Kaden limped in to the encampment on the sore hip that led him in hitting the ground. The wall was slightly sloped from top to bottom, and Kaden had rolled most of the way down to the Lower Ring. But it was not a smooth descent, and he still hit bottom with a mighty thud.

It wasn't the muscles on the left side of his body, the side that had struck the unforgiving ground first, that hurt the most. No. The impact had shoved the tubing of Kaden's breastplate deep into his chest and his heart felt as though he'd been stabbed by a Koronai once again.

He struggled to hide his injuries from the fall. The haggard and exhausted Royal Guards who had survived first contact with the invading demon hordes did not need to see him injured. So he forced the pain down and swaggered in.

He needed to get the split open armor he wore off, and was already unstrapping it.

"Karo Shar!"

His title was called out by Sahkar Bul as Kaden stripped his useless breastplate away. In so doing, it finally tore the rest of the way into two completely separate pieces. It clattered on the ground like the garbage it now was and exposed the wound on his chest to the night and the eyes of all who were present.

Sahkar Bul rushed to him, perhaps thinking Kaden needed assistance.

But the Karo Shar knew better than to show any weakness before the men. Instead, he took an unshakable grip on the Captain's forearm, clamping down and greeting him with a manly firmness that was reciprocated in kind.

"You're injured," he said to Kaden noticing a trickle of reddish fluid from the gap in his chest. "We can get you to the physician immediately."

All this exchange occurred between them while the troops cheered his arrival. There were even chants of "Demon Heart". The name was starting to migrate from just used by the peasants to the members of Ison's military as well.

"I'm fine," Kaden snarled in annoyance. "Do not question my health. I am the prince's right hand, after all." But at the same time Kaden knew that Sahkar Bul was not attempting to make the Karo Shar look weak. He pulled the Captain close to whisper, "But Princess Lyla is out there. We have to help her."

"I know," Sahkar Bul whispered back. "Don't worry, she can take care of herself." Then he backed up and said more loudly, "What news do you bring us from the Upper Ring?"

Kaden straightened. "I killed as many of those foul demons as I could, but there were too many. And I never got any reinforcements."

Sahkar Bul nodded. "Aye. The palace was under attack as well. The northeastern wing, the area above the Gap, has been demolished by demons flooding out of there. The prince was indisposed, as were many of our troops. I am sure, if he could have, I am sure he would enjoyed fighting by your side in glory."

"I figured that. What's the situation down here?"

Sahkar Bul ushered the Karo Shar towards a table with maps laid out and marked as to the status of the battle. We've secured eighty percent of the Lower Ring. And we found one of the Old Ways the Koronai opened up. The battle is ongoing there. We're beating them back, slowly, and preparing to collapse it. However, we suspect there is a second one. Somewhere here." He pointed to another part of the map. "We're still hunting for it."

"I need men to fight with me in the Upper Ring," Kaden announced. "We cannot assume the battle at the palace will be easy, and that the prince will be able to assist."

"The men I have," Sahkar Bul pleaded, "are injured, exhausted, or engaged in ongoing battles. To pull them away would risk the security of the Lower Ring."

Kaden chewed on his lower lip. The statement denying his request was bordering on insulting. But he understood the strategy. Letting the Lower Ring get out of hand by drawing troops away would be a dangerous gambit. And Kaden had to trust Sahkar Bul's assessment.

"If I must, I'll go back in by myself." Kaden's bold pronouncement hushed all other conversation.

"You cannot, Karo Shar. I do not mean to offend you," Sahkar Bul added. "You are the greatest warrior in all of Ison, other than the prince himself. But even for you, such a task would be suicide. They've already driven you out once."

"Someone must go. If only to buy the prince time to secure the palace and fight the battle outside of those walls." The other men nearby snapped to attention and began shouting that they would go with him. With a hand, Kaden silenced them. "No. Sahkar Bul is right. The Lower Ring must be secured first. So secure it, seal the Old Ways, and then join me." Then he added with a smile. "Although I cannot promise that I will have left any demons for you unless you hurry."

