The hastened, rhythmic pounding of iron-sole footwear reverberated through a cavernous passage. The cavern, itself, was dimly lit by unusual plants possessing lamp-like bulbs. The luminescence emitted by these plants shone like fire in that they would flicker often and never kept a steady stream of illumination. A shadowy figure makes its way swiftly through the passage. Just why is the figure running? The answer could be found at the end of the tunnel: a light. It was simply a light at the end of the tunnel that had attracted the figure. Seeing this light, the figure smiled. The mysterious figure sped up when it noticed the close proximity between it and the light at the tunnel's end. As the figure got closer, the light source grew in size suggesting that the figure was nearing an exit or, in this case, an entrance. Bursting out into the open world was a young man with strange blue hair and golden eyes; an excited expression framed his face. "I made it! This is the world above ground!" the young man gloriously exclaimed as if it were meant for everyone in the world to hear. Although he may appear human, this young man is, in fact, a dragon - an actual, living dragon. Believed to have been extinct for over two centuries as a result of the Draken-Hume War, dragons have actually sought shelter underneath the surface of Terrania; slowly rebuilding their population and strength in preparation for an assault on the human race. This particular dragon is named Shiki - a small dragon, indeed, but he has the blood of Draken-King Deidreig flowing through his veins. The same goes for his elder broodmate, Saya, or as a human would call her, Shiki's older sister. Nearly two days ago, the two dragon siblings were summoned by Deidreig, himself, and were given a mission of the utmost importance: invade the human capital and spy on the humans. Only when enough information has been gathered about their enemy will the dragons launch a surprise attack on the human race with their ultimate goal being to eliminate every single human from existence; just like what the humans attempted to accomplish during the Draken-Hume War. Now, Shiki and Saya have finally arrived at the surface world. Shiki stared at the expanse of blue sky with overflowing amazement in his eyes; awing at its splendor. One day, Shiki will be flying in that very sky - it's a promise he made to himself. As he continued to gaze - mouth wide opened - suddenly, Shiki's eyes began to water. "GAH!" Shiki wailed painfully as he fell onto his back and rolled around wildly while his hands covered his eyes. "My eyes! I'm going blind!" Shiki howled. "Shiki, you shouldn't stare directly at the sun like that." a mature, masculine voice emanated from the cavern. Appearing at the cavern's entrance were three new figures: a beautiful, young woman with radiant blue hair and matching eyes; following behind her were two dragons. One of the dragons is a pale shade of yellowish-brown with rugged scales while the other is pale red with smoother scales. The one that had warned Shiki about the dangers of peering into the sun was the much older, yellow-brown dragon. These two dragons are actually Shiki and Saya's guide to the surface world and they work directly for Deidreig. Needless to say, the older-looking young woman is Shiki's broodmate, Saya, who is unmistakably much wiser about the surface world than her younger sibling. Shiki stood up off the ground and looked back at the three with teary eyes. "So that giant fireball is the 'sun'?" Shiki asked as he wiped away his tears and looked back up at the sky. This time around, he covered the sun with one of his hands. "It's brighter than any of the lantern plants growing underneath the surface." Shiki remarked. "Come along now, I have something to give to the two of you." the yellow-brown dragon called Shiki over. "Here Saya, you should hold onto this." the same dragon continued as he handed Saya an old, slightly-torn map. "It's a map of this region of Terrania. It will lead you to Atland. Although it's about a few decades old, it should still be fairly accurate." he explained. "Our work here is