It took a couple of days before a proper rotation was set. Yuriko manned the Dome chamber that night and went to sleep at dawn. Gwendith tried her hand at controlling the chamber and said that using the controls was easy enough. Spellweaver Merill took over past noon.

Afterwards, Constable Andersen returned to the town hall with several youths and adults in tow. Mikel, as well as Gwendith’s cousin, Asami, were with the group. They conducted the test though Yuriko was too tired to pay attention and the only thing on her mind was that there would be someone to relieve her duties.

When she woke up in her room, she found out that a grand total of three dozen were able to use the chamber so she didn’t need to be in the rotation at all.

“Our Knights really shouldn’t be stuck there,” Gwendith said around a spoonful of ration bar porridge when the two of them sat down for breakfast. “I figured I could contribute more to the town’s defence as a volunteer and watcher. The Dome rotation will have three people in the chamber at all times, a controller, reserve, and watcher.”

“Watcher? What for?” Yuriko asked, though her mind was still fuzzy from sleep.

Gwendith stared at her for a long moment. Her friend seemed quite chipper in the morning today compared to how she usually was, Yuriko thought idly.

“In case people get…tired.” Gwendith said slowly, then in a low voice, “Also in case someone gets a funny idea.”

“Oh. Uhm, what do you…oh!”

Cierra village had been taken by surprise. There could have been traitors or Federation agents involved.

“Right, and since most of the volunteers are Journeymen…” Gwendith shrugged. “More importantly, we still haven’t pinpointed where the bombardment is coming from.”

From the angle of the attacks, the incendiary shells were certainly striking the Dome from above. Yuriko could understand how the Behemoths above Ouera Bo attacked the camp since they threw the boulders from a plateau nearly a longstride higher. But the Federation?

Then again, those Steam Cannons were angled upwards when she attacked them, so did they send the projectiles up and they fell on the town? The fact that there were no warnings or missed attacks meant that the siege weapon operators were incredibly accurate and precise. It must have been hard to find specialists whose Animus techniques catered to that kind of work.

Specialists. Hmmm, that means it wouldn’t be easy to replace them should those specialists be killed or captured.

But again, the more important point was to find where they were shooting from.

Later that day, she visited the war council room and asked. Marron was there, staring fixated at a map and at several papers spread out on the desk.

“Maru…”

Her brother’s head snapped towards her and his glare made her giggle. He said in a huff, “What?”

Swallowing her mirth, Yuriko nodded towards the map and asked, “Where are the Steam Cannons set up?”

He cleared his throat. “I… we think that the bombardment came from this area.” He pointed at a hill and gully southeast of Faron’s Crossing. It was also south and east of the enemy encampment.

“Behind the hills?”

“Seems like it,” he grunted. “And it may not be the only one. Tara insists that a few shots struck at a different angle, but Spellweaver Merill says she didn’t notice a difference.”

“I’ll scout,” Yuriko said, “and destroy as much as I can.”

“Back up?”

“I’m faster alone.”

“And if you get intercepted by their elites?”

“I’ll avoid them!” Yuriko said with a snort.

“Then how will you destroy those cannons if you’re on the run?”

“I…I could kill the operators?”

“They could have backup, and how will you be certain you defeat the correct ones?”

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Yuriko yelled as she threw her hands in the air.

“I don’t know, little sis. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Hmmm.” She calmed herself down and sat down on a stool to think.

Marron sighed as he returned his attention to the reports laid out before him. Yuriko used her perception aura to peek, but since she was keeping it discreet, she had a bit of trouble distinguishing the ink from the paper.

“Casualty reports?” she guessed.

“Yes, and logistics,” Marron said absently. “There are nearly seven thousand people remaining in Faron’s Crossing. We have around three thousand reserve fighters. Water isn’t much of an issue with the River Caradec, but food… Conservatively, we have enough ration bars to last us a couple of years. River fish and other edibles can be used, but I’m worried that they might poison the river…”

“Wouldn’t that anger the Avos?”

“Avos Caradec is small and weak,” Marron grunted. “Shillogu and Zarek… Well, suffice to say that Avos Caradec hasn’t shown itself in decades.”

“So it might as well not exist,” Yuriko murmured.

“Or Shillogu has taken the domain. I don’t really know and since the Wild Boar hasn’t made any feelers south, we don’t really know. Of course, Caradec’s headwaters are in the middle of the Shillogu Woods, so…”

“Oh. But I don’t think they’d be foolish enough to poison Caradec. The river flows down to Haveena’s territory after all.” Yuriko said sensibly.

“True, true.” He looked up at her. “Have you thought of a way?”

Yuriko shook her head. “What really matters is finding out if the cannons there are to begin with. Then I’ll use my spell to destroy them.”

“Sounds like a plan. You just need the scouting report.” Marron tapped his lips. “Er, why don’t you ask your sneaky attendant, Saki?”

“Eh? Oh!” Yuriko gasped. Saki had completely slipped her mind! The woman managed to hide herself from sight for so long that she didn’t notice. Where was she anyway? “Saki?”

She waited for a few moments and when the attendant didn’t materialise out of the shadows, Yuriko muttered, “I’ll go home and ask Ryoko.”

“Alright, you do that.” Marron agreed.

