The chaotic rush of bodies oreet grew worse the deeper she and Rolfu into Thorn’s Reach. Around them, cries of terror and shouted demands filled the air, mingling with the distant howls of the Storm Wolves. People from all walks of life surged forward, desperate to escape the beasts that were even now making their way deeper into the settlement. Even so, for all the rushing and the press of the mob, the waves of people broke around Alesin and Rolfun. At a settlement like this, far out on the edge of cimed territory on an Imperial Frontier World, they were easily the highest-leveled beings ihorn’s Reach. Perhaps the local ruler was stronger, but that was not a guaraher.

  No the issue with the pressing crowds wasn’t a ck of power. It was the fact it was easy, too easy, to hurt is if they did not keep trol over their as. bined with instrus from their superiors in House Bcksword to keep a low profile, it meant they had to do what they could to avoid attrag attention to themselves. That didn’t mean Alesin had to be happy about it. Every person in the crowd who pressed too close to her was greeted with a snarl that would have caused the Alpha iorm Wolf pack attag the city to flee bato the deepest part of the forest, tail tucked so far between its legs that it disappeared altogether.

  She might have shed out at people, too, had Rolfun’s steadying prese been so close. Her massive husband moved as quickly as he could through the crowd without iently stepping on anyone. He even would pause to help people knocked over here and there, as he could. The test that he helped, an old dwarven matroured ba the dire they had e in fear. Alesin couldn’t hear his reply, but she could see him tense up when he gnced ba her dire.

  “Alesin!” Rolfun practically shouted over the chaotic rush of people. “Where is Krion!?”

  She gnced behind herself, ba the dire they had e from. The rage she had been feeling at the crowd’s pressing abruptly shifted to gut-ing worry. Krion was no longer behind her.

  “Blood and Ash!!” She cast her gaze around, but there was no sign of their charge anywhere nearby. She growled under her breath, the palpable anger emanating from her enough to get the nearby crowd to push to get away from her. Not that she noticed.

  Krion had probably gotten separately back dowreet a ways, and she hadn’t noticed because of how distracted she had been by the fact she hates crowds. This was not good. The likelihood of him ing utack by a Storm Wolf would, hopefully, be low, but if there was ohing she was starting to form a suspi about, it was that Krion was going to be a mag for trouble. No, they o find him as quickly as they could. There was no telling what he would get himself into otherwise.

  “We have to go back!” she responded in another shout. “We ’t have left him too far behind!”

  Without a word, Rolfun turned and began making his way back to the dire they had e from. Their progress was, thankfully, a bit faster sihe vast majority of the panig people were still headed deeper into Thorn’s Reach. When he came even with her, Alesin stepped behind his imposing form so she wouldn’t have te he own way forward. She caught a smile on his face as he passed her, likely in amusement at how much her anger about the crowds was showing. Luckily for him, he made no ent. Had he done so, she would have made sure he regretted it ter.

  The mob of pressing people finally began to thin out as they made it a full two interses further back along the route they had taken. With fewer people around them, Alesihe tensioween her shoulders start to loosen.

  “Halt in the name of the Watch!”

  And the tension was back.

  Alesin stopped moving, her husband doing the same, as the few people o them gave a wider berth. If she had any doubt as to who was the target of that and, it all ended upon catg sight of the wood elf in a Watch Lieutenant uniform leading a squad of the Wat their dire, eyes fixed ohe haughty, superior expression on his face immediately filled her with distaste. Rolfun, the Seven bless him, could tell immediately this would be trouble, so rather tha her take the lead, he moved to interpose himself.

  “Is there something the Wateeds?”

  “Yes,” the Lieutenant replied in that same haughty voice. “I tell at a ghat you both are a cut above the usual adventurer riffraff in this settlement. You are hereby drafted into the Watch for the duration of this emergency. Get in line, we are headed to the wall to reinforce the effort to turn back the Storm Wolves.” When Rolfun made to respond, the Lieutenant cut him off. “Resisting this wful order will mean both a fine and time in prison. Now, e along.”

  Such was the arrogance of the wood elf that he didn’t even bother to wait to see if they followed his and. He simply tinued in the dire of the wall, barking for his human Sergeant to take them in hand.

