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.

stone faced and duty bound as ever. Ever since Morrelia had been selected for

him as his thoughts dwelt on what had been lost. It had grown easier to bear

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, the commander would do his duty and defeat the enemy that rested on the flat surface before him. Once more focused on his task, Titus took hold

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 knew just how important each of these were to the successful running of a military force. This was the sort of discipline that the Legion drummed into

fist down on the table as his thoughts strayed once

burst through the door, his old comrade looked around the room

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

in a

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

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

out working hard in the Dungeon?" she grinned. "I know how

Titus frowned.

proud, but that doesn't mean

she was a young lass? Why would we?" the old tribune innocently

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

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! You can't be alright with

Titus didn't blink.

did she

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

"There it is."

serious, Titus! This is your daughter we're talking about, don't tell me that you aren't

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

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

much is insane! She could

as steel. "I will support her choices. She understands the risks and is willing to shoulder them. I will hear no more of this