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.

world at large he appeared as stone faced and duty bound as ever. Ever since Morrelia had been

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 all the

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 of his pen, dipped it in the waiting

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

fist down on the table as his thoughts strayed

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

like that, something 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 looked carved from granite, right now the commander appeared as if he was

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

long moment where he took hold of his temper, Titus breathed out his tension once more, his

concentrate," he admitted as he waved a hand towards

in the Dungeon?"

Titus frowned.

mean I

trained when she was a young lass? Why would we?"

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

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

Titus didn't blink.

did she say?" he

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

concerned, but that didn't mean he got to overrule Morrelia's

never went 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 that level. If she worked any

much is insane!

stated, his tone hard as steel. "I will support her choices. She understands the risks and is willing to