“Tawny and Hait Granth. How wonderful! First Raid and barely a scratch. Your parents would be so proud, First Ones rest their souls. They were two of the fiercest and most loyal squad mates I had the honor of fighting with.” Lirae said, ruffling the twins’ hair.

Lirae stood nearly a foot taller than the short half elves, painting the perfect picture of a mother praising her children, a hard contrast to what I’d seen.

Tawny and Hait shifted in their spots, both trying to hide a smile, especially Hait whose face turned a bright red. Couldn’t blame him. Teenage me would have reacted in the same way if a supermodel gave me that sort of attention.

Rest their souls. The phrase sat in my head. I never got around to asking the twins about their parents. To be fair, I’ve known them for all of like one day, yet it felt way longer for some reason. A small feeling of shame joined the vast sea of anxiety already present in my core because of Lirae’s presence. I asked them about their parents earlier, something anyone would do. But I still felt bad.

“And I see their progeny are keeping up the tradition and fighting in two waves. Most exciting. Right Rickard, dear?”

Rickard’s eyes never left me. The light died down, but a threat still swam around in his blue eyes. “Yes, my sweet.”

Once freed from the green elf’s affectionate doting, the twins straightened out and saluted, hands clasping shoulders. “And we hope to continue. Along with Liam, our Captain.”

Damnit Tanwy, she just stopped paying attention to me. I thought to myself as my stomach lurched.

The elf’s eyes swung over to me, her smile evaporating in an instant. Yet there was no anger, no hate in her gaze. Simple apathy now, as if she looked upon a dead bug.

“Oh yes. Of course.” She turned back to them, smile reappearing, just as vibrant as before. “Just remember, when this one fails you, you will always have a place in the Second Legion. Correct, dear?”

“Absolutely,” Rickard answered. I could have sworn I heard the sound of a whip cracking, in the back of my head.

After another indifferent glare shot my way, Lirae walked off, her husband a step behind. Just as the two walked a few feet away, Hait spoke up, balling his fists. “I’m sorry ma’am, don’t take this as insubordination, but he won’t fail us. I know it.”

They stopped and looked at the boy, the shells on his shoulders shivering.

“Yeah, he’s a bit goofy, but he has a good heart. And a heck of a fighter.” Tawny said, supporting her brother in, well, supporting me. Normally I’d be a mess of tears after hearing such genuine praise but that damn fear in my gut prevented it. Probably for the best in this instance.

Lirae squinted her eyes at me, they relaxed as they looked back at the twins. “The naivete of youth,” were her final words as she walked off.

Once the two were out of earshot, I exhaled, releasing the long held breath that sat trapped in my lungs. And not a second after, somebody clapped my back. I was kind of getting tired of that. My back was going to be black and blue by the end of the night if it kept up.

“Haha, quite the pair on you, starring both Rickard and Lirae down like that. I need to buy you a drink. The tykes too.” Jaren said, looking down at the three of us through his helmet's visor.

“What was that?” Tawny growled, lightning coursing around her wrists.

Jaren barked another laugh, then turned to me. “Seriously though lad, I wouldn’t be trying another stunt like that again, especially with Rickard.”

“Why? From what I can tell standing up for yourself is a necessity in Laurelhaven.”

“Aye, it is. But Rickard, well he’s a different beast. He wouldn’t lose a single wink of sleep over snuffing somebody like you out. Be glad we're in a raid, us Commanders got to look civil among the troops. Bad for morale if we start whooping our soldiers before a fight. Else that interaction would have turned south real damn quick.”

I rubbed my forehead. Why wouldn’t it? God, I’m so tired of this shit. And what part of his behavior was civil exactly? It was those exact interactions that really caused me to question my participation in the raids at all.

“He’d never done something in public. Probably during the night, or on your walk back to Gran’s.” Jaren clapped, “Just like that.”

“And you all let murderers like that run Legions."

“Ehh, murderer seems a strong word. He probably wouldn’t kill you, just ship you up North or throw you in the Forest. And while yes, he’s a hot-headed jackass, he’s a hot-headed jackass that is really good at killing monsters. And he’s adequately shackled by his missus. So it helps.”

“Doesn’t mean that makes for a good leader.”

“Ehh, we’re all sure Lirae does the actual leading of the Second.”

Daila walked up and cleared her throat, breaking up our little chat. My stomach churned once I saw her. It looked like I was not going to be free from nervousness anytime soon.

“Sir, I believe there are more pressing matters on hand. The final wave perhaps. One that starts in…six minutes and thirty-two seconds.”

“Aye, aye, keep yer shirt on. I didn’t forget. Not like I can do a lot of preparing without information on the boss or his bodyguards anyway.”

“And you would if you weren’t so busy dilly-dallying, Sir. I have the scouts’ initial reports.”

“Well, why didn’t you lead with that? What are we looking at? My money’s on something bovine. Don’t know why? Just feel it. Haven’t had one in a while. Or maybe a cat of some type. I could kill a cat right about now.”

Daila’s face showed nothing but contempt at her boss’ rambling. Which, in a surprise twist, Jaren actually picked up on. He stopped talking and gestured to her.

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“Thank you. And Sir, as always, your intuition couldn’t be more incorrect. It looks to be reptilian or amphibian in nature. Which matches the rapid increase in Salamandras and Gexen of the last month. Notably, the Gexen during the Academic District break-in last month, had a large uptick. They believe it to be a boss class Gexen. Not sure of what variety, or lack of light is making it hard to identify properly. Dark sight skills have not turned on quite yet. Let us pray it is not a Red Striped Gexen.”

