First wall,

Artillery remnants,

“Tjien, my boy! You’re a Giver’s Kissed Natural."

"And that's a good thing, cause I would have ended you myself had you missed.”

The Sergeant prattled on excitedly as he reloaded a third Emperors bolt. All Tjien could afford him was a nervous glance at his matter of fact statement. Considering the predicament the Shogun had been in or the way the Sargeant had almost squeezed his shoulder right off, he had already guessed at such an outcome.

As much as he and the rest of the Seeded loved the old bastard, who had ingrained himself upon their new lives. They hated the work ethic he beat into them, all the while saying it was for their own good. Taker’s Pit did he work them.

“Knew it was smart holding onto these last three. Don’t let that giant beastie get away Tjien.”

With just the two of them left, he had sent the rest back carrying the injured as soon as the call to abandon the first was given. Their casualties had been catastrophic, with not one but two bizarre attacks by the Beast cats. Not even having a Wind Dancer come down and smack it on its nose had helped.

Sacred Artists hacked and stabbed at the Kaiju, like angry birds. Hitting and fleeing. Even a group of razor crossbow veterans abandoned the second wall, charging through the thinned out horde to assist the Shogun personally. As soon as the Salamander's sword blazed free from his shimmering prison, the Cultivators cheered and regrouped around him.

“Uh. Sarge…”

Tjien’s eye’s widened as a huge pack of Azuma broke off from the Kaiju, howling in beserk frustration as they charged directly towards them.

“The Kaiju junior! The Kaiju. Fire the Emperors bolt and then we can use…”

The ballista shook once more with the Beast Master roaring from another direct hit, this time to the ribs.

A few Sacred Artists turned and gave chase on the giant Azuma pack, but were left behind quickly. Unable to match their speed.

“SARGE!”

“I see them boy!” He yelled as he reloaded with a bone javelin, the next best thing after metal. “You think I’m blind?”

Tjien fired. Tjien missed.

“How the blazing withered tits of the Taker, do you miss an entire pack!?” The Sergeant roared angrily, whacking him. “They not even dodging!”

“Sorry, Si…”

“Shut it.” He yelled, slamming another in. “Breath and fire, boy. You gotta be calm. I said, be calm!”

He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as the giant reptilian cats came on. This was death, this was…

The Azuma pack shrieked in pain, the detachment of razor crossbows opening fire on them as they passed. Their defenders quickly raised their heavy shields once more as they marched through a weakened horde on their way to the Shogun.

Twelve became four, as the injured tumbled and turned on the new threat. The Sergeant cursed and ran off to the far end of the wall, rummaging around. The ballista shook again.

Three.

Tjiens sudden relief turned to dread as he slid out from beneath the ballista, surveying the bodies around him. Grabbing a dead brother's spear, he almost slipped on all the blood as he stood up. Seeing the Sergeant approach with the flaming pitch jar, he almost jumped off.

“Good boy, junior. Hold that spear up and stand on the end with your foot. Use your core boy, otherwise, that razor is useless”

The heaved the flaming clay jar with a grunt, kicking Tjiens foot into place.

“Let's see how those Beasties like barbecue. Might wanna duck now boy.”

Tjien crouched low, both men holding fast their glowing spears as three fireballs came flying over. The rune defences long gone.

The pottery shattered, spilling living flame as the Beast cats howled in rage and fear. Still, they came on. Their charge unfaltering as flames ate greedily at their faces and sides.

“This ain’t right. This ain’t right at all.” The Sergeant muttered in frustration.

His knuckles whitened as he gripped the spear hard.

Face aflame, the first Azuma failed its leap. One crash. Two.

Both Watchmen cried out in grim defiance as the shadow of the third flaming Beast cat fell upon them. The mass of muscle and stone hide crashed into them belly first, its reaching paws overshooting the mark as the men crouched low.

Military-grade spears, made of finest Sheerak leaf and glowing razor, pierced its belly and shattered under the weight. Both men went flying like pebbles hurled on water, crashing through the corpses of comrades. The Beast thrashed and bounced, trying to shake the irritating needles from its gut, shallow as they were.

The Sergeant was the first to rise, grabbing a heavy shield and dragging Tjien back with his other hand. The second spear clanged to the brick floor as the Beast rounded on them slowly, suddenly lowering its front half as if to pounce. The Sergeant was wiser to the tactic, third time now.

Dropping Tjien, he slammed the shield down in front of the recruit. Kneeling against it as the fireball burst from a prong on the Azuma’s tail. Both cat and shield burned, flames licking at the edges. The Sergeant shouted an empowered roar and threw the shield at his foe.

The giant reptilian appeared entirely unfazed as it swatted the shield aside in a spray of splinters with a massive paw. Slowly it crept towards him, on fire and eyes glazed with malice.

Still kneeling, the Sargent lifted up another shaking spear. Using the flat of his boot to push an unconscious Tjien further under the bodies.

