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.

time that Titus had thought his daughter would never return to the Legion, that the untimely death of his son had robbed him of both his children. Now that he'd been reunited with Morrelia and she 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 selected for accelerated development his pride had almost been ready to burst out of his chest. It would seem odd to most people, but watching her earnestly work herself to the bone in order to achieve her ambitions had filled him with powerful emotions. He had dearly wished his son had survived his initiation, so he could have seen both of his

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

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 of his pen, dipped it

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

crashed his fist down on the table as his

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

didn't lose his temper. He just didn't! For him to yell 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

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

his Legion, she was prepared to 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,

the matter. I'm just irritated and finding it difficult to concentrate," he admitted as he waved a hand towards

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

Titus frowned.

proud, but that doesn't mean I want to hear

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

"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

Titus didn't blink.

she say?"

it was her decision and the rest of us

"There it is."

we're talking about, don't tell me that

he got to

know what it takes to succeed at that level. If she worked any less, she wouldn't have a chance of

much is insane!

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