Soren never trusted a sunrise with this much color.

The command rotunda's dome amplified every hue, so the rim of the world behind Aetherion Spire bled orange, then blue, then the white-bright of teeth bared at a funeral. It was the kind of light that overexposed every hair and wrinkle, even when reflected off the waxed heads of initiates packed tight into the assembly pit.

Soren found himself in the second ring, four rows up from the dais, squarely inside the ocular sweep of Dane and, beside him, a woman Soren had never seen before.

The woman stood half a head taller than Dane, severe in build and posture, with jaw tight enough to crack a seed between her molars.

Her uniform differentiated itself from the Swordmaster's by a stripe of rust-red at the collar and a set of squares on the left epaulet, each the color of dried blood. She held a lacquered pointer but did not tap it, instead, she measured the room with an air of "I have already won this argument."

Dane cleared his throat and the sound ricocheted off the dome. "Settle, and see you don't waste my morning." He gestured, not at the crowd, but at the woman. "You are in the presence of Master Cirel, Tactical Operations. She will deliver the brief, and then you will stop asking questions out loud until you've survived the assignment."

Cirel spoke, and the effect was immediate. Not loud, not theatrical, but she projected with the conviction of a church bell. "You are selected," she said, "because simulation is no longer sufficient for your cohort. Per Command's directive: tomorrow, four squads will conduct a live deployment on the Meridian Corridor, escort class. You will run the route in full kit, with real assets, and I expect no less than three of you to return with their heads still attached. If you're thinking this is a graduation exercise, you are precisely as wrong as you look."

A ripple, half gasp, half laugh, flickered through the younger ranks. Soren watched the effect calibrate itself down the spiral: the first-years shifting in their seats, the upperclassmen already angling which rumors to propagate by lunch.

Cirel continued, "Command is running this with limited oversight. You will adhere to containment discipline. You will not improvise law outside the perimeter." Her gaze found the trouble spots: Cassian, the blue-haired twins, and, Soren realized, himself. "You have one day to prepare. Failure to return with all mission-critical personnel will be recorded as a permanent mark."

The silence was church. The sun's light now sharp enough to slice.

Soren's mind ran the logistics: success meant getting from Spire to Meridian intact, navigating at least four border zones and whatever the world devised to test their resolve. 'It's a trap,' he thought, and then, unbidden, 'but probably not for me. Or not only.'

Dane took back the floor. "Squad assignments will be posted at next bell. Dismissed."

The mass exodus was orderly in the way of cattle being funneled toward a slaughter chute. Soren hung back, watched Cassian exit at the head of his fan club, then spotted Seren near the exit, hands shoved in her belt like she intended to strangle it. He made a note to find her later.

Squad assignments went up at midday, thick paper pinned to the main hall board with four brass tacks and a five-layer sandwich of signatures to guarantee authenticity. Soren read the list once, then again: Gray Company, forward rotation.

Squad: Vale, Avelle, Kale, both twins, now revealed as Lira and Liane, and Jannek. All familiar, none surprising, except for Seren, who made the cut despite the rumor she'd been written up for "tactical insubordination." Soren read that as a sign: either the Academy wanted her gone, or they wanted her right next to him for the next act.

Kale appeared first, grinning like a man who'd won a duel with his own reflection. "We'll need to pack," he said. "I want to pick my blade before the bluecoats get all the good ones."

Lira and Liane, who had a habit of appearing together as though assembled from a single mind, flanked Soren and read the assignment over his shoulder. "We're in front," Lira murmured, then, to her sister, "You owe me three. Told you they'd put us on point."

Jannek, last in, simply looked at the list and then at Soren. He offered a nod, then drifted toward the armory with the air of a man resigned to wherever his feet took him.

Seren was nowhere to be seen.

They hit the armory after the first rush. The room stank of leather, forg-oil, and the sharp tang of upcycled steel. Each rack was arrayed like a coffin display: swords, knives, even the odd pike for those who believed in compensating with surface area. Soren picked through the lot, weighing each in his palm, searching for a balance that matched his memory.

Kale handled a blade with a green-fiber wrap, spun it twice, then eyed Soren. "You ever think they make these a little heavier each month? Like they want us to fail the fitness check and just drop the sword altogether?"

"If we're lucky," Soren said, "they get so heavy nobody can swing them and we all just go home early."

Liane snorted. "If anyone's going to cut themselves before the enemy does, it'll be you, Kale."

He saluted with the sword, then did a mock bow to Liane.

It took Soren longer than normal to find a replacement for his usual practice blade. None felt right, so he defaulted to the one with the least gaudy handle, reasoning that if it broke, he'd get to improvise. Seren arrived late, eyes glassy from lack of sleep. She slid past the racks in silence, lifted a longsword, checked the flex, and then set her jaw in the way that meant "for the duration."

They left the armory as a loose unit, half in step and half already rehearsing the next day's violence.

The night before deployment, Soren sat in his bunk and scrubbed the blade with fine wool, checking for faults. The light was poor, but the feel was what mattered: the grain, the micro-scratches, any place where a collapse might begin. He liked the ritual of it. Kept his mind off the alternative futures.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.