CHAPTER 15 — The Kingdom’s Squad
The news wasn’t announced publicly.
There was no speech in the central courtyard.
No banners.
No applause.
Because what was being formed was not a training group.
It was an instrument.
And instruments are not celebrated. They are used.
Lyra received the written order early in the morning, sealed with the official emblem of Asteria’s high command: a sun pierced by a sword.
The tablet was short.
Brutal.
Senior Cadet Lyra Aldric.
Mixed Unit 3 designated as operational core.
Immediate formation of Advanced Response and Observation Squadron.
Estimated departure: 48 hours.
Absolute silence.
Lyra read the last line twice.
Absolute silence.
In the Academy, silence wasn’t courtesy.
It was damage control.
And damage control meant the kingdom was already accepting the possibility that something might go wrong.
Lyra drew a slow breath and tucked the tablet under her arm.
Then she walked toward the first-cycle dormitory without stopping.
Without thinking too much.
Because if she thought too much… she would break.
Darius was the first to notice something was different.
Lyra entered the common dormitory in a perfectly arranged uniform—but with a look she didn’t usually wear: seriousness without a mask.
Not the seriousness of training.
The seriousness of someone who had already seen war.
Darius pushed himself upright on his bunk.
“Did something happen?”
Selene looked up from the bench where she had been sitting.
Bram stayed completely still, as if afraid to move.
Caelum sat on his bed, calmly inspecting his sword.
Lyra stopped in front of them.
“Mixed Squad 3,” she said. “Attention.”
All four stood.
Even Caelum.
Lyra held their gaze for a moment longer than usual, as if memorizing them.
Then she spoke.
“As of this moment, you are no longer cadets in the common training system.”
Darius blinked.
“What…?”
“You have been selected,” Lyra continued, “to integrate a kingdom response squad.”
Silence.
Darius smiled like he had just heard a dream.
“Really?”
Selene didn’t smile.
“Why us?”
Lyra answered without emotion.
“Because the kingdom believes Envy will move again. And it believes that movement will happen near us.”
Bram turned pale.
“Again? Like the forest?”
Lyra held his gaze.
“Worse.”
Darius stopped smiling.
Selene stiffened slightly.
Caelum… remained still.
As if he already knew.
Lyra noticed.
But said nothing.
“You have forty-eight hours to prepare,” she continued. “From now on, you answer to direct command. Not regular instructors.”
Darius swallowed.
“Where are we going?”
Lyra hesitated a second.
Not out of doubt.
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Because of the weight of saying it.
“The border.”
The air shifted.
The border was a word with real meaning. In Asteria, the border wasn’t a line on a map.
It was where people disappeared.
Bram murmured:
“They’re going to kill us…”
Lyra stepped closer to him.
“No,” she said firmly. “They’re going to try.”
Bram looked at her.
Lyra held the stare until he swallowed and nodded.
Selene spoke calmly.
“Who else is in the squad?”
Lyra tightened her grip on the tablet.
“Thirty regular army soldiers.”
Darius widened his eyes.
“Thirty? For us?”
Lyra didn’t correct him.
“And,” she continued, “two Warriors will join us.”
Absolute silence.
Darius whispered:
“Two… of the four?”
Lyra nodded.
“Yes.”
Selene frowned.
“Which ones?”
Lyra spoke as if reading out weapons.
“The Warrior of the Shield.
And the Warrior of the Bow.”
Caelum lifted his eyes for the first time.
Not with excitement.
With attention.
Lyra noticed.
And it unsettled her.
Because Caelum had been in the forest.
He had seen dragons.
He had seen minotaurs.
And yet two Warriors made him pay attention.
That said a lot.
Lyra continued.
“And a Hero will join.”
Darius exhaled sharply.
“No… that’s impossible.”
Lyra looked at him.
“Yes. And it’s happening.”
Darius looked close to collapse.
“Which Hero?”
Lyra did know.
Or more precisely, she knew—but she couldn’t say yet.
Not because of secrecy.
Because of politics.
“It will be confirmed today,” she said.
Selene nodded slowly.
“So this isn’t training anymore.”
Lyra didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
The first step became official.
Lyra led the squad toward the secondary command building, a wing normally used only by third-cycle cadets and officers.
The guards let them pass without questions.
That only happened when the kingdom had already signed off.
Inside, the atmosphere was different from the rest of the Academy.
No motivational banners.
No flags.
Only maps, tables, reports, and silence.
An officer waited for them.
Not an instructor.
An army captain.
“Senior Cadet Aldric,” he said with a formal salute.
Lyra returned it.
“Captain.”
The captain looked over the group.
“Welcome to the real world.”
Darius swallowed.
The captain walked around them like someone evaluating horses before war.
“I won’t lie to you,” he said. “You were chosen for two reasons.”
Lyra already knew—but she listened.
“First,” he continued, “because you survived an attack that should never have happened. Second, because the enemy wanted you to survive.”
Bram shuddered.
Selene clenched her jaw.
Darius murmured:
“Why would they want that?”
The captain looked at him.
