The return to the Frozen Camp was quiet. The others were already a longstride from the base of the cliff by the time Yuriko landed. It was slow going with the three remaining Colossi carrying the fourth. All three were heavily damaged but she could see the restorative runescript lines working. There was only so much raw Animus could do without materials though.

Desire slammed into Yuriko’s chest, squeezing her tight. She patted the Chaos Lord’s head, stroking the silky smooth brown hair.

“I was worried,” she murmured.

Yuriko shrugged and scooped Desire up into her arms since the other didn’t seem to want to move. Ah, her Chaos Well must be close to empty, too. She extruded distilled Chaos and Pure Animus into her fingertips, keeping both energies separate from each other, then offered it to Desire, who promptly glomped on the fingers and suckled.

A few of the Knights glanced back at them, but the sombre mood persisted. There were only eight of the Knights left, from ten. One of the dead had been a Colossi Core pilot. The man’s co-pilot trudged behind one of the Koinos, head hung low and holding a wounded arm close.

Areena, the lightning master Knight, was cradled in Mitre’s arms, and blood dripped down into the snow from the hole in her guts. The woman was awake, probably channelling Recovery to keep herself alive. The basic Animus technique wasn’t enough to regrow limbs or organs but it helped with controlling blood clotting and surface wound closure. Yuriko doubted the woman had the technique inlaid and advanced, otherwise the hole would have closed already.

The healers back in the outpost should be able to stabilise her, Yuriko hoped. But she worried that the injury would need better facilities than what was available here. Objectively, Areena’s digestive system was damaged, maybe enough that she could eat as much as she could and still get nothing out of it. She’d starve with a full stomach…

The very idea made her shudder so much that Desire let go of Yuriko’s fingers and stared up at her eyes with palpable worry.

“Are you…?”

“Fine. Just odd thoughts.”

“Ah. I understand.”

The Chaos baroness grabbed Yuriko’s fingers and plopped them back in her mouth. For her part, she continued to extrude distilled Chaos from Fri’Avgi, and channelled her pure Animus.

The somber march back to the outpost took a couple of hours. Yuriko expected the bombardment to continue. For some reason, it did not. It also occurred to her that none of the others saw the behemoth come out of the Tidelands.

Figuring that she should tell Veran before they talked to Commander Perry, Yuriko lowered Desire to the ground and walked up to the lead. The Centurion played with his Anima Telum, summoning and sheathing the artefact glaive. Yuriko stared at the weapon whenever it appeared in his hands, noting the elaborate filigree around the sword head and the bottom.

A common weapon, Damien noted, a warrior’s tool. Other than durability, and the ability to repair itself when sheathed in the Anima, it's no different than any other polearm.

‘Still interesting though. I wonder where he found it?’

An heirloom, perhaps?

Yuriko shrugged, not bothering to follow Damien’s line of thinking.

“Veran.” She called his attention.

The man jerked at her voice, his face colouring slightly, then he sheathed the glaive and looked at her. “Yes, Knight Davar?”

“Before I left the plateau, another behemoth, with a Chaos Lord astride it, appeared out of the Tidelands.”

Veran froze and the Knight walking behind him nearly slammed into his back. The Decanus, Alec Corban, the lightning barrier man, cursed soundly as he dodged around Veran. Then, he glanced at her, face reddening, before he muttered an apology.

“You’re sure?” Veran asked quietly.

“I saw it.”

“Swarm fodder,” he muttered, then shook his head. “Thank you for telling me this.”

“Sure. But what do we do now? It wouldn’t take long before they have enough behemoths to resume the bombardment.”

Veran shook his head and continued to walk. “We’ll let the commander decide.”

Yuriko looked at him oddly, then asked. “But what do you want to do?”

“My duty. As I’ve sworn it upon my Knighthood and the oathtaking when I became a legionnaire.” He sighed then gave her a side eye. “I suppose you wouldn’t know about that, huh?”

“I wanted to become part of legion Vagaris my entire life,” Yuriko answered after a moment. “I know the oaths.”

“Loyalty to the Empress, to the Empire and its people, unto death,” both of them said at the same time, but the words felt worse than hollow to Yuriko. The Oath to the Empire had been something Da and Mum had taught her when she was younger. She believed it wholeheartedly. Or rather, she had believed it.

When she blinked, she could see the shattered chains around her heart. The ends burned with Radiant fire which slowly ate away at the golden threads that it was made of. She had shattered those chains during her Actualisation. She hadn’t felt much different then, but now she did.

It was a compulsion similar to the Mishala Mien. Was it? She…wasn’t sure, now that she thought about it, but it was a compulsion, right?

Just your feelings and a lifetime of propaganda. Damien said dryly. As time passes, you’ll find that those feelings will slowly drift away, and will be nothing more than a fond memory.

‘But…I love the Empire.’

Sure you do. But now, that love is no longer enforced by the Threads of Fate.

The implications were so great and so complex that Yuriko’s mind felt afire. The snow that drifted over her hair puffed away into steam. ‘I…’

Take it slow, child. Take it slow. We’ll revisit the implications of everything a little bit at a time. Otherwise you’ll reform an opposite binding, and that will be much harder to break.

‘Alright.’

When they arrived at the outpost, the gates opened briefly to let them in. The swarmlings were still besieging the walls, but there were no barbarians. Swarmlings were no match for a group of Knights and a few Colossi, even if their instincts pushed them to attack anyway. The militia and legionnaires on the wall kill any that came close though.

Commander Perry waited for them at the courtyard and as soon as she saw how they were, she cursed under her breath.

