Alaster watched the sun rise over the distant mountains, casting its golden rays upon the muddy ground, broken bodies, cracked walls, and quiet sea of tents.

The sun spoke of day three of this siege between Man and Demon.

The Demons had attacked at dawn of the second day, and continued to press long after the sun set. Corpses littered the ground and battlements. Both Human and Demon bodies. Some were even hanging over the side of the battlements or the broken sections.

Exhausted soldiers sat slumped wherever they could, too tired to care about the blood pooling around them or to the thought of moving the bodies. Too tired to spare the thought of their dead friends and comrades just feet away from them.

Docters and Healers walked around, using just enough medicine, bandages, and Mana to get the soldiers back in fighting shape. Barely.

Boys from the kitchens, almost all orphans with nowhere else to go but too young to fight, walked among the dead, handing bowls of tasteless soup and chunks of stale bread to the soldiers. They ate in silence.

The Demons seemed unaffected by the continued siege. They had the soldiers and the strength to rotate the frontline and fight for hours at a time. Yet still, even though they were not attacking the walls, their trebuchets never stopped raining flaming boulders down onto the city.

While the soldiers atop the wall desperately clung to any energy they could gather and keep, their comrades in the city were running around trying to stop the fires before they became too great or pulling people from the rubble.

The bodies atop the wall would soon begin to stink, if they had not already, and once they did, it would only be a matter of time before disease spread.

If this happened, the Healers would be hard pressed to halt it's progress. They were already struggling to preserve enough Mana to heal the injured. Diseases would be more costly to heal, and it would spread everywhere.

The bodies had to be dealt with, but there was nowhere to bury them, and nowhere in the city where they could be burned.

The City Lord's mind was on the larger picture. He was not down here to see the effect their own dead were having on the soldiers, nor what they could have. Lord Siphas was too busy handling the field hospitals. And finally many of the other Nobility were busy attempting to save the city from ruin. They knew the more important parts, the most vulnerable spots.

Alaster did not.

Besides, his military might was better put to use on the wall. So, it fell on him to make the decision.

He could, of course, animate the dead for his own army, though he would first have to create the spell which would take an hour or two. And Alaster figured the soldiers would not appreciate their friends being revived to serve as zombie soldiers.

Even if he could deal with the dead on and within the walls of Onigas, Alaster still needed to handle the dead outside the walls, and piled up at the base of the walls, including all their various parts.

Alaster did not know how he would be able to reach them without the Demons attacking.

But then again, it appeared that something more pressing was happening. The trebuchets finally halted, bringing an eerie quiet.

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The Demon Envoy stepped forward holding a white flag high above his head. He stepped around the corpses of his brethren. His face was hard, unwilling to show any emotion, while also showing everything.

One of the Human archers in a tower, seeing his house flattened under a flaming boulder one day and seeing his younger brother be cut down by an Argalon the next, growled and nocked an arrow, sending it hurtling through the air towards the Demon Envoy.

The aim was true, yet a gust of wind sent it off course. Instead of embedding itself in flesh, it sank into the bloody mud four feet to the left of the Envoy. Such was the nature of archery. Even the best archers were still subject to the weather.

Alaster spoke up, halting the archer as he nocked another arrow, "The next one to attack anyone under the white flag of truce will fight the next battle in front of the gate."

The words were said without anger or haste. Alaster did not care all that much for the flag, but he was interested in what the Demon had to say after two days of battle. Though the threat was more of a promise.

The arrow did however cause the envoy to stop.

"Will Lord Ashborn speak with me?" The Envoy shouted loud enough for the wall to hear him.

Alaster vanished from his spot atop the wall, the same spot he had remained in since the siege started, at least according to the common soldiers of either side.

He reappeared down in front of the gate. Or more accurately, he reappeared atop the pile of corpses that had accumulated in front of the gate.

The pile shifted under the immense weight of Alaster and his armor. The sound of bones breaking echoed off the walls. A sickening noise that resounded with each step he took down the pile.

Thousands of eyes followed the massive knight as he stomped ever closer to the smaller Envoy. The Envoy cringed at each crack, but did not take a single step backward.

Mud flooded out from under his feet with each step. Bodies were driven deep into the mud as Alaster did not bother to step around or over the corpses.

Alaster stopped in front of the Envoy, towering over him.

The Demon looked up at the masked knight with an questioning glance, "Are you Lord Ashborn?"

"No." Alaster lied. No reason to make the Demons think the great Human Lord was also one of their cruelest enemies.

"I requested to speak with Lord Ashborn. We know he is in charge of the wall's defense."

Alaster nodded, "He is, however he is busy at the moment. Nor would he trust you Demons not to take the chance to take him out while he outside the walls."

"Is that what he said, or what you say?"

"Standing here before you, does it matter?" Alaster growled.

The Envoy took a moment to stare at the knight, the one responsible for the death of hundreds of his people.

"When we spoke, your Lord gave the impression of an intelligent man. So I assume he has already thought of the issue all this dead soldiers. The last thing either of us need is a plague running among our ranks, or worse, transferring to the land."

Alaster smirked under the helmet, glad that the Demons had been the ones to step forward first.

"What are you proposing?"

The Envoy nodded, "A truce on this third day. During which both sides with send men out to work and gather the dead. How do you Humans handle your dead with respect?"

"Depends on the culture and resources available. Some would prefer to be buried at sea, some would prefer to be buried at their homes, others would prefer to be encased in stone. However, in times such as this, it is seen as respectful enough to burn the bodies."

The Envoy nodded in understanding, "We are similar. At least in the way of handling the dead in times of war."

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. I have been asked by the General ask that the Humans stop mutilating the corpses of our guards. It is cruel and unnecessary for the ongoing war."

Alaster's grin turned sinister, something that was felt by the Envoy even without seeing the knight's face.

"You came to this world with an army with the intent to wipe out the vast majority of Humanity. In a war such as this, I see no issue in dissecting the ones who have hunted down and murdered innocent children. However, in this case, we Humans have nothing to do with this.

Whatever issue you are having in your camp is yours alone.

I will send men out, however, should any of them be attacked, I will disregard my Lord's instruction and make it my personal mission to injure and torture any Demon I can get my hands on, whether its you, your general, or one of your chefs.

Do we understand each other?"

"We do. No harm shall befall your workers so long as none befall ours."

"Take good care of your injured, Demon," Alaster growled, playing up the act of a brutal murder machine, "It would be a shame if they die before I can get my hands on them."

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