"Fred, I have some news," Kumbanaka spoke up. It was the middle of the night.

　　"Sure, what`s up?"

　　"The army of Riversond is marching. It will arrive here in the morning."

　　"Okay. They aren`t going to awery?"

　　"Yes, A`wheriwe is not their target," Kumbanaka laughed. "The army will make camp on the east plain, and defend your town. I assume the soldiers and officers will enjoy the benefits of your town while they`re here."

　　"Well, what about the war? What about the.. the other army?"

　　"So far, the new king of A`wheriwe has gathered his army close to him. There appears to be no intent to march the A`wheriwe army anywhere. It`s possible that, after narrowly escaping an assassin, the new king is paranoid and seeks only safety."

　　"I guess that makes sense," Fred mused. "How big is the army? The one that`s coming?"

　　"Less than a thousand armed humans."

　　"Is that a lot? For an army?" Fred asked.

　　"It`s big for a small kingdom like Riversond. The A`wheriwe army is twice that size. But the demon army could be much larger."

　　"That`s just great," Fred snarked. "Does the Riversond army really want to be here when the demons come?"

　　"They go where they are told to go, and fight who they are told to fight. It`s the lot of a soldier. So, that`s my report. Please replace my token. Good night."

　　"Good night," Fred replied, and replaced the token as asked.

　　In the morning, Jim was with Fred as the Riversond army marched to the town. The blue-robed woman was there again to blow away the fog, which (Fred assumed) helped everyone know what was happening. Within an hour, the thousand-soldier army was on the east plains, just outside the Town Wall, and was setting up camp. A thousand soldiers seems like a lot, but the host didn`t even begin to fill up the plains, or camp near all of the hot stones and latrines. In fact, Fred realized that the east plains could easily host ten thousand soldiers. It was a big place, even with the stream running through the middle.

　　Fred couldn`t help noticing all the triangular banners, each yellow and red. Fred saw the King ride out of the East Gate (on horseback, though it wasn`t a long way from the town at all) and greet his army. Big shouts and huzzahs happened. Horns blew and sargents yelled. It was all quite a pageant, but the busy town had its own rhythm, and didn`t pay much attention.

　　"So many little humans, all fodder for the demon army," Martin proclaimed from the top of his tower.

　　"I don`t think the demon soldiers will be any bigger, right?" asked Fred.

　　"You`ve got a very big demon down in your cave, Fred," Martin responded. "The demon army will have many of those. And rams. And towers. And flyers. And armored beasts of many shapes and sizes. And, I`m certain, many, many more soldiers than this pathetic human army. They will be helpless."

　　While Fred and Martin conversed, Fred saw another sizable group of healed pilgrims leaving the town. There still seemed to be a great many pilgrims, though. He knew they had kept arriving over the last few days, and they were packed into the two white towers, now. There was also still a large pilgrim camp outside the east gate, but it wasn`t big enough to get in the way of the army. Fred assumed.

　　The rest of the day was about the army, because, although they could put up tents quickly, they still took the whole day to transform the field into an actual camp, with sections, and stables, and structure. Fred was certain the latrines and hot stones made the camp construction easier than it would have been. But he kinda thought the army acted with a careful slowness. Nothing was hurried, but things got done.

　　In the afternoon, there was another big bang at the Forest Temple, and another greasy smoke cloud. The wizards were still having trouble getting the teleporter working. Fred wondered if there was anything more he could do to help. "I guess I`ll ask Jim when night comes."This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

　　Jim wasn`t helpful. He stated that the humans didn`t need extra help, and pointed out all the benefits Fred had already given them. But that wasn`t what he really wanted to talk about.

　　Several demon armies are now on the march, and two of your peers have been directly attacked by these armies.

　　"Shit, where?" Fred asked anxiously.

　　All over the world. All seven demon gates are wide open, and the demon host has now fully crossed into Aeru. The two who`ve been attacked aren`t near you. But there will be more attacks. And I have to tell you, there`s a particularly large demon army that isn`t too far from here.

　　"How big?"

　　Twenty thousand demons, I believe. I get my information from you and the other Earth Spirits, plus a few other& assets. And you know where you get your information.

　　"And it`s coming here?"

　　It`s on the move. If you don`t get attacked first, then Michael or Virginia will. It`s too soon to tell.

　　"Oh," said Fred. He`s always thought about the demons attacking him. He`d never once considered what would happen if his closest Earth Spirit friends got attacked. This information was already scary. Now it was terrifying. He didn`t want his friends hurt; he`d rather the demons came to him. But that didn`t mean he felt ready for the fight.

　　"So, any new ideas? I mean, I can drop demons in holes. I know how to do that. But I`ve never made twenty thousand holes before."

