Bjorn looked up from his meal of bread, cheese, and olives as Ruhak walked into the dining room.

While everyone else had been packing, Bjorn was waiting. He had packed his bags for the march far in advance.

They had all known today was the day that Koinelia would start making their way to meet the Nikan. Bjorn had wanted to savor proper food one last time before being forced to resort to stale bread and dried meat for who knows how long.

“Bjorn. Everyone’s ready. Let’s head out.” Ruhak gestured towards the house’s entrance with his head.

Bjorn stood from his seat, “I’ll go get Taya.”

“She’s still getting ready?” Ruhak asked, “I thought she of all people would be the first one to lead the charge. Is she okay?”

Taya had refused to move from Bjorn’s bed this morning after her talk with her Shedim. He wasn’t entirely sure if she was just tired and still sleeping or if she was awake. Being that tired was a bad sign, but if she was awake...well, that’d be worse.

“I’ll go check on her and meet you guys outside.” Bjorn said.

He started to leave before Ruhak blurted out, “Bjorn.”

He glanced back at his friend. Ruhak was looking at the ground. His shoulders seemed more tense than before.

“She...is okay, right?”

Bjorn bit his lip in indecision. He’d been on an honest streak with himself lately.

“I don’t know, Ruhak.” Bjorn said, “But we’ll be alright in the end. All of us.” For the first time in a while, he believed every word that came out of his mouth.

Ruhak nodded, his eyes flicking back up to meet Bjorn’s. With that, he ran off to wherever the others had gathered.

Bjorn meandered back to his room, thinking about what he would say to her in the worst-case scenario and then trying to convince himself that wasn’t the case. But expecting the worst and being right was a skill he had mastery over for years. It was going to be a challenge to unlearn that.

He reached his door and knocked on it before he could let himself think about it anymore.

“Yeah?” Taya’s voice, though groggy, came through.

“The Legions are ready to march. It’s time for us to go.” Bjorn said.

“I...I can’t go quite yet.”

“Why is that?” Bjorn asked.

“I’m, er...I’m really not feeling well. I think I’m burning up.”

“I could get Cecile to-”

“No.” She said a little quickly, “No, you guys are about to march. If she catches what I have, I won’t be able to forgive myself. I’ll sweat it out, okay?”

“And when you’re better?”

“You’ll be just a few jumps away.” She said softly, “Super strength, remember?”

She was lying. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did.

How could you even think such a thing? She’s never, never lied to anyone before.

Something was different now. It could’ve been her demeanor, her tone, anything. It was different. There was something she didn’t want him and the others to know.

Bjorn pursed his lips. “Okay. I’ll go tell the others. Though my bag is still inside.”

Taya cracked the door open and squeezed his travel bag through, followed by his weapons. Bjorn looked into the one eye he could see through the crack.

It looked...sad. Not red and puffy as though she’d been crying her eyes out, but he could see listening wetness on the edge. And the eye itself was dimmer. He wasn’t sure how, though.

“Good luck,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her before closing the door and locking it.

Bjorn sighed. He headed out the front entrance of the estate, leaving his belongings on the ground outside his room.

Everyone was dressed in their battle gear, mounted on horses. Ruhak held the reins of two riderless horses in his offhand.

His face fell as Bjorn came out alone.

“Taya’s sick.” Bjorn said, “She said she doesn’t want to get Cecile sick, so she’s going to sweat it out.”

Glances were shared between many.

“I’m going to stay with her.”

Eyes bulged, and gasps were taken as the sentence left his mouth.

“Wait, what?” Ruhak asked.

“She needs someone to be with her, even if she doesn’t want it. I’ll stay behind.” Bjorn said.

“But how will you catch-” Shahla started.

“When she gets better, she’ll take the both of us and jump all the way there. She can do it.” Bjorn assured her, “If anything goes wrong...just keep your eyes on the sky.”

“In the meantime…” Ruhak looked around, “Seang. You care to take up the reins?”

Seang pursed her lips, “Only if you co-lead with me.”

Ruhak looked conflicted for an instant, but nodded, “Alright. Make sure she gets better, Bjorn.”

“I will.”

Ruhak and Seang pulled to the front of the pack as they rode off towards Koinelia.

Bjorn turned back to the house and went inside. He knocked on the door to his room again. “Taya?”

No response.

He tried the door. Still locked.

He knocked yet again.

Though this time he heard something. Sobs. Well...one. Maybe a few more. But they were sporadic.

Bjorn was able to force the door open with little effort.

Taya looked up from her huddled position in the room's corner. Light glistened off the welling tears in her eyes.

“Bjorn?” she glanced up, quickly wiping her eyes.

“Taya. What’s wrong?” Bjorn rushed over to her.

