A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"I see," Beam replied. His lack of a reaction was beginning to unsettle the Vice-Captain.

"The Captain expected that you might want to abandon your duties here in favour of searching for the children. Was he so wrong?" Tolsey asked.

Beam glanced at him. "It did cross my mind. However, if the monsters come streaming through here, everyone will suffer. The children are only missing, yes? Not dead? Then we will find them.

Has the Captain made plans?"

"…I see. The Captain has ordered our reserves to muster. He judges that they've rested for long enough. From now until dusk, they're all going to work on the defences here on the forest's edge. That's so he can free you up."

In line with Tolsey's words, Beam could see movement from further within the camp. A steady stream of soldiers began marching their way. The majority had shovels in hand, but others brought with them massive mallet hammers meant for bashing in the long stakes that would surround the trenches.

The monsters were not so patient as to allow them to wait, though. The fire of monster flesh burned as strongly as ever before. Piles upon piles of valuable monster meat – the soldiers had remarked on more than one occasion how much money they were missing out on by burning the corpses – and that meat cast the sweet scent into the sky. No smell could be more enticing for a monster.

Both Beam and Tolsey were glancing towards it now. It seemed that another Konbreaker had strolled up.

"…What the hell is that?" They heard the eagle-eyed officer say. He spotted the abnormality long before it had come into range.

"Gods!" Only now did Tolsey see it properly. Like Beam, he had assumed it was a Konbreaker – which would have been a thoroughly unsettling beast nonetheless, but at least they knew they could deal with it.

Now this… He didn't know what this was. It looked like a Konbreaker, but it had the unmistakable legs of a Gorebeast. It was as though one was standing in another's shadow, making for a truly haunting optical illusion.

But as it came further and further away from the trees, it became clear that their eyes were not deceiving them. This was indeed an abnormality of the highest order. There were three legs under it, all of the topped with the unmistakable laws of a Gorebeast – it even moved like a Gorebeast, with that tender way of picking its way over uneven terrain.

Yet its body, with that shell, with that head and that beak. That was a Konbreaker without a doubt.

"What manner of creature even is that…?" Tolsey said, his hand quivering. He could feel the overwhelming aura of the beast. It felt like a Second Boundary knight. It frightened him.

"A Half-Titan…" Beam murmured. It was his own naming system that he'd settled on, after seeing the Titan in the woods. But as Tolsey heard him say it, he couldn't help but think that it seemed fitting. Indeed, Titan… That was a word that adequately described such a monstrosity.

But wait, what was that word the boy had slid in front of it? 'Half'? It made Tolsey shudder to think about. What would a full one look like?

"Boy…" Tolsey said, his hand was reaching for his sword. He seemed to realize that they would have to tackle this together. But Beam waved him off.

"I can handle this, Vice-Captain. We don't have the manpower to spare. Alert the Captain to the change. We will continue building our defences. Reassure the troops," Beam said.

It startled Tolsey to hear his voice sound so commanding. For him to so freely order a noble like himself around. He'd never heard the boy speak like that before. He wondered if it was the anger, or whether it was the fear that was making him so bold. The boy hadn't seemed right since this morning, when he saw that girl killed.

But despite thinking it to be odd to be receiving an order like that from a child, Tolsey knew it would be even more childish for him to refute it. For the advice was good. The plan was solid. It was a plan that his Captain would certainly agree with.

A plan that Tolsey realized he still lacked the grit to carry out – his kind heart could not abide continually sending such a young boy into the face of great danger whilst he himself merely gave orders.

There was nought to be done about it though. He clenched his fist, lamenting his own inadequacy. As he gave a nod to the boy, and turned on his heel to make haste, he reflected on just what a strange village it was that they'd come to.

Far stranger than any battlefield he had been on yet. Though there would be arrowfire at all times of the day, and explosions from devices made by their eccentric Eastern enemy, there was still, somehow, an order to things on the battlefield. There were certain rules, and certain truths that were held in place.

In Solgrim, all those truths that he had learned were upturned. Things that had been obvious to him before now seemed like vague uncertainties. It was enough to make a man lose his mind. It took a great effort from the young Vice-Captain to hold it together. He passed the troops as they came out with their building supplies, and forced power into his voice.

"Officers! Your debrief: the magnitude of enemy offered by the Northern Front has increased. Beam will hold it for as long as he can. Make haste with your building, and keep an eye on the status of battle. Our defences must not be breached – hold the line!"

Even the soldiers were shocked by the renewed energy in Tolsey's voice. Even though he was given the status of Vice-Captain, he seemed to feel embarrassed to actually wield his authority. Yet now there was a stony look on his face, a harsh resilience. The soldiers found themselves saluting, as though it was the Captain himself who had given those orders.

"Sir!" They barked, nearly fifty men saluting to him at once. Another time, in another place, that might have sent chills down Tolsey's spine, yet the chills down his spine flowed for different reasons. He could feel the aura of the enemy at his back, even as he marched away. With quick strides, he crossed the encampment, and headed towards his Captain's tent.