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.

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 selected for accelerated development his pride had almost been ready to burst out of his chest. It would seem odd to

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

will Titus dragged his mind away from Morrelia and back to the numerous papers scattered across his desk. Administrative work was the backbone of the Legion, and though he would rather charge into a horde of demons without armour on,

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

Titus crashed his fist down on the table as his thoughts

Aurillia burst through the door, his old comrade looked around the room as if expecting to

must 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

using his name in a breach of protocol. "Is something bothering

it. After a long moment where he took hold of his temper, Titus breathed out his tension once more, his expression softening imperceptibly

and finding it difficult to concentrate," he admitted as he waved a hand towards the piles of forms and applications in front

out working hard in the Dungeon?"

Titus frowned.

but that doesn't mean I want to hear

when she was a young lass?

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

to you Titus, a few of us are 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

Titus didn't blink.

did she

and the rest of us should leave off," the tribune

"There it is."

Titus! This is your daughter we're

that didn't mean he got to overrule Morrelia's choices.

training Aurillia," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, "you don't know what it takes to succeed at that level. If

much is insane! She could

tone hard as steel. "I will support her choices. She understands the risks