　　You`ve done all the right things, Fred. I`m so proud of how much you`ve expanded, and how much you`ve learned. But remember to be creative. Remember your big hand. Remember that your creatures can help. When the demons come, I`ll be here at your side the whole time. Together, I know we`ll be able to do what it takes.

　　"Okay, if you say so. So, two Earth Spirits are being attacked by demon armies?"

　　One is, right now, a Spirit named Uamanth. He`s fighting for his life, right now.

　　"Why aren`t you with him?"

　　I am. I can`t be everywhere at once, but I can be several places at once. Trust me, I`m where I need to be right now. Uamanth has strong walls, and the army he faces is no more than five thousand demons, but it`s still very dangerous. I will update you about him later.

　　The other Spirit who was attacked is safe. The army that attacked her decided to break off and go elsewhere.

　　"Why?"

　　I wish we knew. I`ll tell you when I know more. Fred, I have to go now. I`ll see you in the morning.

　　"Okay, bye."

　　Fred looked around. The army was fully camped now. Bonfires had been set, and the camp seemed to be settling down. The night party in the town was just getting started, and Fred could hear the music.

　　The deep drums started, and Michael had things to say. His creatures were strong. His town was busy. His walls were tall. But he still worried. He`d never seen or fought a demon. For some reason he`d never found a demon infiltrator, so he didn`t know what they looked like or how to fight them.

　　Virginia replied with her drum. She had used her magic sight to find infiltrators. She`d dropped them into holes, and felt them explode. She said she had help from her metal dragon. She offered reassurance. She knew Michael could do it, too.

　　Fred replied next. He talked about killing infiltrators. He talked about how demon blood seemed to give him trouble with his control of the earth. He talked about the spell-casting weedy wizards that had troubled him in the past, and how their magic worked better when the wizards were working as a team. He talked about the Orichalcum sword, and how he`d copied it. He said he hoped they had the sword, too.

　　He knew that Jim had passed on all this information to them ages ago, but it felt good to try to say it for himself. He knew somebody with evil intent might be listening, but he also wanted to reassure his friends and share what he knew, and he worried that there might not be much more time to talk. So he disregarded those concerns and talked.

　　He talked about what Martin had said. That there would be big demons. And flyers. And demon beasts. But he also talked about spreading his domain out to have more sight and warning. And finally he talked about the value of digging holes quickly. That was all he could think of to say.

　　No more discussions happened that night.

　　In the middle of the night, Kumbanaka spoke up with news.

　　"The A`wheriwe army hasn`t moved. But there`s a great deal of talk about a demon army in the area. Not close enough to attack tomorrow, but perhaps in a week or two. Also, some of the pilgrims aren`t pilgrims."

　　"What do you mean?" asked Fred.

　　"I mean they are refugees. They seem to have left Hoffendaugn, because of fears that Hoffendaugn will be invaded soon. They predict many more such refugees in the coming days."

　　"Well, I suppose we have the space," Fred replied. Thinking that he had news he hadn`t shared, Fred reached out to Martin, too.

　　"I`m sorry it`s midnight. But I`ve been talking to Jim."

　　"I`m listening," Martin replied.

　　"Jim says that all seven demon gates are open, and lots of demon armies are marching around. And there`s one near here."

　　"How close? How many?" Kumbanaka said.

　　"Mebbe a week or so away. And twenty thousand."

　　"Did Jim tell you where that army is headed?"

　　"No, he said he didn`t know. But all the demon armies are heading for Earth Spirits. So me, or Michael, or Virginia. He doesn`t know yet."

　　"Well," said Martin. "Now we get down to it. Are you sure you won`t burrow deep and close all the entrances? It`s what your ancestors did."

　　"They aren`t my ancestors. They were old Earth Spirits, with a different mission. I know how to kill demons. I`m pretty sure I can kill a bunch of them."

　　"Can you kill twenty thousand?" Martin asked. "Before they get close enough to use their killing magic on you? Or their bombs?"

　　"I don`t know. But the humans can help," Fred said.

　　"The humans. Really. Have you trained them enough to kill twenty thousand demons? Because by my count there are nine hundred soldiers in that field, and another eleven hundred in the town. And that`s all the humans you have," Martin scolded. "And you can`t even count on them. Many will run away. Even humans are intelligent enough to do that."

　　"Look, even if I dug down deep and closed off everything, how many bombs would the demons need to reach me anyway?" retorted Fred. "They know I`m here. And I can`t leave. So I have to fight."

　　"And we will have to fight too," interjected Kumbanaka. "Even setting aside your coercing magic&"

　　"Which I don`t feel the need to do!" broke in Martin.

　　"We won`t sit in a hole and hope for the best," Kumbanaka continued. "It`s not who we are. None of your& residents& would rather hide than fight."

　　"I honestly wish you didn`t have to. I wish I didn`t have to. But you`ve seen the demons. What they do. What they want to do. Do I have a choice?"