done. It's entirely up to you two now. Make us proud to have been your mentors." the red dragon stated. "We will. We'll make the entire dragon race proud." Shiki nodded. After the goodbyes were said, the two elder dragons retreated back into the safety of the dark cavern to return to Drakehaven - the capital city of dragons. Shiki looked to his older sister in hopes that she would lead the way. After all, she was one of the few dragons of the brood that was taught to read a map. "So, which direction are we heading, Saya?" Shiki asked curiously. After that, the two set off on their way. [Atland; Wallguard Barracks] Alere Ruadhan and a few other Wallguards had been told to report to Captain Gungneer's post the previous day. Apparently, they had an important assignment that required their attention; one that will take them beyond the reach of the Wall. It was still early morning - nearing noon. The briefing is supposed to take place in the next five minutes or so. After Alere's morning played out, he is supposed to promptly arrive at the briefing. Already gathered there were three other Wallguards: two belonged to the Wyvern Corps while the other is a member of the Magic Brigade. They spoke casually amongst themselves as they awaited for the arrival of Captain Mervas Gungneer - a prominent officer of the Assault Troops who wields a massive battle axe that nearly dwarfs its own wielder who, himself, is a monster of a man. Finally he arrived - dressed in heavy red armor and a tattered cape. With short dark bluish hair, an impressive beard, and a huge scar running down his left cheek, Captain Gungneer commanded the immediate attention of the Wallguards assembled at his post. "Alright, listen up, lasses!" he mocked, though in a playful sort of way that one would typically note about a commanding officer. "Rumor has it that some three-hundred goblins are headed this way to invade Atland. As you all know, we haven't seen an invasion by the goblin forces in about a week's time so the rumor don't seem to hold much weight. However, the higher-ups are nervous and so, in their ivory towers, they sent word down here to the Wall for us to go investigate. That's where you lot come in. Go south to the outskirts of here and see what you can find. You most likely won't find anything but I still need a report. Get going, lasses!" Gungneer briefed the unit. After gearing up and finishing whatever little things they needed to do before setting out for the day, the small unit of Wallguards headed to the massive forest on the outskirts of Atland. Knowing goblins, they love trekking through the forest pass. It provides great cover to launch a surprise invasion upon Atland. Unfortunately for those green-skinned brutes, none of their invasions so far have been successful. Nevertheless, they'd never stopped trying - they're definitely persistent if nothing else. But, as of late, it's been rather quiet. Goblin invasions are usually frequent and in smaller numbers. Perhaps they're trying to amass a large number of soldiers for one big invasion. In any case, that's what this unit was supposed to be investigating. Flying just above the forest are the two Wyvern Corps Wallguards from earlier. Down below on the forest floor, Alere and the Magic Brigade Wallguard marched forward. Alere rode on his own wyvern: a Nightstorm Wyvern by the name of Raum. "Hey, why isn't Alere flying with us up here?" a female Wyvern Corps member named Mira asked her superior who is a young man named Quince. "You're new so you probably haven't heard this but Alere's wyvern has a bit of a difficulty when it comes to flying. Most of the time, it's grounded." Quince explained. Mira was curious as to what had happened to Raum but she kept quiet. Quince then grabbed his shell necklace - an item that everyone in the party is wearing - and began to speak into it. "How are you guys doing down there? Find anything?" he asked the two down below. The shell necklace that everyone is wearing is a magic item that allows communication from a distance. The two of them below should be careful. Who knows what kind of monsters lurk in these woods.

