Chrysalis

The shadow falls like clouds, like rain;

Creeping dread begins to stain;

Shudder the heart, freeze the brain;

Ring out the laughter, again and again;

Call of you lover, daughter, son;

Sinks into your ears, your will undone;

Forward you step, your soul is wrung;

Cannot resist, Gon has come;

Who can defy that fateful call?

Who can escape the shadows pall?

Forward you go, heedless to stall;

Into the depths to meet the fall;

Lament the brave and pity the meek;

None can flee the song of the freak;

• Rinnidan children's rhyme.

he appeared as stone faced and duty bound as ever. Ever since Morrelia had been selected for accelerated development his pride

him as his thoughts dwelt on what had been lost. It had grown easier to bear over the years, but only a little. His acute awareness of how fleeting joy could be only made his current appreciation for his daughter

and though he would rather charge into a horde of demons without armour on, the commander would do

new Legion after the members had been recalled from their postings during the wave was a monumental task. Thousands of soldiers and thousands more auxiliaries needed to be accounted for, equipped, fed, billeted and kept happy. Promotions, training, Skill development, Class upgrades, managing morale, all of it demanded the careful attention of the commander in charge and Titus

it!" Titus crashed his fist down on the table as his thoughts strayed

through the door, his old comrade looked around the room as if expecting to see a lurking

friend and superior, she froze when she saw the hard lines of his expression. Though he always looked carved from granite, right now the commander appeared as if he was forged from Abyssal Iron! Knowing him for as

she demanded, using his name in a

face his wrath if the moment demanded it. After a long moment where he took hold of his temper, Titus breathed out his tension once more, his expression softening imperceptibly as

difficult to concentrate," he admitted as he waved a hand towards the piles

in the Dungeon?" she grinned. "I know how

Titus frowned.

but that doesn't mean I want to hear

when she was a young

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

pace she is setting. Overwork is a real issue and she is clearly pushing up against the boundary," Aurillia grew serious as she laid out her concerns. "We've seen her stumbling into camp once every few days, covered in ichor and half dead on her feet. She spends so much time in the field they are rotating three squads to accompany her. She's doing three times the work of a normal legionary!

Titus didn't blink.

she say?" he

was her decision and the rest of us should leave off," the tribune

"There it is."

can't be serious, Titus! This is your daughter we're talking about, don't tell

mean he got to overrule Morrelia's choices.

officer’s training Aurillia," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, "you don't know what it takes to succeed at that level. If she worked any less, she

much is insane! She

understands the risks