She stood up. “What are you still doing here?”

“I wasn’t going to just leave you alone.” Bjorn said, “You’re very obviously not sick. Why’d you lie to me?”

“I…” Taya blinked, stunned. Then her brow contorted with anger. “What the hell were you thinking? They need you! I...I don’t need you to tend to me like a lost child!”

Bjorn took a stepped back in surprise, “Taya, I just want to-”

“Either go catch up with the others or leave me the hell alone. Don’t let them just march out there to die!” Taya snapped. She glared at him with malice in her eyes. That was the first time he’d ever seen that in her. No, it wasn’t in her eyes. It was in her face, but her eyes said something different. Her eyes looked...guilty.

Bjorn didn’t know what else to do aside from leaving the room and closing the door.

Sure, Taya got angry. But not like this. Never had she gotten angry without a just cause. Was it to cover up another feeling? Since when was that something she did? And if so, what was she smothering?

Bjorn stood in the hallway in silence for a minute before walking off to slump in one of the common room chairs. While his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, problems and solutions, all his thinking offered him nothing. Without knowing why she was angry, there was nothing he could do.

A few minutes passed before the door creaked open. Taya stepped out, staying close to the wall. Her eyes were downcast, but he could tell her focus was on him.

“I...I-I’m sorry.” Taya stuttered, “I just...I’m really not feeling well. This morning, my…”

Taya stumbled and Bjorn sat up immediately to catch her as she fell.

“Taya?” he asked.

Her breath was shallow, and her forehead really was burning up. Bjorn placed an ear to her chest. Her heart was beating a mile a minute.

“What the hell…” he whispered to himself. He had to go find a physician. Get Cecile.

“No.”

Bjorn froze and turned to the shadowy figure that towered over both of them. The Phantom Queen of Crows stood over them.

“This sickness will not pass with medicine or ritual.” the Shedim said, “Taya must weather it herself.”

“What’s happening? Why’s she been acting like this?”

“This morning I informed her she would never see her dream realized. I showed her the truth of the enemy she faced. The vastness and horror she calls Despair.” the Shedim said without skipping a beat.

“Why the hell would you tell her that?” Bjorn exclaimed.

“Because she asked and because it is the truth.” The Phantom Queen stated, “She must come to terms with this truth on her own.”

“Well, you seem to forget I’m here.” Bjorn hugged Taya close to him, as if shielding her from the Shedim.

“You will be there for her. But ultimately, you will not complete this journey for her. That this truth cripples her so is a sign of weakness still present in her.”

“How is refusing to accept futility weakness? What’s wrong with being weak?” Bjorn asked, “She’s strong in so many other ways!”

“Weakness is all the same!” the Shedim’s voice boomed, “True weakness never rests! If one does not possess true strength deep within themselves, they will inevitably fall to weakness. Her expectation to achieve all her goals opens her to the weakness inherent in expectation. Her ambition lies on a shaky foundation. Her passion is snuffed out. Her conviction wavers out of fear. You see how it spreads? How it infects all the other parts of you? No warrior of humanity can continue to fight with unchallenged weakness in themselves.”

Bjorn looked to Taya, then to the Shedim.

“You, Bjorn Stormtamer. You, too, are weak. You have lived for little purpose. Your ambitions were for naught. You lacked the humility to not desire the approval of those who hate you. You cannot let go of those who held you in the past. You fail to learn from those around you. You allow your passions to be overshadowed and isolate yourself. All because-”

“Stop it.” Bjorn gritted his teeth. He had changed. He had changed. Hadn’t he?

“Very well,” the Shedim said, “After all, either you will learn that I am correct or you will allow the world to consume you.”

As the Shedim vanished, Bjorn looked back at Taya’s face as she took labored breath after labored breath. What could she possibly have seen to cause such a drastic change?

___________________________________________________________

Ruhak gawked at the sheer size of the army Koinelia had mustered. Legions from all over the Empire were encamped outside the city.

He and Seang followed two legionnaires through the bustling camp to the massive war tent of the Grand Marshal of Koinelia.

Ruhak gulped as the two of them were let into the tent.

Men and women in gold-trimmed lamellar with flowing imperial violet capes turned to face them.

Ruhak’s own armor felt inadequate compared to these people. They were clearly all Imperial Legates, the most decorated and skilled tacticians, commanders, and warriors in the empire. There was one for every ten legions.

Ruhak and Seang inserted themselves into the circular shape the group had made around a table with a map on it.

“Ah, you must be our representatives from the Companies.” the Grand Marshal said. He was a grizzled old man with a striking resemblance to his older brother, the Emperor. “Please, introduce yourselves to the Legates.”

