Further south of the Southern Griffon Kingdom border – Celestial Sea; 12:10pm

Thousands of miles in the skies above the Celestial Sea were a swarm of dragons, but these dragons weren’t the size of castles but were at least the height and size of young trees and cabins and even though their size was smaller to dragons of yore, the sheer numbers of them was enough to make a small kingdom like the griffons to tremble in fear. Right now this swarm of drakes were bating their time, hovering in wait to the call of the one who brought them all together; this drake was bigger but not big enough to be called a full-fledged dragon, but his bulging muscles, the smoke flowing from nostrils like water and drips of magma was enough to call him a threat.

Many of his kind call him the Shadow-Wing, a title for dragons who like the shadows to fall upon all, would appear and vanish without a trace; he has raided his fair share of towns and small settlements at the far reaches of some kingdoms, but now he was planning his biggest score – attacking a kingdom.

The griffons have lived close to the dragons and while they lived under rich veins of gold, they were well protected from all manner of invasions and threats… in the past that is. Now they were weak and vulnerable that even a swift blow of the wind was enough to topple most of their structures. Their target was the capital city, Griffonstone; the plan was to destroy every settlement they came upon, but not kill everyone, letting the surviving refugees to run to the capital, overcrowding and terrorizing all those within the city.

It was also helpful that Griffonstone was the only well-defended settlement, due to its geographical location and long history of surviving various sieges, but sadly it was the only successful city to be built as previous attempts had ended in varying problems and failures. Gathering all the youngest, bravest, rowdiest dragons he could find, their numbers were in the double digits standing at a total of eighty of them; there were varying types from the basic fire-breathers, frost drakes, rock dragons and a rare few wind-slicer dragons. There was also to be a steel-eating dragon, but he was currently late in arriving though it was no surprise as he was kind of a deep sleeper, the only reason he was coming was because there was stories of the steel of the griffons’ was beautiful… and delicious.

Finally, with all of these drakes under my command, I can show those old-wrinkly dragons the true might of our generation!

“Hey Shadey, metal-biter is here.”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT! MY NAME IS SHADE FANG!”

“Whatever...”

Looking around he spotted the dragon in question; the steel-eater was by the name of Chomp – not very eloquent, but it gets what he does to a T. He was currently eating some raw iron ore absently whilst another hyper red dragon was talking to him in such a rate, you couldn’t tell if he was actually listening or not. “SoIwaswonderingifyouknowthisoneguywholooksallscrawnyandatadsmallaroundhere?”

Biting the iron ore some more, he gulped it down before tossing what was left to the waters below, belching some iron shavings out. “Him? I think he went that way,” said Chomp.

“Ohthankyouandhaveagreatandwondrousday!” Before she flew off, she looked at Chomp with a smile. “OhandmynameisSunnynicemeetingyou!”

Flying off Chomp watched her leave before a tap to his shoulder was felt, turning around he noticed Shade and another drake who had blue scales and a cold bored look in her eyes.

“Finally you made it here, I’m assuming that iron you were holding means you were busy digging some to snack on,” said Shade.

“Something like that… and I see you got cold scales here; sup Frigid,” said Chomp.

Nodding, Frigid flew beside Shade as his second-in-command and while the two knew each other since they were hatchlings, they had this hidden respect for one another… they just never show it.

“Well now that everyone is here, time to begin this attack! OY, WE’RE BEGINNING TO ATTACK THE FIRST CITY, A PORT TOWN JUST NEAR THE COAST OF THE GRIFFON KINGDOM, BURN THESE BASTARDS TO ASH BUT LEAVE SOME SURVIVORS TO SPREAD OUR PATH OF DESTRUCTION THAT’LL COME TO THESE BIRD-BRAINS!” Hearing his order loud and clear, all the drakes roared as they began to swoop down and devour the griffons riches and burn down their homes; seeing the swarm of drakes begin their assault, Shade smirked to himself as his plan was flawless.

Nothing is gonna stop me!

Griffon Kingdom, Abandoned Fort; 12:30pm

After being introduced to the Overlord – though he wanted to be called Kaiden until told not to – she was given a quick rundown of what they are and a few other things from Gnarl while Kaiden was busy doing… Overlord-things. Silver was mesmerized by the lore and history of the Minions and their Overlord, it was truly amazing that beings from another world were right before her eyes, though while their history was “dark and evil” is what Gnarl best described them, history was still history.

If Silver had to decide a hobby she do forever, she pick history, reading and anything to do with books, sadly she had to choose something that didn’t require you having a nobility or riches, so she became a squire. One of the things she was told by Gnarl was that Minions were born through the gathering of life-force which can be gained by the death of other creatures by either the Overlord or his Minions. Having heard this, Silver suggested that they gain access of some livestock if they want to increase their numbers.

Wait, how come I’m giving such good advice to him, I shouldn’t be saying something like this and get their numbers big if what he says is true!

“That be helpful… sadly the Minions aren’t what you call… effective for peasant life, we were made for battle and conquest, not simple things like those sort of things,” said Gnarl. “Though… the master might have some idea how to handle our low shortage of forces… Maybe I can convince him of slavery.”

“S-Slavery!?”

“Hmmmm, a yes, in the past previous Overlords ruled over their respective peons with an iron-fist or terrorized them on a daily basis.”

“What’s this about scaring the shit out of people?” asked Kaiden.

“Ah my evilness, this she-bird-”

“Griffon and my name is Silver Beak.”

“Griffon… Has suggested we maintain our forces for new Minions by maintaining our own livestock; I was hoping you had an idea how to do this but I suggest we enslave the local beings of this world and-”

“No.”

“No? No to what master?”

“I won’t enslave other sentient beings.”

The utter silence that came was so big, that when Gnarl finally realized what Kaiden said, he shook his head and sighed. “Well this might be a problem, so much for you being completely evil.”

“Hey, don’t be questioning why I won’t accept that kind of thinking, taking in slaves isn’t evil just cowardly, what part of letting somebody else do your dirty work is considered evil? I rather do everything with my own two hands… besides, its more fun to watch and see who’s responsible than the subordinate, ain’t it.”

After some thought Gnarl grinned and cackled. “I see, well then I suppose the need for slaves won’t be required, but how are we to maintain a stable flow of life-force?”

“Well, while you say the Minions can’t maintain any livestock, I fair to differ, they just need proper training and discipline, if they can listen to me, able to tame wolves, spiders and fire salamanders, and even become organized to find themselves a new Overlord whenever the previous one is gone… Well then I must be crazy.”

“...I see your point, I will have some Minions to find any local wild livestock to care for until we can harvest what life-force from them.”

“Good, I will also oversee how this pet project shall work… we should also have certain Minions do further specializations like this, one to handle future construction projects, one to handle livestock and life-force handling, and maybe one for scouting out this new world of ours… a spymaster may do.”

“HA! You surprise me each passing day, you make it sound less like you conquering the world, but rather you wanting to create a land under your evil rule.”

Kaiden paused and thought about these new ideas… and it pleased him deeply; he smiled demonically under his helmet but the aura of malice felt from him made Gnarl and Silver shiver. “Now that… sounds truly appealing. I’ve decided, I won’t conquer this world, I shall make it bow before me as its Overlord – I shall be the Overlord of this brand new world!”

Gnarl had met and seen many masters – some wanted to conquer, others destroy… and that one particular one that manipulated several heroes into doing heinous acts – but this one, oh the evil inside him… HE was the one, an Overlord above Overlords… a Dark God. Gnarl grinned evilly to himself and with that he bowed down to his master and his new plans. This will be glorious.

“Not to be rude, but I don’t think that’s possible; the kingdom is currently under civil war and we’re low on resources. If you were to take over then all the problems within this kingdom would be yours… that and I don’t see how a small group of yours can handle a government and military that’s three times bigger than you,” said Silver.