The men, even if they had been tired or injured, prepared hastily for battle as Kaden challenged them.

Sahkar Bul laughed at him. "You certainly know how to motivate these men, Karo Shar." Then he pointed out the obvious. "Will you fight Koronai with no armor?"

"I have armor," Kaden corrected. "My old breastplate is at my father's shop. I just need to get there."

"How bad is it really up there?"

"Bad. Very bad. I didn't even know there were this many demons in the Abyss."

"It's almost like the old myths of demons springing from the ground where the ichor of their wicked kin falls breeds more. I swear to you, I will bring you men sooner than you think. Now go." The captain's voice got soft for his next words. "Find your wife. She will need you."

"I have every intention to."

* * *

"By luck!" Sahl exclaimed.

Kaden stumbled down the stairs from the roof, his left arm limp. The flesh torn and bleeding, his friend and master slumped the final few stairs in to a heap of exhaustion.

"Please tell me whatever did this to you isn't right behind you," his friend begged.

"No," Kaden replied with a weakness unbecoming a warrior. "I took them out." His body was still fueled by the essences he had previously taken, but his wounds drained his strength and resolve.

Demons roared outside, but in the distance, seeming to back up Kaden's statement that there was no immediate threat.

"Where is your armor?" Sahl asked, noting Kaden was distinctly not dressed for battle and only in his urk.

"Didn't last very long." The Karo Shar used his Rohs Fang as a crutch to help him stand as Sahl also assisted.

"So I heard."

That was when Kaden noticed his wife, the princess, hovering among the stills pumping out their colorful rainbows of precious essences.

"Figured you'd come here," she said. "Although I expected you sooner."

She remained dressed as a warrioress, and Kaden was thankful he hadn't been able to procure any men to assist him. Lest they see her like that. "The streets are overrun," he reminded her. "But I thinned the herd a little."

"No, I thinned them for you," she countered with a not so subtle put down.

"Is this always going to be a competition with you?" he snapped back, unamused. "Always trying to reinforce you're better than me?"

"Until you learn that lesson? Yes."

"When it comes to prick waving contests," Sahl said, "she's got you beat."

At that, the princess laughed. "My prick is indeed huge," she followed up with more ribbing in a decidedly more playful manner.

Kaden wondered if Sahl understood the reference she was making. And how much that prick hurt whenever she used it on him. "I found Sahkar Bul," he said. "But the men he has are busy securing the Lower Ring."

"So you didn't bring any help?"

Kaden hobbled over to his old armor. "Just you and me, sweetheart."

"So, just me then? Because you're no use to me, or Ison, with the shape that arm's in."

"I just cut my way through nearly four dozen Koronai. Including a Bone and a Night Terror. Give me some credit."

"Credit for the past does not yield results in the future," the princess said. "Sahl, you're going to need to make him something to help with that."

"I know how to make ointments," Sahl replied. "But nothing that will heal that and make his arm useful in the short term." Then he frowned. "Or ever, for that matter."

"I'll guide you. I know the recipes, but I am not an alchemist and do not have the skills to mix them."

Kaden and Sahl exchanged glances of unease.

"Do as she says," the Karo Shar told his slave as his wounded arm hung there and throbbed while continuing to bleed. He'd lost feeling in it now. And he knew, it would require something more than just bandages. Kaden removed himself from Sahl's assistance and sat heavily on the floor against the wall, worrying about permanent damage to the ligaments and muscles of his arm. He also started to feel lightheaded from blood loss.

The next long moments were more like a dream, seen through clouded thoughts. Everything remained hazy until a painful surge struck the flesh of his arm. He reacted as pain seared, but the princess held him firmly in place while Sahl applied the medicine to his flesh.

Kaden screamed a most undignified scream of pain.