The Beast dived, towering over him as its head came down to bite him in half. The spear caught the Beast in its open mouth, almost disappearing entirely. Screaming into its howling maw, his roar became twinged with pain. The only thing he could hear was the splintering of spear and the crack of armour, so great was the pressure of fangs.

All at once, the Azuma stilled, the light going out of its eyes but the malice remaining. It collapsed with a death rattle, knocking the Sergeant free with an agonised shout. Lying prone, he saw a man covered in gore beside him.

He carried a bloody bag strung over his shoulder.

Placing a boot to the Azuma’s massive head, he pulled free a brilliant katana and whipped the blood off with a single stroke to each side of the blade. Lesser candle flames danced in a circle around his head and when the second Beast cat came over, each struck it in its face drawing its ire.

The Sergeant left him to it, frantically pulling the juniors body from beneath the corpses.

Two, three chest compression and a life-saving Cultivators slap to the face, Tjien gasped his first breath of air.

Seeing the bloody face of his Sergeant over him and feeling the stinging slap to his face. He’d probably done something wrong.

“Sorry, Sir!”

The Sergeant frowned, then snorted a bloody grin.

“Wake up, you idiot. And don’t ever apologise to me again.”

The roars of an Azuma nearby were enough to have Tjien leap to his feet. He saw a man in full armour, weave and dance between the lashing strikes of the giant cat. Slicing and cutting as he moved.

He ran to help picking up a broken spear, but the man danced smoothly and kicked him flying backwards without even looking.

“Oh, you fool.”

The Sargent muttered shaking his head as he too used a broken spear to help himself up.

“Junior’s don’t dance with Preafects.”

Tjien clutched at his chest, looking back at the man's sure movements from his prone position. Yes, the cat was on fire, but still, the man reeked of talent and surety as he cut down a foe three times his size.

Oo… It’s that Preafect.

“Get on that ballista boy. The Shoguns man will cover us until reinforcements come.

“We should leave Sarge. All the others have…”

“Not whilst we possess the only remaining ballista. You want more dead brothers, Tjien?”

“No sir.”

The Preafect swiftly ended the Beast cat, leaping down to end the other that was too injured to make the leap. The Horde was breaking apart slowly, but the majority still spilt through the gap the Kaiju had made when the roars of cheers broke out far into the Wave.

“Sarge he did it!” Tjien exclaimed with wide eyes. “He killed it!” Relief strewn across his face even though they were surrounded by the dead.

“I see it.” The Sergeant growled dragging a javelin.

Tjien saw him struggling and ran to help, graciously getting swatted repeatedly even though the Sergeant begrudgingly allowed him load it. Clicking into place he sat down below and swivelled to aim it.

With a heavy sigh, the Sergeant looked at the boy and then surveyed the field of death, tired eyes coming to rest on his sleeping brothers beside him. His grim satisfaction of the Kaiju’s last cry, muted entirely by the stillness of his men.

Where are you great poets now?

He felt for his neck with a grimace, staring at the blood on his hand and swallowed. Steadying himself on Tjien’s shoulder, he reached into his belt pouch. Retrieving a treasure that had never left his side in sixty odd years. He squeezed it tight in his hand, with a comforting smile

“Hear me Tjien. I want you to take this.”

He held out an ornate but simple pendant.

Tjien turned to stand at the odd request, far too reminiscent of the last item the Sargeant had given him.

“No! Don’t get up you damn fool!”

The Sergeant forced him to face back to the Ballista.

“That thing is still loaded, dammit.”

“Sorry, Sir.” Tjien replied sheepishly

“What have I said about your apologies, junior?” He sighed tiredly.

“Take this,” Shoving the item into the young recruits' hands.

“Sir?” Tjien examined it curiously.

The leather strap was well worn and for its size, it was quite heavy. Clicking it open, he saw the drawing of a beautiful lady with the words…

“Did I say you could open it?” The Sergeant growled like an Azuma Beast in his ear.

“No Sir. Sorry, Sir. I didn’t…”

“Be quiet, junior.”

Tjien shut his stammering mouth. Horrified at his mindless indecency for daring to open the Sergeants pendant.

He fired the ballista, ploughing a row through the enemy. More so hoping to divert the Sargents wrath.

After another heavy sigh, the Sergeant continued. Stepping back when the Preafect returned and nodded to him. The Shoguns man slapped on another ballista bolt, taking over the reloading.

“We are going to be busy here all day junior. Most likely long into the night too, clearing and harvesting this disaster will take forever. I want you to get out of here and take that to my wife.”

"Sir?"

“You let her know I’m coming home. Can you do that fool boy?”

“Yes Sir”

“Good, good. You’ve done well here today, but that won’t save you if you're late and let her worry.”

“No Sir.”