“HAH! Don’t underestimate my dear, past Overlords had taken down foes that others would shy away! Taking over this kingdom of yours would be like taking candy from a baby!” said Gnarl.

“Heheheh, candy,” said Gubbin.

Silver watched as these so called Minions either worked, trained or patrolled along the fort’s ramparts, they were more organized than their own kingdom which was under civil war, poverty and possible attacks from outside forces. While having some unknown tyrant coming along to take over her homeland wasn’t a good option either… something about this Kaiden was different than past kings of her home.

“Now, back to our original topic; you were explaining to me of the various lands on this world,” said Kaiden.

“Oh… right, ahem.”

This world we live on has no shared name as all races call it by many; we griffons call it Yggdrasil, the minotaurs call it Olympus, while the ponies refer it as Equus, but I believe the name that best fits our world would be Eden. So Eden consists from my own knowledge at least three major continents, and on these continents are the many races that live on these lands.

There are too many civilizations and races to account for, but I’ll list the known major ones that be of interest to you; to the east are us, the Griffon Kingdom, ruled by a long lineage of kings, though things hadn’t been going well for us since the time of King Guto when the Idol of Boreas was lost to us. Far in the north-west is the Minos Empire, I don’t know much about them or their current situation, but some of our kind were sent there for peaceful talks.

To the south of us griffons are the dragons, but they don’t have an actual civilization with no cities, but they’re widely accepted by the other nations as their own. To the south are the zebras, distant cousins of the ponies, while they can’t fly or use magic like unicorns, they do use ancient recipes of potions and mystic arts.

Other nations like Saddle Arabia, Abyssinia and more are around, but the biggest one to rival the Griffon Lands and Minos Empire are Equestria. They been around for nearly centuries, going way back, ruled by two princesses of a rare breed of pony called alicorns. They consist of three types of ponies, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, with several sub-pony races like thestrals and so on.

There are legends and tales of other known races, there isn’t any evidence to tell if they still exist are where to find remnants of said lost races.

“And that’s everything I know about this world… Anything else you want to know?” asked Silver.

“Nah, that’s everything I need, you got that Gnarl?”

“Indeed my lord, I’ll have it written down later for future reference if we were to encounter any of these nations and respective beings. Though something is bothering me, with so many nations I’m surprised no all out war has happened yet?”

“Well, there have been wars and battles before but nowadays no body dares, especially the deeds and actions the Equestrian princesses and their heroes have done. If there were war, most likely the Minos Empire would attack due to past transgressions, but they been mostly quiet. The dragons are a likely second candidate whether it be to burn down a settlement for loot or simply bored, but dragons in general keep to themselves and won’t unite under one banner unless told by their leader.”

“Then I suppose we’ll give them a reason why they should be ready. Gnarl, prepare the minions, we’re going to strike this nation’s capital city… Uh, what is the capital city exactly?” asked Kaiden.

Silver was shocked, was he serious, would he actual start an all-out war with all the nations just for some petty ruling over the griffons. “ARE YOU NUTS! If you were to start a war, we’d be annihilated, especially us griffons, we have our own problems to deal with!”

“Not my problem… unless… you were to work under me.”

“Wha-What are you saying?”

Kaiden took some steps to face the ramparts edge, gazing at the horizon to what he assumed was where the capital was. “I’m unlike anything else in this world, I have both knowledge from two different worlds on how to use my new powers and forces, combined with the knowledge from my own world… and besides I’m not alone.”

“Uh yeah of course.”

“I mean, I’m not the only one from my world here… When I was sent to this blasted place, I came along… three other ‘associates’ of mine, and I won’t stop until I find them all. With my power and their help, nothing can stop me!” Silver, Gnarl and all the Minions heard Kaiden laugh wickedly as the spread both arms outward to the sky, like he was grasping the world in his hands. And then I’m going to beat the ever-loving crap out of that stupid Merchant when I get back home.

“Well, I won’t help you, I won’t betray my fellow griffons so some mad… whatever you are, rule us with an iron-fist!”

Kaiden paused before swiftly turning to face Silver, she squawked from the uncomfortable atmosphere from Kaiden inches close to her beak. Silence followed but it appeared Kaiden grinned before standing back up. “I like you, you got guts and the so-and-so balls to back them up, but you must understand I may want to conquer but I am fair when I feel like it… and let’s not forget… I hold the key to possibly saving when remains of your homeland.”

Silver Beak gave a curious tilt of her head, until Gnarl himself was curious too about what his lord was talking about. “And what may you be referring to my lord?”

Kaiden grinned under his helmet before raising his gauntlet, lifting one single finger up as if the answer was obvious.

“Why ain’t it obvious, I may have a force that is enough to take over an entire kingdom… but why do I need an army, when I can just take out the biggest problem you griffons have.”

“And that be what exactly?”

“You griffons need something to look up to, a symbol… What you need, is a true leader to look up to. I’m going to show you and every single griffon the might of the Overlord!” At that exact moment, distant thunder and sounds could be heard, looking what was causing such a commotion, they saw a horde of flying silhouettes that were slowly approaching across the landscape and toward a mountain with some sort of tree of some kind. “Huh, speaking of an opportunity.”

“D-D-Dragons! Oh no, this is bad, really bad, if dragons are attacking…” Silver looked up at Kaiden which he was still watching the distant spectacle. “If… If you are serious about wanting to rule over us and helping… please, I’ll help you, but please save our home. We griffons were once a proud race but after misfortune again and again, we’ve been kicked down into the mud more times we could count. So please… help us...”

Kaiden rubbed his chin before looking at the distant battles happening in the landscape; walking away from a bowing Silver, he approached Gnarl. “Gnarl… I want you to get Grubby and some of the other Minion diggers to make a tunnel at these exact areas.” Kaiden began to whisper into Gnarl’s ear, slowly the old minion began to smile and grin evilly as he nodded quickly with the idea.

“Yes, that is an excellent idea, I’ll have them do that immediately; what you wish for the others to do?”

“...Prepare them for battle, tonight we’re going to take over a country! TONIGHT, THE OVERLORD RISES!”

Silver looked up as Kaiden made his way toward the fort, soon all the Minions were getting ready for battle. It was strange seeing beings that looked ready to bite your legs and other extremities off, getting ready to fight for her home… but at the same time, if they were successful then technically they be under the command of some evil dictator.

But if some bad guy is willing to help a nation of greedy, stubborn, desperate griffons like us… then I wouldn’t ask for any one else. “WAIT!”

Kaiden turned to face Silver Beak, with a look that screamed, “What now?” but she could see the hidden smile under that helmet of his, his yellow eyes gazing back at her. “If you are serious about this, then I have an idea on how we can win this battle… but I have one question for you – how good are you at charismatic speeches?”

Griffon Kingdom; 1:00pm

The echoed blasts of horns were heard by all from the settlements that were scattered across the griffon kingdom, to the various small farms that dotted the land. Looking skyward they saw it, they saw them, a horde of dragons were heading right for them and while their size wasn’t terrifying it overruled the sheer numbers that were seen. The signs of smoke from burnt villages near the southern shores were seen, with many survivors running or flying away with their belongings or lives.

Adviser Hawkeyes or General of the Griffon Military, wore his ebony armor alongside his elite soldiers, the Blackwings, skillfully trained griffons that ranged from pre-battle experience to those who came form a long lineage of warriors. With them was the Griffon Army and Militia, that consisted of around two thousand strong trained soldiers and around a hundred or so gathered volunteered citizens who either brought their own weapons or whatever they could use from their bare claws to farming equipment.

“Sir, the dragons appear to be drakes, possibly a few decades old but not to be considered full-fledged dragons yet.”

