Captain Aldric POV
The first explosion threw Captain Aldric Rowan thirty feet through the air.
Stone.
Dust.
Pain.
He hit the wall of a narrow crevice hidden along the side of Crescent Moon Canyon, the breath driven from his lungs.
Around him, soldiers crashed into the rocks.
Some screamed.
Some didn't.
For several long seconds, the only sound was falling stone.
Aldric forced himself upright, ignoring the sharp pain running through his shoulder.
"Report!"
Groans answered him.
"I'm here..."
"My leg..."
"Captain..."
One young soldier lay half-buried beneath a slab of rock.
Aldric crossed the distance without hesitation.
"Help me!"
Two veterans rushed over.
Together they lifted the stone just enough for the recruit to crawl free.
The boy couldn't have been older than eighteen.
Blood streamed down one side of his face.
"You alright?"
The recruit nodded too quickly.
"I... I think so."
"You think?"
The boy swallowed.
"...No, sir."
Aldric smiled despite everything.
"Good answer."
He clapped the young man on the shoulder.
"If you're breathing, you're helping."
The smile faded.
"Everyone still standing..."
He looked toward the canyon entrance.
"...we're going back."
One soldier stared at him.
"...Captain?"
"Our people are still out there."
No one argued.
They simply followed.
Because they always had.
The crevice opened onto devastation.
Smoke drifted between shattered cliffs.
The orderly Imperial formation had ceased to exist.
Companies had become scattered knots of desperate fighting.
The canyon itself had become a graveyard.
Aldric stared.
"...Dear gods..."
A dragon circled overhead.
Its enormous wings swallowed the sunlight every time it passed.
Not once did it land.
It didn't need to.
Its presence alone shattered discipline.
Every soldier flinched whenever its shadow crossed the ground.
Nearby, one of Aldric's sergeants whispered,
"...How do we fight that?"
Aldric didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
Movement caught his eye.
A dozen wounded soldiers struggled beneath collapsed stone.
"With me!"
His unit rushed forward.
They heaved rocks aside.
Pulled men free.
One soldier's legs had been crushed.
Another had lost an arm.
They carried both.
No one was left behind.
Then—
Arrows.
Silent.
Invisible.
Three soldiers beside him collapsed before anyone understood what had happened.
One arrow.
One kill.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The arrows seemed to come from nowhere.
Officers.
Mages.
Banner bearers.
Whoever commanded...
Died first.
Aldric looked toward the canyon rim.
He saw nothing.
Only the occasional shimmer.
Then another officer fell.
"...Spread out!"
The order came instantly.
"Don't bunch together!"
His soldiers obeyed.
It saved lives.
Not enough.
But some.
Then came the shadows.
Not undead.
Not quite.
Living darkness given form.
Wolves.
Massive serpents.
Towering armored knights.
Things that should not exist.
One wolf leapt directly toward a frightened recruit.
Aldric intercepted it.
His shield caught the beast mid-air.
The impact nearly shattered his arm.
Before he could recover...
The wolf vanished.
Not dead.
Simply gone.
Another shadow had reached another target.
There was no anger.
No roar.
No bloodlust.
Only purpose.
They moved like soldiers.
Not monsters.
Then the dragon attacked.
It never landed.
It swept low across the battlefield.
A river of molten fire poured from its jaws.
The heat struck before the flames.
Armor glowed red.
Stone melted.
Entire companies disappeared beneath a wave of living fire.
Aldric threw himself over two younger soldiers.
The blast passed overhead.
Even from dozens of yards away...
His back felt as though it had been placed inside a forge.
When he looked up...
Nothing remained where the rear ranks had stood.
Just burning earth.
"...Move!"
He shoved the younger men forward.
"Move!"
Hours seemed to pass.
Perhaps only minutes had.
Time no longer meant anything.
The battlefield became smaller.
Groups fought alone.
Officers disappeared.
Orders stopped coming.
Then Aldric noticed something strange.
A soldier threw down his sword.
The shadows ignored him.
Another kept fighting.
He died.
A second soldier surrendered.
Again...
Ignored.
A third charged.
Dead.
