After making that proclamation, Lucas was simply too exhausted to maintain his anger- or indeed, to stay awake. The mental burden and stress of being brought from the greatest moment of his life to a battle between humans and monsters, and then being injured in that fight, was simply more than he could bear. As the adrenaline faded the thinly cushioned seats felt more comfortable than Lucas would have ever imagined when the fatigue set in.

Before he knew it, he was dreaming. Disjointed nightmares plagued Lucas, however, and the sleep could hardly be called restful. Still, it was not until he heard the sound of horns that he woke up and saw the fortress gate bathed in the late afternoon sun.

The gates opened and the thudding of the horse’s hooves against the grassland changed to the clip-clop of them striking cobblestone and the shaking of the carriage became rattling as they passed under and through the gate. Lucas moved to rub his eyes and winced because he forgot about his injury. He had hoped that this whole affair had just been one of the nightmares, but he had no such luck. Fatigued and worn out in many ways, all he could do was to ask his traveling companions- Lucas’s abductors, if he was feeling less charitable- where he was now.

“The aptly named fortress-town of Northgate,” Archi deVon Versi replied, speaking instead of Terrasin. “The northernmost permanent settlement of Francea and part of my father’s territory. It will feel so good to be back behind our walls tonight.”

That last bit had very little to do with Lucas’s question, but Archi had said it with such relief in her voice that he found it hard to be annoyed. In fact, as his mind recovered from its sluggishness his sleep had brought, he realised that he wholeheartedly agreed with her sentiment. He too, would like to have walls between himself and those monsters. In fact, he thought it would be far preferable if they could add a few hundred miles as well. Lucas was not certain how fast they had been moving, but it couldn’t have been more than ten miles an hour. If the time had been the same between worlds it would have been roughly noon when he got into the carriage and it was dusk now.

So somewhere between six and ten hours depending on the season? Presuming this place had seasons like Earth, of course. Tangent aside, if Lucas estimated a top speed of ten miles per hour, a low of five, and then did the math…

Thirty to one hundred miles worth of travel. Probably it was somewhere in between those, and probably closer to thirty than not. Which basically meant those monsters could be at this fort by morning.

While Lucas was considering that unpleasant thought, the carriage rolled up in front of a structure that could best be described as a medieval keep- and it was a rather stark example of the architecture at that. The bare stone lacked any decoration and would have been little more than an ugly chunk of grey stone if not for the odd claw marks by the main entry that they were in front of. Something that made Lucas’s quiet pessimism feel rather validated. After all, those marks were proof that those creatures had made it past the first gate before. Still, when the keep’s door opened and a worried looking older man rushed out Lucas comforted himself with the knowledge that it apparently had been held by humans despite an obvious attempt to take it.

Archi was the one to leave the carriage first, and the relief on the man’s face rivaled Archi’s own. The man bowed, which despite everything had an air of absurd comedy about it to Lucas, as the man was short, somewhat fat, lacked any hair on his head save for his magnificent moustache and all of this clashed horribly with his outfit. Even the legendarily fashion impaired Lucas could tell that the man’s stature did not allow him to wear that much lace frills without looking like an idiot.

“Lady Versi!” He called as he straightened, wiping the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. “Thank the gods you are back! When I heard you had left to the North I had no idea how I would face the Duke if you did not come back. I have already sent a messenger to your father- I had it sent just as soon as your outriders confirmed you were coming back.”

“It is good to be back Colonel Hamon,” Archi replied easily, yet formally. “Although I very much wish you had waited to send a messenger until we had spoken. After all, despite my Lord Father’s disapproval of the venture, Her Highness Almistraus succeeded. The risk we took was worth it, and the sacrifices made were not in vain.”

“Succeeded? But you left to-” the Colonel’s eyes widened as Lucas half stumbled out of the carriage, taking in his odd clothes and the translation device in his ear. With a gasp, Colonel Hamon took a step back and then took a knee. “Lord Hero! Forgive me, I did not realise…”

Either because they figured out who, or rather what, Lucas was from the flow of the conversation or just simply taking their cues from their superior officer, the soldiers and guards nearby also kneeled towards Lucas. The area- a bailey, Lucas supposed given the context and then wondered why he knew that- became suddenly silent. The only sounds were the wind and the very much muted sounds of the town beyond the keep itself. For Lucas, who was more than half distracted, the entire affair was both surprising and exceedingly awkward.

“Stand up, please.” Lucas hurriedly spoke out, his voice carrying far in the sudden silence. “And I would rather you not call me that, if you would- just call me Lucas.”

“I could never do that Lord Hero! For an august presence such as yourself to even speak to me is an incredible honor!”