“A dragon is a dragon, we can’t overrule that fact, especially with this many coming for us! I won’t care if they’re children, if they plan on attacking then that’s an act of aggression on the dragons, not us! Tell the first through fifth companies they are to prepare for battle on sky or ground! The sixth through eighth are to make sure none cross this area to Griffonstone, alongside with the militia! Finally the ninth and tenth are to rally any survivors to safety and help with the wounded!” shouted Hawkeyes.

“YES GENERAL HAWKEYES!” Each of the messengers flew to all the companies; as the troops prepared for battle, Hawkeyes saw one dragon as dark as the night flew with his arms crossed, a cocky smirk on his face.

“That one, he’s the leader, I can just smell the ego on that one. If given a chance take him out, but remember your training, stay in groups of three or more and never stay stranded! We’re not looking for heroics here so stay alive and brave! We won’t let these lizards beat us on our own land! FIGHT, FOR THE KING! FOR ALL GRIFFON-KIND! CHAAAARGE!”

With those words, every griffon yelled and flew toward the horde of dragons, with the dragons in kind charging in return. The two forces clashed as wings flapped, blasts of fire and ash filled the skies, sharpened claws met with scales; the griffons were trained and armed to fight against the harsh weather and beasts that roamed their lands… but the dragons fought were sheer brutal might and natural predatory skills.

Elsewhere while this was happening, the nearby residents of Beakerton were making their way to Griffonstone or a safe distance away from the battle, but the sudden attack of the dragons caused many to panic and several accidental incidents to occur around the area. The situation became worse due to the recent snowfall, making the weather outside cold and freezing, because of this, many of the villagers were low on food and rations.

Food was a scarce thing in the Griffon Kingdom, which led to looting so with this whole situation combined with the panic, many individuals took this as a chance to take while everyone else ran for their lives.

“Uhhhh, should we really be doing this, there’s literally dragons just that way you know,” said one of the looters.

“Quit squawking, we got to take everything worth while before the dragons get here! I’m sick of living in this bloody country, let’s go somewhere warmer… I heard the griffons in Equestria are living pretty swell lives.”

“You sure they even let us through, what if the border guard stops us out of suspicion?”

“And what for, those ponies are way to soft and besides we’ll just say that we’re trying to run from the war happening over there.”

“What war?”

“The one’s that’s coming soon, haven’t you been hearing the rumors! Some of them nobles are gathering some desperate griffons to fight for them to overtake the kingdom! Either way, whoever wins, I don’t want to be around when some bigger threat comes along to stop us down! I’m taking what I have and leaving this dump!”

As the looters continued their looting spree, one of them yelped and quickly turned around to see a young male griffon holding a stick with both claws. “THAT’S OUR STUFF!”

“Oh look here boys, we got ourselves a hero.” The looters surrounded the griffon before something dropped down in front of them, standing there in ebony armor, the wings were covered in razor sharp blades for both protection and as weapons.

Blackwing Gillen was the toughest of the Blackwings but had a soft-spot and a sense of justice was difficult to resist, so when she saw some poor young griffon being surrounded by a bunch of looters… well the rest was history. “Why don’t you boys play with me,” said Gillen, smirking.

The looters at first backed up, but wielded their weapons and whatever was on the ground, slowly circling Gillen. “Kid, stay behind me, things are about to get-” One of the looters charged before Gillen countered by blocking with her armored wing, the sparks from the contact making her eyes glimmer for a second. “Wild.”

All looters began to charge, as Gillen flapped her wings sending a powerful gust of wind and ash at their faces. Taking this as her chance, she smashed two of the looters, face first to the ground; twisting around she sent a blow to another looter.

“You freakin idiots, she’s just a hen!”

“A hen with armor and badass wings-blades! Come at me you, or are you all chickens!” That riled them up even more as they one of them tried to slam his hammer which she dodged. Using her surroundings and wit, she made one of them do a sideways strike with their sword which she easily dodged. The weapon got lodged into a beam and before he could get it out she slammed one powerful leg strike, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Ahh, screw this!” Tossing his weapon to the ground the looters began to leave except for the lead looter.

“WHERE IN TARTARUS ARE YOU ALL GOING!? GET BACK HERE YOU COWARDS!”

“Cowards? Says the looter; now I put down that weapon before somebody is going to get hurt,” said Gillen.

The looter gazed back before his look became fearful, confused she felt a sudden sensation of heat; ducking to the side, she nearly dodged a blast of flames that torched the pathway she was on, alongside with the looter. Looking back, all that was left was ash with some small fire littered around.

“Phew, that was close. Hey kid, you alright!” Looking back where she found the young griffon, he was hidden behind another wall, nodding back at her. “Good, now you should get out of here before things get worse. Don’t worry, myself and the rest of the Blackwings will handle this drakes, you just get to safety and with your folks.”

“B-But, this is our home!”

“Nah ah, not buts, now you go along now before I have to drag you back myself.”

The young griffon frowned but nodded, turning around to leave with the rest of the villagers that escaped. Good, now with that done. Exiting her cover, she glanced up at the swarm of drakes hovering above the village; they ranged from the basic fire-breathers but Gillen spotted some other types like frost-breathers and even a few poison-fangs among them.

“This got more and more complicated,” said Gillen, preparing to fly up.

Shade Fang watched as the drakes and griffons fought with each other, the only dragons that flew alongside him instead of fighting was Frigid and Chomp. The black dragon watched as the griffons fought back but saw as their numbers dwindled the longer they fought.

“Why exactly are you keeping me back instead letting fight, I want a taste of that metal those griffons have,” said Chomp, impatiently.

“You’ll get your chance; Frigid, who’s the leader of these griffons anyway?”

“Can’t tell and why are you asking me, do I look like I would know,” said Frigid.

“I thought you said you scouted the griffon kingdom before our attack?”

“Yeah, I did, that doesn’t mean I freaking infiltrated some random bird’s nest and found out he was the General of the Army or something!”

Shade rubbed his temple, the main reason he sent Frigid was indeed to check the layout of the land, but to also seeing and find any key targets when the invasion happen. And this is why sending a stubborn dragon is never a smart idea.

“Well never mind, we’ll just burn and smash them all until they run away.”

As the battle continued to progress… something strange started happening; the griffons and dragons at first continued to fight but paused when they felt some strange sound. For those on the ground still felt it first as it started like a strange rumbling, as if the ground was shaking.

There were stories of places or creatures to cause the ground to shake, earth-shakes or earthquakes they called it for those who commonly lived alongside such phenomenons or witnessed it from earthworm-like creatures called tatzlwurms.

But what was happening right now was different, the rumblings made everyone indeed pause but when came next just stopped the entire battle. At the far reaches near Beakerton, geysers of dirt, rock and vegetation exploded skyward reaching for several meters. Arising from the ground were strange metal tendrils that then opened up like giant metal flowers, silence followed and then… music.

“What the heck is that sound?” asked Shade.

“Whatever it is, I have a bad feeling about it,” said Frigid.

From the griffons’ perspective, Hawkeyes pulled his weapon, a lengthy halberd from the corpse of a dragon when he heard the rumblings which was followed by the sudden appearance of strange metal flowers and the sound of music. “Sir, what are those things and what’s that… music?”

Hawkeyes continued to watch as the music grew louder and clearer, it was a simple beat of notes that was somewhat catchy… but that changed when the music blared louder and voices could be heard. “Trouble; split the remaining forces in half, it looks like we got compa-” Before he could give his order… they appeared.

Sometime earlier before the battle began – Underneath the Griffon Kingdom; 12:50pm

“Uh master? What exactly… is it that you want to do?” asked Grubby, scratching his head.