  “Sorry about that, but you will o e with us,” the Sergeant said, stepping out of the group as the rest of the Watch followed after the Lieutenant. “Hopefully, this will be over quickly and you go back to what you were doing. With the settlement’s thanks, of course.”

  While the Sergeant motioned for them both to follow after the rest of the squad, Alesin was already shaking her head. They did not have time for this right now. She was about to let the man have it, while Rolfun intervened again.

  “You have our apologies as well, Sergeant,” Rolfun said, pulling the Sergeant up short. “But we are not able to join you. Our charge has been lost somewhere between here and the wall, and our duty is first, st, and only to find and protect him.”

  “Your charge?” the man asked. He looked closer at Rolfun and Alesin, for the first time notig the quality of their gear. “Who is your charge?”

  “Alesin?” Rolfun referred the question to her.

  “Blood and Ash,” she swain. She had been doing a lot of that tely. Her mind examined all the options. Things weren’t looking good. With Krion no where to be found, and the emergency going on in Thorn’s Reach, there really wasn’t a point in tinuing as they had beeer that some of the truth about what they were doi out than to try to py along, only to loss Krion. They truly didn’t have time to waste. “S Krion. We are charged by the Archducal House Bcksword to escort him from Thorn’s Reach to the oint that he might head to join the ining year of the Imperial Academy. As bondsmen of House Bcksword, we are authorized to use any and all means necessary in pursuit of our mission, but,” she said as the Sergeant’s face went the color of curdled milk, “we have also been directed to be discreet to the extent possible.”

  “Which is why we ot go with you and your squad,” Rolfun added, clearly gd that everything was now out in the open. “So we will be on our way.”

  “The Lieutenant will not like that, especially if you don’t have any proof,” the Sergeant said, but if possible, he went even more pale at the look Alesin shot him at his words.

  “Then he take it up with the Seven,” she growled, a brief flicker of fire ing from her eyes, but she still pulled out the same dot she had showch Captain at the gate. “Here. Everything is in order.”

  The Sergeaated but ultimately took the dot. Opening it, he read through it quickly, his face being more horrified as he went. She could almost see the gears turning in his head. That the sun elf and half-ogre his anding officer had just tried to draft were truly bondsmen of Archducal House Bcksword. That they had been charged to safely escort the you s of that same imperial high noble house to Imperial Academy in their sector. And that, should their missioerfered with in any way, whoever had the gall to do so would be sored by one of the most powerful noble families in this er of the Empire itself.

  Needless to say, after the Sergeant carefully handed her the letter back, he tore off in a sprint after his Lieutenant.

  “I think that means we are ok to tinue,” she said with some grim satisfa.

  “Don’t lie,” Rolfun admonished her, “you have been wanting to do something like that since you received our charge from House Bcksword, and,” he cut off her respohe Watch Captain did not react with quite the same… urgency as the Sergeant just now.”

  “I think you mean bone-shaking terror,” Alesin said, finally smiling. “I will admit, it felt good to throw the weight of House Bcksword around a little.”

  “Well hold on to that feeling,” Rolfun said, sighing again at seeing the Lieutenant had called a halt and was rushing ba their dire, the harried-looking Sergeant trailing along behind him.

  “Let me see that dot,” the Lieutenant all but demanded, pletely ign the frantically talking Sergeant behind him.

  Without a word, Alesin ha back over. Uhe Sergeant, however, the Lieutenant only got more and more angry the further he read. Snarling, he shoved it bato Alesin’s hands, pletely unaware of how close he was ing to her setting him on fire.

  “So you are dogs of the falling House Bcksword,” the Lieutenant growled, “that doesn’t matter in the face of this emergency. You will still be joining my squad and we will find your spoiled noble s as soon—”

  Alesin, worried over the potential failure of her mission, and even more about the potential threats that, even at this moment, might be able to end the life of the first noble s she actually liked, reacted exactly as one might have expected.

  She called the hottest fmes she could in a split sed, and swung her fist as hard and as fast as she could at the face of that ignorant, piece of shit Lieutenant. She could practically feel her fming knuckles popping the skull of the wood elf fool. With his death, they could finally get back to what they were supposed to be doing. Proteg Krion.

