War Demons

Mule Wolflame drives his men into the Kushan convoy, and the enemy general answers by loosing his war slaves, captured Midlanders forced to kill their own so the Kushan spend no soldiers of their own. Only once the slaughter begins do Mule's troops realize they are cutting down countrymen, and they grasp at last how the Kushan have swallowed so much land without thinning their ranks. When the slaves fight halfheartedly, the general has arrows fired into their backs to spur them, then orders his own cavalry to charge in overwhelming numbers.

Just before the lines collide, several Kushan horsemen are struck through the face with such force that their heads fly off. The shots come from a lone archer, Irvine, posted on a distant hill above a company of armored bowmen who have yet to fire. He stands apart from them: clad in light hunting gear rather than armor, loosing several arrows at once, carrying the largest bow and quiver among them, its limb set with what looks like a living eye near the grip. Each arrow he sends beheads another Kushan.

Hope surges through Mule as a fresh cavalry of only a few dozen riders charges from behind his lines and easily routs the Kushan horsemen who number in the hundreds. The general orders a flanking move, but his mounts panic at a distant roar, and down another hill pours a force of footsoldiers, some loping on all fours, led by Zodd, who cut the Kushan to pieces. More fall to Grunbeld, the hulking dragon-armored warrior, who drives his own heavy soldiers through their ranks.

Fear grips the general as he realizes he may have blundered into the legendary fighters said to be battling the Kushan from inside Midland. Then the largest host of all crests the field, marching beneath a slightly altered banner of the Band of the Falcon. Griffith has arrived, ready to fight the invaders alongside Mule Wolflame.

Chapter 192 runs twenty-three pages within the Millennium Falcon Arc, published in Young Animal issue 24 on December 14, 2001. It gives Irvine his first appearance and showcases the reborn Band's apostle commanders, Zodd, Grunbeld, and Locus among them, in coordinated battle.