Lucas, given his current state, had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. Thankfully, Terrasin seemed to anticipate this and discreetly indicated to Archi that she should intervene. Lucas did not notice this- wouldn’t have even if he had been looking at the princess instead of blankly staring at the Colonel- but Archi was well trained in the subtle nonverbal cues used by nobility and stepped in.

“Making full introductions and paying respects can wait,” she said to the still kneeling man. “The Hero- Lord Jaeger- was injured defending Her Highness. He very much needs rest, if a guest room could be provided?”

Lucas very much appreciated the assist, he was honestly having trouble keeping his thoughts in order at this moment. In fact, he had paid more attention to the fact Archi had remembered his last name despite him only saying it once. Lucas was rather impressed; he never would remembered if he had been in her place.

He did not really remember being guided to a bedchamber, Lucas more or less just found himself in a bed. He did not really worry about that, he was more just annoyed that he could not sleep on his side with his wound and then he was asleep.

**Terrasin deVon Almistraus**

Unlike his foppish and foolish appearance, Colonel Hamon was anything but funny when preparing for battle. A short and pudgy ball of lace with a shiny head and a moustache, roaring orders like a stereotypical no-nonsense commander was a spectacle in itself. Unfortunately, it was not one Terrasin could take the time to enjoy.

Indeed, every face she could see was serious. It was a warranted reaction to be sure, the Demons might have difficulty with cohesion but they certainly would not let their loss go so easily. It was almost a certainty that the fort would be under siege before morning. Terrasin would have prefered to push on, but travelling through the Low Goldengrass Island at night was ill advised.

As the Colonel prepared for the inevitable battle, Terrasin and the other nobles conferred and with Sir Forus planned for the next leg of their journey. The final one before true safety and fully human controlled territory and the city of Lyus.

“Much as I hate to suggest it given that the Lord Hero is injured,” the knight was saying with a grim expression. “We should consider ditching the carriage altogether and travelling on horseback. We had to run the horses ragged to get here before sundown; we would not be able to make it from waystation to waystation without a stop in between at that rate.”

Low Goldengrass was a very large island and a strategically vital nightmare for the Francea Kingdom and more specifically for the Are-Versi Dukedom witch administered the area. The front lines were further north and forts held all the key points on islands that had skyriver access to Low Goldengrass, but the northern edge was a Drift Region.

It was a rare natural feature, so rare that most civilians- even most nobles outside of Francea- were not aware of their existence. The islands never moved, fixed in the sky by the will of the Gods. However, in Drift Regions, the islands moved. Leaving aside the records of the Northern lands lost to the Demons, there were only two other Drifts beside the Goldengrass Drift and neither of them bordered Demon controlled land.

The Drift Region islands never crashed into each other, and every indication seemed to be that they moved in a very specific pattern, but no one could figure out what it was. Anecdotal observations from the nearby garrisons suggested that the pattern repeated itself every three years. The issue was that there were many varieties of Demons capable of jumping onto those islands when they moved close enough, so even if the forts could hold the skyrivers the Low Goldengrass Island could never be free of Demons.

Thankfully, there was only one way off the island and into the deeper parts of human territory and that was through its connection to High Goldengrass Island. A connection that the city of Lyus had been built upon. Past Lyus- and the border cities like it- Demons could be considered rare.

Terrasin shook herself out of her pessimistic slump. It wasn’t like her, especially not after a success- and this latest one was certainly the greatest one accomplished in the past couple of millennia. Low Goldengrass was relatively safe and developed. There were waystations and roads connecting them which were patrolled regularly. Not to mention the near constant flow of troops heading to the front. Nevertheless…

“I agree,” She very much agreed with her father’s knight in this case. “We absolutely cannot risk travelling that slowly, it would take us ten days just to reach Lyus’s Outer Wall. We wouldn’t make it to Lyus proper until the eleventh day, it would be nearly two weeks on the road.”

“First question should be, can the Lord Hero ride?” Lord Moru was fiddling with his hair in thought as he spoke. “It is a rare skill, after all, and the second question might be the most important; if we only take riders, can we face an ambush if we must? Low Goldengrass is hardly a dangerous region compared to other places along the border, if we gather enough troops we will be unstoppable by any force the Demons can field there.”

“But can we gather that many forces?” It was Lady Versi who asked this, checking a report on the fort’s resources. “Northgate has a standard complement of soldiers, but there has never really been a need to station troops here in large amounts. Large Demons can’t take the skyriver from Uri to here, nor can they move smaller ones in any great quantity; with an attack and perhaps a siege coming, can they afford us taking soldiers with us?”