  Rolfun’s hand, covered in frost, darted in from the side to take the blow inches from the idiot’s face.

  A burst of steam hissed into the air around them as her husband’s frost put out her fme. The Sergeant cursed and stepped back out e, while the Lieutenant simply doubled-down in the face of his averted death.

  “What the hell was that! I’ll have you know that attempting to assault a wful officer of the Watch means—”

  “Absolutely. Nothing.” Rolfun growled, abruptly stepping into the Lieutenant’s personal space. Alesin smiled at the way he casually domihat space. Oh, he was angry now. “By insisting on following your asinine, worthless ands, you are deying two legitimate bondsmen of, despite the rumors, one of the most powerful imperial high noble houses in this part of the Empire from going about their duties.” He cut off the angry Lieutenant before he could respond. “If you tio do so, I’ll let Alesin have you!” The massive half-ogre pletely ighe stuttering Lieutenant to look at the Sergeant behind him. “Sergeant! Get this fool out of our way, or I won’t be responsible for his death!”

  Rolfun strode off, tinuing in the dire they had been heading until they were interrupted by the Watch. For his part, the Sergeant called over the whole squad of the Watd was clearly attempting to reason with his Lieutenant. Though Alesin could tell he was having little luck, it didn’t matter. Within the minute, she and Rolfun were fully out of their line of sight. They began to pick up there pace, going closer to the speed their stats allowed them to move at. Their feet practically flew over the ground.

  “After we find Krion and safely get him to the oint, yoing to get a ni in a fancy hotel tonight,” she couldn’t resist saying over the wind of their movement, despite her renewed focus on searg for Krion as they hurried along.

  “Alesin, I lost my temper.”

  “And it was so hot,” she responded before fog ba the mission. “But that will e ter. First, we o find Krion.”

  As they came closer to the area they might have lost Krion, she heard the sounds of shouting and howls. Given the rapidly emptying streets the closer they got to the wall, the sounds of panic died away to be repced by fighting somewhere up ahead. Without another word, they surged ahead, only to hear a primal, thunderous roar, vibrating with sheer fury and defiance. Ohey both had heard before.

  Krion.

  As ohey tried to pick up their pace, but another scattered group of fleeing civilians came running around the er just as they were reag the interse. For the briefest of moments, she sidered just rushing bodily through the group, but at the st moment, she sa. Rolfun, rather than try te a way through, used his superior strength to throw himself bodily over several people to nd oher side. The crowd behind them now, all Alesin could focus on was each step bringing them closer to the sound of fighting ahead.

  Finally ing around the er, their momentum nearly caused them to run into the back of another squad of the Watch. They stood in frozen shock, hands s their spears not even notig their arrival. Instead, they stared further dowreet where a single man bravely held off two Storm Wolves. Froup so ed about proteg Thorn’s Reach, a rge number of them sure liked standing around while others fought.

  Like Krion was fighting now.

  Her eyes widened as she saw him, greatsword first swinging around to cut into a charging Storm Wolf’s paw, only to thehe momentum t his bde up in an arc to then desd once more straight into the skull of the beast, sending to directly to the ground with a crack of breaking bohat echoed dowreet.

  Her feet froze and her heart surged to her throat as she saw Krion then batted away by the sed Storm Wolf to nd on the grouhe civilians he was clearly trying to save. Even though he was little better than a non-batant himself.

  Clearly trying to tap into his training with her husband, he sought to turn the fall into a roll, but as young as the Storm Wolf was, it still had speed beyond what the your lord was capable of.

  A sed cwed paw hit out, smming Krion to the ground in a cry of agony. Blood sprayed into the air as the cws of the Storm Wolf cut into him. With the human’s back turhe beast lunged forward, jaws wide to seize his neck from behind.

  The Watch collectively cried out in fear, knowing they could do nothing.

  Rolfun yelled in rage, knowing his strength was useless this far away.

  She pushed fire ints, knowing even her enhanced speed would not be enough.

  Then the greatsword emerged from the skull of the desding Storm Wolf.