When she returned to the house, she found Ryoko in the midst of gardening. A year back, Rami had started a vegetable garden in one corner of the backyard. Mostly leafy greens, tomatoes, and some herbs. Her older attendant was using a hoe to turn over the soil. She also invested her Animus into the freshly turned earth. There was a sack of seeds right next to her.

“Eh?” Yuriko gasped. The entire yard…had been plowed!

“Young mistress.” Ryoko beamed as she wiped the sweat off her brow. “Ah, council’s orders. All bare earth must be used to grow crops.” She gestured at the sack. “Radishes. Should be good for harvest in a few weeks.”

“Oh.” Yuriko shrugged. “Will the parks be used, too?”

“Yes. If we can get a good rotation, the produce will be turned to ration bars.” Ryoko giggled at the look on Yuriko’s face. “Don’t like it?”

“Not that I like radishes all that much,” Yuriko muttered.

“Aye, it’s always meat with you, my young mistress.”

“Uhm, anyway, have you seen Saki?”

“Not since this morning.”

“Hmmm, if you do, tell her I need her to do something for me.”

“Of course, young mistress.”

Yuriko got up on the roof and stared up at the Dome. Yesterday, they altered the shape of the Dome from a hemisphere into a flat plane. It allowed it to cover more of the town, and since the primary danger was the cannon shells that always came from above, doing it this way lowered the Animus expenditure.

She basked in the Radiant Sun’s rays, meditated on the nature of Radiant energy, and did her sword dances and the Four Phases of the Sword.

At the walls, the Federation army and the militia exchanged sporadic shots, though they weren’t foolish enough to try for the walls. The eastern side of the town was still abandoned, and the Haveenians hadn’t tried to occupy it either.

With good reason, Yuriko supposed. They would have to map and occupy all of the buildings in order to secure the east, and all the while they would be vulnerable to counter ambushes. They could flatten it, Yuriko thought, but maybe they didn’t want to waste the cannon shells. It must be a scarce resource as they never shot more than a dozen at a time. The fact that they did so intermittently, was an annoying thing. However, within a few minutes of the Dome going down, they would attack.

Eilis wasn’t that worried though, after the first day.

“The rate of depletion isn’t worrying,” the woman explained. “Even if the frequency increases fivefold, we can still hold on. And we’ve found a lot of controllers, so there are fewer worries there.” Then she muttered under her breath, “The oldies are still worried…and complain about having to channel Animus into the jade batteries.”

Yuriko had little trouble giving her share considering that her Animus reserves filled quickly. If she wanted to, she could probably fill the batteries by herself. Of course, that meant doing so for the entire day and she wasn’t patient enough to do that. Not without greater need.

So…things weren’t so bad, actually. It looked like they wouldn’t actually starve, and there was a bigger chance for the other side to run out of supplies. But…there was more than one Federation force, so things might change for the worse.

It was afternoon by the time Saki appeared next to her.

“Your Will, young mistress?”

“Where have you been…no, nevermind, I did tell you that you didn’t need to stay close to me.” Yuriko sighed. “Anyway, I need to know where the Steam Cannons are emplaced to that we can attempt to destroy them.”

“Oooh! With your spell, my lady?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get right to it!” Saki saluted eagerly with a fist over her heart. Then she faded back into the shadows.

That evening, Yuriko wandered around the central district after dinner. Most of the houses didn’t have the power to run the lights and whatnot now, with all the available Animus diverted to maintain the Dome. That wasn’t to say that everything was dark. The Waxing Moon aside, the Chaos streams that covered the night skies were always bright and colourful. Oh, and people used their own Animus to shed light.

People loitered on the pavement, on their porches, or front lawns. They were gathered in small groups and whispered furiously. The worried looks, sunken cheeks, and dark eyes tugged at Yuriko’s heartstrings and she did her best to project a sense of hope. She walked the streets not just to train her body, but also to remain a beacon for her people.

She allowed her aura to flare without restraining the light. She was a golden bonfire in the darkness, and she wished so dearly to keep everyone here safe. Where she passed, she noticed more appreciative looks rather than lecherous ones. There were always a few, here and there, and she was surprised to realise that she didn’t actually mind.

Huh.

For that matter, she could feel her Anima, her Mien, preening at the attention. Whether it was the hopeful looks or the desirous ones, she didn’t mind. As long as nobody crossed the line, anyway. But then again, this was Faron’s Crossing, her home. It wasn’t Realmheart or Rumiga City wherein the people there were crass and daring.

Still, she did enjoy the dancing in the inns, and the banquets and parties. She shivered at the thought.

Saki wasn’t back by the time she returned home. She did her evening ablutions, changed into her pyjamas and settled to meditate on her bed. Before she could really sink into it though, Gwendith knocked on her door.

“Come in.”

The girl plodded inside, looking half asleep in her pyjamas. The night air was quite chill, and Gwendith’s exposed skin had goosebumps on them. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned.

“Tiring day at the chamber?”

“Uhuh,” Gwendith mumbled as she plopped herself next to Yuriko. “Cuddles.” She held out her hands and demanded with a pout.

“...alright.” No sooner had she said that than Gwendith glomped her then used her as a body pillow. She was fast asleep a few heartbeats later.

Chuckling to herself, Yuriko gave up her meditation plans and settled to sleep. She hadn’t done that in a while…