“This simply is not working.”

Maiz shifted at the words. He wasn’t the only one. It was strange to hear a Master more or less admit defeat, even if it didn’t quite mean they had lost yet.

The Jin’Teslin surveyed the mess hall, full of what Maiz assumed was a good portion of the Temple’s population--it seemed like a few hundred combatants and support titles, including several dozen Clerics in green robes. “We cannot continue to hold our Dungeons against this enemy while they are on the move. Denying them water has proven impossible for the time being, and we cannot continue to risk our forces in these efforts.”

Maiz almost nodded. He’d wondered, just how the army was finding all of the water sources in the Waste, but considering that they were, he didn’t think the Temple had a chance of sustaining an effort to hold the Dungeons. But apparently others didn’t agree.

“Forgive me, Jin’Teslin, but we would surrender to faithless invaders? Are we not bound by the Lord’s Chosen to protect what he gifted us?” The speaker was another woman who looked to be about the same age as the Jin’Teslin, though her face was narrower, her dark hair bound in a ponytail. From the fact that she was standing with the other combatants instead of against the far wall with the Jin’Teslin, Maiz inferred that she wasn’t a Master. She had to be an Adept, then, and a brave one at that, to question the Jin.

“Marya, I hear your words, but the Jin have spoken.” The Master was surprisingly polite to her questioner, though her words betrayed impatience. “This threat has already stirred us to war, and we must not take foolish risks for pride. We will defend what we require to survive siege, and fight when we may defeat our enemies.”

Marya didn’t seem happy with that statement. “Siege? How will the heathens even find the Temple, Jin? What--”

“--the Jin’Aba has opened his eyes, Marya.”

Marya’s mouth snapped shut, and silence fell like a heavy blanket. Maiz couldn’t hear so much as a breath, let alone a whisper. He glanced at Lila, but her eyes were fixed on her mother, her full lips pressed into a thin line. Hugan, on her other side, looked at Maiz with a frown. He seemed about to lean over, but Maiz shook his head sharply. Now certainly wasn’t the time to start talking, not when there were hundreds of powerful combatants apparently shocked out of their wits around them.

“Do any others wish to question the severity of this matter? The Jin do not declare war lightly. We will do what is necessary to win.”

No one said a word, and after a moment of surveying the crowd, her powerful gaze pinning everyone in their place with mouths shut, the Jin nodded.

“Squad leaders will meet Division commanders tomorrow for orders. Division commanders, please join me now. All else are dismissed.”

The room broke out into chatter. Finally, Lila tore her eyes away from her mother, and grabbed Maiz’s arm. Her grip was surprisingly strong, but then she’d likely ranked up quite a bit from all of the fighting, same as he had. “Let’s go.”

It took a bit of scrambling--it was difficult to push one’s way around a crowd when the other people might be several times stronger or weaker than you depending upon their rank. Still, Hugan’s large frame and Lila’s guidance had them out in relatively short order, ahead of a much larger tide of combatants that were currently chattering away.

Lila had them into a secluded side hallway in minutes, and she finally turned, looking a little wild around the eyes.

“Sorry. I just didn’t want to be around long enough for someone to try talking to me.”

Hugan shrugged, and Ziya remained expressionless, but Maiz felt his brows furrow involuntarily. Why…

Lila shot him a look, and Maiz let his face go blank. Her eyes, far from their usual intimidating glint, held a note of pleading. She’d said more than she’d meant to. Maiz glanced at Ziya, but he couldn’t read anything from her face, as usual. Still, she was far better than Maiz at understanding subtext, so he doubted she’d missed the odd comment. Maiz put it out of his mind, focusing back on Lila’s words.

“--are you okay with that, Hugan?”

“Uh, if you all are, I don’t--I mean, it wouldn’t--”

“I am happy with this plan. Lila is very good at tactics, but you do well in the field, Hugan.” Ziya spoke up. She laid a hand on his shoulder, and Hugan visibly calmed, smiling.