“I want you to have four of the gates at these exact areas, when I give the signal bring them up,” said Kaiden. Before Kaiden woke up and found the Minions, he was told later that not only did the Minions, himself and some of the artifacts that boosted his health, mana and Minions came along but several devices and constructs were found deep beneath the abandoned fort. Some of these devices were the Netherworld Gates used to bring both the Overlord and his forces to any area he wished.

This allowed easy access underground, making it possible to create tunnels underneath the Griffon Kingdom to the exact areas Kaiden needed to be at alongside his Minions. Gazing at his forces preparing for the fight that was happening above ground, Kaiden turned to Gnarl about a particular – and odd question – Kaiden wanted answered.

“Using the telepathy in your helmet as a… speaker? I’m sorry, but could you explain what you mean?”

“I was wondering, you use the telepathy in the helmet to speak to me and previous Overlords, but is it possible I can use to… say, play music to myself and those nearby?”

“Hmmmmm, there have been times that the helmet’s telepathy was used to increase the user’s vocals to make a speech and other times to communicate to other telepathically is their magical power was strong enough… but to use songs, especially ones from memory… that require some powerful mental strength…” Gnarl scratched his chin fur before grinned to himself with a nod. “Yes, Yes it could be possible; let me make some adjustments to the helmet and maybe I can play whatever song you like for all to hear, maybe I can extend to the gates once the battle begins… Are you planning to instill fear with whatever song you plan to play?”

I… actually just wanted to listen to something when fighting but, yeah I guess. “Yeah, correct, either way where’s the fun in battle without some awesome soundtrack to listen to… and I got the perfect one from a particular series a watched back in the day.” Kaiden grinned madly; he was then approached by a Minion wearing a hardhat, one of Grubby’s boys.

“Gates ready, when we get up boss?”

Time to get things rolling. “Get the Minions together, time for my epic speech.”

As the Minions gathered in four groups from Browns, Reds, Greens and Blues, the commanders leading them stood alongside them with some of the Minion elite too to hear. Silver Beak stood where Kaiden would make his speech in the underground cavern they found when digging below; it was both spacious and stable to make a perfect launching spot to begin their attack.

Kaiden took his steps up on a stone ledge, looking down on all his forces, armed and ready from the recently stolen smelter. Before the battle and before Kaiden’s appearance, the Minions main goal was to keep their numbers up and growing until they found Kaiden or at least a good replacement for Overlord.

The original two hundred Minions split in four to create fifty for each of the Minions’ groups alongside the twenty-five wolves, giant spiders and fire salamanders, have doubled due to the rush for life-force, whether it be from the smallest critter to whatever food that was edible they could find was converted. The exact number was a lot but rounded there was at least two hundred each of the four types of Minions and while they couldn’t find any giant spiders or fire salamanders there were some wolves in the wilderness that were easily captured and tamed, putting the Brown wolf riders up to the old twenty-five to seventy.

Kaiden looked down at the Minions who at first were rowdy and doing… well what Minions do as he expected, they quieted and looked up at him obediently. Yeesh, they never act this way in the game, I guess this what happens when instead a force for thirty or forty are used in the games, a literal army of them are battle-ready and trained for war.

“Ahem… I’m not good at speeches, heck to be honest no matter what I say the idea of getting to fight something new in some new world is exciting as it is!” said Kaiden. The response to follow was many bellows and laughter in agreement; some of the elite minions alongside him gave a toothy smile too. “But… no matter what does happen, know this… I don’t plan to simply pillage, kill and conquer. I’m not like your previous masters, I won’t simply go wherever I want, take what I want… I do want to rule over those of this world, and whoever is fighting up means we have to decide… I have to decide who to help.”

Many Minions stayed silent but that didn’t mean they disagreed… for once they were having an Overlord with an actual plan of domination, someone with a strategic mind instead of the usual evil-mastermind for something of their own gain or a battle-hardened warrior. Gnarl watched as this Overlord, this person called Kaiden… would possibly be the one true master they awaited.

“...However, you didn’t came here just to hear me talk, but know what I plan on doing! And what I plan on doing isn’t just simply subjugation and to rule over all this world has! I wish to build a world in my own image and to search for old allies of mine lost here just like you and me! So… in order to find them, I’ll do anything to search for them and maybe… Have some fun along the way!”

“Hey, why exactly do you follow this guy, what makes him so different than your previous masters?” asked Silver.

“...I don’t know… but there were those who wanted revenge, others who were just evil and to follow their own whims and gains, a few were just random baddies we picked for a short while… But I think the reason we Minions search for a master isn’t so he’s evil… A long time ago we followed not many evils but a lineage of sorts… but when others buried that lineage… let it rot away in the deepest depths… To be honest, we don’t just simply follow what is evil or who is evil, but someone willing to do something just… because.” Silver gave a confused look, but Gnarl continued to speak before she could ask even more.

“We Minions are chaotic in nature, we have no sense of morality or rather didn’t understand it, we do from pure instinct. We exist not because we ourselves are evil but because we just never knew what our purpose was… we seek purpose yes no matter what it was… maybe we could of followed good, but in general we just wanted to do whatever. While we followed many masters, I don’t believe any ever asked what we wanted and there was no problem with that as we have no idea what we did want, but I think that’ll change today.”

Kaiden looked at the many Minions from new to old, and grinned. “...JUST DO WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT!” Silver Beak jaw unhinged while Gnarl started to chuckle at Kaiden’s answer. “I mean, sure I don’t want you to go berserk but what’s the fun in following someone when you can’t enjoy it too to your fullest. There will be times I might not agree with what you guys will do, but… so what, I had to deal with people before who wanted me to do other things before… but I also met people who said that should do what I want, to hell with the consequences.”

“So when I’ll rule this world, I’ll do so my way, evil or not… so let’s get to showing the denizens of this place what it means to be chaotic and loose! LET’S GET THIS BATTLE TOPSIDE!” Stretching both arms upward, silence still followed… then a roar grew until it shook the whole cavern.

Weapons were raised, fireballs flew, Minions were tossed up by their own, but they weren’t angry or being the rowdy bunch you expect. They cheered and approved wholeheartedly; the Minions had somebody worth following… and protecting, this wasn’t the simple evil or masterminds from long ago, but somebody who understood to be them.

They had a master who didn’t want to be chained down by responsibility or to master others, to just be chaotic and crazy whenever. “FOR THE OVERLORD! FOR MASTER KAIDEN! GRAAAAAAH!” With that cheer, all minions yelled and screamed for their new master, now and forever.

As Kaiden, Silver and the minion elites watched, Gnarl turned to Silver who looked back at him. “Whenever we lose a master, we usual just replace him or her… we never do a burial or something grand or even try reviving him back… But I think this one… he’s a keeper; we found our purpose and we found our Overlord.”

Silver looked too and gave a weak grin. “You guys are a bunch of maniacs,” said Silver.

“Oh yeah? Well screw you, I do what I want when I want!” shouted Kaien. “But anyway – TIME TO SHOW THOSE UP ABOVE WHY I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO SHOULD RULE! YAHAAHAHAHAHHAHA!”

Present time – Griffon Kingdom; 1:15pm

The music gradually gotten louder but alongside other sounds could be heard… the voices of dozens of creatures; spewing forth from the Netherworld Gates was hordes of small creatures ranging from brown, red, green and blue. As they reached the surface, the music was clear enough for all to hear… and it shook all to their very soul.

The Minions while at first were organized as an invasion army… changed after Kaiden’s speech, he wanted them to be wild, crazy and the Minions he knew and loved… oh and they wouldn’t displease their new master like that. He wanted the full Minion experience, he was going to get it and more.

“KILL! KILL! KILL FOR OVERLORD KAIDEN!” One of the Browns stood on outcropping raising his axe wildly with his tongue hanging out his mouth. “TODAY IS GOOD DAY TO FIGHT!”

