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.

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

been lost. It had grown easier to bear over the years, but

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

his new Legion after the members had been recalled from 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

on the table

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

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 looked carved from granite, right now the

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

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

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

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

Titus frowned.

proud, but that doesn't mean

who we trained when she was a young lass? Why

"Hmph," Titus snorted.

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 doing three times the work of a normal legionary! You can't be

Titus didn't blink.

she say?"

it was her decision and the rest of

"There it is."

is your daughter we're talking about, don't

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

officer’s training Aurillia," he told her, looking her straight in the eye, "you don't know what it

insane!

"I will support her choices. She understands the risks and is willing to shoulder them. I will