A few paladins and a mage or two would also work, but no one even thought of suggesting that. They were the keystone of any human force, after all. Humans were far more coordinated than their enemies, but sheer power, ferocity, and numbers that fought them overwhelmed that coordination until paladins had been introduced by The Speaker and they had held even until The Sorceress had improved human magic to be able to compete. Now that they had some coordination under the Demon King, the Demons would absolutely annihilate any human force that lacked paladins and mages. Of course, that applied to Terrasin’s group too.

“We would be fragile,” Sir Forus gave his opinion on Lord Moru’s idea. “If some of our forces make it back here on foot, it might be a different story- but every hour that passes makes that unlikely.”

“My apologies for interrupting, my Lord and Ladies.” The Colonel had come over to them, “but I could not help but overhear. If you will forgive my impertinence, I very much agree with Lord Moru on this issue and would be honored to provide whatever forces you need to guarantee your party’s arrival at Lysus.”

“Colonel Hamon, it would be a strategic mistake to risk Northgate.” The knight frowned heavily as he considered it, “with the proper garrison, Northgate is nigh impregnable. Given the terrain advantages Northgate possess and the facilities placed here it could be called the linchpin of the defences in this region. You know this.”

“Indeed, I do,” Hamon sighed, stroking his moustache. “If the front holds, our smithies and workshops are the closest to the front lines and ensure there are always at least some supplies. If the front breaks, Northgate’s height advantage makes taking it from behind difficult and allows us to flank the Demons and help push them from Goldengrass.”

The hard glint in the man’s eye did not fit well with his lace, but with eyes filled with determination like his, few would pay attention to the lace at all. His next words were filled with the steel of that determination, and perhaps, Terrasin thought, more than a little bit of madness.

“But there is a Hero upstairs,” the officer continued. “The game has changed, and Low Goldengrass might be a reasonable price to pay for him reaching Lysus.”

Sir Carsin Forus snapped back at the Colonel, meeting the soldier’s steel with his own, “I may not be a subject of Francea, but gambling the front on that man is madness! The exaggerated fairy tales we have passed down are hardly historical records- most of those were lost a thousand or more years ago! The man upstairs hardly seems Heroic to me, and so far he has displayed nothing but his ability to run and swear- and he is not even good at those!”

Terrasin had expected this to happen eventually, but it seems that the Colonel’s words caused it to happen sooner than she thought. As the others reacted with outrage, she acted to smooth over his words. After all, her family had the most complete records of the ancient Heroes, and she knew very well that they had been human and had human failings. But they transcended those flaws. The virtues they possessed outshined their weaknesses to an incredible degree, but perhaps most importantly, the myth of their near infallibility would provide much needed moral for human forces. Despair can break armies as surely as a sword or claw, and Lucas Jaeger was an antidote to that poison. Of course, she also believed more of those Heroic Tales than was perhaps wise, but who was to say they were wrong? Even the Almistraus line did not have complete records, simply the most complete that anyone had.

“It is understandable that you feel this way now,” Terrasin spoke firmly, very much believing what she was about to say. “The legends don't include the information contained within my family’s records- disorientation upon summoning is normal. In fact, Lord Jaeger is doing phenomenally well; none of the other Heroes were summoned into a battlefield, they were welcomed by the City of Uri when they arrived. Despite that, he saved my life even when his predecessors were nearly incapacitated. He. Is. A. Hero. And I will hear no more of this from you.”

“However Colonel,” Terrasin turned to Hamon and shot him down as well. “We cannot be so careless with the front. Francea has the most connections to the Demon’s lands, and has the largest section of the front behind which lies the most fertile farmland in all of human held lands. Losing Northgate could very well lead to a siege on Over Lysus and there is no question that Under Lysus would be lost. And to be very blunt, we need Under Lysus- and more specifically, its expansion project- to succeed.”

Terrasin would not say more on the subject, Colonel Hamon was simply not important enough to be on the list of people who need-to-know. The truth was that hunger killed almost as many as the Demons. There was not enough food, not enough people to work the fields, and what was lost to waste and corruption exacerbated the problem. It wasn’t just food either. Exact numbers were hard to find, but mine output was falling and the number of smiths was falling as well, so the price of worked metal was going up. Similarly, the prices of wood, stone, cloth, alcohol, meat, and wax were increasing.

The history of the last eight hundred years was of the slow decline of human production precipitating sudden, violent, loss of territory as the cost of supporting the forces needed to hold that larger territory exceeded what humanity could afford. An unstoppable decay that was hidden by the noble families because the knowledge itself would drive most people either to despair or desperation, and neither could be afforded if humanity was to survive.