Chapter I

Night Before Dawn

The night sky was filled with smoke from the war camp fires. Another battle was going to be fought. Gyumoah, the king of the demons was facing off against Heaven's armies. There was much chatter among the campsite as the warriors and soldiers began preparing for the fierce battle at dawn. None was more worried than the wife of the great demon, Ratsetsunyo. The queen approached her husband's tent as the strategy meeting had finished. Various generals had left the two alone. The red headed woman just gave an icy glare. "You are not sending my son to the front lines! He'll be killed!"

The ox-king gave a disinterested grunt. "The boy will fight like any solider and if he dies, then it's his own fault for being weak." the king replied coldly. This kind of thinking enraged the queen. She slammed her hands down on the table and set it ablaze with her fire.

"He is our only son! I have turned a blind eye to your lust for power and the sea of whores your keep because you kept your gaze off our son and I. Now you want to send him to his death just to win a bloody war?! I won't allow this!"

Gyumoah let out a another grunt as the table was set on fire. He glared at the red headed woman. "You cuddled the boy to much. He will have a weak spirit. I'm doing him a favor. I will not change my mind and this is the end of the discussion. Kougaiji will fight on the front lines. The boy must prove he is useful for some day he may be the heir of my kingdom." The king stood up. "We will talk of this no more. When dawn comes, he will be made a man in the blood shed of our enemies. Not even his mother will stop him from becoming a warrior!" he backed hand the woman and she fell back and held her face as the tyrant left the tent. A few tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"Compassion is not a weakness..." she muttered to herself as another figure approached the woman. This figure was another woman with a cheeky look to her. She let out a smoke from her pipe and blew it out of her mouth. This woman wore a white robe sporting blue long hair tied back in a bun. She knelt down beside the weeping queen and helped her to her feet.

"That didn't go very well." the woman spoke.

Ratsetsunyo wiped her eyes. " Oh, Koushu. What am I going to do? I'll lose my only child if he fights tomorrow. I can not bare the thought of it."

" You two never gotten along. You and Lord Gyumoah. You have a love of life while he seeks to destory it. Perhaps I can persuade him to at least move the young prince to the flank where he'll be better protected. After all, he does value my insight of battle." she spoke. The woman was two faced and cared little for the queen and her son but for now she would play best friend to her.

"Please do. I trust your judgment. I wish my boy didn't have to fight but it's a fool's wish." Ratsetsunyo spoke. Koushu blew out more smoke before giving a fake but convincing smile.

"I will try my best. After all, that what best friends are for." she gave a bow and began to walk away towards the king's private tent. The queen calmed her self down before waving the fire out that was still burning the conference table. She then left to begin to search for the young prince.

On the outskirts of the camp near the watering hole was two figures. One was a taller male youkai in black robes and beside him was a shorter young male. "Focus. You are too impatient, my lord. If you can not keep a stern focus then your fiend will never appear." said the scholar. The prince's teacher gave a light chuckle as Kougaiji gave him a light glare.

"I am focused!" the young prince huffed. He crossed his arms and looked away. "I can do it! Just stop talking so much. You are distracting!" he moved his hands up and began his incantation once again.

"There will be much more than talking on the battle field, your highness. You have to focus through the noise." the tutor replied with another chuckle. "You are a talented summoner but you need to learn some patience. Even your mother, who is a legendary summoner, had to learn the same lessons as you. She too was quite the stubborn one."

Kougaiji blinked at his teacher as he spoke of his mother. " She be mad if she heard that." the prince told as he stopped chanting. He felt tired and knew what the day would bring. The teacher wasn't a fool. He knew the prince was quite nervous about the battle he had to face. It was written all over Kougaiji's face and it was the reason he was having a hard time summoning his faithful fiend.

"It's alright to be scared." the tutor spoke. "Fear is a natural response. It will keep you alive but sometimes you have to push through those emotions to get the upper hand. Hesitation will get you and your fellow soldiers killed." he took a step closer to the young prince. "War is never a easy thing, my boy and it's often fought for the most pettiest of reasons." Kougaiji let his arms fall to his sides as he stared at his elderly teacher. "You will have to make snap decisions which will have consequences. Do you understand?"

"I know this, Maha." Kougaiji replied as he glanced up at the sky littered with stars."I won't lie and say I'm not scared but I know it's my duty to fight." he then looked down and grunted. "Not to that man but to my people and to my mother." he told. "I'm going to retire for the evening.."

"Very well. I shall escort you back." Maha told. The two began to head back to the camp grounds.

They both walked through the rows of tents. Everyone was settling for the evening except a few young soldiers who ran over to the prince and tutor. The young prince as confused at first as why they seemed so determined to meet him.

" You are Prince Kougaiji, right?" a young male with a large sword strapped to his back asked. Three other people stood behind the swordsman with their weapons close at hand.

The red headed prince wasn't sure how to respond . "Yes..." He didn't know these group of people but they seem to be beaming. It wasn't odd that the people always greeted him with such worship and happiness. It was odd they did it while clutching their weaponry. It did put the prince right on edge. It felt like they were going to attack him.

