-Callen-

  With Karia’s cry, knights and militia across the field raised whatever weapons they had in hand and echoed the cry. I lean back, closing my eyes and letting the cheer wash over me as I give one last scan of the surrounding areas for any remaining elven remains that remained veiled. I let out a soft sigh and joined up with the knights and militia who were making their way back into the city. Perhaps the one advantage or the one silver lining was that even if the elves retreated, as long as we injured them at some point and I could find some piece that was left behind, we could break the veil regardless of the distance. Though predictably being the essential support in the securing of kills made my usage of mana a vital resource. I simply shook my head as I stepped through the gate into the town. It’s a shame I didn’t have enough time to get proper training with Sis before we set off on the mayoral change.

  Inside the city was a somber mood. The cries of victory outside only seemed to serve as a balm to the bloody scene within the town. Bodies of the men who had fallen defending the walls, despite the overwhelming power of the opposition, piled up into large mounds. The stench of blood and death was thicker than it was out in the battlefield. The one thing the town had that enabled them to hold the walls as long as they did was the sheer number of bodies that could be thrown at the problem. Good old Soviet tactics in all their horrific and bloody glory. I gradually fell into step behind Karia as we made our way into the town. A bloody man missing his legs is carried over to us by a pair of younger men.

  “Saviors, thank you for arriving in our hour of need.” I had to hold myself back from snorting in sick amusement as the legless man signaled the people carrying him to bow his torso. Karia doesn’t seem phased in the slightest as she responds.

  “You’ve done well to hold the line.” She takes a moment to glance at me, focusing on my fake arm. “Callen, I assume that arm is your work?” I look between the queen and the knight inquisitively but give a nod of confirmation.

  “When this war is over I would like to have this man rewarded with a similar pair of legs. Take note of it somewhere so that I can reimburse you for their crafting.” I bowed slightly and gave the only response one makes when a royal gives the order.

  “Yes, my queen.”

  Without a further word, Karia takes the lead, moving on while the man’s carriers stumble to keep up with our pace. I can easily see the look of joy and relief on the man’s face that is quickly replaced by focus as Sir Harold begins inquiring about the town’s circumstances. The legless man turned about to be the baron of the city. He had lost his legs early in the fighting and was rescued by his knights, who later fell in defense of the city. The elves focused most of their efforts on targeting the strongest defenders, leaving only the weakest to man the walls. Thus, as the strongest man in the city, he fell victim early on and had to resign himself to a position of command in the rear.

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  I considered staying up to get a better grasp of the local situation, but the long-distance run with the sprint at the end leading straight into strenuous combat left me completely worn out. I enjoyed one of the castle's guest rooms, but by the time I woke up, Karia was rallying the knights and having us move on. The townsfolk cheered us off while waving whatever they could. The somber attitude from yesterday is hidden under the earnest well wishes being given for our journey.

  We set off at a similar pace, encountering nearly no resistance as we ran down the roads. Hearing a grunt of discomfort, I peeked over to the mage riding on the back of the knight next to me. The man clung to the knight like a startled kitten hanging onto a tree branch. Dad’s advice of balancing stats was clearly not taken universally. The mage was definitely still a couple steps above a civilian, but at the speed our formation was moving, they would collapse well before we reached our destination. The sun moved from rising to noon to late in the afternoon by the time we could finally see Nox city on the horizon.

  As we approached, I noticed the ground was soaked in water, with large swaths of terrain having been washed away. The people in the city also clearly noticed us, and a large party of soldiers moved out to meet with us. Their leader spoke briefly with Karia before taking the lead, having his men escort us into the city. The mud got thicker and thicker as we got closer to the city; it was nearly impossible to run by the time we reached the gate itself. We entered the outer district, which had been converted from a commercial hub into a military base.

  Looking over the concentrations of soldiers, it was clear that the majority of high-level soldiers were arranged to protect the water mages who were stationed along the wall. The portions in between were filled with various criminal factions that I recognized as the same factions that had caused a ruckus while we had previously stayed in the city. Near the second layer of the city, a central command area was established, and I saw someone/something very familiar: Meccas’s sword on the back of a familiar armor-clad maid. The escort kept moving, so I didn’t have time to call out or talk to her, but very soon another familiar face was in sight: Viscount Nox and Reginald Nox. Reginald and I quickly make eye contact, and a small grin creeps up onto his mouth, but he turns his attention to the queen, giving a formal greeting shortly after his father.

  Lilia’s March East

  Lilia looked down at her army from a large boulder as they marched by. The outermost men shift to let fresh men take place guarding the column as they march down the road. When she decided to bypass Lanious City to keep moving east, she had expected the elves to oppose her army. They had, after all, previously set a herd of dangerous deer on the refugees of the army. However, it seemed that whatever the shadow was doing to warn away predators seemed to work equally well against the elves. It came in part as a relief and a concern that ever since she refused to allocate her corruption stat points, her shadow had become far less cooperative. It still upheld their previous deal, but it didn’t seem to like the idea of Lilia running away from the duke's influence. Still, making the shadow upset was something she personally considered a win.

  She looked off into the distance and could see the edge of the glassy lake and the ruins of the town directly north. Faintly she recalled visiting her previously, but ever since the shadow had attached itself to her, large portions of her more feral memories were in its possession. It offered to return the memories, but after getting burned in the previous deals, Lilia didn’t trust whatever she received to be untainted by whatever schemes the shadow had. Those memories led her to her current fractured state anyway; accepting them back might very well break her again. She shook herself free of her musings as Freema hopped onto the rock next to her.

  “Lex . . . “ Freema paused awkwardly before starting over, “Lilia, just past the next town is when we get into hive worm-tainted territory. We’ll need to slow down more and do regular inspections if we don’t want to risk an outbreak.” Lilia quietly nodded while keeping watch on the men below. Ever since facing the stampede, they had started talking more casually, and Freema had filled her in on a lot of the details she had lost. In particular, that friendship was a part of her that she longed to restore, but while she instinctively knew who they were, her memories of their time together were shrouded in the same fog as the rest. She closed her eyes before focusing back into the present and leaping off her perch into the fields.

  “Young man, I say to you, get up!”