Chapter 10 – Onboarding

Kairon waited expectantly near the spawning grounds in the Wrath District. The imps were already on morning duty, and Vorathrex still hadn’t returned. He was about to head back into the shade of the tower when he caught movement through Sovereign Eye to the northwest.

It didn’t take long to identify the source. Trees shook, branches parted, and leaves fell. Moments later, a muscled red form emerged.

With the expanded corruption, Kairon could see him nearly a hundred meters into the rotting tree line, so it still took him several minutes to make his way over.

He approached Kairon before sitting with a weary sigh across from him.

A long, dark gash ran diagonally across Vorathrex’s chest, and a multitude of smaller scratches were visible along his biceps and forearms.

“Good morning. I was beginning to wonder if I should send the imps in to check on you. How’d it go?” Kairon asked carefully.

Despite the gashes, Vorathrex actually grinned. An ugly, toothy thing. “It was a good fight. I found a pack of wolves. Big ones. I’d keep the imps clear.”

That imp had a wolf tooth? How’d he manage that?! He asked Vorathrex as much.

The big demon snorted. “You think like a human. Beings from my plane are born as fighters, fledgling. Even the little ones.”

“Didn’t you call the imps weak?”

Vorathrex shrugged his shoulders.

Okay. Moving on.

“So. Where were these wolves? Are they all gone?”

Vorathrex gestured with his head back to the northwest. “Maybe an hour walk that way, but many still remain. After I rest, I will return. I’m eager to consume more.”

An entire pack on our doorstep. Great. Too bad they weren’t to the south. It would have made for a great welcome gift to our neighbors. But… He said he killed some. That means corpses of wolf meat.

“How many did you kill?”

Vorathrex thought. “I’m not sure. Three… Maybe four. I’m not certain if the injured one survived.”

“And where, pray tell, are these three dead wolves?”

“Same direction I came from. It was a half hour walk. Though, the ones I slew were just scouts.”

Starting tomorrow, he would send the hunting squad towards the west or east. He didn’t want to chance an angry pack of wolves running into them.

For now, he connected to Shiny through Sovereign Eye and willed his orders. Shiny was to let the cutters build up more wood and take the haulers to find the corpses. If any predators were near, they were to return immediately. He was very certain to order the take no risks bit several times.

They just sat for a while then. Vorathrex nursing his wounds, and Kairon watching. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Shiny and his crew come back, dragging three large wolves behind them.

Good. The pack won’t last forever, but while it does, that source of food is critical.

Kairon’s focus was interrupted by a flash of purple light. Before him, a tear was opening right in the middle of the spawning grounds. Moments later, a stocky imp somewhere between the height of a normal imp and Kairon’s stature strode out.

Unlike its naked brethren, a natural bony armor covered the crux of its chest. It looked as if the white material was grown directly from the imp’s skin, not worn. On either shoulder, protrusions stuck out, with smaller tusks coming from its elbows, knees, and forearms.

So this is a wrath imp. All told, it was more impressive as far as looks went than the city lord was expecting. Thirty of these would make quite the sight…

The demon was about to greet it, but before he could move the wrath imp locked eyes with Vorathrex and snarled. Is it… Challenging him?

It puffed its bony chest plates and squared up to the demon, not even fazed by the fact it was more than five times its size.

Vorathrex didn’t even look down. One of his six arms shot out, pinned the wrath imp to the ground by its skull, and held it there thrashing.

Kairon held himself from interceding. Demons, just like humans, had a pecking order. It is rather unorthodox, but Vorathrex is going to be its supervisor. This is simply how he informs a new subordinate of that. As long as he doesn’t injure or kill him, I won’t interfere.

The next three seconds, the imp screeched angrily and squirmed under that one meaty hand. With a resigned gasp, the imp went limp, then scrambled upright the moment the hand lifted.

This time, it stayed low. Eyes down.

Brood imps never did that. The workers cowered, obeyed, or occasionally wandered off. Beyond a gentle resistance due to the low fervor, which was still an issue, they never directly challenged Kairon. This one however… It came out of the circle ready to fight for rank. There is a substantial difference in caste. That’s going to matter, especially as we grow. In fact, it might already cause issues with the worker imps.

The city lord made a mental note to check in on how the interactions went.

Approaching the cowed creature, Kairon inspected it. Not only was it taller and armored, but it was stronger and sported far larger muscles. Speaking of, the armor it did have definitely was natural. It wasn’t fully covering, nor would it stop a competent foe, but it would certainly offer a degree of protection.

Not to mention… There is something to be said for a primal fear factor this could instill. Just seeing it is quite unsettling.

Kairon glanced at his military councilor. “So? What do you think?”

Vorathrex only grunted.

Seeing as the general already made his greeting in the form of smashing the imp’s face into the ground, Kairon decided a softer measure was in order.

“Good day, wrath imp. Welcome to the human plane of existence. You are going to be under the command of Vorathrex, here. He is our military leader and, in your case, your supervisor. What he says, you do. You do a good job, you get fed. You do a really good job, you get fed more.” That is assuming we can get more food to feed you with.

“Oh and one more thing. We have a group of angry humans fast approaching, so work hard, okay? Great. Off with ya.” Clapping his hands, the city lord turned, gave Vorathrex a nod, and then went to find some numbers to crunch.

On second thought, I’ll need to sit that oaf down and discuss the proper way to greet a new subordinate. Doing that every time might not be the best way to greet new employees.

Several days later, Kairon was considering if these morning meetings between him and his military councilor were truly needed. They were my idea after all. And as we grow, they’ll become more important.

His reticence mainly stemmed from the foreknowledge of what the big demon was going to ask for. Again. Though. The demon asking this was an important piece of his plan. He needed him to get riled up about it after all. Maybe by the end of the week, it would be time.

“Good morning, councilor.”

Vorathrex grunted. Getting him to be more formal was a work in progress. Before Kairon could speak, the general lifted his head and sniffed. A long, deliberate pull. Air flowed through his nostrils, making them flare up.

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“I smell many humans. The scents of boots, horses, and iron are on the wind. And it’s getting stronger each day…” He breathed again. “Something chemical too. I don’t recognize it from my world.”

That chemical smell is likely some crude siege powder. Pitch, perhaps.

Kairon’s stomach tightened. “So my fears were true. How many? How far?”

“All I can tell is that there are lots. I would guess two weeks away. Maybe less. It’s hard to tell since the currents keep changing.” The demon shrugged with four of his six arms. “I will know more when they pass the mountains.”

“Vorathrex, when they clear the mountains they’ll be five leagues north. At that point any warning is nearly a moot point.” Closer than I hoped.

Sighing, Kairon eyed the spawning ground where his fourth wrath imp had already spawned, and was doing some morning spear training with his comrades.

Those spears were one piece of good news that helped to lighten the city lord’s mood. The corruption had spread enough that the treeline rotted away, revealing the gleaming weapons in the distance. Vorathrex was only mildly interested, but the wrath imps were more energetic about the prospect.