I blinked when she brought up dark seeing, realizing she was right. I could see find in the dark thanks to Gremlin’s Learned Behavior, but it hadn’t activated yet. Either because there was still color in the sky or the torches around. But I’m one of the lucky ones. Neither of the twins has a dark sight ability. Tawny can kind of make light with her powers, but it wasn’t very consistent. Need to make her some light bulbs.

Hait had nothing, water didn’t particularly shine by itself.

I looked up and saw that Jaren's crew had circled around us. My stomach jumped, though I wasn’t sure why. I managed to twist my head over to see who just walked up behind me. A dog-eared woman, a bow twice her size strung across her back. I don’t even have to see them to get scared. Really starting to hate this form.

Jaren nodded. “I’ll take it over last month’s. Took a week to get the smell out of my armor. That and a lot of—”

Daila sent him another glare before he finished his sentence, shutting him up on the spot.

“From our records, their Bodyguards are usually Greater Reptans and a host of Gexen, of all types.”

I started getting lost in Daila’s explanation. What are Greater Reptans? What types of Gexen are there? My only run in with them was back in the cave and the ones on the Academy roof. I didn’t know they were variations. Maybe the twins know, not like I could ask her in my current state. That and I need to know if acid works on them.

Before she spoke further, a small person in a hooded cloak passed through the circle and whispered something into Daila’s ear. Daila nodded.

“The initial reports were correct. It is a Gexen. Still unsure of the type. We should start hearing them in the next three minutes. Based on this I recommend the Shifting Z Pattern. We have the low levels to think about.”

All eyes darted to us for a moment, then back to Jaren.

“Aye, I agree. I’d rather H or T. But our hands are tied.”

“They don’t have to be, just send them back Sir.” A voice I didn’t recognize came from the opposite side of the circle.

“Nope, out of the question. I hate to admit it, but we may need the mid range support. Axlen and Tarn aren’t fit for duty. And Hait can put up barriers. You all know we’ll need’em. ”

Hait shuddered at his name being brought up.

“Only time will tell if we’ll be on Boss killing duty or not. Rickard, Lirae, and Collen should be handling it tonight.”

What about Len? I thought to myself. I would have asked but, yeah…

“Till we have to bail them out. Am I right?” The woman next to me shouted. I almost jumped at the abrupt shout in my ears. Everyone in the circle raised a hurrah in agreement.

“Aye, anything else?” Jaren said, looking at Daila.

“No Sir.”

“Then let’s get to it. Squad J1, Round UP! Shifting Z!”

The whole circle broke apart in an instant, each member of Jaren’s personal squad moving into a spot by the frontline, a hundred feet or so from the holes.

Jaren and his half a dozen frontliners walked up front, forming a line. His archers and soldiers I assumed were mages—they didn’t have weapons and wore mostly clothes—formed a line behind me and the twins. Another six or so.

I shuffled around, unsure of what I was supposed to do in this scenario, no one actually explained anything to us.

“Squad L7!” Daila’s raised voice resounded over the thunderous footsteps of other squads getting into position.

“Yes.” I yelped.

“You stay here. In this formation, your squad can’t leave this spot unless told otherwise. You are the fulcrum. Our movements revolve around you.”

“Why?” Tawny asked.

“I don’t have time to go into specifics, I wish that I did. But know this, monsters will get through the line. Those of us in the center, the mid-range fighters, will have a lot of slack to pick up. Focus your attacks solely on the ones they let through. Hait, you concentrate on barriers.”

The few remaining soldiers in Jaren’s squad lined up, but not horizontally like the others. This line started from the right end of the frontline and ended at the left end of the back line, forming a Z. Just like the pattern’s name.

“But what about light? I don't want to hit anybody.” Tawny said.

“Don’t worry, that will be handled as soon as that timer reaches zero.”

“WEAPONS READY!” Jaren shouted from the front. A chorus of metal clangs boomed into the air as armor and weapons smacked together.

“No more talking,” Daila whispered. “Focus on the fight.”

Then it was silent. Aside from the flickering of the torches in the wind, there wasn't a sound. I licked my lips. The saliva stung them. I must have generated some acid without meaning to. Oh, this was going to be bad.

I looked up at the timer.

FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 3:12 MINUTES

The timer was nearly over, three minutes remained, and we still couldn’t even see our opponents.

After another thirty seconds, a low rumble came from the field ahead. It kept getting louder, and louder with each passing second. I was scared. We ran straight into the other wave and met the monsters head on. There was no room for thinking, only action. But this one, this waiting, felt awful.

A spark of yellow electricity arced in my peripheral. It danced around Tawny’s arms, lighting her and Hait’s tense faces. I swallowed. No, I need to be strong. I will see them through this. I have to.

——

Flames swirled inside Len’s chest, like an inferno. Each plume begging to be released, to wreak havoc, to consume. But he shut them down, one by one, controlling each and every urge. These flames had a purpose to fulfill.

He hadn’t felt this much fight from his powers in a long time. This ability imposed a heavy burden on his Aura. But he had no other choice. He’d need a good rest that’s for certain.

Len opened one eye, peeking at the monsters stampeding across the field. Mostly reptiles from the looks of it. Good. He thought. Lirae and her lackeys could deal with that easily enough. They’d have to. He wouldn’t be of any use soon.

He checked the timer.

FINAL WAVE APPROXIMATELY: 22 SECONDS

A spark shot out of his eye. He shut it, regaining control and forcing the heat back in. Hold it. Just twenty more seconds and you’ll be free.

But Len every single one of those seconds felt like an eternity to Len. The heat flowing through every single vein in his body threatened to tear him apart. But he would hold. He always held.

Then the timer hit zero. And Len opened his eyes. A shout burst from his lips.

“IGNITE!”

And all the flames he so meticulously restrained erupted at once, scorching the sky itself.