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.

had integrated into the Legionem Abyssi a part of him that had long been dead was once again full of life. Not that anyone could tell looking at his face, of course, to the world at large he appeared as stone faced and duty bound as ever. Ever since Morrelia had been

breath he pushed out the grief that rose within him as his thoughts dwelt on what had been lost. It had grown easier to bear

horde of demons without armour on, the commander would do his duty and defeat the enemy that rested on the flat surface before him. Once more focused on his task,

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 knew just how important each of these were to the successful running of a military force.

fist down on the table as his

looked around the room as if expecting to see

be seriously wrong! As she glanced back to the face of her old friend and superior, she froze when she saw the hard lines of his expression. Though he always looked carved from granite,

she demanded, using his name in

a long moment where he

to concentrate," he admitted as he waved a hand towards the piles of forms and

hard in the Dungeon?"

Titus frowned.

that doesn't mean I want to

when she was a young lass? Why would

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

concerned about the 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?"

her decision and the rest

"There it is."

daughter we're talking about, don't tell

didn't mean he got to

advanced officer’s training Aurillia," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, "you don't know what it takes to

much is insane! She could

her decision," Titus stated, his tone hard as steel. "I will support her choices. She understands the risks and is willing to shoulder them. I will hear no