Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Who ever made Inuyasha and his partners own Inuyasha.
Claimer: I do own the Free Army though and all characters.
"Warriors of Freedom"
Prologue
"The Free Army"
The sun was setting towards his back. The small city that had once been his home burned brightly for all to see. He stood atop a hill, miles from the city, a testament to the great flames that devoured his home. Others stood with him, all of them young, like him. They were the only, but a few, but they were all the either survived or escaped their homes destruction, or both. They were, but young lads and lasses, but watching their homes burn and their childhoods robbed from them, they became young men and women, with only the thought of vengeance on their minds.
At that moment, a noble lord appeared with his army. They all looked at the youngsters before them. One could almost mistake them for dwarves, because they wore armor and carried weapons and had the fierce battle look of dwarves, but they lacked beards and all knew that Dwarves absolutely refused to shave. A beard was a mark of age and wisdom. It was also a mark of pride and respect among them, but these children were not Dwarves, but human children forced to fight and defend their home. A home that now burned.
"Damn Spanish!" yelled an enraged faceless soldier.
The noble lord and his army were from Northern Germany and was a proud Protestant Army. They had heard the calls of help from a group of allied city-states in the south that had been chosen to be religiously neutral in all religious matters and held a council and not a king. Now Catholic soldiers from the south, including Spain, the Italian peninsula, Austria, and a dozen other Roman Catholic states had sacked the city-states and most likely killed the elders of the cities and villages, but most would have most likely been taken prisoner. The lord looked at these young men and women robbed of happiness and freedom and decided then and there…
"You all shall come with us and be taught the ways of war," the lord said.
The children and his men looked to him.
"You shall form an army that bows to no lord and that fights for freedom," the lord continued. "You will form the beginnings of the Free Army!"
All around him gave an approving cheer that could be heard all the way at the Southern Catholic Army camps. The soldiers there stopped what they were doing and looked towards the direction from whence the sound came. Their blood had frozen with in their veins and the color of their faces paled, but a brash and bold young monk looked over and announced, "heretics and their feeble attemptsshall not sway the righteous of our cause," but a more mature priest merely shook his head.
"We have created a great threat to the Vatican and especially, to his holiness, the Pope," said the priest, little knowing how right he would be proven.
The next day saw the dead from the allied independent city-states buried and a few skirmishes with the Catholic Forces. That lasted about two weeks, three days. Then the lord's army moved northward with its new contingent of soldiers and a very few survivors found among the ruins and forests.
Marching north did not take long, though there had been a rather frightening discovery. Some of the survivors including the leader of the newly formed Free Army were found to be Dragon Summoners, those who have the power to communicate with Dragons and call upon Draconic Forces to aid them in battle. Dragon Summoners were know for kindness and compassion as well as great wisdom and strength, but their darker brethren, the Dragon Masters had been a permanent black mark upon their nearly flawless reputation.
Never the less, the lord and his men accepted them as did their fellows. The two armies marched north and met up with two German Armies and a Dutch Army opposing six Vatican sponsored armies around the German-Dutch-French border. The only saving grace for the four Protestant Armies and the Free Army, were three French Armies and a very large demon presence in the area.
Spain, France, and Austria had begun quarrelling. The French were planning on weakening their two power opponents, but preferably off French soil. The result disagreements had stayed the vast majority of the troops of the Vatican's Northern Armies. This enabled Danish and Norse troops to arrive and force the Catholic troops south for a while, but the demons had become a problem for all. Heavy fighting meant too few men were available to fight the demons and even fewer priests were available to reset wards and seals. Thus the Free Army found itself going through its first eight years as a moving demon countering army, which it soon proved highly adept at doing.
Then the Free Army, led by the Dragon Summoner, Draco Steel (not from Draco Malfroy from Harry Potter). His name which comes from Dragon and the fact that he has an iron will, but steel like personality. He lead his army to victory over the same Spanish lord, Juan Rodegiez de Cortez, which had sacked their homes. The battle had been fierce, but Lord Cortez had underestimated who he was fighting. His army, too, had been slaying demons, but where he cared little for the death of his men and the hardships he placed upon them, Draco did.
Draco had chosen a point were he could chase Cortez's men down a narrow valley with flanking fire from the heights. He had his Calvary pursue his enemies, while his infantry broke into three ranks. Two to defend the archers atop the valley walls and hills, and the third, to protect the Musketeers at the narrowest point in the valley, the eastern entrance.
Except for a few men who tried to stand and fight, or fight their way free. The plan worked flawlessly and left Cortez's army utterly and totally destroyed. The many conscripts and mercenaries saw mercy, but the small balk of Cortez's men, including Cortez, that were from wealthy families and/or just enjoyed whole sale slaughter and looting, were tried as criminals and beheaded. A very merciful end in comparison to what they had done over the eight years of active duty.
Still, they had one more man to hunt down. A monk who had stirred up the most trouble and betrayed his homeland to Cortez. A young monk who had become a missionary. A missionary bound for Japan.
Not knowing this, the Free Army was requested by the French, English, and Dutch leaderships to go to Japan and sabotage all missionary efforts. They were to march to Japan though some of the lands they had previously marched through. Lands such as the Holy Land, the Fertile Crescent, Burma, and China. They began their long march very quickly. Since having no home to return to, they had nothing else to do. They marched and as had happened over the eight years of their existence, they grew in numbers until they finally arrived in Japan, just west of the birth place of Oda Nobunaga, west of the lands of the Saito Clan, Koga Province, far north then most would dare, but not in war, but in vengeance.