The aftermath of a battle is always one of reflection. The losers, after running to safety, would wonder what went wrong and what they could have done to change the outcome. The winners would toast and celebrate their victory. At least, that’s what the stories always said. The reality was much different.

Although she was on the winning side, the Speaker looked over the site of the battle and all she saw was despair. The ground around her was slippery with blood and gore and the Speaker could almost taste the vile smell that rose up from it. The battle had been a stalemate till the intervention of the Red Creator and although the appearance of the Boss turned the tide of the battle, there was a price to be paid. Dead Kin now littered the ground alongside the bodies of the humans. Neither of them had a chance. The Demons had some sort of natural fire resistance which helped them survive the power of the bird of fire and even then, several of them were hurt when the Boss of the Red Creator flew overhead. It was a show of power by the Red Creator and for the first time the Speaker was grateful that the Bosses of her Creator could not leave the tunnels of the Keg Mountains.

Despite the carnage around her, the Speaker found that she could not bring herself to hate the Red Creator for what it had done. Accidents happen all the time on the battlefield and this was yet another one. Maybe it was the fact that they were all created by the Creators but the Speaker was not alone in this. The surviving Kin and Demons had begun the slow hard work of moving the dead to the Morningstar Maze. One good thing about having the battlefield so close to the Morningstar Maze was the fact that the clearance of the bodies would be an easy issue. There was no need for burials. All the dead would be fed to the Red Creator.

The Speaker was so lost in her thoughts that she missed the approach of one of the Crowman. Only when she felt the wind did she saw the flier who was landing beside her. Seeing the haunted look on the face of the Crowman, the Speaker was glad that the Alpha had rejected the requests of Momo and Moro to come south with them. The two young harpies had been adamant on coming south with the rest of them but the Alpha had rejected their appeals out of hand. Sometimes being over-protective was a good thing.

“Speaker, the Alpha and Fox Mother are requesting your presence near the statues. They are meeting the leaders of the Demons over there.”

The Speaker nodded and turned to the statues. She could a group of Kin and Demons over there and the Speaker noticed that her mate was among them. She began walking towards them, stepping over the casualties of the battle. Burned bodies, entrails, and body parts may be littering the ground but even among the carnage, there were several humans who were still alive. The injured Kin and Demons were the first to be healed but these humans would also survive. Demons were moving the surviving humans to a site just within the Morningstar Maze where several of the Foxkin were using their magic to keep them alive. There was no need for the Speaker to ask why the Red Creator wanted these humans alive. They would be blessed.

The Speaker walked past the battlefield towards the Demon Statues. They looked even worse up close but who was she to criticise the artistic sensibility of the Creators? The Speaker decided to ignore the statues and focused on the meeting. The group had seen her approach and the Speaker could see the Alpha, the Fox Mother along with one of the Foxkin. Also in attendance were three Demons though the Speaker only knew one of them in passing; the Demon trainer known as Hellmight. The moment she arrived, her mate immediately welcomed her…and got her suspicious.

“Ha! She’s here!” The Alpha said. “Welcome Prime!”

“What?” The Speaker blurted out the word before she knew what she was doing. Even prepared as she was, the welcome caught her out.

“We thought she was the leader but when she was here, she kept insisting she was not! And why is your leader called The Prime?” The demon who asked was a Spider demon and she was looking at the Kin in puzzlement.

“She’s shy.” The Alpha said. A reply that got him a dirty look from the Speaker.

The little Foxkin followed up. He was clearly speaking on behalf of the Fox Mother who couldn’t speak. “Yes! We literally had to force her to take the position. As for The Prime? Well, there are many groups among us. Werewolves, Bullmen, Foxkin, Ratlings, Harpies, and several others. Each group has a leader so we decided to go with the title of Prime; First among the leaders of the Kin!”

That little explanation got the three demons nodding in agreement and the Speaker’s eyes began to blink furiously as she realized the deep shit she was in. The leaders of the Kin must had discussed this beforehand and decided to select her to speak on their behalf with the Demons because none of them wanted the job. This stupid ‘Prime’ title must be something they came up with to placate the Demons. What’s worse was the fact that she couldn’t deny it without embarrassing the Kin, her mate, and the Creator. Doesn’t mean she wasn’t going to try though but just as she was about to speak, the ground shook. It was just a tremble, but everyone turned to look at entrance of the Morningstar Maze. The shaking had begun soon after the end of the battle. Demons still within the Morningstar Maze came out to report that the Creators were speaking to each other and from the shaking of the ground, they were not happy. Considering all the dead Kin from the battle, everyone believed they knew why the Creators were arguing.

They were all wrong.