The days had passed Serafin by in a blissful routine. Waking up early, working through correspondence with the other ships, brooding over the few maps of the High Hills that they possessed, and finishing the day with form practice.

Every time her blade swung through the air, the surge of lightning around the blade caused it to crackle. Serafin had removed her cloak and shirt during training, sweat glistening on her muscles. How many hours had she been here now, two, three? The thought quickly perished in the sea of images her mind was drowning in as her body went through the motions.

Pictures of El, of the graves she had created, the fires of the Castrum. With every day these events grew more distant, and it´s images seared into her mind more clearly.

The static around her blade faded, it grew heavier in her hands as the crystal dimmed. From one moment to the next, she felt the fatigue she was in, and limped forward to the stash of crystals near the window. The used up one in her blade´s hilt she threw onto a large pile, then took one from the last five and slotted it into her blade.

Her grip tightened, the blade sprung back to life and power returned to her, banishing the fatigue back to that dark corner of her mind. She turned around.

"Far be it for me of all people to lecture you on restraint, commander." Tatanya stood in the doorway, holding onto the wooden frame. "But for the sake of the fleet, you should consider being less." She looked across the room, the wreckage she had left. "Self destructive?"

Serafin followed Tatanya´s gaze and shook her head. "I need to ensure that I am in peak condition when we reach the hills. I did not have time or resources for it until now, so I need to catch up."

"Peak condition for what? You are already quite good at looking sternly and shouting orders." Tatanya made sure not to rest her eyes on Serafin. "Commander, it is not your duty to be fighting yourself. Nor is it very wise, especially if you are sacrificing your health for it."

She lurched into the room, her body hunched over. "You may be pushing past the limits of your body, very well. But the strain you are putting on yourself will come back to haunt you eventually, and it wont be pretty."

Serafin looked her over. Tatanya was donning a nightgown that showed much of her frail, skeletal body, always threading the needle of collapsing in on itself. "So you're speaking with experience?"

Tatanya scoffed. "You could say that, commander. Though the difference is that my sacrifice came from necessity, not some attempt to mend your hurt pride." Her pale lips formed a single line, her reddened cheeks the only colour on her body. "Not that you would understand a single thing about it."

She stepped closer, Serafin could smell the wine from her breath. Tatanya reached out a trembling hand to push against Serafin´s chest, one she could hardly feel. "Her favourite student. That is who I am to our benevolent Sovereign." Tatanya spat out her words. "And this is what she took from me in return for my knowledge. And now look at you."

Fires burned in her eyes as she stared up to Serafin. "She made you, endured you stumbling about, glossed over your failings, and gives you this command. Why, for what? Twenty years." Her body was trembling. "I stood at her side for twenty years, and you took my place just like that! What did you give her, 'Commander'?"

"Everything." Serafin spoke softly and met Tatanya´s gaze. "The orphanage threw me out the first day they could. No twelve year old girl can survive the streets of Lahmia, I knew that, they knew that." She shrugged and looked to the side. "Aeterna must have looked out for me, I stumbled in the way of the chariot of the Sovereign, and she took pity on me."

Serafin sheathed her blade, the moment her hand left the hilt she staggered backwards as every muscle in her body screamed in protest. "You're right. I owe her more than I could ever give. Were it not for her kindness I would be dead or worse. And that is why I will strive to fulfill in her name, even if my body breaks."

The pain made her dizzy, but she stood straight, staring down Tatanya. "My life belongs to Lady Marion and Aeterna, and they put me in this place, as they put you in yours. So should you question my place, then you question them. Is that what you are doing?"

Tatanya´s eyes shot wide open, she clenched her hands in front of her chest and scurried back to the doorframe. "No, I do not question our sovereign." Her nails scratched across the wood. Then relief spread across her face as she lowered her head. "Revelation, yes. It was he who tasked me to find you, in the middle of my nightly-"

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She coughed and turned around, staggering down the hall. "He wishes to see you, on deck." Tatanya disappeared back into her room, locking the door shut. Serafin stayed in place, her breathing ragged as the exertion continued to force down on her.

The stairs up the three levels of the ship were a monumental task in her state, and once the wind brushed across her body she regretted not having put her clothes back on. The deck was almost deserted at this hour, with only the helmsman and a few assistants keeping the ship on course.