Alere swayed in his saddle as he picked apart an apple with his belt knife, eating in silence and paying little attention to the forest around him. He was used to eating in the saddle and had learned that Raum's sight and sense of smell were far stronger than his anyway; if there was anything of concern, she would tell them. Raum slinked easily through the forest's undergrowth, making a point to chitter sullenly every couple of minutes. It was clear to Alere that she was annoyed at the slow pace they were moving, he reached over and patted her to calm her down, they would have their chance. He looked back to make sure everything was still secured nicely, his sword and belongings safely on her left flank while their small group's supplies were scattered across Raum's back and sides; tents, foods and the like. Alere sighed in annoyance, the southern forests huh? Thick canopy and plenty of small caves and hills speckled that area, a mid-sized group of goblins could have several hiding places to chose from, he suspected they might be here a while. the prospect of this annoyed him, he was needed back home, the roof of the orphanage had taken some damage during a recent storm and needed reslating. Some of the older boys had already started but the work would have gone a lot faster with him there, at least that's what he felt like. He was shaken out of his daydream by Raum's playful growls at a couple of rabbits dashing away from the group, hardly even a snack for her, but she loved chasing them around. 'Well, at least one person will be able to enjoy herself' Alere thought, there would be several lakes for Raum to play around in and it would be good for her to be out of the city for a while, she's a big girl and the human sized city doesn't offer much room for her to stretch her wings. The trinket around Alere's neck suddenly burst into life."How are you guys doing down there? Find anything?" He recognised the voice as Quince's, one of the wyvern riders keeping an eye from above. "All seems clear here, too much growth around here to really see far into the forest and even goblins aren't dumb enough to stay on the path. Raum hasn't smelled or heard anything so far though." He glanced up through the canopy at the sky, taking note of the position of the sun, it had already been past noon when they set out and they had been walking for a while. "Looks like we only have a couple of hours of daylight left, think you guys can spot us a clearing to set up camp, preferably close to a river or lake, we could use the fresh water." he let the trinket dangle back around his neck, settling into the saddle again. -earlier that day- "Alere!" a shout echoed through the halls of the orphanage, sounding like it belonged to an older woman. Sheila stood in the kitchen preparing the tables for the midday meal as Alere entered the room. "What?" He didn't even bother trying to hide the irritation in his voice. "Don't you 'what' me,boy" Eventhough she wasn't the youngest anymore and had retired from guard duty, She still commanded a lot of respect and even fear just through her eyes. Alere had seen several kids break down and confess their misschief from a single stare from her, even adults had difficulty. " We're getting ready for lunch, you need to move that oaken table to the centre and move that cast-iron kettle from the kitchen, that dunce of an Ingrid used it to make the soup and now she can't lift it herself anymore." She said as she waved a tablecloth in the general direction. " She could barely lift that thing empty, what did she think was going to happen when it was filled with several gallons of soup?" Alere smirked as he hefted the oaken table with ease. " Always the dumb muscle am I?" he glanced out the window to see Raum laying down on the playground, trying and mostly succeeding to sleep through several kids climbing up her and petting her. "Don't be silly...you're cute too" She said with a smile. " Speaking of which, I talked to that girl that works the fruitstand at the market again, you know the one I'm talking about. She seems very nice and her father has a good trade. It might be a good idea to have a talk with her sometime." Sheila said, raising her eyebrows knowingly, a playful smile on her face. alere didn't know if it was because she herself was getting older or just plain concern but she had been trying to set him up with someone for some time now, was this what mothers did for their children? Nonetheless Alere was noncommited, saying nothing more than "yeah, maybe." As he set down the large kettle of soup. He did know the girl she was talking about, and as nice as she was the poor thing was as daft as a door. Besides, he had more urgent matters to see to. " The Captain called for us, recon mission. I won't be around for a couple of days. I'll see to the roof once I get back. " He walked over to her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be careful." Answering her question before she posed it. Alere waved as he walked out, whistling out 2 tones. Raum immediately woke up and trudged over to him, follwing him as they dissappeared down the street. Sheila shook herself as she stared at the doorway, finding herself wringing the tablecloth tightly. She knew he was a good and capable boy, but still she worried.

