The Aegis

Tuesday, 1st of March, 199 A.C, 03:47

“While our research into Psychons grows more extensive by the day, it would be foolhardy to claim that we have compiled anything even approaching a complete codex. New variations pop up from time to time, and our assumptions are always one offhanded observation away from complete dissolution.” - Leaked VA research report

I was doing remarkably well for someone who had been fighting for almost ten hours with nothing but a few caffeine pills and a half dozen five minute breaks. That wasn’t to say I was doing *well* by any means, but. Well, I was still upright at least. I supposed that was an advantage of the schedule I kept. I was used to all-nighters.

I was quite good at estimating how much weight my Veil had taken off of me. Around six kilos so far tonight. I had been forced to burn through a lot during that awful second wave, but after that it had been a gradual simmering.

I tucked my cloak more tightly around me.

It was worth it though. Maybe it was my Veil talking, but. My friends were putting everything on the line to protect the city. So it was my job to protect *them*. When I had heard about the Scrapper, I just about marched over to cap the leak myself.

Only a couple more hours now. The militia was down to the reserves for the reserves, augmented by whatever injured personnel had been deemed fit enough to return, bandaged and bloody, to the wall. I had to protect them too.

A set of fangs flew past my head. I dispatched the offending party, startled more at my own wandering mind than the Psychon. I couldn’t afford to let the fatigue get to me just yet.

One of the Duelist’s marbles sucked in a nearby lupus. A few seconds later, the kid himself burst out, sans the wolf monster.

He hopped over to me, slicing a Psychon or two along the way.

“Aegis!” he said, “Can you believe it!?”

I gave him a puzzled look. “Easy there, Duelist. Can I believe what?”

“They said I couldn’t stay out there beyond the wall! Said they didn’t want me runnin’ out of steam! I’m not running out of steam! I’m doin’ just dandy!”

He was… not doing dandy. Well, externally he was fine. But there was a frenzy in his eyes, the pupils flicking around without rest. His speech was too energetic as well. It had been a smart move to pull him back. Not that I would tell him that.

“Well,” I said, carefully measuring my words, “Defending the wall is a very important job too. You don’t want all these monsters to get through, do you?” I spoke in a tone not unlike the one I took when I had to talk to kids while on patrol. Normally I would be more respectful of the Duelist, despite his age, but I had quickly learned that it was best to patronize Veiled caught in the more egotistical of drifts.

I could see in his eyes that my words hadn’t convinced him, but at the very least he made a resigned stab at another lupus.

It was about then that the tremors started.

At first I mistook them for the normal vibrations caused by the running, stomping, and falling of the militia and Psychons. But it was too rhythmic for that. And it kept getting stronger.

I looked to the Deadeye, about twenty feet to my right. She was studying something through the scope of her rifle. Something big, judging from the angle of the barrel. She glanced at me and shook her head.

Some of the militia had noticed the rumbling too. The Duelist looked to me for an explanation, but I was already hurrying to Ira, wooden boards groaning under my boots.

“Ira!” I shouted, “Call back the vanguard!”

The battleworn woman already had the whistle in her mouth. She nodded to me, then sounded off two short, shrill reports. The militia outside the walls made to retreat for the second time.

I could hear the source of the tremors now. Distant crashing, as if the ruins themselves were being tossed around. It wasn’t long before I could see it too.

A massive cloud of dust billowed out into the parking lot. A hundred meters or so further out, a collection of purple lights pierced the darkness.

One, two, three, four near the ground, weaving in and out of sight as they smashed through buildings. About fifteen meters up there were two more, and ten meters above that a final one, bigger than the rest.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

As it drew closer, the glow illuminated more of its figure. Four hooves, each the size of a tree trunk. A body that was a mockery of both human and horse. Two arms, one with a hand and the other ending in a bow-like growth. A horned head that could barely be called humanoid.

While I stood slack jawed, the Duelist leapt over the wall. The kid’s stupidity shook off my momentary paralysis. I let myself curse and tore off after him.

By the time I hit the asphalt, his aura was already curling around his forearms. He yelped as I tackled him mid-point. I wrapped myself around him as we tumbled so that he wouldn’t get hurt.

“Duelist,” I said when we had come to a stop, “you need to listen to me. Your Veil is getting in your head. It’s time to take a break.”

He squirmed away from me and crouched low. When he looked up, I could see spiteful tears in his eyes.

