It was said that joining the army was the fastest way to a noble title. All it took was to be noticed by the right people, and soon miracles could happen. The catch was that the chances of promotion were directly proportional to the danger involved. Joining the city guard in peacetime was a pretty decent gig. The only things one had to worry about were local riff raff and the occasional hunt. Normally it would take years to advance in rank. Joining in wartime was an entirely different matter.

Under normal conditions, Aspion wouldn’t have even considered such a course of action, but the chance of earning a noble rank attracted him like a moth to a flame. What was more, from what Kraisten had found, Count Harlow wanted to be certain of his victory, so all soldiers—recruits included—would be granted access to a ten-level awakening shrine. The offer seemed too good to be true, and sadly it was. Joining had been the first mistake.

In less than a week, Kraisten and Aspion had improved from an awakened five to an awakened ten, while Kierra had managed to join the ranks of the awakened and risen to a level five. For a brief period of time life seemed good, everything was exactly as Kraisten had said it would… until the fighting began.

When the second son of the Archduke announced his claim to his father’s title, Harlow and Priscord’s troops launched an attack on the non-loyal counts in the region. However, as the soldiers soon found out, their enemies had been expecting them. A war that they had been assured would be over in weeks dragged for months. Seasons changed, as did orders, but the fighting went on.

Each day seemed worse than the last, though not for Kraisten. The man had proved to be a military genius, winning battles that were considered hopeless. Aspion and Kierra were there as well, following behind, but soon it became obvious that they couldn’t keep up—the shadow of their friend was too large.

Half a year after the start of the war, a new opportunity emerged: Kraisten had been offered the chance to become a division commander and, along with that, to earn the title of knight. The only condition was that he capture the Warzen stronghold. That had been the second mistake.

Seven attempts had been made to take the stronghold, and none of them successful. Kraisten, however, had a plan.

“I won’t lie to you, it will be risky,” Kraisten explained to his soldiers. “Before we start anything we’ll need to go hunting. The weapons we currently have won’t do a thing, so we’ll have to go bigger.”

“Just how big are we talking about, captain?” Aspion asked. He knew how low morale was, so he took any chance he got to try and lighten the mood.”

“As big as it gets. And then some.”

Laughter filled the tent. While most of the people were still tense, the joke had created a momentary semblance of calm.

“To win this, we must get a chainling.”

The laughter suddenly stopped. There wasn’t a person alive who didn’t know the significance of what had been said. Chainlings were monsters of the Crippled Star. Their only reason to exist was to kill and corrupt anything they came across. Killing one was extremely difficult, catching one was impossible.

“Not to worry, that’s the easy part,” Kraisten continued as if nothing had happened. “We must then climb up the cliff side of the stronghold until we reach the base of the walls. There we must release the chainling and make sure it goes inside. Once it’s there…” the man smiled “we’ll become the heroes of the war.”

Seldom were scarier words spoken. Three dozen people stared at Kraisten, wondering whether to believe their ears or not. They had seen him do the impossible, yet this was too much even for him.

“I told you, it won’t be easy. And I understand if anyone doesn’t want to take part in this. However, there’s no other way.”

“How do you think we’ll get a chainling, captain?” one of the soldiers asked.

“I’ll take care of that, don’t worry. As I said, that’s the easy part. You lot, better focus on the rest. The stronghold area will no doubt be watched. You could be pulled into an awakening duel at any point. I expect you to win if we are to succeed. Remember, if one person fails, the whole thing will go crumbling down and we won’t get another chance at this. Clear?”

Grumbles of acknowledgement filled the tent. The prospect of failing in an awakening fight managed to put the fears of the chainlings at bay. No one knew how exactly Kraisten planned to catch the creature and no one cared. It was bad enough that they were going against the teachings of the Seven. As long as all ended in victory, they were willing to turn a blind eye.

Bit by bit the soldiers left the tent until only Aspion and Kraisten remained.

“You handled them quite well,” Aspion said. “A bit over the top, but it’s certain they’ll follow your orders. Now, tell me the real plan.”

“That is the real plan. It’ll take a chainling to destroy that place.”

“Are you serious? Those things can’t be controlled. And even if they could, where will we catch one? The last chainling was seen years ago. And even if one was roaming about, it would take weeks to find it. It simply can’t be done.”

“You surround yourself with books, yet have so little imagination.” Kraisten smiled. “We won’t be hunting a chainling. We’ll be making one.”

A flash of light blinded Dallion for a moment. After he blinked, he was back in Aspion’s awakening room.

“What the heck?” Dallion took a step back, still aiming the dartbow at the village chief. He had no idea what had happened just now. It was as if he had lived through a memory… so intense and so real, as if he’d just been there.

“Painful recollections,” the old man sighed. “A gift that came along with the echo. It keeps reminding me what was, the choices made before everything went wrong.”