“Thanks Ziya!” He looked at Maiz expectantly, his eyes offering, even slightly worried.

“Uh,” Maiz let out a small smile. “What are we doing, exactly?”

Lila kicked him, and he skipped out of the way, but Hugan laughed. “Lila was saying that her mother is set on her as our team leader, but she, uh, wanted me to have field command.”

Oh. Field command was leadership in combat, but not during planning or logistics or any of the other things that went into successful battle. It was a good fit, at least as far as Hugan was concerned--he’d done well in their battles so far. Lila was presumably a good tactician, though her skill in that area hadn’t come up so much yet. Maiz couldn’t help but feel stung, though, that no one had even considering asking him for the position. THe feeling lasted for all of two seconds, before he remembered that he would hate having to worry about directing his friends during combat, and he tried very hard not to draw attention when he was fighting. Still, there was another consideration.

“Of course, but uh, what about Juya? Wouldn’t she--”

“--already told me she didn’t want to deal with command. She’s… well, she wants to be an Adept, and she, doesn’t really have the talent to do it quickly. She needs all of her time for training.” Lila cut in, though she seemed a little embarrassed about sharing Juya’s predicament.

Maiz nodded. Talent and practice were the keys to the higher ranks--Maiz hadn’t yet hit a wall in his title’s progression besides feat completion, but he knew that for most people, ther progression ended at Journeyman because they simply lacked the ability to push through to Adept. Here in the Temple, perhaps that number was lower because of the sheer level of resources available to combatants, but that didn’t remove the need for hard work.

He patted Hugan on the back, putting some of his own Strength into the gesture. It still wasn’t enough to so much as budge his friend, but both of them grinned. “So long as you keep taking hits for me, you can do whatever you want.”

Hugan laughed. “Will do!”

Maiz laughed as well. This was a good thing, overall. He would have more freedom, and he trusted both Hugan and Lila to do well in their positions. Still…

“Lila, shouldn’t we vote on whether you should be leading us?” Maiz let a teasing note creep into his voice, as he addressed the brooding girl. Really, that was supposed to be his job.

“Well, it’s only the boring stuff Maiz! Let her have--”

Hugan was cut off by Lila’s punch, and an instant later, she landed a kick on Maiz’s arm. Maiz winced theatrically, and shot a glance at Hugan. “Thought you said you’d protect me?”

“I only take responsibility for hits that hurt!”

Maiz winced at the barrage Lila released after that comment, but of course she wasn’t really trying to hurt him. It was as much a joke to her as it was to them. Eventually, they calmed down, and Ziya spoke.

“Lila, who is the Jin’Aba?”

Maiz nodded. He wanted to know why the Jin’Teslin’s mentioning the man’s name had so thoroughly shocked all the Warrior-Monks. He had a feeling from the look on Lila’s face however, that he wouldn’t like the answer.

“He’s... the head of the Jin. He’s very old, and he doesn’t usually involve himself in the Temple’s business. He hasn’t woken up in a long time, so it’s strange.”

Lila seemed uncomfortable, but Maiz wasn’t exactly sure why. Ziya was still looking intent though.

“How long has he been sleeping?”

Lila looked down at the question, taking a long moment before looking back up, a resigned look in her eyes. “Fifty years or so.”

“Woah! How old is he?” Hugan’s voice was full of innocent surprise, but Maiz could already see where this is going. Oh hells, of course.

“About three hundred.”

There was only one kind of person with that sort of lifespan, though few of the human ones lasted so long. Battle, assassination, or sheer boredom often claimed them before their third century, from the stories Maiz had read. Not that there were many around in the world at a time. The King of Corunti, who’d reigned for a hundred years, was the only one Maiz knew about for certain.

“A Grandmaster.”

Lila nodded, looking a little queasy. “He is our last defense, insurance against the fall of the Temple. And he’s waking up.”