Ruhak saluted, placing his open hand to his heart and extending it out with his other arm behind his back, “I am Ruhak, son of Adon, co-leader of the Skyward Eye!”

“Seang. Co-leader of the Sunlit Tongue.” The nun gave Ruhak a look.

He knew he looked overly formal. He acted like a recruit who had just been introduced to all these elite soldiers. But his professionalism helped calm his nerves.

Ruhak practically worshipped Legate Sergia’s Manuscript of Western Warfare and her contributions to the tactician’s reading material in officer school. He made his best effort not to linger looking at her.

Though her prowess was on par with many senior officers, they had given Legate Sergia her own legion at age thirty-two.

“We would like to fill you two in on our current plan of attack.” the Grand Marshal said, gesturing to the table before them, a map of the Empire and its neighbors spread across it, “Legate Iustinianus?”

A young man-a young, young man-no older than twenty stepped forward. Like most Koini men, he had olive skin and black hair, with the shadow of a beard on his face. The chain mail and lamellar armor bulked his body up, but only slightly.

His gaze was stern and held Ruhak’s eyes for longer than he was comfortable with.

“Legate Iustinianus.” the Legate saluted. “Good to meet you.” the Legate turned his purple-cloaked back to them the moment he finished his introduction. “Precisely what makes the Nikan army such a formidable force is a myriad of factors. But what I find truly terrifying about them is their ability to support such a massive army. They do this by living off the land they conquer and even making expeditions to forage for more supplies. Along with raiding local villages, they accrue spoils like slaves, trade goods and horses to help expand their supply lines.”

“I’m assuming a Scorched Earth policy won’t do the trick.” Seang said.

No shit. Ruhak growled in his mind. A scorched earth policy is the first thing any tactician of worth would think of. Gods, this is humiliating.

“No.” Iustinianus muttered, “We can’t just go and demand all of our people burn their crops. There would be too many losses that way to even sustain a war effort. The problem isn’t really the foraging. It’s the supply lines. An army as big as the Nikan requires both supply lines and foraging to survive. So if we can cut them off from their supply lines, they’ll start to lose cohesion far more efficiently than if we were to burn our lands.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Ruhak asked.

“They outnumber our forces two to one.” Iustinianus said, “If we cut their supply lines, they’ll start to dwindle in numbers to the point where a well-placed maneuver could win us the war. We do this by attacking them and leading them into a false retreat, dragging them further and further inland and making their supplies easier to sabotage. Our army is smaller and if we split up by Legate, we can use the road networks to our advantage to outpace them.”

“And if they don’t take the bait?” Ruhak asked.

“If they don’t pursue, we can occupy the nearest villages and towns to deny them any supplies from foraging.” Iustinianus said, “But the thing that’ll disrupt our tactics is the royal dynasty. Each of their children has Banebending abilities like I’ve never seen. We’re not sure how many of the Emperor’s spawn are there, but I would at least expect the Twelve to show up. That’s where you come in.”

“You want us to counter the Twelve?” Seang asked.

The Grand Marshal nodded, “And to help you focus on them, Legate Iustinianus has offered you a gift.”

No. Ruhak immediately knew what the Marshal was going to say. Don’t do it.

“He is transferring the command of a Centuria to your hands.”

Gods dammit.

“They are one hundred of my best soldiers. All have sons, so they are ready to fight to the end. They’ll take good care of you if you take good care of them.” Iustinianus said, as though mentioning they had families was supposed to make him feel better, “And while we march, we will consider you an auxiliary force with mine, as any other mercenary group would be. We will march along the Southern roads.”

Ruhak felt dread fill his chest. He was being forced to be responsible for yet more lives.

“We graciously accept your gift, Legate.” Seang nodded.

“Er, yes.” Ruhak managed, “Thank you.”

It was as though the world were intent on making him bear the burden of more deaths.

__________________________________________________________________________

“I’m not sure there’s anything I can do except numb the pain. Perhaps hinder the fever somewhat.” the elderly physician said.

“I don’t need you to cure her. But something that’ll let her get out of bed would be good.” Bjorn said.

It had been a week and a half since the Koini Legions left on the march and since Taya had gotten sick.

She laid on a cot in the physician’s tiny office, still suffering her fever. She was awake, but delirious most of the time.

“I’ll give her some Coriander. That should reduce the fever.” the physician said, “I’ll send some extra with you.”

“Thank you.” Bjorn nodded to the physician as he went into the back room of his building.

Taya groaned softly.

“Taya?” Bjorn knelt beside her.

“Th-there’s something...here. A presence. A lot of presences. We...we need to go.” she tried to sit up, but fell back.

“You’re too weak right now.” Bjorn said, “Why do we have to go?”

“The screams. Don’t you hear them?” Taya coughed.

