The Eightieth Legion of the PNS, to which Wati belonged, stood on top of a hill overlooking Cak Wu Fields. The river of steel stretched as far as the eyes could see. Banners with insignia belonging to various cohorts fluttered amidst the forest of spears and shields.

Wati tightened her grip on her flute as she looked at the group of six colossal orange-feathered birds sitting on the field. Their blunt beaks nibbled at the phencit trees all around them, robbing the hard work of countless farmers. Wati had always known that her first battle would be against a flock of kun skimmers. But today, she felt unpleasant, and she didn’t know why.

The feathery crown on the kun skimmers’ head was a mix of red and orange. Their eyes were brass colored. They had long legs and necks. Their bodies resembled livers. Each was three to four times the size of an average house.

Wati looked around. The PNS was organized into legions of twenty-five thousand men at maximum strength. Each legion was divided into five sub-legions, which were divided further into cohorts that consisted of one thousand men. Ideally, they were composed of a balanced mix of Shield-Trooper frontline infantry which were armed with spears and swords, Shield-Bolt crossbow infantry, Shield-Rider cavalry, and Sunduk field artillery.

Wati recalled the general instructions for handling a kun skimmer. Two Sunduk should be in a position to target the birds and be protected at least by a cohort. Two cohorts should merge their melee infantry and form a line about fifteen men deep and eighty men wide with the ranged infantry situated on the flanks of the formation. These cohorts would absorb the charge of the creature. Meanwhile, the other two cohorts should advance and encircle the huge bird, isolating them from the flock. The legionaries should then focus on the legs of the encircled kun skimmer to topple its balance and prevent it from flying. Once that happened, they could begin finishing the creature.

Wati felt a nudge on her right arm.

“Nervous?” Aryo said to her. A nyambek-skin drum was strapped to him.

Wati forced a smile. “What do you mean nervous?”

Aryo chuckled. “Your face clearly shows it.”

“We should be fine,” Marno said to Wati. He was standing to Wati’s left with a flute in his hand. “There are a lot of people in front of us and we will be behind them most of the time.”

“Yeah, but things can go wrong, especially when we all have never faced a kun skimmer before,” Wati said.

“If things go wrong, we can always run away,” Hartono said with confidence.

“Yeah, but then the bird would get you,” Aryo said to him.

Hartono gestured with his drumstick. The bass drum that hung from his shoulders restricted his arm movement. “There’s a lot of people here. There’s no way they would go after me specifically.”

“I wish we could get over this as soon as possible,” Wati said. “It’s not like this would be a decisive battle that would change the course of history.”

Hartono groaned. “It’s almost two hours since our deployment. I think we’re screwed up.”

Aryo nudged his arm against Hartono’s. “We don’t screw up until we screw up.”

“It makes me wonder how it feels to be one of the first groups to take down a kun skimmer,” Marno said.

“Alright boys, listen,” Wati said, gesturing at them. “We’ve trained for this. We should be able to repel these pests with minimal casualties. Remember how the PNS was initially made to handle kun skimmers?”

“Tell that to yourself,” Aryo said, chuckling slightly. “I’m not the one who is nervous.”

Wati looked at Aryo with irritation. She then stomped on his feet.

“Ow, my bad…my bad.”

“Your ration for tonight is mine,” Wati said.

“Hey, that’s not fair.”

The Eightieth Legion deployed a little bit further than the standard deployment range against the kun skimmer in an attempt to use the elevation as an advantage. They planned to advance and kite the giant fowls closer. Once the kun skimmer attacked, the cohorts would take turns delaying the birds while they withdrew uphill.

The silver Command Charm strapped on their chest plate projected a purple light in front of them. It drew a symbol in the air that represented an issued command. The general ordered them to advance.

“Well, here we go,” Wati said.

The officers, who were also equipped with the charm, stepped forward and stomped the ground with their right foot three times.

“To your brothers!” They shouted.

“Shoulder!” Wati, her squad, and all the other soldiers responded in unison.

“To your Houses!”

“Prosper!”

“To your Gods!”

“Muster!”

