Back in Aspheri - Open - (Gabriel)

Be'lakor smiled as Shadow flinched against the pain. "Your good at hiding your pain, a useful skill, especially in a fight." Be'lakor gave her credit for it, as he stabbed the dagger into the wall. Be'lakor pointed down the hall, and the furies swarmed where he had designated them to go, after the prince.

Shadow stood up straight again, one hand over the wound, applying pressure to try and help stench the bleeding. She looked at Be'lakor.
"Thank you," She said, "For helping me."

"It is no problem, but Merthras is going to war. We shall need to prepare." Be'lakor answered the princess, as his Daemon Blade sheathed itself. Be'lakor's wings made a large audible snap as they retreated back into his body. Be'lakor grunted in pain as the bones that he had formed in his wings snapped. Wings hurt.

Shadow nodded, placing a hand on Be'lakor's arm and teleporting the pair of them back to Aspheri, appearing in the throne room of the palace. The demoness was greeted amlost immediately by her two wolf guards. She sat down on her throne, pulling a needle and thread from a small box and quickly stitching up the wound to her side, her eyes narrowed in the effort of trying not to flinch.

Be'lakor stood there, leaning against the wall behind the throne, so that the shadow the throne cast concealed him. "Your people do not know of me, i prefer to keep it that way for now, if you don't mind, Princess." Be'lakor spoke. He was still going to fulfill his job, he had sworn to protect Shadow, and that was something he was going to do. He had powers he did not wish to show, at least until they were greatly needed, so he was going to lay it low.
"Get all your people into the castle. I will prepare your gaurds." Be'lakor spoke again, now standing in the window.

Shadow nodded once before murmuring something to one of her wolf guards. The canine woofed once and bounded off. Shadow readjusted her circlet before looking towards Be'lakor.
"I'm appointing you the primary advisor for this battle, should you wish the position," She said, her vioelt gaze fixed on him.

"I accept your offer, Princess. I have a few ideas. We get all the people in this castle. And defend it, we need all your gaurds here. Assemble a team of your best soldiers, i will take them on a little...assassination mission. Bloodletters and Chaos Warriors shall be here to help defend the castle." Be'lakor started talking as he started to draw on a map, showing where certain soldiers would go, and where the Bloodletters and Warriors would be positioned.

Wraith and Phantom, the princess' two wolf guards, loped back into the room, followed by two warriors that seemed to be built like mountains in full armour and weapons and two rather confused looking messenger. The two warriors bowed in synchronisation, throwing slightly wary looks at Be'lakor. The messengers also bowed, fumbling slightly. Shadow addressed the messenger first.
"Loren, you will travel to the dimension of Earth and alert the Roth-Mercian clan that their sister requires their aid for an upcoming battle."
The messenger bowed again before teleporting away. The princess then spoke to the other messenger.
"You will assemble the guard unit and have them report to me."
As the second messenger disappeared, she turned to the two warriors.
"You will work with Primary Advisor Be'lakor to create strategies and then relate them to your men."
The two soldiers glanced at the daemon prince before looking back at Shadow.
"My lady," One said, "We know nothing of this being,"
"You will work with him," Shadow repeated.

Be'lakor put his hand out to shake hands with the two warriors. "We better get to know each other, we have a war to win." Be'lakor announced as he started marking a chart. "Could we possibly get a table in here, Princess?" Be'lakor asked, holding a pencil in his hand, ready to start mapping positions.

The two warriors still regarded the daemon prince warily, as if expecting him to attack at any moment. One of the warriors, with a bow slung over his shoulders and a quiver on his belt spoke.
"I am Captain Traem of the archer's division, and this is Captain Marcus of the Swordsman division." He said to introduce the two of them.
Shadow nodded once, using her magic to clear the table next to her and then to move it towards Be'lakor.

Be'lakor smiled at both of the soldiers, as he started to draw on the chart he had in his hand. He drew a map of the village, with he castle showing. "I want all of the citizens in the castle..." Be'lakor started to say, as he drew circles on certain parts of the map. "Archers in the towers of the castle, where they will be most effective..." Be'lakor drew arrows in circles he had drawn on parts of the castle, to symbolize the archers. "Swordsmen scattered in ambush positions throughout the village..." Be'lakor drew circles on the village with little swords in the centre. "My chaos warriors will be at the gate waiting to meet the opposing force." Be'lakor finished as he drew a large square with a hammer in it at the gate of the village. "Furies will fill the skies, raining death on our foes." Be'lakor stated, not drawing anything on the map. "What do you think?"