Aldric watched it happen four times.
Five.
Six.
He finally understood.
"They're not killing everyone."
His lieutenant looked at him.
"What?"
"They're choosing."
A scream interrupted him.
One of his own men collapsed nearby.
Only a scratch marked his forearm.
Nothing more.
"...Captain..."
His legs stopped working.
He hit the ground.
His breathing slowed.
Then stopped altogether.
The serpent.
It wasn't striking to kill.
It only needed to touch you.
Aldric looked across the battlefield.
How many others had fallen that way?
Too many.
Far too many.
Eventually...
The fighting stopped.
The General was dead.
A voice carried across the canyon.
"If you lay down your weapons..."
"...you will live."
Many didn't believe it.
Some attacked anyway.
They died.
Others slowly surrendered.
They lived.
Aldric lowered his own sword.
Not because he accepted defeat.
Because there was nothing left to gain.
His men followed.
Forty-three had entered the canyon under his command.
Nineteen still stood beside him.
He counted twice.
Just to make certain.
That night...
He expected execution.
Instead...
He watched shadow creatures lifting boulders from trapped Imperial soldiers.
Healers in white robes moved among the wounded.
Imperial.
Beastkin.
It made no difference.
One elderly woman poured holy water across the bodies of the dead.
Another painted glowing symbols across their foreheads.
A nearby healer noticed Aldric watching.
"The rites of passing."
Aldric frowned.
"For your own soldiers?"
The woman looked at him as though the question itself was strange.
"For everyone's."
She continued working.
"The dead deserve peace."
He had no answer.
The journey home took nearly three weeks.
There were no wagons.
No military supply lines.
Only exhausted survivors walking east.
Some had enough coin to purchase old horses from roadside villages.
Others walked beside them.
Aldric spent nearly every copper he possessed.
Food.
Blankets.
Medicine.
A mule for a wounded corporal who could no longer walk.
His lieutenant protested.
"You've got a family waiting."
"I know."
"You'll need money."
"They need it more."
He nodded toward the younger soldiers.
"They're still children."
No one argued.
Because everyone already knew.
That was exactly who Captain Rowan was.
One rainy evening, a recruit quietly sat beside the fire.
"...Captain?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
Aldric looked over.
"For what?"
"...Surviving."
Silence lingered between them.
Finally...
Aldric reached across the fire and squeezed the young man's shoulder.
"The dead paid enough."
The boy looked up.
"You don't dishonor them by wasting the life they bought."
The recruit nodded.
No one spoke after that.
They simply stared into the flames.
Three weeks later...
The walls of Alexandria finally appeared.
Home.
Men laughed.
Some cried openly.
One soldier kissed the ground before they even reached the gates.
Families lined the roadside.
Children waved.
Wives searched every passing face.
A little girl suddenly screamed.
"Daddy!"
One of Aldric's sergeants dropped to one knee as she crashed into him.
His wife wrapped both arms around them.
Neither wanted to let go.
Aldric smiled.
This...
This was worth surviving for.
He spotted his own wife.
Elise.
Standing near the front.
Beside her...
A little boy no taller than her waist.
Thomas.
His son had grown.
Gods...
He'd gotten taller.
Aldric laughed as the boy sprinted toward him.
He dropped to one knee and caught him in a crushing embrace.
"I missed you, Papa."
"I missed you too."
More than you'll ever know.
He kissed Elise gently before taking her hand.
"I'm home."
She smiled through tears.
"...You are."
For one perfect moment...
Everything felt right.
Then—
"Captain Aldric Rowan."
He turned.
Imperial Guards.
Dozens of them.
Their commander stepped forward.
"By order of His Majesty..."
He extended one hand.
"...surrender your sidearm."
Aldric frowned.
"Routine?"
"So we've been told."
Aldric hesitated only a moment before handing over his sword.
The commander accepted it.
Then nodded once.
Steel clicked behind him.
Chains.
His smile slowly disappeared.
His men looked toward him.
Confused.
Waiting.
Just as they always had.
The commander spoke again.
"Captain Aldric Rowan..."
"...you are under arrest for treason."
The square fell silent.