Today was finally the day when they would take their leave into the human capital. She was very surprised when her brother and her were assigned this mission. Surprised and a little scared. But at the same time she was also very excited. Finally, they would leave the underground caverns and get to see how the world up at the surface would be. The older dragons have told her so many stories about the vast fields, forests and all the other beautiful sceneries she would soon be able to see. When they could see light at the end of the tunnel she heard her brother’s painful first encounter with the sun. A giggle left her throat as one of the elders warned Shiki about not staring directly into the sun. That was also one of the things Saya has heard so many times from a very old dragon who always liked to tell her stories. But before the girl with human features could tease her also human-looking brother about his misery the older dragon of the two guides called Shiki back and handed her a map. He shortly explained what to do with it as the she looked at it. There were many many lines and the names of the places were written in a neat handwriting. Even though she was taught to read a map it still took her a while to find the place they had to get to. Terrania was a huge continent. To get to Atland, the two of them would have to overcome quite a huge distance. But with their dragon physiology it should not be too hard of a journey. Just as the girl looked back up to the others her broodmate was ensuring to make the entire dragon race proud and she nodded in agreement. “Yes, we will.” After the two elder dragons have left Saya turned around to look at their new environment. The forest they were in was just a small one. But it bordered a river which would eventually lead through another light forest to the massive forest not too far from the human capital. She ran a hand through her long hair and grinned. It was a really funny feeling to have hair such tiny hands instead of all the scale and claws. Looking back at her broodmate, no, brother, to answer his quetion she pointed a finger to her left. “Basically, we just have to follow a river that will lead us to the forest at the outskirts of Atland. It shouldn’t take us too long to get to the humans.” She took a deep breath and exhaled with a big smile. “I think that’s the river I can smell. Let’s get going!” Saya grabbed Shiki’s hand and took of to where she was pointing earlier. After taking a quick glance at the map again, the girl with the bright blue hair let go of Shiki’s hand and stuffed the folded map into a little bag that was hanging from her belt. “Watch where you’re going. The ground might be slippy because of the leaves. And try not to touch anything since some of the plants might be poisonous. We don’t want any injuries before we even get to Atland, now do we?” Laughing, she turned back to the direction of the river. There were a few pretty flowers here and there on the ground. A few birds flew past them over their heads. It was a really strange sight to the young dragon who has only seen the world from the under the ground. Things up on the earth indeed looked so different. She was not sure about what she had expected, but the scenery was much more intriguing than she could have imagined! However, they would have enough time looking at all these funny surface plants and animals later on when they adjusted to their new life. First of all, it was important for them to get to Atland as soon as possible without running into any dangerous situations.

Shiki listened attentively as Saya described the path they needed to take to get to Atland. She then mentioned she smelled the river nearby that they could follow. Saya grabbed her brother's hand and took off in its direction. Shiki also caught a whiff of the unique river smell; it was his first time. "Wow... That smells amazing." Shiki thought. To the young dragon, the surface river smelled so clean - there was a crispness to it. Rivers that flow underground smelled much darker and more earthy. It was quite the new experience. He can only imagined what the surface river water tastes like. After a little time has passed, Saya let go of Shiki's hand in order to put the map away. This allowed the young dragon to scan his environment for a bit. Everywhere he looked was a new experience - a new memory. The "new" types of flora and fauna, the sights, sounds, and smells almost gave Shiki a sensory overload. Saya then cautioned Shiki to be careful of their new environment. Shiki nodded and smiled. "So this is what 'daytime' is like. We never got to experience 'day' and 'night' properly living in Drakehaven." Shiki remarked. It's true. While the concepts of "day" and "night" still existed underground, neither Shiki nor Saya knew what they