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.

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

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

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

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 their officers! It was also

fist down on the table as his

old comrade looked around the room as if expecting

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

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 expression softening imperceptibly

as he waved a hand towards the piles of forms and applications

hard in the Dungeon?"

Titus frowned.

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

was a young lass? Why

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

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

Titus didn't blink.

she say?"

her decision and the rest

"There it is."

is your daughter we're talking about, don't tell me that

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

never went through the advanced officer’s training Aurillia," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, "you don't know what

much is insane! She

Titus stated, his tone hard as steel. "I will support her choices. She understands