My eyes widened a moment later, and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I— I'm sorry, Ma'am. I didn't mean—

"It's fine.” She said, waving me off, “I have heard far worse in my time. We are asking you to relay a message that will brand you as a traitor should you be caught. And most likely get you killed." She didn't ask the question, but she didn't need to. It was hanging in the air between us like a rotting body.

Will I go?

She couldn't force me to do it. If she ever gave me such an order, I would be within my rights to refuse it and report her to the Legion Police. Shit, some would even try to blackmail her even with as little as she had said. But I had never been one of those people and now was not the time to start.

Because there was something far more pressing than getting one over on a superior. "Why is it necessary?" I asked.

There might have been the slightest crook on her lips, but it could have just been a shadow because it was already gone. What I did see was her shoulders released some of the tension holding them back, and her stance became more natural. "It's all due to the information you came back with." My instincts pricked as she spoke, telling me we were being watched, and I turned to look into the fort, my eyes searching the darkness for our watcher. But I saw nothing. "It appears that most, if not the entirety, of the message, was correct. Our search for the dark elves has brought up nothing but bodies, which is an answer in itself. The situation at Cross is grave and not appearing to get better, and Basetown could be worse. No hoard numbering in the hundreds of thousands has been spotted, but the historical data suggest it is coming if the current trends continue. The Legatus believes, and I agree, that we have no real chance of dislodging the Kin if they want to stay. More than that, we need them as allies if half of what they say is correct."

She sighed, and I turned back to see her hands resting on the battlements clench, filling the area with the sound of straining leather from the pressure she was exerting. "Olimpia is not ready for a beastwave. We have not been for a long time. A beastwave that is being controlled and guided to accomplish strategic goals will destroy us before we can gather enough of our strength to put up a fight. So we need time and allies."

"And one of our potential allies, we are about to attack." I finished what she left unsaid.

She gave a sharp nod at my words, "The Politicians don't want to see, or can not see, that we are not facing normal beastkin. And they aren't even looking for the bigger game that's afoot. They see what they want, which will kill us all." She left unsaid unless someone interfered. But we both knew that I was going.

"What do I say?" I asked, looking at the shifting dome covering the Northern Fort.

"What I have told you. Anything else that you can think of to explain our short sited stupidity. The Senatorial Guard will not stop until they retake the Triad, and the Legatus cannot stop them from attempting it. Once we have control of the Triad, he will have the authority to prevent them from going further, but we must drive them out first. We do not even know the battle plan because they do not want to share the smallest shred of glory, " The Prefect shrunk in on herself at that moment, like a heavy load was pressing down on her shoulders. "You will have no authority. You can offer nothing that will be guaranteed. And you will probably fail, and the cost will be your life."

She didn't give an order. Couldn't give me one. She was asking me to die for a slight chance. But if our legions are overwhelmed, and the Republic is ravaged, my family. My people will be among those who suffer. Even if I hated the Republic with all my being, I would still go if asked. Because I believed the threat was real. "When do I leave," I asked, cracking an uncertain smile.

For a moment, I saw the woman behind the iron will of the Prefect. The Prefect's delicate mouth parted as a relieved smile lit her face. The small scars on her forehead and jaw added character instead of detracting from her beauty.

"Now." She stated, her mask of duty falling back into place as she stepped around me.

I turned to keep facing my superior. And I saw the Prefect reaching forward with one hand, "Don't scream," was all she said before her hand reached my chest.

Like an idiot, all I did was watch her. When she pressed her hand into my chest, it would normally be called nothing more than a bump. Maybe a pat. A bump I could shrug off without issue. But with my condition, the push made me stumble back.

I could move my feet no more than half a step before hitting the battlement's railing. All it took was the slightest tap against the back of my knees, and I started to fall.

The shock of my superior trying to kill me, along with my legs giving out, was the final straw of me pulling myself back to safety.

Over the trip here, I had actually almost started walking normally. But it was the normal for someone not quite grasping what they were doing. Every movement was hesitant and had a slight stutter at the beginning. But as soon as they are knocked out of the mental zone they found themselves in, their actions would become a floundering comedy.

Now I was playing the fool, as my legs gave out and my butt planted onto the stone ledge. Sitting on the battlements would typically make for a good seat with a view if one didn't mind the hundred-something-foot drop to one side.

But my fall backward didn't stop, as my backpack suddenly became much heavier, like someone was tugging on it with a rope.

My hands scrabbled at the stone, trying to find purchase as I slipped past the crenellations to either side. I even reached for my mental energy in desperation but only succeeded in causing it to scatter across my body. The flash of pain caused my hands scrabbling at the stone edges of the crenelations to lose their grip, taking my last hope.

Continuing my tumble backward, I fell into the open air.

I looked at the Prefect in betrayal, her face an emotionless mask. Before disappearing from my sight, she mouthed, 'don't scream.'

Her command didn't matter, as the drop into open air had caused my balls to be sucked so far up into my chest that they were keeping my mouth clamped shut.

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The edge of the wall fell away from me, and my throat burned as I clenched my jaw, trying to suppress my fear of my fast-approaching death.

At least until I felt my fall become more of a tug, as the straps of my backpack dug into my armpits, pulling me away from the wall and further out into the river. The distance between me and the wall increased to dozens of feet, and then suddenly, I felt a lurch of an impact slowing me down.

It was like this one time the adults of my village held the edge of a sheet and tossed the children into the air by pulling the canvas tight and catching them in its tight center.

But instead of landing once on a taught sheet, it was multiple rapid thumps, one after another, slowing my fall. At the same time, I found myself plunging into a tube of water that sealed itself shut at the top and followed down after me.

