Lerosa glowed red for one moment, but it was enough to decapitate the wolf in one swift blow. Its head fell on the ground, and then its body soon after.

  “Okay. What the hell was that?” Jovie was bewildered.

  Avryn landed and was admiring his handiwork. Rinna was the first to reprimand him.

  “You acted out of order. Go apologize to our seniors,” she grabbed him by his collar.

  She dragged the man before Jovie and had him bow profusely. It was an amusing sight. There was no harm done.

  “Hey rook, catch,” a veteran tossed him something.

  Avryn caught it. He opened his hand and beheld one of the alpha wolf’s fang. A good luck charm for a job well done. They all returned to the outpost victorious. The major gave the rooks in the outpost a leave for their service. The leave lasts for fourteen days.

  A few months later, Avryn was doing his rounds in the outpost. His squad haven’t done a mission in a while and he went to the command tower to look for major Shalshukein. He asked if his team could do any contributions but there was not any job the major could give at the moment. He returned to his squad mates to relay the information.

  “We could go use the leave to return to Ordellia,” Harver suggested.

  There was a look of anticipation in his eyes. Surely he was thinking of Rietta in the moment. A break would be good, for the rest of them. Leifren and Avryn made their executive decisions as the squad leaders and put in their leave. One trip on the ship back to Ordellia later, they arrived at their destination.

  They all felt like new versions of themselves. They had a few months of expedition experience under their belt. Reporting to Storia’s barracks was their next move so they made their way there. They arrived to see a curious sight. The barracks was set up for an expansion. Flying miniature robots were leading the endeavor.

  “Vistella Corporation’s,” Leifren correctly guessed.

  They looked to be halfway done with the construction project. Baradovian representatives were at the scene and were interviewed by the local journalists. Avryn overheard them. The robots had started the construction yesterday. If they continued at their current pace, the expansion would be finished tomorrow. Truly a marvelous invention, these robots were. They needed to go under a few more tests until they were ready for field use.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The squads went into the barracks and got assigned their lockers. A sigh of collective relief was made as they changed back into their casual wear. They clocked out for the day. Talks continued until they met up with a man dressed in a military officer’s uniform. One big trait from him was his cane and leg prosthetic. Avryn seemed to recall that particular detail. He remembered Haervinna said it.

  “Father,” Leifren bowed.

  Jenilah went to hug the man.

  “These are your friends, then?” he asked her.

  She nodded.

  The man introduced himself as Auskar Rosenfaust, the Great Hunter. His mustache perked up upon saying that. He adjusted his monacle and looked at the rest of this cast of friends his children made. He first recognized Rinna.

  “It is good to you, young Rinna. How fares your mother?” he asked.

  “She’s doing well, as always,” she replied.

  “Good.”

  He next eyed Harver.

  “Good to see you doing well, young man.” he nodded.

  He then eyed Avryn.

  “Ah, given your description, you must be Avryn Starbright?”

  “Yes, sir,”

  “My little Jenilah here spoke good of you so much in great detail--”

  “Yes, father, he is a well capable leader and fighter” she interrupted as she hid her blush.

  He stifled his laughter after realizing he teased his daughter,

  “Indeed.” he wiped his monocle.

  He then spoke of him having business in Ordellia that he needed to attend to. He bade them all a good day. The squads talked about what they would do for the day. Half of them opted to take a break for a week. All the work in the expeditions started to take its toll on their energies.

  Avryn wanted to hang out but he knew Harver wanted to hang with Rietta so he opted for the Rosenfaust siblings instead. Leifren took notice and cleared his throat,

  “Actually, I remember I gotta tune up Lady Lucene here,” he gestured to his rifle. “You two go on ahead.”

  Jenilah was shocked by this development. Avryn not so. He was pleased, in fact. At least he had someone to spend the time with. The squads bade their farewell as Avryn and Jenilah spent some time at the local park. This was a rare opportunity for Jenilah to probe information from Avryn. They found a bench and sat there. They took in the beautiful arrangement of flora and the sound of the birds chirping in the nearby trees. The wind’s breeze was a welcome feeling.

  “So, Avryn,” she jumped right into it. “Have you ever considered settling down after this is over?”

  He leaned back and pondered on the question. He was adamant on wanting to explore all of the world as long as his body permitted. Heading for a life of comfort was such an alien concept to him. Perhaps he was afraid of his life ending up the same as the one he led in Kuldrin. He alone would decide when it was time to retire from the explorer’s life.

  Jenilah mustered her courage for her next question,

  “Do you think love is on the table for you?”

  Love, huh, Avryn thought. He closed his eyes for a few moments. His life was uncertain as it is, what more if there was another person involved. Avryn recounted her a story. He saved a girl from being bullied by the other kids. That was probably the closest he ever got to being a chivalric knight of sorts protecting the damsel.

  “Now that I think of it,” he leaned back. “I wonder what’s become of her?”

  Avryn shook his head,

  “To answer your question, I really don’t know, Jenilah,” he replied. “But what about you? I’m sure you’ve had plenty of wannabe suitors.”

  Jenilah laughed. She did indeed, but not of them ever interested her. She didn’t even want to interact with them, let alone be in the same space as them. She often just ran behind her brother and let him do the rest.

  “I don’t know myself, but I wouldn’t wanna waste the opportunity when it presents itself,” her eyes darted away from him for a moment. “I want the guy to be real…special.”

  “Well, here’s hoping that the guy is worthy of you, and if he ever hurts you, you can call me, Harver and Kiria,” Avryn chuckled.

  They both shared a laugh. Their bonds strengthened thanks to this day.