Wati took a deep breath and steeled herself. Aryo produced a sustained sound with his drum for two seconds. Hartono slammed his drum four times. Its clamor propagated across the whole plantation. The ground quaked. The banners fluttered. The legionaries marched.

Thousands of steel boots rocked Cak Wu Fields. Keeping her focus on the tune amidst the commotion turned out to be harder than she thought. From the corner of Wati's eyes, Marno was playing the flute as if their unit depended on it. He had a faithful look on his face that kept his head held high. He seemed to be struggling too but he kept going. The same could be said for Aryo and Hartono.

The line stopped just within enough distance for the Shield-Bolts to unleash their volley. Supporting Field-Sorcerers cast various Mantra of Peril to enhance the lethality of every crossbow bolt. Meanwhile, the melee infantry braced with their shields at the ready.

Sunduk projectiles streaked through the skies and hit the kun skimmers. Blood was dripping down from the birds’ bodies but they remained still, save for their heads which were actively dodging the oversized darts. Wati was both mesmerized and terrified, seeing how the hail of crossbow bolts didn’t bother them one bit. It was like throwing an array of toothpicks toward a person.

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Suddenly, her Command Charm projected a symbol that told her to withdraw. Wati looked whence she came. Her eyes widened seeing the Sunduk position being attacked by three kun skimmers. Who knew where they came from, but there was no time to ask questions. She heard other fellow musicians transmit the order to their colleagues, so she did the same.

The line about-faced and ran back toward the distressed Sunduk nest on the hill. The legionaries’ steel boots struck the ground rapidly, inciting adrenaline in everyone. Running while playing the flute was an annoying task for Wati. She had to circulate her breath from her nose as her mouth had to blow into the lip plate constantly.

A shadow loomed. Another kun skimmer descended upon them faster than a Sunduk bolt. There was a split second where Wati realized that she was in the way of its opened digits.

A force knocked her down. She felt a gust streak over her as Hartono and Marno yelped. The ground quaked in the wake of the kun skimmer’s landing. She heard the screams of other soldiers before realizing the arm around her shoulders that had pushed her down, saving her life. Aryo pulled her back up and shook her.

“Are you alright!?” he said, looking at her with a tinge of panic on his face.

“I…think,” Wati said, rubbing her helmet. She fixed her attention on his face while regulating her breath at the same time.

Her sub-legion was now engaging the kun skimmer. Tens of legionaries, male and female, screamed as they were crushed by the bird’s feet, flung by its head, or snapped by its beak. They were unprepared to absorb the kun skimmer’s charge. Not to mention that they were also running in its direction, which increased the momentum that rammed them.

Those who survived the impact poked at the kun skimmer’s legs. Their spears were puny in comparison but that didn’t stop them. At the same time, the bird was taking the soldiers’ life with ease. It took down fifty soldiers with a swing of its foot, and another fifty with a stomp. Wati watched in horror as the kun skimmer dispatched a cohort with ease.

Aryo shook her. “Wati!”

Wati turned to Aryo with her mouth gaped. Her heart raced at a rate it had never been in.

“Check on Marno,” Aryo said. “I’ll check Hartono!”

Wati found Marno comatose not far from her. She hustled for his body but stopped after seeing the full picture. His head was gone. His armor drowned in the blood pool that spurted from the base of his neck. Wati closed her mouth with both hands as she collapsed to her knees.

The kun skimmer that had been idling previously joined the fight. Her unit was now engaging two kun skimmers at once from different sides. The officers were trying to organize the legionaries with little success. Several hundred soldiers still attempted the envelopment of the kun skimmers as was told by the handbook, but the birds quickly tore through them.

Wati flinched as Aryo gripped her shoulder.

“Hartono is no good either,” Aryo said.

All the other sub-legions were occupied by the kun skimmers as well. Only one was faring well in the onslaught. The other four, including hers, were being destroyed.

Wati rose and grabbed Aryo’s hand. “Let’s get out of here!”

She didn’t wait for him and pulled his hand, but Aryo yanked her back before she could go anywhere.

