respected position, but one of solitude.

The other Argalon never shunned us, or were rude, but they shunned violence, and we trained in it. It merely caused a divide. Which was fine since the duties of the Guardians rarely allowed us to spend much time within the Tribe itself.

We were usually out scouting, training, watching the movements of the wildlife, or even just relaxing away from the others.

Anyway, when your ancestors arrived, it became the duty of all Guardians, regardless of the tribe, to observe you Humans, and determine if you were a threat.

After seeing how weak your people were, we decided to help a bit, but generally wrote you off as a threat.

So it was quite a surprise when you attacked us.

As our duties demanded, we Guardians were the first to fight. But the first to die. While we trained in combat, we had never seen battles in the millions, even if we could wipe out tens of thousands of you in a single attack, hundreds of thousands more merely took their spot.

I was one of the last Guardians when my people decided to flee our world. I was seen as the last hope. So my word carried weight. They meant something. Not even the Tribe Chiefs dared to oppose them. When I told them to hide, everyone did. When I told them to run, they did.

Of the Last Guardians, I was not the strongest, though I was far from the weakest. While our people prepared the Magics required to leave the world, it was our responsibility to gather the last of the stragglers. The Argalon that had been separated or been unable to keep up for whatever reason.

These rescues were rarely without conflict, and we were usually too late. While I was not the weakest of the Guardians, I was far from the fastest. So while the faster ones carried our people to safety, I took it upon myself to hold the Humans back.

After many battles, I earned the title of Dragon. A title among the Guardians, long before you Humans arrived, meant for the most steadfast and violent among our Order. It was a title that brought both awe and fear even among our own people. It had not been used in generations.

I was the first in a very long time.

None would say it out loud, even behind my back, but I knew the real reason for the title.

While the other Guardians did what they had to in order to survive and protect. I enjoyed the bloodshed. I sought it out. The others became Guardians because they enjoyed the training and the self-mastery. I became a Guardian because I enjoyed the battles.

We are quite similar in that way, you and I.

Anyway, you know the rest.

My words won't carry nearly as much weight after all these years, but they should still carry some.'

A knock on the door brought an end to both conversations in the room.

The Minister of Finance, the closest to the door, looked to the City Lord, who nodded. The Minister stepped forward and opened the door slightly. After verifying the identity of the person, the Minister opened the door wide, allowing the messenger through.

The man was sweaty and gasping for air, but still he saluted the City Lord and bowed slightly, "M'lord, the Demons had sent forth one of their own under a white flag."

Keylan nodded, dismissing the messenger, who bowed his head and left, closing the door behind him.

"Well Alaster, are you ready to go face the enemy?"

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