The griffons and dragons watched with a sense of worry and dread as the numbers went from the double-digits to to triple then quadruple and was slowly getting bigger. During Kaiden’s speech, at least there was rounded to be eight-hundred Minions… that were battle-ready; after hearing his speech, both those trained, the support staff of the Minions and those being recently born were reinvigorated with a sudden sensation.

At first their simple purpose of evil changed from doing something they never imagined doing or wanting – to simply do because you can… and it was glorious. The hives exploded with energy as wave after wave of new Minions came rushing forth like an unstoppable tidal wave, as the thousand Minions including the Minions that weren’t going to be part of the fight tripled and continued to grow to nearly ten thousand.

Alongside the Minions were the Brown wolf riders who charged forth and dragged wagons, inside the wagons and being quickly prepared were the same ballista turrets used by the Empire, one of the old enemies of one of the previous Overlords from long ago. Seeing as how most of what their facing will be in the air and not the ground, Kaiden planned ahead by having these built and used, with them being modified for the Minions to use and not just him.

Kaiden appeared and stood by the horde of Minions, axe in one hand and the other one pointed to the sky. “Remember, the griffons aren’t our enemy but if they attack you, you have my permission to fight back, whether they die or get hurt isn’t to my concern! The dragons on the other hand are to be eliminated, can’t have my future kingdom get burned down by these flying reptiles!”

“How do you want us to attack?” asked Gash, commanding the majority of the Browns.

“We’re dealing with dragons, so instead of the Browns in the front, switch them with Reds, but keep them close in case. Greens are to surround and take down any dragons that are felled by the ballistas and Blues are to retrieve any injured whether Minion or griffon. Take them down one by one and swarm them, quick and simple.”

Gash nodded, signaling the other Minion Commanders, Blaze, Stench and Zap, sending their orders to the Reds, Greens and Blues. Watching this, Kaiden was shaking in anticipation as the music flooded all around him, the beat invigorating the Minions to a frenzy. Today is a gooood day.

Hawkeyes watched as this new possible enemy flooded the ground in numerous numbers, he wasn’t sure what to do with them… until what happened next shocked him. One of the dragons both cocky and blood-thirsty charged at the new foe, until several shots from a ballista speared him easily. As he fell to the ground, several of the creatures swarmed him, at first the dragon fired a beam of fire at a couple of red ones, but they just walked it off like nothing. This was enough to surprise the drake before a swarm of green and brown ones appear and hopped onto of him, the dragons cries of agony were heard as sharp claws and various weapons were slashed, stabbed and bashed at his scaly hide.

A single weapon wouldn’t been enough to pierce the dragon’s hide, but several of them being repeatedly beat on him was too much. After the literal pummeling, the creatures got off as what remained was a bloody pulp of the drake as blood and scales littered the ground. The creatures roared vicious before continuing for their next target.

“Sir, those things just took down a… a dragon!”

“A young one, but a dragon is a dragon. Tell the troops to stay away from those things, our main focus is the dragons and it doesn’t appear those things want us so keep away from them for now!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” With his orders given, Hawkeyes gazed at the beaten pulp of the recently killed dragon. Just what are they and are they here to help or to make things worse?

Shade watched as one of his own went to attack the small creatures until he was brought crashing to the grown and swarmed. What remained made some of the dragons back away, he even heard a few gag and lose their lunch.

“CHOMP!” The metal eating dragon looked at him with some strange glint in his eye. “ATTACK THOSE THINGS, NOBODY BRINGS DOWN A DRAGON AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”

Chomp didn’t seem to like the idea, but he came here for that griffon metal and if he had to fight some small creatures that managed to take down a dragon, then so be it. Flying down with some other dragons, Chomp hovered in the air before some ballista shots were aimed at him but bounced off. Due to him eating iron and various other metals his hide was tougher than other dragons, making him the perfect one to handle heavy artillery fire… however.

“Come at me you little… whatever you are!” As he dropped down from the sky, the creatures suddenly turned tail… until he realized that’s not why they were backing away. Approaching from the treeline, followed by three more of the small creatures that were armored with some pretty nasty weapons, stood a bipedal being that wielded an axe and two glowing yellow eyes. From what Chomp could tell, his skin was blue and the armor this thing wore was unlike anything he seen before.

“Hello there, wonderful day we’re having today!” said Kaiden.

“Well aren’t you ecstatic,” said Chomp.

“Yeah, well this is my first time fighting. Name’s Kaiden, I’m the Overlord of these guys.”

Chomp watched as the small creatures behind the Overlord seemed itching to just attack this guy and get it over with, but they also restrained themselves too unlike younger dragons. If they’re holding back near this guy, he must be the real deal. “Hey, I really don’t wanna fight, I was only hear for those metal weapons the griffons have. I heard they’re quite the delicacy for a metal dragon like myself.”

“Ahhhh, that explains why my ballistas didn’t take you down, no matter. So you wanna 1v1 me?”

“Sure, be interesting to see what the boss of these little guys can do.” Chomp stood before he began to circle Kaiden, while Kaiden stood while twirling his axe in one hand. Kaiden may have zero battle experience, however he was easy to anger as a kid and in a rough neighborhood, so what came next was no surprise.

[Battle Music]

Chomp charged forth but instead of Kaiden using the axe as he expected Kaiden slammed the axe to the ground and charged at him. Not expecting that, he went for a bite but Kaiden ducked below and grabbed him by the neck with both arms pushing him back with all his might. Even though Chomp was big, Kaiden had enough of a grip to push him back and slam him to the ground.

Kaiden began to throw punches but backed off when Chomp tried to slam him with his tail. Grabbing his axe again, Chomp went for a punch of his own but was deflected with the axe. Kicking him back, Kaiden rushed and smashed with the flat side of his axe against Chomp’s face.

His vision spinning, he was grabbed by the head and given a headbutt, though probably not a smart move as Kaiden started seeing stars too. “Whoa, let’s not do that again,” said Kaiden shaking his head.

Having had enough, Chomp roared and fired metal slag at Kaiden which he dodged, but as he dodged Chomp slammed with his tail at Kaiden’s mid-section, sending him to the ground. With him down, Chomp pounced on him but missed when he rolled out of the way. The two were back on their feet again and back to circling each other.

“You got a mean punch there,” said Chomp.

“I can say the same to that tail of yours… You mentioned you only came here for the metal right?” Chomp paused, but still kept wary about why Kaiden would suddenly bring up that. “Well… what if I made a deal with you.” At first Chomp was going to say no… but what did Shade do to him; he was told it would have been easy taking the metal from the griffons that they were weak.

However, not only did they were still ready for their attack, but Kaiden his forces appeared out of nowhere… it didn’t look good for the dragons, so he might as well change his own plans. “What you got in mind?”

“Well, while this griffon metal might be good… ever heard of, Minion metal?”

Back in the sky – Griffon Kingdom; 1:25pm

Sunny didn’t expect this to happen, the only reason she came wasn’t to fight; one of her friends got mixed up with the wrong crowd and she was here to find him. Not only that but she was actually close friends with some of the griffons at one the villages here, but when she heard some of the dragons her age was going to attack the griffons’ homes, she went to them first to warn them.

She did manage to save the griffons she befriended but the warning didn’t spread quickly to the other griffon villages. I just hope they’re all safe though.

“Jade! Jade! Where are you!?” shouted Sunny. Before the battle, she was told that Jade was last seen in this village by another dragon. After the battle was starting to last longer and the sudden appearance of another army, most of the dragons flew off and told her she should save her own skin, but she wouldn’t leave her friend. “It’s me, Sunny, where are you!?”