At the front, looking out to the moon above, Serafin found Revelation. The blade held a staff wrapped in paper and turned to look at her with a warm smile. "Commander."

She tried to salute, but her arm failed her. "Blade Revelation, I apologise for the delay." The cold air made her shiver, she shrunk under his gaze and scolded herself. How could she let herself make this bad an impression?

"Oh there is nothing to apologise for, I understand that my arrival is very sudden. At daybreak we will reach the foot of the High Hills, so our journey together will end here." He took his staff into both hands and reached it out to her. "I am glad that I was given the opportunity to shield your voyage from harm. My ship will depart from here to return to my duties in the plain. But this I wanted to give you in person."

Serafin took it, yet despite her fears, it did not break her balance with it´s weight. In fact, it felt like it weighed nothing at all. She removed the paper, and almost dropped it upon realising what she was carrying.

It shone in gold, reflecting the light of the moon. One end was shaped like a claw, while the other ended in a bladed tip, holding a banner. The red cloth it was woven from was ancient, and she did not need to unveil it to know what it depicted.

"The banner of victory has not left the capital in almost two hundred years." Revelation folded his hands in front of his chest. "It was decided that you be given the honour to carry it in this great endeavour."

Tears were running down Serafin´s face, her hands clenching around it. "I will do it justice, I swear it. Before you leave, Revelation." She took a deep breath, her lungs were burning. "Please forgive me this question but, why me? I am nothing, a childe of war among tens of thousands, I fail and stumble, why does Lady Marion, merciful Aeterna, why am I given so much more than I deserve?"

She could not look up to meet his eyes, but felt his hand on her shoulder. "For you are more than you seem, Serafin." His voice was soft, a whisper carried by the wind. "Our lady of light, Aeterna, has strength in ample supply. She has us, her blades, to cut down any foe. The empire´s brightest work day and night to find ways to combat the Eternal Enemy. And our wisest educate the common man why he lives. The strong, the smart, the wise, you can train these."

Serafin finally mustered the courage to look him in the eyes. "You cannot train pure faith, Serafin." The warmth of his voice, the compassionate praise swiped away her exhaustion for the moment. "Faith is only pure if it is not questioned. There are many who could not shoulder the mantle of a guardian, and even fewer who could act in the way you have without succumbing to doubt. Do you, Serafin?"

She shook her head and swallowed. "I do not doubt, blade Revelation. I mourn." She clutched the standard close. "For those who lost their way, who made themselves enemy of the empire. But they chose their fate themselves, I merely executed Aeterna´s will."

"And that is why you are here, Serafin." Revelation leaned against the railing and gazed up into the sky. "Aeterna wishes you in your place, to carry out your mission, at any cost. You need not be strong, you need not be wise. We are all tools for the lady of light, beloved Aeterna." He lowered his head in prayer. "You walk in her light, and as long as you do, you need not fear any creature of shadow. You will face many in your path, but if you stand your ground, she will stand with you."

His body began to dissolve into light, making Serafin take a step back. "We will meet again, commander Serafin. Walk in her light and be blessed." The light he became raced towards the capitaline ship at the front of their formation. A few moments later it began to sail faster, and turned right, back towards the Titan´s plain.

With Revelation gone, Serafin felt the cold that much more. She struggled back down the stairs as fast as her weak legs allowed her, back to her quarters. Here she placed the banner at the side of her bed, her heart still racing just from looking at it.

Tiredness now followed her physical exhaustion, changing into her nightly attire became too much for her. Serafin fell down onto her bed and crawled under the covers, and swiftly fell asleep.

Her dreams were not plagued by memories, for the first time since returning from the Castrum. Instead she saw herself marching down the streets of the capital at the head of her triumphant, victorious army. Crowds cheered for her, the ground was covered in roses thrown by the people, thankful to have been delivered from the horrors of the inhuman. Their march took them all the way to the palace, and at it´s steps Lady Marion greeted her, without her veil. The sovereign embraced her, a feeling that even in her dream, Serafin could not describe. But then her eyes were drawn, dragged upward, all the way to the roof of the palace.

On the edge sat a woman in white, and despite the incredible distance between them, Serafin could see her face. The pale features, the dead eyes that made her wish to scream.

She jumped out of bed, covered in a cold sweat, staring around her room. It was early in the morning, the first rays of the sun shining through her window. Everything was as it should be. Nearly.

A chair stood in front of her bed, facing her. It was empty.