Legend Eighteen
Memories of the Demon General
Or
(Honestly I don't even have a funny title for this, it's just kinda sad looking back on it)
And just like that the Demon General Akaihana sat in her grand tent hunched over the grind stone, sharpening her blade for the upcoming battle. All was silent in her tent except for the sound of the metal against the grind stone as she stared down at it, lost in thought.
There was always much to contemplate before a battle. The land, the weather, the opponent, the strategy. This particular battle would be taking place over open land over rolling hills. The weather was clear, just another sunny in the south of Siriuhs. The opponents today were humans, well mostly humans. The army that had been mustered to battle the General was from the furthest southern land in Siriuhs, a little place called Ol' Tamira.
From what her informants had gathered, the people of Ol' Tamira were mostly human, but it was the home to many other races as well. It seemed the land had a weakness for taking in strays. The rumor was the King of the land had a soft spot in his heart for them. Though it didn't matter much to the demon general. To her, all of the other races were the lesser when compared to demons. Especially those that hailed from their homeland in the most northern part of siriuhs.
Her informants had also gathered information on the opposing general of the Tamiran army. A young human who was apparently the prince of his land of Ol' Tamira. One Barric Ironstorm. They had gathered a few rumors about him, mostly that he was a drunk that spent most of his time in the brothels of his land and causing trouble. Though there was also word that he was a competent leader and a deadly opponent in single combat.
Hana didn't think too much of it. A duel to claim the head of the opposing General would be a glorious story, but it was mostly a fantasy. If everything went according to plan, then his army would be swept quickly and he would be killed or captured right along with the common soldiery.
Knowing all of what she did, the strategy today would be simple. Her army would be on the attack. This gave her army of all demons a distinct advantage in that they could fully focus on the one thing they were good at. Unstoppable carnage.
She knew if they had to defend she would have to keep everyone in line, and in perfect formation, doing her best to keep the blood lust and Impetuousness of her kin in check, as not to break formation. She knew her kin and she knew herself. Demon kind would have it far easier when they were left to charge forward with the single minded order to destroy.
A little bit of motivation always helped as well. The demon who brought her back the most heads of their enemy would be rewarded. The rewards ranged from simple things she could offer, a more comfortable bed, more food, more drink, all the way to a recommendation for offspring. The demons who proved the best in battle received these recommendations and once they were approved, they would be visited by a shaman who would collect something from the warrior. Usually a piece of skin, or some of their hair.
The shaman would then select a female demon who had also received the recommendation and implant them with a serum that was concocted from the collected item of the male. Then the female warrior would give birth to the offspring of the two warriors in hopes the child would have the traits of the parents and become a warrior even more powerful than their parents.
Though this was not always the case and Hana the general knew this all too well. She had given birth three times now and two of them had come out, already looking like promising warriors while the third was a runt to say the least.
In old demon society these runts would have been disposed of immediately after birth, but now they were used for jobs that didn't require the sheer strength her people applied to nearly every problem. The demon General's daughter was one of these. One of those new age demon messengers who were able to travel the lands of Siriuhs freely.