Kido stared at the pair silently. Reloading again as Seeded first year fired away on smaller foes.

“Atta-boy, junior. I can’t believe I lived to see the day a Seeded recruit made me proud to be his Sergeant.”

Tjien beamed with pride at the man's words, then he frowned. The others would never believe the Sargeant had said such a thing. He would have to ask the man to repeat it for him.

The Sergeant leaned back and smiled out onto the victorious battlefield and broken enemy.

Still thick with packs of roving Beasts, most were slipping away, lacking the coordination of before. Some poor Beasts were even breaking off towards the Tretick forest, a death surer than an Emperor's bolt.

“Hey, Sarge. Why are they eating the Kaiju right there out in the open?”

Tjien winced as soon as he asked, hearing how bold his words were, unintentionally so. Thankfully, the Sergeant let it pass. Uncharacteristically remaining still.

Kido shook his head at the shamelessly bold young recruit. He spoke for the first time since arriving. Things had calmed down and there were no Beasts clamouring to climb over this portion of the wall.

“Yes.”

Tjien eyed this dangerous man nervously.

“They can’t wait for their dinner?”

Kido almost choked. Reloading as he breathed calmly.

“That’s Kaiju meat boy. The most potent you will ever have the good fortune to feast upon, should you ascend in worth to the Shogun.”

“Unfortunately, due to the potency, it corrupts quickly. Those men beside the Shogun are the very best the Watch has to offer and are entitled to the first portions as they cut out the liver.”

“Will they share the liver with the rest of us?”

Kido chuckled as the ballista rattled again.

“No.”

He rolled his eyes, quickly understanding the uniqueness of the Watch’s latest hero was less about boldness.

“You’re what… still Seeded? You might gain a rank… No, you’d definitely gain a rank. And then you’d die in horrible agony.”

He fetched another bolt and reloaded

“I’ve seen it before. Some brave fool, thinking they can chow down more than their body could handle. The thing I'll always remember most, is how their wails altered in tone as they screamed themselves to death.”

Tjien stared in horror at the man's casual recounter.

“And the Sarge?”

Kido glanced over at the standing Sergeant, hand tucked on his hip, holding his Doa blade and scowling in silence on the battle.

“That tough bastard would probably have it the same way the Diaymo’s do,” Kido proffered. “Swallowing grilled strips whole.”

Tjien smiled, glad someone else recognised how much of a tough nut his bombastic Sergeant was. Casually he glanced back, taking note of the man's unusual stillness.

“Sarge, should we move on now? There’s nothing here that deserves a ballista and if we rejoin with the spearmen…”

He paused, something was wrong.

“Sarge?”

The man stood resolute, surveying the carnage with the same scowl he always wore.

“Sargeant?”

With hesitant trepidation Tjien slowly got up from the Ballista, fully expecting his Sergeant to tear him a new one any second now. But the man remained still. The tufts of his sleeves beneath the heavy armour and the strands of hair poking out from his helmet were the only movement in the breeze.

Tjiens eye’s widened in alarm, seeing the blood seeping heavily through his armour.

“Sergeant!”

Kido sighed quietly, clicking a last javelin into place in silence. Ignoring the junior's panicked shouts.

There had been a time he stood where this junior had. That time was gone.

All here was eerily quiet compared to minutes ago, his presence unnecessary. The Azuma were gone or dead and the breach in the wall was the focal point now and where he would be needed.

Leaving the ballista loaded, he nodded a silent farewell to the standing corpse and turned to leave. There would be a lot more of this today. It was why he was, the way he was.

Bar the protests of a lone recruit. Only the spirits of the dead remained vigil.

The Sergeant had known, he recognised that look. And Kido had felt the man's passing, choosing to speak to the junior when the Sergeant could not.

It had been a good death.

“Wait!” Tjien pleaded desperately.

“You’re the Shogun’s man! Please Preafect, all he needs is a healing balm or potion. Anything!”

Kido frowned at the Seeded’s forwardness.

“It doesn’t work like that junior.”

“What do you mean? Ofcourse it does! My wounds vanished in minutes after he lent me some of his.”

Kido winced, forgiving the junior's outrageous behaviour.

“I apologise junior, that’s not what I mean.” He held his much larger gourd upside down.

“I’ve already used all of mine today.”

“But he gave me all of his! He can’t… you can’t…

“Junior. Control yourself. He’s gone.”

“NO! He just needs…”

Tjien caught the body suddenly as it fell, bumped in his vehement denial. Gently, he struggled to lower it. Apologising the whole way to the man as he sat him down.

For the first time, he saw the fist-sized hole in the Sergeant's neck and shoulder.

He gagged looking away, desperately wishing to refute it.

How had he gotten that wound? He was fine, damn it, he was fine.

Tjien cradled the body, rocking back and forth as he wailed out loud.

“What do I tell her!? Damn it Sarge! what do I tell her now?”