  Alesin froze, the fire around her disappearing all at once. Shod awe both washed over her. She had known Krion had been excelling iraining she and her husband had been subjeg him to, but that was all theory and sparring at most. While his resolve as they had escorted him to Thorn’s Reach had been formidable, it had not yet e up against a true life-ah battle with only himself to rely on. And rather than wait, like all on sense said he should have, he sought out such a fight himself. And he survived it. It was then, in that moment, that she k without a shadow of a doubt.

  Krion ecial.

  And she was so angry at him.

  Alesin did not so much walk as stalk towards Krion, her husband at her side. ing behind them, a bit more hesitantly, were the useless squad of the Watch. She did not know why they looked so nervous. At least one of them should have had a sensing skill. Alesin’s was tellihat there were no other threats nearby.

  Rolfun was saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear it through her ahat brave, but so incredibly stupid young lord had just put himself at risk for no good purpose.

  “What in the Nine Hells were you thinking!” Alesin shouted at the young man, practically still a boy, who had pulled himself free of the corpse to lie beside an injured human woman, his hand holding tightly to a makeshift tour around her leg. She did not remember teag him how to make one, so that must be something he had learned ba his home pwo girls, little older than toddlers, were g quietly o them.

  At a gnce, she could tell the woman was in need of healing soon if she was to survive, but that was sedary to the fact that Krion himself was bleeding heavily from his back.

  “What in the Nine Hells were you thinking!” she shouted again when he did not immediately respond.

  “Alesin, I think you—”

  “No!” She shouted, shaking her husband off. All she could feel was the fear, even though she knew Krion would be alright. The young lord o know just how close he had e to his owh. “I want an answer!”

  Krion’s expression hardened, eyes fring as he met her furious gaze. For a moment, she felt like she was staring at a young s, fresh to the System but something else.

  “What was I thinking?” Krion snapped, voice tight. “I was thinking about how vicious Storm Wolves are. I was thinking about a mother and her daughters being in their path.” He practically growled out the st words. “I was thinking about how, if I did nothing, they’d be dead.”

  She was about to interrupt him, to tell him that was not yet his choiake, that he was not yet strong enough to take a risk like that, but Krion plowed on, not giving her a ce to interrupt.

  “You think I wao be on the ground here, tasting blood, feeling my back shredded to ribbons? You think I wao risk my own life?” His voice steel-hard and edged with emotion. “No, Alesin, I did not want to risk it. I had to risk it, because they couldn’t protect themselves.”

  “Bu—”

  “No!” Krion was shouting now as well. “You know what it means to staweeh and the i! You have been teag me for days about what graduating from the Imperial Academy will mean! Of the service to others, to the Empire!” He smmed a bloody fist to his chest. “After hearing all of that, all of that, how could you possibly expect me to turn away from those in need!!”

  “K—Lord Kr—” she tried to talk, the fear turning to shame in her chest, but he cut her off again.

  “No, I o say this.” Krioended one bloody finger, pointing it up in the air. “I know what I risked. And I know what it could have e. But if I am the only thing standiween a monster and an i, I’m going to put myself in harm’s way. Every. Siime.” He turned his exhausted gaze to the two young girls, still g over their unsely oblivious to the argument happening right o them. He spoke once more, softly. “I had to protect them, Alesin. I couldn’t…I couldn’t just let them die.”

  For a long moment, Alesin stared down at Krion. Yes, he was still barely more than a boy, and still so o the System, let alohe role he would be asked to py in the Empire as a member of House Bcksword. But for him to have not only figured out the most important role of nobility, but to have embraced it like so many others did not… Yes. She was gd that they would be able to get him to the Imperial Academy before another day outside it retive safety put him at greater risk. The odds were long, how loher she nor Rolfun would tell him, but even with House Bcksword’s current weakness, Krion still had a ce to bee special.

  Alright, I hoped you e. chapter will be the sed half(ish) part of this Interlude, also from Alesin's perspective. After that, buckle up, there is going to be some big things ing and a good number of uninterrupted chapters ing solely from Krion's perspective.

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  Note: While there will eventually be 10+ additional chapters up for those who wish to read ahead, for the duration of the Writathon, all those chapters will be posted directly here instead. For that reason, while I would love the support, I would ence you to wait to pledge until after the Writathon ends.