“Sunny, shush, over here and stay quiet.” Turning around she saw her friend Jade; he was a greenish dragon who was smaller than others and his wings weren’t that big but enough for him to at least fly and hover. “What are you doing here, are you insane? Some strange small creatures are trying to hunt us down one by one. If we try to attack them they shoot us down and surround us, and those lucky enough to not get swarmed are chased by the small bastards.”

“Then how come you haven’t flown away, you don’t look hurt.”

“I can’t, I’m… I’m...” Sunny saw her friend shaking, he was shaking so badly he couldn’t fly straight if he wanted to. “Look, you need to get outta here, forget about me.”

“WHAT! I’m not going to leave you here!” At that moment, several of the small creatures came around a corner and spotted the two dragons. Thinking they were going to attack them, she noticed these ones didn’t looked armed and were blue. She seen the brown, red and some of those green ones before but the blues ones seemed… different.

“Um… hello, we don’t mean no harm. I just want to take my friend away, I promise we’ll leave and never hurt any griffons or any of your friends.” The blues creatures looked at one another, before one of them approached. It held onto Sunny’s claw and was trying to pull at it, pointing his other hand to where the other blues were going. “Wait… you want us… to follow?”

The blue creature nodded, before it started going back with the others, looking back once awhile and waving it’s hand for them to follow. Sunny at first found this suspicious but was a tad too trustful of others and was going to follow. “Sunny are you crazy! It could be a trap!”

“I doubt it, I noticed earlier not all of them are fireproof and only the red ones are, so if this one willing just went up to me and asked me to follow it… Well, maybe it just wants us so we aren’t mistaken for the bad dragons.”

Jade was thinking real fast but heard the echoes of fighting deeper within the burning village. Better than having to face those other ones or a griffon. “W-Wait up!”

As the two followed the Blues – Sunny named them because of the coloration – they soon found themselves at a sort of camp, among them was other of the small creatures that looked hurt. There were also hurt griffons from soldiers to villagers; many of the griffons suddenly became rigid from the appearance of the dragons but didn’t do anything due to the armored creatures that were guarding this small camp.

Sunny and Jade watched as these black-armored creatures gazed at them before going back to standing and keeping an eye around them. They were soon led to a big tent stationed in the middle of this camp, the Blue that led them pointed to the camp, before going inside himself. Sunny decided to go inside and found a griffon hen, another of the small creatures but older looking, and what appeared to be a black-armored griffon who had some bandages around her head.

“Oh look, we got dragons in here, name’s Gillen, so what’s yours?” asked Gillen, smiling.

“You, why are these lizards in here,” asked Gnarl. The Blue approached Gnarl, before mumbling something in his ear before skittering off. “I see… so you two are wanting to surrender, correct?”

“Ummmm, yeah; a lot of the dragons are already retreating seeing as you guys appear out of nowhere,” said Sunny.

“Not surprising seeing that Kaiden and the Minions are taking out you dragons real quick,” said Silver.

“Minions, the heck is that?”

“That be us; we are called Minions and there are four types of us out there, we follow someone called the Overlord. Recently he just bested and gained a truce with a dragon, this dragon is apparently interested in working for us if he can eat some of the metal that only we Minions can make.”

“Did you say a metal-eating dragon? WAIT, YOU AREN’T REFERRING ‘Metal-Hide’ CHOMP ARE YOU!?” shouted Jade.

“Oh you mean that nice dragon that helped me where I might find you Jade.”

“Nice? NICE! Chomp is a metal-eater, they are the toughest dragons known out there and you call him nice?!”

At that same moment, entering inside was Kaiden alongside Chomp who were in the middle of something before finding two other dragons in the strategy tent. “Did I miss something?” asked Kaiden.

Everyone looked to find Kaiden with Chomp beside him, the two looked to have some scratches but fairly alright from the way Chomp was grinning. “Ahhhh the being of the hour is here! So you must be this Overlord I’ve been hearing about, name’s Gillen,” said Gillen, approaching Kaiden.

“...Gnarl, why’s there two more dragons and another griffon here?”

“Oh, about that sir, well some of our forces were searching the nearby village some time ago...”

Sometime earlier – Griffon Kingdom, Beakerton; 1:15pm

Gillen had handled so far, some dragons that were attracted to the sounds of battle but so far things had gotten quiet. Lucky for her as she was currently cleaning her recent wounds, she was hiding in a ruined building occasionally watching some flying silhouettes going by.

“Damn, that recent battle nearly took my wing, when are these bloody lizards going to fly off,” said Gillen, wincing. Gillen took what she had and found in the ruined building to bandage her torso and crippled wing.

Then she heard something, at first it sounded like the pounding of several feet but it was hard to tell with all the burning fires nearby and battle. However because of her intense training she could tell sounds between sounds, or that’s how her instructor told her. Focusing clearly now, she heard the tromping of several feet, heading for her direction. There’s four, no, six but… something feels off, they’re not griffons even though it sounds like their running in fours and the steps sound to light to be anything else.

At that moment, coming around a corner were six wolves but what were on top of them made her pause a little. Six of those small brown creatures were riding the wolves like mounts, each wielding weapons and some wearing pieces of armor… if she could call it that. Sure some of them did wear armor while others wore various random objects.

Is that one… wearing a bucket with holes for eye slots?

Gillen wasn’t told how to react toward these things, she was mentioned of the sudden appearance of an unknown army but so far they were targeting the dragons and not them. There haven’t been any incidents where either side have attacked each other.

One of the riders got off their wolf, looking around on foot, this one was sniffing the air before it went on all fours and began sniffing the ground. Gillen was sweating, while she was certain she could handle six of them, but she wasn’t sure what they were capable of as she was trained to handle dragons and the natural beasts of the Griffon Kingdom.

The one sniffing the ground froze still before it started barking at the others, pointing at the ruined building Gillen was in. Immediately both the riders and wolves slowly surrounded Gillen’s hiding spot in a semi-circle. Not sure what to do, Gillen slowly stepped out of her hiding spot, making sure was as non-threatening as possible. “Heeeey, I mean no harm, just want to head back to my camp with the rest of my kind, that cool,” said Gillen.

The lead creature, the one that was sniffing the ground looked at her with a spear to his side, before the creature slowly approached her. At first it stood there, before grinning in return, it wasn’t a menacing grin just a very… toothy one. “Tough birdy, birdy hurt, want help?”

Gillen was a bit shocked from the response and he seemed friendly enough so she gave her own cheeky smile in turn. “Yeah, you got any healing potions on you?” The creature tilted it’s head before motioning for the one wearing the bucket; it approached and pulled out a red-viscous potion that oddly looked like the creatures. “Uhhhh, thanks.”

Taking the potion, she gulped it down and suddenly she felt better but still sore. The creature motioned at her, before going back to ride his wolf. “Follow follow.” The group of six started to leave as Gillen watched.

They helped me so far, doubt there’s anything bad to follow them.

Present time – Griffon Kingdom, Overlord’s Camp; 1:30pm

“Then I followed them back, before I found myself surrounded by a camp of those things. I found several other injured griffons spread out and they recognized me immediately. They told me they were found by what I was told were called Minions and brought back to the camp. I told them to stay calm and stay here until further orders from superior officer. I was later introduced to this guy and was going to be introduced to their leader; now we’re here and I’m talking to you,” said Gillen.

Kaiden sat at the meeting tent, alongside him were his Minion Generals, Gnarl, all his advisers, Silver Beak, Gillen and the three dragons called Chomp, Sunny and Jade. Right now, with both representative from the dragons and the griffons here, Kaiden had all the possible cards and outcomes in his hands.