“Are you serious?” Aryo said. “Go where? Back to the command's position? There are three kun skimmers there!”

“I don’t know!” Wati grabbed Aryo’s arm with both of her hands. “Anywhere but here, we’ll link up with the rest when this is over.”

Aryo silently looked at the site of the onslaught.

“Aryo!”

He released the straps that held his drum and picked up a spear from one of the fallen legionaries. Aryo drew his shield which had been slung on his back this whole time.

“You get out of here,” Aryo said.

“What!?”

Aryo shoved Wati’s hands away and ran to where the fight was happening.

“Aryo!”

Wati ran after him, making her way through the thousands of dead legionaries on the field. Her sight was focused on Aryo. Somehow she was able to dodge the fleeing legionaries at the same time. Wati hoped that they would regroup and strike back at the kun skimmers, but there was no sign of that happening. The few brave ones who still resisted were easily neutralized by the giant birds.

Aryo finally stopped and readied his shield. Wati grabbed his shoulder with her right hand. The Danker looked at her with a surprised look on his face.

“What are you doing here!? I told you to–”

“I’m not leaving you!” Wati said, unsheathing the sword from the left side of her waist.

The kun skimmer closest to them rammed its head through what looked like the last of her cohort. The bird shrieked, asserting its dominance. Nothing stood between it and the two, save for the legionaries who were fleeing. It swiveled its head, casting its brass-colored eyes on both of them. Wati gripped Aryo’s left shoulder tightly.

“Wati…”

“No…no…”

The kun skimmer took two house-wide strides that brought itself into striking distance. Aryo raised his spear as the bird lowered its head. Wati’s hands shook, seeing the bird wasn’t bothered one bit by the tear and punctures on its body. Nevertheless, she raised her sword.

The kun skimmer raised its head and shrieked.

“Wati!”

“Never!”

The bird twisted its head. Wati saw a motion blur before she felt a painful pounding on her chest. Her body soared through the air before she realized it. She watched the ashen cloud above drift steadily. The moment felt like forever. To those who fell to a kun skimmer, perhaps it was the last thing they saw as their life flashed before their eyes.

Her vision blackened as her head crashed into the ground. Her body rolled, ending with her chest against the ground. Wati groaned and writhed, coping with the crippling pain that permeated her whole body. Her chest felt the most painful. She found Aryo lying on the ground ahead of her. He was recovering himself but was dangerously close to the kun skimmer.

Wati fought against her pain and pushed herself up. Her trembling hand reached for Aryo as their eyes met. His smile was the last thing Wati saw before the ground quaked. The kun skimmer’s foot sank to the ground, exactly where Aryo was.

Wati’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She collapsed as hundreds of denials propagated in her mind. The kun skimmer loomed over her and opened its beak. Wati prayed to the Almighty Three for the killing blow to be quick and painless.

A glowing pale blue light streaked through the kun skimmer’s head. The battlefield was suddenly silent. The light turned the kun skimmer’s head into a crumbling mound of dust. Both the legionaries and the kun skimmers stopped fighting and turned their attention to the spectacle. The kun skimmer’s body staggered for seconds before collapsing.

The light came again and struck another kun skimmer. The legionaries withdrew as the kun skimmer fell. The light then claimed another victim, and another shortly after. The remaining flock of kun skimmers shrieked and took to the air. One of them was struck by the light and unceremoniously fell to the field.

Despite the confusion, the soldiers reorganized. There was a distant flash every time that light struck the kun skimmers. What remained of the Eightieth Legion lined up and marched toward that flash. Whoever could neutralize a flock of kun skimmers with ease must have been many times worse than them. Still, the legionaries marched on, allured by the prospect of penance.

Wati crawled toward where Aryo was sprawled. To her surprise, his body was still whole. Wati shook him.

“Aryo!”

Wati shook him harder but his eyes remained shut. She was too exhausted to cast a Mantra of Wellspring. Even if she wasn’t, she doubted that a healing Mantra she had learned could revive him.

Her bright amber eyes welled up. Wati collapsed to Aryo’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around his head.

“Aryo…” Wati’s tears wet the soil.