Bjorn frowned. Was she having a hallucination?

Taya gripped his arm. She looked into his eyes, lucid and serious as ever. The focused look in her eyes caught Bjorn off guard. That burst of strength was all she had in her, as she fell back on the cot.

“They’re here…” she groaned, “They scream. They keep screaming.”

The lucidity was vacant from her eyes again.

Maybe he was the one imagining things.

The physician came out from his storeroom with a parcel and handed it off to Bjorn. He thanked the elderly man once more before hefting Taya up, supporting her underarms as she stumbled alongside him.

He got the both of them onto their horse and unhitched it before starting the ride back to the estate.

Bjorn fed her some of the coriander. As they meandered through the streets.

A loud blast rippled through the air, catching the attention of everyone around them. There was smoke streaming off the wall in the distance.

Then the bells rang. Panic whipped through the civilians of Koinelia like a whirlwind as alarms rang all throughout the city.

Bjorn took a small shortcut through an alleyway in the smoke's direction.

But as he neared the end, he heard screams. No panicked screams. Painful screams. And squelching of steel on flesh. He squinted at the bright exit and saw people running all in the same direction. He stayed his horse and dismounted, creeping up to the edge of the alley and peering around.

“Can’t you hear them…” Taya moaned in the background.

Bjorn’s eyes bulged as the pounding of steel-clad boots reached his ears and the thing that the people were running from showed itself.

A block of men clad in black and gold armor with massive shields marched down the streets, preceded by five ranks of diversely armored and armed Bane Knights, further preceded by twelve men and women in golden, red and black clothing atop horses. One of them was Yahui.

Bjorn pulled himself back around the corner.

The Twelve were here. With an army’s worth of Bane Knights and enough elite soldiers to hold the city.

The Legions were gone.

Bjorn felt hyperventilation take him. He had to keep Taya safe. But how? Odds were every bit of land on the outskirts of the city was about to be occupied.

Anyone who got in the path of the marching army was trampled or skewered on a spear. The militia left over to defend they slaughtered the city like lambs.

Taya was in no condition to fight. And Bjorn? There was no way in hell he could even put up a fight. Not against the Emperor’s most powerful sons and daughters.

“Citizens of Koinelia!” The oldest among the mounted people shouted with command, “If you wish to remain alive, you will line up on the streets and prostrate yourselves, pledging allegiance to the Empire of Nikan! We will kill anyone who disobeys these commands and stops us from reaching the Koini emperor on sight!”

How did they get here? There was no way the army was defeated.

But then again...to start with a million and come out of a fight with the Koini Legions, these were reasonable numbers to have remaining.

So then...Ruhak and the others. Are they dead?

No, no! That was impossible. Right?

The agents Ruhak and Najeem had reported seeing. Maybe it was they who let them in.

Bjorn shook his head. That didn’t matter. What did matter was that they weren’t here. So Bjorn had to act as though he wasn’t getting help.

Maybe if he and Taya could leave the city…

The Nikan had come from the East. The North and South gates should’ve been opened. Bjorn hopped back in the saddle with Taya and spurred their horse into a gallop.

He twisted the reins, trying to dodge the fleeing people in his way and turning through the winding streets of the ancient city.

Many people had the same idea as him and had clogged the streets to the north gate. Bjorn could barely see the wooden gates as they opened and Bane Knights killed the first wave of refugees waiting on the other side.

Bjorn backed up and got himself out of the coagulated crowd.

It would be safe to assume that the south is also similarly guarded.

He turned his horse west and galloped towards the docks. But upon hearing the telltale boom of black powder and seeing sailors running from the direction of the harbor, Bjorn knew there was no escape to be found there.

They were trapped.

Not so much trapped physically, though that was definitely true. No, Bjorn felt his dread rise from his lack of options. His heart thumped in his throat. The world around him was spinning into a downward spiral. Numbness spread over him. He had nowhere to go. Nowhere except…

Bjorn glanced down. Water rushed beneath a metal grate on the side of the street. They could hide in the sewers.

He dismounted his horse and pulled Taya with him. With a charge at his fingertips, Bjorn could cut through the iron and pull the grate off.

“Come on.” He hissed to Taya as he dragged her into the sewer with him and replaced the grate.

Bjorn’s boots blocked out the rancid smelling water. He carried Taya bridal style as to avoid having to wash her off later.

He moved away from the light that streamed in through the grate just as marching soldiers passed by and trudged up to the stone walkways on the edge of the sewer.

When there was nothing but the sound of rushing water, Bjorn could hear them. The screams. The screams of Shedim as their powers were torn from them to maim and kill innocents.

But then again...he was only one man. What was he meant to do about it? This...this was beyond him. Far beyond him.