“Why!?” he screamed. “Why do y’all keep doing this? Pushing me down right before I finally do something noteworthy?”

I slowly put up my hands. “Hey, let’s keep it cool, alright? I just want you to be safe.”

“No! Don’t give me that bullshit! You know what I can do. But you keep sidelining me, relegating me to training and nothing missions.” Something changed in his expression. “You’re jealous of me, aren’t you? So new to this, but already outshining the old guard.”

I couldn’t quite suppress a scoff at that last bit. “I would hardly call myself-”

“And what do you know!?” The Duelist cut me off, sticking an accusatory finger in my direction.

He must have forgotten that his Veil was still active. Or maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. It didn’t really matter. As soon as he pointed at me, I sensed a shift in the world around me. To the outside world, we were in a little marble now.

The Duelist looked shocked at first, but that quickly melted away into a lopsided grin. He took off, zipping around with yellow trails wisping off his arms and legs.

His voice, made wild by the Veil’s influence, whipped around me. “I’m done being held back. If you really want to stand in my way that much, I suppose I’ll have to take you down.”

I settled into a fighting stance. I had two disadvantages here. First was this pocket dimension of his. It powered him up, of course, but it also limited my options for improvisation. I couldn’t just, say, pick up a makeshift weapon off the ground. Second was the difference in our goals. He just wanted to take me down, while I was trying, ultimately, to protect him. From himself. Which was a much trickier thing to do in a brawl.

On the other hand, I had three things going for me. One: he couldn’t flee without popping the marble. Two: without Psychons to distract me, I could give him my full attention. Aaand…

The Duelist made his move, lunging at me with his rapier.

Three: he wasn’t the only person with a Veil.

White flames surrounded me. I shifted my stance as hundreds upon hundreds of kilograms packed themselves into my frame. It had been an off-putting feeling the first several times I had used my Veil, but now… it felt something like the world’s coziest hug, one that I could feel in every cubic inch of my body.

I brought up my hand to block the rapier’s thrust. It pierced the skin of my palm, but stopped in its tracks as it hit the bone.

I grabbed the blade and twisted my arm, spinning the weapon out of the Duelist’s grasp.

I wiped the molasses-slow blood off on my pants. “Thanks for handing over your sword. Makes this much easier on the both of us.”

There was something new in the Duelist’s eyes now, something I hadn’t seen since the beginning of the night. A twinge of fear.

That was good. There was some humanity still left in him. I could use that.

The Duelist brought out his yo-yo and swung it at me. It cracked against my forearm and bounced off. I moved in with the opening and launched a cross punch at his chest.

He stumbled back, but recovered quickly, spinning around to strike again with his unorthodox weapon. The string of the yoyo wrapped tightly around my arm. The Duelist pulled hard, trying to throw me off balance. He must have forgotten who he was fighting.

I spun the string around my hand and yanked the kid to me. He was quick enough to block the right hook I had lined up, my gloved fist crunching against his aura-hardened forearms.

He followed up with a swift kick to my side. Without my Veil, I was sure it would have broken a few of my ribs. I would have been mad about that. I had just gotten those healed. Unfortunately for him, it did little more than knock the wind out of me.

Fighting the urge to double over, I snuck a knee in below his arms and caught him in the belly. Now it was his turn to lose his breath. He staggered to the left, lowering his guard just enough for me to clock him above his temples.

He crumpled under the blow, hanging limply from the string that was still around my arm. I released it, letting him fall to the ground.

I glared at him, pupils obscured behind the flames of my aura. He had to remember this moment.

“*Never* do that again.”

He managed a, “yes, ma’am,” before passing out.

We returned to the real world. I snuffed out my Veil and hefted him over my shoulder. Dealing with him had burnt through a few precious kilos. It had also wasted the precious few minutes I would have had to prepare for the real threat.

Once he was safely in the field hospital, I was able to turn my attention back to… well, whatever it was that was looming outside the walls.

The titan had stopped. It studied us for a few seconds, maybe judging our weaknesses. Or maybe judging distance.

It brought its left hand to the string of its right arm’s ‘bow’, then pulled back. As it did, a bolt of purple energy drew alongside it, like it was conjuring a ballista bolt from its bioluminescence.

I glanced again at the Deadeye. The red lens on her Veil was fixed on her rifle’s scope. She wasn’t just observing anymore. She was lining up a shot.