Chrysalis

The rest of the new Legionaries were gathered together in a cluster at the end of their ward under the watchful eye of a few Centurions.

The young soldiers felt restless. They still didn't know how to feel towards the Legion and the seniors who had cared for and trained them for so long. The pain of the Baptism was still fresh in their minds, the scars still raw. Many of them felt a strange dual emotion towards the people they had once admired, equal parts anger and respect.

Aurillia stepped forward to address them.

"Thank you for gathering young Legionaries. You have endured the pain of the Baptism and suffered the loss of friends, as have we all" she looked each of them in the eye directly, letting them see that she knew of their pain, shared it.

"I'm sure you've felt it already, the changes in your body. You are no longer what you were before. Your very flesh has been infused with mana and this means a few things will change. Firstly, you can never live on the surface without regular doses of liquid mana to support your body. The mana there is too thin. Here inside the Dungeon you'll be fine but in the upper levels you'll begin to feel a bit weak".

Murmurs erupted from the new Legionaries at these words. Unable to live on the surface without liquid mana? If the Legion were the only ones who knew how to make it, isn't this just another way for them to be controlled?

"It also means" Aurrilia interrupted their thoughts, "that so long as you are able to absorb enough mana you will be able to do things that you had never imagined possible before".

Now she glared at them. Impressing her will on them. All of them wilted before the strength she held in her gaze.

no longer hold any such childish notions! If you truly want to protect you loved ones from the horrors of the Dungeon, then you've come to the right place. The Abyssal Legion stands on the frontline against the true threats and for thousands of

at them

"Come".

of the Legionary building before marching briskly through. The former trainees followed closely behind, trying to not stare at the bustle around them. Legionaries in their customary blackened leather armour stood in guard positions down every down corridor or passage they moved through, auxiliaries dashed about, delivering papers, meals, equipment or any of the million other tasks that the Legion needed done in order to operate. The new Legionaries were

As with all things the Legion constructed it was built on very clean lines, straight corridors and square rooms, giving the entire

base, indeed, the city of Railleh itself, probably predated Liria by a considerable amount of time. The Legion had been here long before

be made habitable for people? She thought of her family and their humble history, working hard to

a joke? There's an entire city down here! Long before

feelings the passage they were travelling through suddenly opened into a vast hall. Mirryn gasped, shocked out of her thoughts by the grand scale of the space they now occupied. A high arched ceiling, buttressed by powerful columns of stone and been carved straight into the rock, ornate, almost delicate supports stretched across the empty space to give strength and proportion to

of stone statues raised on marble plinths. Each of the figures was a masterpiece. Incredibly detailed, perfectly proportioned. The level of skill that

Scars criss-crossed their faces and arms and their expressions were hard, as if there was little they hadn't seen. So lifelike

hall of remembrance" Aurillia said over her shoulder, "here the greatest members of our branch have been immortilised in stone, preserved for history and

the figures towards the end of the room as they continued to stride through the hall. "Over there is commander Titus' father,

at the statue in the distance. A tall, bull shouldered figure stood there, a great two handed hammer resting on the plinth and held casually in one hand. Even at this distance Mirryn could see that the

the commander even had a father. They'd felt as if he'd walked fully formed