Chrysalis

The heat was pervasive, radiating out from the rock around her, from the open pits of flame that guttered and belched smoke in the distance and from her own suit. With a grunt of effort, Morrelia brought her twin blades forward, driving them straight into the chest of the frothing demon in front of her before she stepped back, smoothly withdrawing the glimmering steel as she did so.

With a flick of her wrists, she sent the bubbling ichor of the monster hissing onto the ground where it boiled away, the stench of it rising as a vapour and clogging within her helmet. She growled. Just what she needed. Teeth bared in a rictus snarl, she seized hold of that anger, that rage, and drew it out of her belly, through her chest and into her arms. It hurt. A wrenching pain that pulled at her very bones, fuelling the rage and driving it to greater heights as she continued to channel it.

Up and into the arms, into her hands, then with a final shove into her blades. The two swords flared with violent red light as her anger took root in them, resonating with the metal and magnifying her anger until the rage was all she could feel, all she could see.

She didn't know how much longer it was until she came to with a start, a large, armoured hand resting on her shoulder as she stood breathing heavily surrounded by slain demons.

"You need to be more careful," came her father's voice from behind her, "it's a dangerous Skill to use without the proper precautions in place."

She nodded silently as she braced herself. It hit a moment later, the overwhelming lethargy that came with the loss of her berserker rage. Her hands began to shake and her limbs felt completely numb. It was all she could do to sheath her weapons, needing three attempts to line the first sword with her scabbard. Knowing how she felt, her father didn't say anything else, merely led her back through the lines and into camp where she lay down on the first cot she found, not even bothering to take her armour off.

Titus just chuckled as he looked down at her and she weakly flipped a hand at him in protest.

"I was just thinking of your mother," he clarified, "she was often left in this state when she channelled the rage."

He turned and sat down on a bench nearby, he own abyssal armour ringing like a softly struck bell as the plates shifted against each other. She couldn't help but frown. When was she going to get a set like that? Her own armour was excellent, of course, but her father's was the real deal, forged hundreds of years ago from the best materials the Legion had. It weighed a ton, but she was starting to feel as though she might have the strength for it. If she didn't, she soon would, given the rate her level was climbing.

The commander watched his daughter recover for a few minutes, sitting silent and simply being present. When he judged enough time had passed, he unclipped the canteen from his belt and gave it to her, nodding when she sat up to drink.

"You're recovery time is getting faster. You've levelled it up already?"

Morrelia drank greedily, pouring the lukewarm water through her faceplate, uncaring of the state of the metal.

"Take your helmet off," Titus growled, "you're just being lazy now."

the runic steel from her head and letting to drop the ground,

a perpetual warzone, and Morrelia decided

the past, "have you been sent here as punishment? For failing to destroy the

brass, his troops had been whisked into someone else's command and the decorated soldier had been unceremoniously sent into the third stratum with a small detachment of troops, Morrelia

raised her head to find her father looking at her with an odd expression on

"What?" she demanded.

shook

me?" he chuckled again, and she marked not for the first time how much freer he'd been with his emotions since they had returned. "No, I'm not being punished. Why would I be punished? I did what I could, the situation was worse than we expected, and we retreated before the risk to my legionaries became too great. The council accepted my report, it was corroborated by the junior officers and that was the end of

you stripped of your command?

girl, the troops went where they were

them, "why have we been sent

scratched the side of his nose for a

already worked it out. I'd actually thought that

Morrelia frowned.

you talking

commander nodded with a wry

a little surprised when the orders came down, but it

rising as the anger

and these other legionaries here,

"She did," he confirmed.

to burn in her eyes, he quickly

too wound up, be a little patient and I'll tell you a few things that might alleviate a little of your

ire down and listened to what her father had to say. Seeing

of resources," he gestured to the small camp around them, "but let me say this, we always defend this checkpoint during a wave. It may not seem like much, but if the monsters swarm through this area, they group up with other streams moving up and cause

it important that this place be defended? Of course, what her father said made sense, but that