text: Demons are a lot faster than the undead and you're wounded, no way are you going to be able to outrun them. You turn around and draw your bow, trying to ignore your pain which is overriding any fear you have at this point. Your weakened state is causing you to have a hard time aiming.
  
  "Uh oh, better be careful, looks like this one is going to put up a fight. I'd say by his uniform that he's a soldier."
  "Hur hur. Good. Hey human, better stop wobbling if you're going to aim that thing properly."
  
  You miss the demon completely.
  
  "Hah! You want me to walk slower human?"
  "You sure you should be playing with him like that? Don't you remember what happened earlier today?"
  "Shut up! I told ya, that bitch musta had some magical powers because... OW!"
  
  You hit the demon in the chest, but it doesn't seem much damage. He pulls out the arrow and now begins to quicken his pace. The other demon starts to walk towards you as well.
  
  "See, I told you to pay attention."
  "Bah! If this is the extent of what his little pig sticker can do, I'm not concerned. Hey human, don't you know they're doing great things with gunpower these days? RAAAAGH!"
  
  The big demon suddenly charges you, and you let your arrow fly. Right in the eye.
  
  "Perfect." You whisper.
  
  The demon bellows, but it doesn't slow him down. You narrowly dodge his charge. You roll on the ground and shoot two more arrows in his back. He turns around snarling and bellowing for your blood. More arrows fly into the creature, but at last the demon has reached you and smacks you to the ground. Your bow flies from your hand, and while crawling on the ground you try to draw your sword, but a crushing blow hits you on the back. This might've caused a lot more damage, but miraculously the lute that's still in your pack "softens" the blow. The crunching of wood signifies that it's broken though.
  
  "What the fuck, that's a weird noise... what is this? HA HA HA! Hey! You gotta be shittin' me! A fuckin' lute? Check this out! He's carrying a fuckin' lute! What's a fucking soldier doin' with a lute?" the big demon shouts to his acquaintance while he holds up your broken instrument.
  "Don't talk you idiot! LOOK OUT!" his acquaintance shouts, just as you recover long enough to shove your sword straight into the demon's groin. You push the sword upward in an attempt to do more damage and you succeed. Blood is flying everywhere and the demon howls in pain from the grievous wound. You pull your sword out and then proceed to repeatedly stab the demon until it falls backwards on the ground, dead.
  
  You're exhausted; you used all your remaining strength killing the thing. Unfortunately the other demon grabs you by the scruff like a helpless kitten and lifts you up off the ground a few inches. He knocks your sword out of your hand and looks at his fallen comrade.
  "Hmm, can't say I didn't warn him. Oh well, more meat for me. This may hurt a lot... "
  
  Fully expecting the death that you've managed to avoid for so long, you once again evade it when a gunshot rings out and part of the demon's head splatters in your face. You're dropped immediately. The demon's body is still standing though.
  
  "Shoot the bastard again!" you hear a gruff voice shout and this time the next shot hits chest and the demon falls.
  
  You lay motionless on the ground, looking up in the sky when your saviors come up to you. It's a group of dwarves armed with gun powder weapons.
  
  "By the gods, get doc out here! We need to fix this man up! Hey lad, you'll be alright, don't worry... are you a Zalan soldier?" one of the dwarves asks you.
  "... yeah... Nuro... lost... all dead... " is all you utter before fall into unconsciousness.
  
  A few days pass before you're somewhat back to a coherent state. You find yourself in a military outpost and at this point you don't care. You're just happy to be alive.
  
  It would seem that during your escape from Nuro, you ran in the direction of the Tulan Kingdom, the dwarven scouts that found you were from a small neutral kingdom trying its best to stay out of the dispute between Tulan and Zalan, but the new threat of demons running all over the nearby countryside caused them to increase patrols. They fixed you up, but dropped you off at the closest Zalan Fort. The Zalan fort that you're in right now is called Virtue and it's on the Tulan border. It seems relatively calm though. Not at all what you thought it would be.
  
  When one of the healers comes in to check on you, you begin to ask questions which she tries to answer to get you up to speed.
  
  The Tulan Kingdom is currently under attack from the demons now. They've been assaulting the place and even gaining help from some of the evil populace there. The demon citizens there have reverted back to their "bad behavior" and thrown their lot in with the invaders as well. That doesn't surprise you. The Tulan Kingdom pulled back some of their military from the borders so the fighting hasn't been as bad and Zalan's made a little more progress during this time, but the military minds are being cautious not to over extend. There is extreme concern over the recent demon invasion, not to mention the incident at Nuro. Word has already spread about the unsuccessful siege there.
  