The swordsman smiled. " We have been assigned your squad, my lord. We all wanted to meet you before the battle." he began. " I'm Koll." he introduced. There was two young women and another male behind the soldier. "The two ladies is Sharlua and Ren. They have healing powers and the silent guy over there is Jun." The three waved and bowed lightly to the prince. "Please put your trust in us, your highness. We will lay down our lives to protect you." The group nodded in agreement.

The red headed prince blinked. "You do not have to be so formal with me. Formalities are meaningless in the battlefield. Just think of me as your comrade and not your prince. I appreciate the sentiment but your lives are important as well. Don't you all have loved ones waiting for you?"

The group of youths looked at one another and then smile. "We are orphans, my lord. We are each others family and we are happy to serve you." Sharlua replied. " Please let us protect you tomorrow when the battle begins. It will be a great honor. "she told.

Kougaiji blinked again and glanced at his tutor for some sort of sign on what to say. The elder man chuckled. " That is enough. You all have to get your rest. The battle will be fierce and you must have the strength to battle against Heaven's most formidable armies." The group of youths nodded and said their good byes and headed to their tents. The prince sighed.

"Are you pitying them, Lord Kougaiji?" the old man asked.

"Perhaps a little. They seem to live such hard lives and yet they smile so easily. They are willing to lie down their lives for someone they barely know."

"You are a symbol of their hope. They will grow as you do and they will witness you become king. The question is, what kind of king will you be?" the tutor asked.

The red head let out another sigh as he thought over the question. "I'm not sure...I'm not sure if I'm even fit to rule."

There was a raspy chuckle from the teacher. " Well, you still have awhile. You are still young and you have to grow at least another three inches before you can be a good king." he jested with the prince.

"Why do you always joke about my height?!" the prince huffed and looked away. "No king was made ever a fool due to his lack of growth! Besides, my mother told me I'm a late bloomer!" Now the prince was annoyed as always.

Maha chuckled again. "Oh come now, what kind of king can't laugh at himself?" he asked as they approached the main set of tents. Ratsetsunyo spotted her son and hurried over and embraced him tightly.

"Kougaiji! Listen. You have been reassigned to the flank. You will not be on the front lines. I asked a group of local soldiers to watch over you during the battle. They are about your age.." she explained as she held her son tightly. There was much worry in her eyes. She didn't want to let his only child go.

The prince returned the hug and blinked a few times at her words. "Those orphans? You assigned them to me?"

"Are you angry? I know you wish to prove yourself but I just wanted you to be protected." the queen replied as she looked at Kougaiji's face. "I couldn' bare it if something happened to you."

The red headed prince shook his head. "Not at all, Mother. I'm glad. They seem like good people." he told.

Maha chuckled. "We met them on the way here, My Lady." he gave her a bow. The elder teacher then said his good-byes and headed to his own tent for the night.

The red headed queen glanced down at her son and held his face in her hands. "Promise me that you will run away when things turn harsh. I don't want to lose you." she hugged him again. The young prince closed his eyes and let his mother hug him tightly. He knew she was so worried for him as mothers tend to be when their only child is marching off into a bloody battlefield. Still, he wanted to prove that he is capable in both combat and leading.

" Mother. I will be fine. I promise you. I trust in my own abilities and my comrades assigned to me. We will fight our hardest." he told her before stepping out of her embrace. " Please believe in me too. You and Maha have taught me much, mother. Please allow me to show you what I have learned." he gave her a smile in hopes it will calm her nerves.

The queen looked at her son with a worried expression but knew there was not changing his fate. No matter how much she begged, cried or threaten; he would still be sent out to fight in the warm against Heaven's forces. It worried her to end but she wasn't any different than the other mothers having to force their children to fight. It was a pointless war. "I know you are a gifted summoner, my son but every mother has the right to worry for their child." she told. "Please just be careful."

Kougaiji gave a nod "Of course. I will, mother. We will be victorious. I know we will." Perhaps it was just naive thinking. The young prince wasn't going to lie. He was rather scared but he would put on a brave face and do his duty. He wanted the war to be over and for his people to live in peace, however, his father's tyrant words were law. The evil king sought to take over the mortal world. To make humans the livestock and have youkai be dominant. It was truly horrific.

The prince bowed to his mother before bidding her a good night. He made way through the rows of campfires and tents to his own private tent. On the way there he was stopped by the black haired king. A cocky smirk was on his face as he placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder. "You will show our enemies what true hell is. So no mercy, understand? It's kill or be killed. There is no room for your mother's "compassion" on the battlefield. I trust you will not disapoint me." the king spoke with a deep husky voice.

The red head had tensed up greatly when he felt his father's hand on his shoulder. "As you wish, father." he stated in monotone expression. Kougaiji's face had become stoic and void of any emotion. It's how he could bare to deal with his father that he detested so much. They were such different people and the prince couldn't stand the smell of blood his father gave off. He was a true tyrant in nature. He consumed life for the sake of obtaining more and more power. These qualities made the young prince to vow that he would never end up like his father, Gyumoah.

"Get some sleep. I'm quite interested to see what you can do." the king told as he walked away from the prince's tent. Kougaiji let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He let out a sigh and moved into his tent and changed into proper sleeping attire. Then he laid down on his makeshift bed and tried to fall asleep. It took a bit before his eyes finally stayed closed and sleep over took him. Dawn would be here before he knew it and the battle would begin. He didn't know it but the battle was going to be more bloody and grotesque than he ever imagined.