“So from what I can understand; the dragons who are led by this Shade Fang brought all these young dragons to invade and possibly rule over the griffons while they were weakened from civil war and poverty. The griffons on the other hand are dealing with their own problems leading to infighting among themselves. Now from what I can put together, all I can say is...”

Everyone awaited for Kaiden’s answer and what he said was both shocking but normal for those who been with him long enough. “Just, sad and hilarious! To expect for a sudden invasion from not a nation but just a bunch of punk-ass drakes who want some loot and bitches!”

“Of course you’ll say that,” said Silver.

“So you’re not going to help,” said Gillen.

“I never said that; look, if I am to do what I plan to do, then I am not only going to beat the dragons… but you griffons are going to have to submit to a new ruler. Sure what I’m saying can be considered evil or that I sound like some conqueror but you aren’t go to last in your current state. You need a new perspective on things meaning you need a new form of leadership… so either you accept my proposal or you can just fight your own battles.”

Gillen wasn’t involved much in the politics within the Griffon Kingdom, but she knew something will let loose and when it does, all Tartarus will go loose. “Alright, you have a point, but even if you were to handle these dragons and convince a majority of the griffons to join you, I still see some problems in the future,” said Gillen.

“Let me handle that; Gnarl, how are we doing in the fight?”

“The Blues are on standby in case needed, the Reds are smothering fires to clear the path for our forces and make excellent distractions for those dragons. As for the Browns and Greens, they’re focusing more on ambush and hit-and-run tactics than full on assaults. The wolf riders are being using as scouts and messengers in between the ranks; our losses are that high and the dragons are easy to take down with the ballistas or simply they just fly down thinking they can take us on before being swarmed by our forces. To say the least… these lizards have no chance on winning.”

The dragons present didn’t seem insulted, though Chomp raised his brow near the end. “Okay, I can agree that we dragons can be a bit prideful and arrogant, though to be honest we never expected to face a literal horde of small yet deadly creatures to suddenly appear,” said Chomp. “The reason I’m not with Shade right now is because that idiot thought he could conquer an entire nation. To be perfectly honest, that would just piss of the griffons, replace their current leadership and make us dragons a target. Sure we might win… but the dragons are cocky and slothful for the past centuries; I was told stories, before that dragons we strong and wild beasts that ruled the skies, that’s changed now.”

Silver stood up next, putting her own input on the discussion. “He has a point, the griffons would just retaliate due to this sudden attack. The best way for the griffons to survive both the civil war and this recent attack is if we’re followed a new ruler, a new perspective as Kaiden said.”

“That’s Overlord Kaiden to you, but yes; okay enough chit-chat, there’s only one way to deal with this problem.” As Kaiden stood up he lifted his axe and leaned on his shoulder, with his other hand he pointed toward the direction the battle was taking, a crazy grin under his helm. “TIME TO END THIS SO CALLED ‘WAR’ AND RULE THIS BLOODY KINGDOM!”

Griffon Kingdom, Griffonstone; 2:25pm

The griffon army was forced back to the capital, the remaining dragons followed Shade for a final attack toward the capital. Due to many losses on their side from the strange new creatures all the dragons learned to avoid them and while that angered many and harmed their pride, but they came here to attack the capital not some small gremlin-looking creatures.

Dammit, since I sent Chomp he hasn’t reappeared since, for all the things to happen; that mysterious army came out of nowhere and started taking us down one by one. “FRIGID! How many of us are left!?” shouted Shade.

“Twenty, maybe forty, but we should have enough to attack the capital,” said Frigid.

“Good, now then… ALL DRAGONS!” shouted Shade. All nearby dragons looked at Shade, awaiting for what they were planning to do next. “We came here to loot and take any valuables from these feather-brains and that’s what we’ll do! I don’t care what happens but we’re not leaving without taking something in turn! ATTTTAAACCCK!”

The dragons were let loose, flying toward Griffonstone, magma dripping from their maws with savage grins. As they gotten closer though… all hell broke loose; nothing strange happened, but then something started flying right at them. Sprouting from the mountainside near Griffonstone like pillars of earth were the sudden appearance of metal and wooden structures.

“What the heck is th-” The dragon that said that was obliterated as a flurry of ballista arrows and other projectiles were fired at the drakes. Shade watched as his forty dragons went to only a quarter of their numbers in moments.

“H-H-How?” As every dragon fell before him, Shade quickly flew off alongside with Frigid as all the other dragons were killed one by one.

Griffon Kingdom, Griffonstone; 2:30pm

Grubby watched as the dragons were wasted with only two faraway silhouettes flew off away from the falling corpses. Having been told by Overlord Kaiden to set up some defensive towers near Griffonstone before the battle was a smart move. “Good, you, tell the Overlord that we handled the drakes! The rest of you, pack up we’re moving back with the others!” shouted Grubby.

As all the Minions headed back, elsewhere at the same time, King Goldus had watched the quick defeat of the dragons from the strange beings further down the mountain where Griffonstone was at. When Hawkeyes returned with the remainder of his forces, the original two thousand soldiers fell to just half their size while one quarter went missing or possibly to be dead.

The other quarter were confirmed deaths and while they couldn’t retrieve all the bodies, they knew this was their last stand and if they fell all griffons would be doomed. That changed when the sudden appearance of those creatures attacking the remaining dragons back, but now that same force was slowly making their way to Griffonstone.

“My king, what do you want us to do?” asked Hawkeyes. Himself and the other advisers were currently bowing before Goldus, awaiting for his order for what should be done next. He knew fighting would be impossible, especially against an army of those magnitude.

“Gather our remaining forces to surround Griffonstone in a defensive stance but are to be on standby unless given orders. All citizens are to stay in their homes for now; Birdsong, you and the other advisers and nobility are to come with to the entrance of Griffonstone… We’re going to meet the leader of this army of creatures.”

Goldus and his advisers stood before the entrance, facing them from across the entrance was the leader of the Minions; Overlord Kaiden. Alongside him was Gnarl, all the Minion elite, Silver Beak, Blackwing Gillen, and the three dragons called Chomp, Sunny and Jade. Both sides were wary of another but Kaiden was ecstatic, he was practically bouncing in his armor. So exciting meeting the leader of a nation whilst holding the fate of an entire nation in my hands.

“Hello mysterious warrior, I am King Goldus, king of Griffonstone and ruler of the Griffon Kingdom! Myself and my advisers thank you for saving us from the dragon threat that approached our lands, but I must ask what is it you want in return?”

And here we go. Stretching his arms outward, he gained a reaction from both his own forces and the griffons. “What any new world-dominating conqueror would wan; to rule the lands of this new world under my grand plan! FOR I AM, OVERLORD KAIDEN!”

Immediately the griffons reacted violently, but Goldus stopped them from attacking but he himself was a bit wary about this new being. “I’d say you were joking… but considering what you done recently and the fact you come here with your entire army doesn’t show signs of any peaceful arrangements.”

“Righty-Oh; I heard some talk that you are dealing with a civil war before the dragons attack and I also heard rumors of financial problems, correct?”

While it sounded like a question, it was more a statement, Goldus learned from past experience that the one with the better information was the one who won before the battle began… and it appears he lost this battle of knowledge.

“You are correct,” said Goldus.

“My king!” shouted Birdsong. “We shouldn’t confirm this being’s suspicions-”

“They’re aren’t suspicions, we can’t lie or persuade this being into thinking otherwise; Overlord Kaiden, you said you wish to rule these lands, but how can you convince them to follow under your rule. It’ll take more than chasing off the dragons to fully gain the loyalty of griffon-kind.”

Kaiden stood there in contemplation before an idea came to him, a glorious one at that. “True true… but I hold my own secrets and knowledge and with my forces and own resources I believe I can solve all your problems and more. While I could just take everything from you, I’m not in the mood to deal with any backstabbing… So that’s why I’ll be just taking over and doing something you never had the guts to do!”