  The healer also tells you that a few Zalan "high ups" are eager to speak to you soon, as they want to know what exactly happened at Nuro. You're somewhat of an important survivor since as far as anyone knows; you were the only one to successfully escape that killing zone. There's also talk of a "Grand Alliance" being created to counter these new threats.
  
  While the healer talks you end up drifting back to sleep wishing you could just escape it all.
  
  One year passes... 
  
  You're still at Fort Virtue and it doesn't look like you'll be leaving the army anytime soon.
  
  You couldn't have been more wrong on your belief that you'd get executed for cowardice. You got promoted to sergeant instead, which in light of the current situation, is nearly the same thing.
  
  Your promotion came after several Zalan officers spoke to you about Nuro. You even got a medal.
  
  Stories and rumors creep around about how against all odds you survived an undead onslaught and fought off a bunch of demons as well. Your past "reputation" from your time in Retlad is exaggerated as well. It doesn't help that the citizens there remember you and are all willing to add to the exaggeration.
  
  All of these stories have been woven together in such an elaborate way to make you seem like some kind of hero most likely for propaganda purposes. And you know you're not hero. In fact you try to explain you aren't a hero to people, but they think you're just being modest, eventually you give up.
  
  Your assignment at Virtue hasn't been uneventful. There's fighting, but now it's mainly demon commanded enemies rather than Tulan ones. Some demon lord called Velzix killed the royalty there, completely conquered the area and made it his realm. The border war continues under new management except now it's more than just a border that the enemy is looking to take. Your superior, Captain Eckard reminds you of Valhlat except with a different name. You suppose there is a certain "cookie cutter" that occurs within the Zalan army that causes people to act the same. You've briefly wondered if you ever make that rank, you'll act the same way. You then usually laugh at the very fact that you ever would.
  
  Fort Virtue hasn't suffered a really bad attack yet, and it's mostly skirmishes, but it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop. You routinely go on patrols and give orders which you didn't think you'd be good at, but you think back to how you used to order your brothers and sisters around and perhaps you always had a bit a leadership skill, you just didn't want it.
  
  You thought that you'd be able to at least visit your family, but of course due to recent events, you're ordered to stay put. Your family at least is getting more money from your pay increase. They even send a new lute for you after you told them of the unfortunate event that resulted in the destruction of your last one. This gives you a little pleasure in a relatively joyless assignment.
  
  All in all, you still prefer it compared to being in the unsuccessful assaults on Nuro. The Grand Alliance that was formed hasn't been too successful as every one has been a slaughter from what you've heard. You already went through that once. You don't relish the idea of going through it again.
  
  One day while you're spending your free time practicing a new song, some new soldiers come into the fort. They look like they've just seen a vicious battle and are here to restock. One of them sees you and gives you a disapproving look. It's a woman with striking good looks, but definitely carrying an air of leadership about her. Her rank signifies her as a captain... yep same cookie cutter, just a little prettier.
  
  "You there! What are you doing playing an instrument? Shouldn't you be on watch or doing something more constructive with your time soldier? And you're a sergeant? You should know better!"
  "I'm not on watch duty right now and... "
  
  The woman doesn't even let you finish your explanation. Other soldiers that were sitting in your area are now slowly creeping out of the fray. Even her own soldiers are creeping away. They probably know all too well of how she acts.
  
  "So? You think evil is going to wait around for you to be ready for battle? Where is your superior officer? I can't believe they would allow such a relaxed attitude around here considering the importance of this fort! If you were serving under me, I'd have you flogged for your lack of discipline!"
  > letters to home (Thanks for the lute!)
  Dear Mom
  
  Thanks for the lute! I received it just a few days ago. It plays very well, its even better than the one I lost. It's certainly made what little free time I have at least tolerable now.
  
  I really wish I could get a chance to visit you guys though. I thought I would've been able to by now, but I suppose given the current situation, nobody's getting any kind of leave for quite some time.
  
  I'm sure you've also heard all about how I'm supposed to be some kind of hero after surviving the failed attack on Nuro, but I don't see how. I mean I guess praise is better than being insulted, but at this point I feel like a fraud. Like I'm getting too much credit for something that was pure luck in the first place.
  
  I dunno, I know you and the rest of the family are proud of me so that's all that really matters. I'm just trying to keep all this in perspective. You and Dad always told me not to get a big head about things. At least they raised my pay so I can send you guys more money. That's why I joined the first place after all.
  
  This new rank gives me a few more responsibilities, but I can handle it. So far this assignment hasn't been too bad. Demons aren't a picnic to fight though and I'm dreading the day when they start attacking in a more organized manner.
  
  Until then, I'll just be enjoying your gift when I can.
  
  Give my love to the rest of the family.
  
  Your son