truly are until now. As the early morning passed, noon came and, then, afternoon. Shiki and Saya followed the river diligently while taking in the new sights and smells along the way. They then arrived at the forest on the outskirts of Atland. Fortunately, there was a crossroad sign that pointed them in the right path to their destination. After just a bit more of a walk, they passed the forest and arrived at the human capital of Atland. There, they are greeted to a most alarming sight: humans. Shiki quickly became unnerved. "Th-Those are humans... right?" Shiki asked his sister; a bit of fear was in his voice. There were a lot of them - humans. Of course that is to be expected of the human capital. What's stranger is that a large assembly of humans were gathered at one part of the gargantuan wall that surrounded the capital. And the wall really was gargantuan. It dwarfed any dragon Shiki has ever seen and that includes Draken-King Deidreig. Atop of the seventy-foot-or-so wall are more humans. They all dressed in similar uniforms and carried weapons. The curious dragons decided to investigate the gathering taking place. After all, the best way to infiltrate human society is to socialize with other humans. To the nervous Shiki, however, it will be a daunting task. "Welcome to the Wallguards. Go on ahead and report to Training Area One" a uniformed human told another human while handing him a small map of the Wall. Shiki gave Saya a look of bewilderment concerning the human gathering. Just what are these humans doing exactly? "Hey are you guys here to sign up for the Wallguards too?" the voice of a young man emanated from behind Shiki and Saya. The voice caused Shiki to jump out of surprise. Turning around, the two dragons see a bespectacled young man with a shaved head and a friendly smile on his face; he looks to be around their age. "H-H-Human..." Shiki muttered fearfully. "Hmm? Did you say something?" the glasses-wearing human asked. "Alright, it's getting late and we can't waste any more time jotting down everyone's name. Go ahead and grab a map and head to Training Area One, recruits." the uniformed human from earlier announced to everyone gathered here. "Oh, I guess we should get going before they close the gates." the glasses-wearing human told Shiki and Saya before grabbing a map and heading inside Atland. Shiki, once again, looked to Saya. "What should we do?" he asked. [Outskirt Forest] After hearing Alere's report, Quince looked to the sky. He noticed the same thing too: that there isn't much daylight left. "We've been out here this long?" Quince asked no one in particular. Mira smiled. "I guess we didn't really notice." "Yeah, you're right. I'm having so much fun scouting that I sorta forgot about everything else. It's okay. Mags needed the exercise, don't you, boy?" Quince asked his wyvern as he pat it lovingly on its side. The wyvern responded with a satisfied purr. Quince grabbed hold of his shell necklace once more. "Okay, you guys keep scouting this area. Mira and I will go ahead and find a suitable campsite-" "Quince, watch out!" Mira shouted before rushing towards Quince and using her wyvern to push both him and his wyvern aside. Suddenly, a huge net came crashing into Mira and her wyvern, sending both of them towards the forest floor below. "Mira!" Quince shouted out in concern. Quickly looking back, he sees another net heading towards him. Working quickly, Quince maneuvered his wyvern out of harm's way. He knew exactly what was happening: a goblin ambush. Those nets are specially designed to withstand the varied arsenal a wyvern possesses. However, the more alarming issue here is that none of the party's wyverns could sniff out the goblins. In any case, to avoid more nets, Quince retreats to the ground to regroup with the rest of the party. Down below, the goblins arrive in troves; all of them ready to defeat and capture the party of Wallguards. The party was completely surrounded. Mira, herself, was still tangled in the net with her wyvern. The net was weighed down by heavy rocks. "Hahaha! Stupid humans! You couldn't sniff us out, can ya!? Now you're cornered like mice!" one goblin, most likely the captain of the bunch, boasted. "I'm sorry... They made me... Please, you have to help me!" a chained young woman led by a goblin told the party. "Shaddap, filthy human!" the goblin scolded before punching her in the stomach and causing her to fall onto her knees. "D-Damn it. I get it..." Rei, the mage of the party, started. "The girl's a mage and they forced her to use magic to mask their scent. That's why none of the wyverns could detect them." he explained. "Enough talk! Capture them alive! They'll make great slaves! But remember: a hand or leg missing isn't such a big deal, hahaha!" the goblin captain bellowed.