The two captains cast critical eyes over the plans for the defense. Captain Marcus pointed to a small section of wall leading off the throne room they currently stood in.
"This is a passage constructed to allow the escape of the current ruler. It would be wise to post a few warriors to guard this. Also, we have other regiments that may come in useful."
"Notably the pegusi division, captained by Princess Shadow." Captain Traem informed the Daemon Prince.

"I have a near limitless supply of Daemons to place where they are needed, i could cover every square metre of Aspheri with them if needed." Be'lakor stated as he posted the Pegusi (noted by a wing in a circle) in the tunnel, and around Shadow. Be'lakor also included a patrol of Chaos Warriors in the tunnel as well. "I have means of taking them out should it come to it. Aspheri is at no danger this day."

The two captains nodded, scanning the map for any other weak points that weren't already protected. Shadow got to her feet, beginning to pace. Her dress brushed lightly over the stone floor, her boots moving otherwise silently. The thoughts of battle were starting to get to her.

One of the messengers arrived back, bringing three other demons in tow. One violet haired female and two silver haired males. Shadow smiled behind her mask, hugging the female tightly.
"Thank the Goddess that you didn't turn your backs on me this time Rae," The princess said, letting go of her sister.

Be'lakor looked at the three demons, and decided the correct reaction would be a smile. Be'lakor smiled at them, before speaking. "Who might you lot be then?" Be'lakor asked in a kind and friendly voice, before he continued plotting soldiers onto different areas on the chart. Be'lakor placed Bloodletters at the east wall, and started to place various daemons out into the wilderness.

Shadow looked at Be'lakor, calming her emotions quickly.
"Be'lakor, these are my twin, Raven, and by two half brothers Shaeman and Vrael. All three are formidible warriors." She said before turning to her siblings, "This is my Primary Advisor, Be'lakor."

The three other demons regarded the Daemon Prince with varying airs of distrust and wariness. The female demon, Raven, who carried a two handed blade at her side, didn't seem to like the look of Be'lakor, whereas Vrael, with a bow across his shoulders and a quiver at his side, seemed to be neutral towards him.

Be'lakor smirked at the three demons, Vrael, Raven and Shaeman. "Greetings. Shadow, do you not have a Kraferr friend whom could help us?" Be'lakor asked, as he put his head down and continued to draw on the chart. He didn't seem to be paying much attention, but in reality he was more then sharp.

Shadow glanced sharply at Be'lakor. She frowned behind her mask.
"How do you know about the Kraferrs?" She asked, her tone slightly sharp. She knew Kraferrs quite well. They had been her family after her little incident involving a prophecy and being exiled from her family.

"I have true sight. I saw him in my last visit to Aspheri." Be'lakor answered, without taking his head up from the chart he was drawing on. He continued placing various soldiers throughout Aspheri to where he deemed would be good strategic positions.

Shadow nodded once, but was not completely convinced. She felt that she owed the last two Kraferrs in existence her loyalty, to help them after they had helped her. However, she put her wariness to the back of her mind and took a deep breath.
"Be'lakor, why do you want to know about Bart Kraferr?"

"He may help us in this war." Be'lakor answered, looking up at Shadow, he smiled at her, and at her siblings. He put down the pencil and walked over to the demons known as Vrael, Shaeman and Raven. He put his hand out to shake theirs, a formal greeting.

Raven strode over to the maps, casting a critical glance over them as her brothers joined her. They discussed in low tones what had been planned on the map while Shadow turned to Be'lakor.
"I don't know if he'll come and help. I haven't spoken to him for a while." She said quietly, moving to sit on her throne again.

Be'lakor just smiled at Shadow reassuringly, listening in on Raven, Shaeman and Vraels conversation. He knew the plan was for nothing, as he could crush the army by simply overwhelming them, but he didn't want Shadow or her siblings to see what he could do, lest they become frightened of him.

The three demons sat back, satisfied with the plan. Raven looked up at Shadow briefly to ask:
"Will you be leading the pegusi unit, or do you want Shaeman to do it?"
Shadow snorted softly. "I'll lead them, as usual, Raven."

Be'lakor stifled a laugh at the sibling rivalry that was taking place before him. He looked towards the three siblings, and narrowed his eyes. "Show me your talents..." Be'lakor ordered, his voice was not assertive or authoritive, but more questioning. "Then i may decide where you shall all be placed."