The water walls of the tunnel flickered with the light of the dome. After half a dozen impacts and going ten or more feet below the water's surface, I fell one more time before sinking into something that was smooth and cool that completely enveloped my body before pushing me out to rest on top of it.

"That must have been fun!" said a chipper feminine voice before it turned sullen, "I never get to have fun!"

"You do that every other week, Kaloma." said a dry male voice.

Looking over, I saw two knights, their helmets off, lounging on the opposite side of the bubble of water I found myself in. The water under me, though it rippled as I poked it, was more like gelatin. And even when I pulled my hand away after driving it up to my wrist, my hand still dry came out dry.

"It's not the same, Lammy! I have to do everything!"

"Then what am I doing all those times?" Asked the man in long-suffering exasperation.

"You are doing what I tell you. Which is the point!" She pouted, "Where is the surprise and excitement! The spontaneity! I want to leap from the wall and not know safety is waiting at the bottom like him!" She pointed at me at the end as if my bloodless face and shaking hands proved her point.

"The name's Veelam, by the way. And would you want to do that again?" He asked, a single eyebrow crooked in question.

I opened my mouth as they looked at me expectantly, only to find it dry, "Hehmm," I grunted, clearing my throat, "Umm, maybe if I knew someone was waiting at the bottom to save me."

"Ha!" Veelam said, looking at the woman in victory. She was already turned away, her arms crossed over her armor. "Ahh, come on…" The man grumbled.

The woman didn't move, and as the man reached out for her, her body slid across the surface of the water without any apparent means of moving. Getting to his feet, the man strode over the glowing water like it was solid ground as he chased after the woman trying to catch her. A struggle ensued, in which the man tried to touch or, at the very least, cause her to look at him, but he never got close.

Finally, he leaned against the bubble and sighed, “Fine… the next week we have off, I will wait in the river for you at the usual spot."

"Yay!" Yelled the woman as she leaped from the side of the bubble where she sat and jumped over to the man shouting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Ahhh," I said, feeling incredibly awkward as I watched the two knights, wanting to interrupt them before they got more intimate. "What are we doing he—"

I trailed off as when the woman's body hit the man, it collapsed into a wave of water, washing over Veelam.

"Huh? Ahh, damn. Ya got me." The man sighed, settling back down, not a drop of water sticking to him. "Are we almost there, Kaloma?" he asked, trying to reform the guise of professionalism so long since past that flowers were growing where it was buried centuries ago.

"Booo!" Cried a voice from behind me. "Can't even stay focused for ten minutes, Lammy? For shame!"

As I turned to look at the voice, I blinked in surprise at the voice next to me. The woman knight that collapsed into the water a moment ago was now sitting with her legs crossed, eating something out of a pouch.

"Peanuts?" She asked, holding out the bag for me after a moment of me looking at her in shock. As I stared blankly at her, she asked, "Like my water projection? Pretty good, huh."

"Why do you practice such a useless skill?" The man asked in mild annoyance.

"Hey!" Kaloma shouted defensively, throwing her bag of nuts at Veelam. He caught the bag and started eating them as he lounged on the water bubble. "You never know when we might need a distraction! Oh! We're entering the tunnel!"

Before she even got the last word out of her mouth, the flickering lights dancing over the bubble's surface vanished.

I jumped as the darkness dropped over us, and all at once, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Adrenaline pumped through me, and my heart started beating rapidly.

Absolute darkness was not my friend. It might have had something to do with how I had only encountered it a few times beyond closing my eyes. It just didn't sit well with me.

It was hardly a couple of seconds after the darkness fell that a yellow light flooded over me. Veelam was holding a sunstone in his hand.

Looking around, I saw rough stones above me through the slight shimmer of the water bubble flashing by.

"We have been digging this tunnel out since the attack just in case. While their shield goes through water, it doesn't go that deep into the ground. We have some that will pop up in the fort, but this one will open up a few hundred feet from the walls on the eastern side of the Northern Fort." Even as he was speaking, I saw the movement of the stone overhead and to the sides slowing down. Before I could say anything, the water bubble opened up, and I saw an earth stairwell leading up.

"The Kaloma and Veelam water transport service, has arrived! All passengers, if you would be so kind as to disembark, we will be on our way!" Rang out Kalmoa's chipper voice.

I looked at her new location and saw her hanging off Veelam's shoulders, reaching for the bag of nuts he was keeping just out of her reach.

"Welp, good luck," Veelam said, As the water wrapped around me, lifting and moving me before depositing me at the bottom step of the stairs. "Walk up the stairs, and when you reach the top, push through a layer of turf covering the top."

At the end of the word, I heard a *blurp* of water, and the light vanished, leaving me all alone in the darkness.

I stood for a few seconds breathing in the earth around me and taking in the rapid series of events.

Reaching out for the wall, my fingers found the soil, it slightly giving way underneath my touch. Taking a breath to regain some equilibrium, I slid my foot forward and began slowly making my way up the stairs.

"Ahh!" I screamed as I felt something brush over my neck after far too long in the pitch-black tunnel. And it was in a totally manly way.

After a few hesitant swipes of my arm and getting control of my breathing, I ripped open the grass sod, the welcoming light of the moon greeting me.

Crawling into the surrounding tall grass, I lay on the ground for a moment, resting and taking in the fresh air.

After catching my breath, I carefully grabbed my unstrung bow from where it was strapped to the side of the backpack and used it as a walking stick to get up.

My father would be the first in line to berate me for using my bow in such a way, but you can't use a bow if you can't stand. And it was a long walk to the gate of the Northern Fort.

After all, there is no better way to deliver a message than knocking on the front door.