Alere's breath caught when he heard the clamour over the shell, his suspicions confirmed by the loud thud of Mira and her wyvern tumbling from the sky. Rider and beast struggling against their bonds. With practiced ease he dismounted Raum and gathered his weapon, letting the heavy blade rest on his shoulder as he looked around him, a tingle running up his spine warning him that blood will be spilled soon. Raum seemed to agree as she lowered to a crouch, ears flattened and grumbling threateningly. With a few gestures he sent Quince to take care of Mira, they would need to move soon. As soon as Rei walked up to him the goblins revealed themselves, surrounding them. Alere felt his blood boil as he saw the chained woman double over in pain. " You there!" he shouted, raising his sword to point at the captain. "Let her go now or-" he was interupted by a loud sound like the crack of a whip and a bright light flashed before his eyes, making stars swim in front of his eyes. As his vision cleared he saw the goblin who had been holding the woman's chain was knocked back a couple of meters. The large, blackened hole in his chest and the smell of charred flesh in the air revealed what happened. The goblins stood staring in confusion for a moment before realisation set in and they started rushing forward, roaring their anger. Alere cracked a grin and stepped back, he brought his sword in an overhand swing which smashed the first goblin to reach him into the dirt. A wooden spear flashed at him, Alere spun around it and dug his boot into the side of the goblin's head, the little monster fell, out cold and forgotten as the others now seemed a bit weary to approach the young swordsman. "Come then!" Alere shouted, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he stood watching them. They needed to free Mira and the woman so they could make their escape. They were outnumbered and there was no point laying down their lives before they could warn the capital. A glance over his shoulder revealed Rei and Quince were almost done freeing Mira and were enabling an escape from the rear. Suddenly a deafening roar echoed as Raum crashed into the goblins from their flank, she had found a way to sneak around during the initial confusion. Spears stabbed at her but snapped as toothpicks on her hard scales, to their horror the nets were useless from this range. Alere snaked forward and stabbed, cutting down another. Two more steps followed and he grunted as he felt a stabbing pain, one of the critters managed to pierce his shoulder. In retaliation he swung his sword with his free hand, sending his aggressor flying in a heap of broken bones. Standing in front of the woman now, he swooped her up and slung her over his shoulder, groaning as the pain intensified. Alere spun around and started making his way to the others, who seemed to have made a clearing. "Filthy wretch!" The goblin captain shrieked as he leapt towards them, steel spear held aloft. Alere made a side-swing which missed barely. The captain brought his spear down, with the weight of the woman slowing him down Alere tumbled backwards, shouting in pain as the spear went straight through his thigh. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he reached for the now unarmed captain and closed his fist around his throat. Alere squeezed with all his might, crushing his windpipe. The swordsman struggled to his feet, aided by the still chained woman, leaving the captain hacking and spluttering, to choke slowly. Raum broke free from the rest of the war band towards her rider. She sustained several cuts along her body, one just above her eye kept her blinded as blood flowed into it. She lowered herself so the woman and Alere could climb onto her, careful not to disturb the spear still stuck in his leg too much. The wyvern took off as spears and nets whistled around them. Alere was breathing hard as his wounds were taking his toll on him, desperately clinging onto Raum as they ran, he was dimly aware of the others following, as he heard the stomping of the wyverns following them. The young swordsman heard the woman behind him sob uncontrollably but if it was out of happiness or grief, he couldn't tell. The skies darkened around him , the bloodloss finally making him pass out.

The world on the surface was had so many interesting looking things. And the air smelled so nice. Everything was much different than what she had experienced so far being under the earth. And it was just like what Shiki had noticed about the daytime. The world was so bright and colorful! Even the warmth of the sun felt so nice when it tiggled her skin. For a while Saya even took of her boots, just so she could walk with her bare feet on the ground. It did not feel too differently from what she was used to. But being in this strange new place was enough to make her imagine that everything might be different. It did not take them as long as Saya thought it would to reach the human capital. It was about afternoon when they finally reached the forest on the outskirt of Atland and soon they arrived at the capital itself. Already there were a lot of humans gathering at the wall which was bigger than Saya had expected. She could not quite imagine how the tiny humans maganged to build such a grand wall. But that would probably be exactly one of the reasons why they are infiltrating the humans. Saya was just about to tell Shiki that they should remain calm and act casual, since she had seen the look he gave her, when one of those humans came up to them, followed by another one. She could hear Shiki’s muttering and knew how he felt. All those humans being together worried her, too. So she turned to him and whispered: “Don’t worry. That’s what we are here for.” Even though she did not know what was going on, they would have to tag along so far. There was probably not much what they could do anyway. When the one with the glasses suggested to get going, Saya nodded and linked her one arm with Shiki after taking the map he was still holding. “Let’s just follow them for now. We’ll see what they’re planning.” Saya said the words close to Shiki’s ears so the human would not hear her. Then, she raised her voice to talk to the one with the glasses. Since he still had a friendly smile on his face, Saya put on a smile, too. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to look directly into his eyes. “You said something about also signing up for the Wallguards? So, you are here for that?” It might not harm to first get to know what that human male was up to. Since he came up to them, he could be talkative enough to reveal more before either Shiki or Saya would have to explain anything. That way, they could just adjust their story to what he would tell them.