"Hold still," the princess scolded him, her muscles like iron. "If you don't want to lose that arm, I suggest you take this like a man."

"I'd rather lose the fucking arm!" Kaden exclaimed as the pain grew to consume him. And then, suddenly, the suffering gave way to a dull throb. Although Kaden's arm felt like it was on fire.

He opened his eyes that had been welded shut during the experience and saw his arm back together. Although it looked like a shattered pot someone had glued the pieces back into place on.

"There," the princess said. "Now stop being a baby."

Kaden flexed his arm, noticing how the skin did not stay entirely together, but stayed in place enough that the arm functioned and no longer bled. "What did you use?" he asked Sahl, astonished.

"She made me promise not reveal it," Sahl replied as the princess gave the slave a bitter glare that coerced his words. "And to never make more of it, or use it unless she gives me permission to."

"It's ten times more effective at healing than what Touran used on your wound from the Night Terror," the princess informed him.

Kaden wiggled his fingers, something that not too long ago, he didn't think he'd be able to do again. Even though there was a lack of feeling and a sensation of pins and needles, Kaden was in awe. "It's a fucking miracle of luck."

"There are many things in this world that would seem to be such the first time someone experiences them. Hopefully, in the next few minutes, the feeling should return. Then you'll be useful in a fight. Somewhat"

Kaden messaged the gap in his chest. "Would that concoction work on healing this?" he asked hopefully.

"Why would you want to do that?" the princess snapped.

"Because, it's annoying?" Kaden's reply was serious even as it sounded pithy.

The princess took steps towards him and with her hand caressed the edges of his hallmark wound. Her fingers were gentle, almost arousing. "This scar has made you what you are. If it weren't for this, you wouldn't be known as Demon Heart, or have found your warrior spirit. That aside, however, no. It would not help at this point. Touran's inferior salve has already healed you as best it could. And anything else would not enhance that recovery. You're stuck with it. And you need to embrace it."

Kaden growled in disappointment. "I've already embraced it."

"Not fully you haven't," the princess observed. "In someways, that's enough. But in others, your reluctance holds you back. You're not an alchemist anymore, Kaden. You are a Royal Guardian of Ison. You are Karo Shar. And my husband."

"So I take it we plan on going out into the night to do what we can to drive off the demons?"

"If we want to save Ison, yes." Lyla removed her hand. "I would like to rule over something other than a pile of rubble in the desert when my brother's reign ends and my time comes to sit upon the throne."

"Maybe the prince hasn't survived?" Kaden cocked an eyebrow at the suggestion he made.

"Oh, I'm sure he's survived. Things are never so easy as we would hope."

Just as the princess suggested, Kaden began to experience feeling returning to the once destroyed extremities of his arm. He flexed and felt confident he was ready to do as his wife suggested. "All right. Just let me get my old armor. Sahl, you have any of those previous vials that fit in it still lying around?"

Sahl nodded. "I kept what was left unused. Never waste anything."

The slave went to a desk with a series of drawers, opened one, and produced a handful of the items Kaden enquired about. While the Karo Shar retrieved his old breastplate and began suiting up for battle.

"Is that all that's left?" Kaden asked, seeing only about half a dozen of the precious tubes designed specifically to fit his old armor.

"Seems like I'll have to make more."

Feeling the familiar uncomfortableness of the old armor as Kaden seated it back into his chest, he winced. "I've got plans for the new version already worked up. I'll have the royal armorers work on it as soon as we've driven the Koronai back to the Abyss."

Kaden retrieved three of the vials from Sahl; two marked as Rage and Courage mix, and the third as Sorrow. Popping them into place under the armor, Kaden expressed his readiness. "All right wife of mine, let's get going."

"You're sure you're ready?" his wife asked.

"Like you said, I am Karo Shar. If I am not ready, then I am weak and not worthy."

The princess smiled and nodded. "Then let us go, my husband. And let us reclaim Ison. But first, we're going to need something. One more task for your slave."