“Because Envy doesn’t kill just to kill. Envy kills so the world watches.”
Lyra felt the sentence align with the Director’s words.
History.
Message.
The captain pointed to a large map.
“Northern border. Three outposts. Two supply routes. One crossing point where patrols have vanished.”
Lyra stepped closer.
“What did you find?”
The captain answered bluntly.
“Nothing. And that’s what worries us.”
Caelum spoke for the first time.
“If there are no traces, it’s not a beast attack.”
The captain looked at him.
“Correct.”
Lyra felt the internal impact.
Caelum was participating.
Dangerous.
But necessary.
The captain continued.
“Before departure, you’ll meet your reinforcements.”
The door opened.
And the air changed.
Not because of magic.
Because of presence.
Two figures entered.
The first was a massive man.
Not grotesquely muscular.
Solid.
Like someone had carved him from stone and then forced him to walk.
A shield rested on his back—but it wasn’t a shield.
It was a wall of white metal, scarred with the marks of countless battles. His face was lined with thin scars, like the record of a lifetime spent in combat.
Lyra felt her throat tighten.
The Warrior of the Shield.
The second was a woman.
Tall. Straight-backed. With the posture not of a cadet—but of a general. Her bow was wrapped in cloth, but even so it was clear it wasn’t an ordinary weapon.
The Warrior of the Bow.
Lyra felt something strange: respect… and fear.
Because Warriors were not symbols.
They were outcomes.
The captain spoke formally.
“Mixed Unit 3. I present two of the four Warriors of Asteria.”
Lyra felt the weight of that phrase.
The four.
It mattered.
Because the kingdom had:
Chosen through extraordinary gifts. Conceptual magic. Power capable of breaking armies.
Humans who relied not on magic, but on technique, discipline, and absolute control.
In Asteria, Heroes were legend.
Warriors were the terror of enemies.
The Warrior of the Shield spoke first.
“Aldric,” he said in a deep voice.
Lyra stiffened.
It wasn’t a greeting.
It was recognition.
He knew her.
Lyra answered respectfully.
“Sir.”
The Warrior of the Bow observed the group.
Her eyes stopped on Caelum.
Just for a second.
But Caelum felt it.
Lyra felt it.
The captain continued.
“The squad is not complete yet. The assigned Hero will arrive today.”
Lyra nodded.
Darius looked close to fainting.
Bram could barely breathe.
Selene was more still than ever.
Caelum… remained Caelum.
Hours later, the central yard filled again.
Not for an announcement.
For movement.
Thirty soldiers marched in formation, armed with real discipline. They were not cadets. Not trainees.
They were men and women who had already killed.
Lyra watched them.
And for the first time she felt the kingdom was taking this seriously.
The soldiers lined up before her.
The captain stepped forward.
“From this moment, this squad exists.”
Lyra felt each word like stone.
“Senior Cadet Aldric will serve as operational core under supervision of the assigned Warriors. The recruits will be evaluated in real field conditions.”
Darius swallowed.
“Real field…?”
The captain looked at him.
“Yes. If you can’t handle that, die quickly.”
Darius froze.
Lyra felt a cold weight settle inside her.
Not because of the words.
Because they were true.
The captain turned.
“And now… the final component.”
The air tightened.
Even the Warriors grew attentive.
A side door opened.
Someone entered.
Not walking like a soldier.
Walking like the world should move out of the way.
No heavy armor.
No exaggerated insignia.
But the uniform was unmistakable.
And the symbol on the chest was clear.
The emblem of the Heroes.
Lyra felt her chest tighten.
Darius let out a strangled sound.
Selene narrowed her eyes.
Bram froze.
Caelum didn’t move.
The Hero stopped before the squad.
His gaze passed over the soldiers.
Then the cadets.
Then settled on Lyra.
“Senior Cadet Aldric,” he said calmly.
Lyra answered.
“Hero.”
The captain spoke formally.
“Unit, I present the Hero assigned to this operation.”
The Hero smiled faintly.
“I didn’t come to protect you,” he said. “I came to see who deserves to survive.”
Lyra felt the weight of the statement.
Because it wasn’t cruelty.
It was the logic of the kingdom.
The Hero looked across the group one last time.
Then his gaze landed on Caelum.
Just for an instant.
But that instant was enough for Lyra to feel something dangerous.
It wasn’t curiosity.
It was recognition.
The Hero spoke quietly.
“There is something here… that does not belong.”
Lyra felt the world tilt.
Caelum didn’t react.
But his hand tightened slightly.
In that moment Lyra understood exactly what was happening.
Envy had moved the board.
And now the kingdom was responding with its largest pieces.
Six Heroes.
Four Warriors.
And in the middle of them—
A recruit who should not exist.
The captain raised his hand.
“Final preparations. We depart in forty-eight hours.”
The squad dispersed in formation.
Lyra walked toward the command building with the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders.
Caelum walked beside her.
Not as a brother.
Not as an ally.
As a silent threat.
And Lyra understood with brutal clarity:
From now on, it was no longer just about protecting him.
It was about deciding what to do with him…
before the kingdom did.
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