“Please tell me you succeeded.”

“Partly,” Veran said grimly. “Knight Davar said that more came out of the Tidelands as she retreated.”

“Fallen Sun!” The woman took a deep breath and shook her head. “Three dead, one Colossus down, and one disabled. But it brought us several days, maybe weeks of safety.”

“Not a fair or even trade,” Veran grumbled.

“No. Not at all.” She saw Areena in Mitre’s arms and grimaced. “I apologise for delaying you. Bring the wounded to the healer’s quarters.”

The commander continued to give orders but Yuriko moved past her, her mind weary even if her body wasn’t. Desire followed along behind her and the two of them made their way to her quarters where she took a quick bath and collapsed on the bed.

“Show yourself,” Yuriko said suddenly, and from the shadows her attendant Saki came out, and dropped to her knees.

“Your will, young mistress.”

With a weary sigh, Yuriko sat up on the bed, having just remembered the existence of the sneaky woman.

“Why?”

“Hmm? Why what?”

“Why are you here?”

“To keep you safe.”

“I don’t need you.”

Saki’s youthful face drooped into a frown, and her eyes scrunched up. Tears actually welled up in her eyes!

“But, but, young mistress! You’re my purpose!”

The blankness of Aspiration was behind the woman’s eyes. Her Mien was back to its usual mode, and she still couldn’t really rein it in.

“Who commanded you to follow? And does Ryoko know?”

“The Prima, and no, big sis Ryoko doesn’t know.”

“That you followed or that you’re a…er, a Shadow Guard?”

“Both, young mistress.”

“Where were you when someone tried to kidnap me?”

“Sleeping. It wasn’t my shift.”

Both of them sat in silence for a moment, then, “I don’t want you here if you’re not going to obey me.”

Saki folded herself over and bowed, her head touching the floor. “I live to serve you, young mistress.”

Yuriko scrubbed her hair and sighed. She didn’t suppose the woman would leave if she ordered her to? Better find out. “Would you go back to Realmheart if I ask you to?”

“Yes.”

“You would?” Yuriko’s eyes widened.

“I am yours to command, young mistress,” Then, under her breath, “‘Course if you didn’t give any commands…”

“You’d default to what the Prima told you to do,” Yuriko said bluntly.

“Er, yes.”

“Alright,” Yuriko sighed, “Well, do what you want…but give me privacy. And, er…don’t betray me.”

“I would never!” Saki gasped, putting her hand over her heart.

“I’m tired, please go elsewhere.”

“My duties are to serve you, young mistress. Perhaps you’d like a massage?” She drew out a bottle of aromatic oil from her hip satchel and lifted a questioning eyebrow.

Yuriko would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted. Ryoko and Saki were excellent masseuses, but…she was trying to escape the Mishala Clan’s influence. She was also trying to avoid getting caught by her supposed fiance, though she honestly didn’t know what the Pia’Vasi would do. Mum stayed in Vagaris and married Da after all.

Besides, having another Knight to help was good.

Saki cocked her head, then leapt to the side, the shadows around her rose up and covered her frame. She disappeared a moment later, just in time to avoid the door banging open.

Gwendith, whose lovely curls swayed with distress, gasped out of breath. Her shirt had damp spots from sweat, which were slowly starting to freeze.

“You’re back! You’re safe!” The smaller girl hurled herself at Yuriko and enfolded her in a tight embrace, nustling her face against Yuriko’s bosom. “Oh, I was so worried! And I heard there were deaths!”

Yuriko’s hands had reflexively gone around the slender girl, and at those words, she felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water soaked her. Death.

Only one of the bodies had been recovered, the Colossus Core Pilot’s. The other two Knights had been trampled to meat paste. Bile rose up her throat and she swallowed it convulsively back down.

“It’s not your fault,” Gwendith said as she pushed away from the hug and stared directly at Yuriko’s eyes. Gwendith’s eyes were blue, though it was a darker shade than Yuriko’s. They filled nearly the entirety of her view, and she saw herself reflected there, staring back at her eyes which in turn stared back, again and again until the images were too small to see.

Huh, Gwendith was awfully close. She could feel the other girl’s breath tickling her nose, which was less than an inch away from hers. The warmth felt pleasant.

Yuriko leaned back, uncomfortable with the sudden closeness. She saw Gwendith flinch, but she smoothed her expression faster than a blink.

“It is.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I wasn’t strong enough.”

“You’re younger than I am. And you’re already a Knight.”

“I…”

“Don’t be arrogant, my dear.” Gwendith sniffed. “You’re already strong enough. The only way you would have been stronger than you are now is if you were born earlier.”

Yuriko stared at the other girl for a moment, then chuckled. “I guess you’re right.” She conceded. She still felt bad though. She honestly didn’t know what to expect, but fighting the Weaver, all three versions of him, had been unexpectedly difficult. But then…he was a Chaos viscount, wasn’t he? That was the equivalent of a Knight-Captain. She’d fought an enemy with an Anima strength above hers and held her own.

“There was nothing more you could have done. And without you, there would have been more casualties. Maybe the mission would have failed too.” Gwendith said as she reached over and rubbed Yuriko’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Gwendith pulled her into another hug, this time tucking Yuriko’s head under her chin. The scent of Gwendith’s honest sweat mixed in with a light floral scent lingering from when she bathed wasn’t unpleasant.

Actually, it was quite pleasant. She closed her eyes and let the other girl stroke her back and her hair.

Strange. Why did she hear grinding sounds?