Goldus wasn’t sure how to react to what Kaiden was saying but he had to say something. “And what would you do that I haven’t tried?”

“Why, going to war of course.” The idea instantly silenced everyone, all of them looking at Kaiden with a new but worried gaze… except for one.

“AHHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Yes, that’s our Overlord, the best way to gain the following of new subjects is to direct them to do something productive!”

“War!? HAVE YOU GONE MAD! We’ll never survive a war with any of the nations!” shouted Silver.

Soon much of Kaiden’s group was talking back at one another about the idea of war, but then more laughter came but not from either Kaiden or anyone else except the king himself. All looked at him, until the king smiled his beak giving an almost upturned look. “I see I see… I believe I can entrust you with my kingdom, you seem capable and not the type that’s power hungry especially with that relaxed response. Though who would you target exactly, you can attack someone without a proper reason no matter what kind of reason it may be.”

“You got a point… any suggestions griffon king?”

“HA! ‘Griffon king’ not once did anyone refer to me as such… There is an option though; if you plan to rule under this land, I must ask for a request from you if you are to go with this idea of war. You see, recently I received news that my daughter and two of her bodyguards have been chased out of the Minos Empire due to a coup happening within their lands. Right now they are safe, but I wish for you to save her and possibly avenged both the loss of one of my own and this sudden aggression toward us.”

Ohhhh, so it appears I’m not the only one who wants to go on a full on war either. “And where is this land of cow-people?”

This caused more laughter from Goldus, before he quieted down. “Ahhhh, I haven’t been this entertained for a long time. While I’d love to speak, I believe we should do so from my castle, and then we can come to a proper arrangement of how you shall rule this land.”

“Excellent!” said Kaiden. As the king’s group led Kaiden’s, he lowered to whisper to Gnarl. “Tell the Greens they don’t need to assassinate the king and his group, I kinda like him.”

“Of course my Overlord,” said Gnarl, bowing back.

A few days later – Griffon Kingdom, Kaiden’s Fortress; 9:30am

After some time, King Goldus announced that the Griffon Kingdom would be under new leadership and while he would still be king, he’d would only handle certain matters within Griffonstone alone. Once every griffon was introduce to their new leader, Overlord Kaiden promised many things and changes to come, and they did come these changes.

The rumors of civil war were smothered down with a swift move, all nobility – both the loyalists and royalists – were abolished but certain nobility that both Kaiden and Goldus chose were handpicked to rule new towns being built by Kaiden’s Minions. The poverty problem was solved easily, the Minions would handle the hunts for food and in exchange, the griffons would trade the food with resources and other materials. Considering the fact that many griffons hoarded gold and other things, food seemed to be most important than riches, so it was quickly handed off to the Minions who brought them back to their Overlord.

Other problems like the rebuilding and costs was handled easily, as the Minions would do anything for their master with no payment required. The only things they wanted… well it varied but they were happy to satisfy their master. As for Kaiden himself, he decided to reside in the abandoned fort he was found in and did some heavy refurbishing.

The fort tripled in size and held a giant tower-like structure that was built for any griffon or flying visitors. The tower itself was hollow for an elevator shaft with the very top used as a lookout of sorts, lower down was the fort itself that consisted three areas; the outer area consisted of the wall and courtyard-area that was expanded. The middle area held several structures like the blacksmith, some storage buildings and a tavern. Finally was the center area where the fort was; a small moat was built around it with a giant drawbridge being the only way for those who can’t fly to enter. The fort was like how it originally was, with only some slight differences, but the real difference was below.

The whole mountain was hollowed out for several tunnels and rooms to be built for various uses; one area was for the Minion Hives and Minions to live, another area is where the Minion elite would reside, three areas are where the wolves, giant spiders and fire salamanders are kept.

There was a complex tunnel system that only the Minions could traverse, allowing them to appear anywhere in the Griffon Kingdom and this tunnel system continued to grow with each passing day.

Within the fort, Kaiden stood looking at the horizon at one of the fort’s balconies; after gaining the loyalty of all the griffons, he made some of the griffons and dragons that joined him to their own rules.

Silver Beak was made into Kaiden’s secretary, so she handled everything from his schedule down to every little detail that he should know. Goldus sent forth some elite Griffons called the Blackwings to work under Kaiden, one of these Blackwings was Gillen so she was made to leading the other Blackwings. Other griffons that were rescued and recovered under the Minions’ Blues joined Kaiden’s forces, these griffons were given better armor, equipment and training from the Minion Generals.

As for the dragons, Chomp helped out in the armory, it was discovered that combined with him eating Minion Metal – from smelting Minions into a smelter – if he were to spit it out, it would create an even better version of the metal than it was before. He was given the role to create said new metals… he would also enjoy the taste of these new metals for himself.

Sunny and Jade, at first there wasn’t anything useful, but Sunny worked at the tavern alongside Jade, the two decided to wanting to live a peaceful life away from their kind. They agreed to work for Kaiden, and many patrons enjoyed be served a beautiful dragoness such as Sunny… though occasionally they would get bopped by her swishing tail.

Things are going smoothly. “So, what’s next on the list Silver?” asked Kaiden.

“Well, Grubby said he and the other Minion diggers should be near the shores that are close to the island where Trottingham is. Goldus and his advisers said that while griffons and ponies live there, the area is considered neutral land so he suggests to ignore them.”

“Anything interesting on that island exactly?”

“Well, other than it being the prime trading area for both Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, it is the only safe way to travel between the two nations.”

“Hmmmm… until Grubby finishes the tunnels to the shores just north of the kingdom, tell him to prepare a port area for us to travel to Trottingham. I also want you to send some letters,” said Kaiden, exiting the balcony.

“Of course and who am I sending the letters to?”

Kaiden had one of his ideas in his mind, with his usual grin under his helm; reaching for his newest weapon, the Apocalyptor, a mace that not only does fire damage but would cause an explosion on the third hit. While still wearing his normal Minion Armor and Helmet, he did had all the weapons and armor from the second Overlord game made already, but didn’t need to wear them right now.

Looking back at Silver, a manic grin that was hard to see under his helm with his two glowing yellow eyes seeming to blaze even brighter than usual. “Send them to the royalty of Equestria, it’s time I begin my second step into world domination and meet my competition,” said Kaiden. Stepping outside toward the various Minions and Griffons wandering the area, they all looked up at their leader with varying reactions.

“LISTEN UP! I handled the problems here in this kingdom, but now it is time for action; as you know I promised to the king of the griffons I’d save his daughter in exchange I rule this land my way! With that done and all problems dealt with here, it is time we move on! WE’RE GOING TO EQUESTRIA, SO PACK YOUR THINGS AND LET, US, GOOOOO!”

With a roar of approval, activity seem to blossom as everyone from Minions to griffons ran around to prepare for the expedition to the land of ponies. Kaiden watched as things began to smoothly begin; today the true conquest would begin. And I haven’t even heard news of the others yet… Wondering how they’re doing?

Author's Note

Pheeew, this one was lengthy to write; okay, at some point I may have strayed from the main point but I got the story over. Did some light editing but I'll come back to checking it later, but if you readers see anything need fixing, just comment below and tell me.

While Shade and Frigid managed to escape they aren't Overlord Kaiden's main focus; with order and prosperity brought to the Griffon Kingdom, Kaiden's sights are on Equestria and his promise to the king. Now with preparations to save the princess are on way, now Kaiden's needs a way to get across the land without agitating the residents and leadership of Equestria. Time to meet the royal sisters!

Elsewhere, it appears a certain Soul Reaper has been causing how own ruckus elsewhere in this new world. Let's hope things are going well for him.

Theme song for the next character's chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYVUaN3kudo