Believing that an opportunity had opened up to them to infiltrate the capital without any difficulty, Saya forged on ahead, with Shiki in tow, to greet the bespectacled human from before. Once she reached him, she brought up the "Wallguards" in hopes of extracting more information from the unknowing young man. "Yup. That's what I'm here." he said in direct response to Saya's question. Pushing his glasses up, a glint could be seen in his right eye. "Ever since I was little, I had always admired the Wallguards. They've kept Atland safe from invasions ever since the end of the Extinction War. It's a cause I'll proudly sign up for." he explained. Hearing the words "Extinction War" caused Shiki to balled his hands into fists. It reminded him exactly of why this mission of theirs is so important. The evil humans have to be stopped if dragons are to once again allow to freely live above ground. Unfortunately, the bespectacled human didn't provide much information before the three of them reached their destination: Training Area One. It is a big dirt field without a single blade in grass in sight. Straw dummies and targets are placed strategically within the area. Northwest of the area is a path leading into the actual city grounds. The group that arrived here which includes Shiki and Saya as well were prompted to stand at the center of the field. "By the way, before I forget, I'm Brenard. It's nice to meet the two of you." the bespectacled human introduced himself. Shiki was reluctant to say anything but felt that he needed to join on the conversation and not just let his sister do all their work for them. "I-I'm Shiki. This is my broo-" Shiki immediately stopped himself. "T-This is my sister, Saya." he managed to correct. It was still clear that the young dragon is nervous in the presence of so many humans. Whether Saya felt the same is a mystery. If she did, she hides it well. Fortunately, Brenard took no suspicion to Shiki's near stumble; he simply nodded smilingly in response to their introduction. Before they could continue their conversation, two people arrived at the area and walked in front of the group. One was a man wearing red armor and had a serious scar on his cheek. He is accompanied by a young man with unkempt, flaxen hair who had a pretty intimidating stare. "Listen up, lasses!" the older human began. "Here, at Training Area One, Lieutenant Dorian Starkkewolfe and I, Captain Mervas Gungneer, are to test your aptitude to see just what division each one of you belongs in! Now, first order of business: those with the capability of using magic, you will go with Lt. Dorian to Training Area Two to run the special magic course. The rest of you lot will stay here with me." Gungneer then looked to Dorian. "Go ahead and weed out the weak." he directed. Shiki looked to Saya. "You can use magic, right? Does that mean... we'll be separated now?" Shiki asked. It may be best to conform to the human's directions for now as to not arouse any suspicion. Besides, if Saya decides to stay here with Shiki, who knows what sort of plans the human may have. Best to go with the route most suited to her talents. [Outskirt Forest] Alere was finally waking up. He had sustained injuries that caused major blood loss, enough so that it resulted in him passing out. So what happened afterwards? Did the party managed to escape? Did they rescue the slave girl? Were there any casualties on their part? Fortunately, they party did managed to escape but... Alere's first sight as he awakens is the slave girl who appears to be using magic to heal his more serious injuries. The two of them were riding on Raum while riding just beside them is Mira and her wyvern. "Oh, you're finally awake. Thank goodness..." the slave girl sighed in relief. "Hey, try to take it easy, Alere, Sir." Mira told her superior as if she was giving him an order almost. "You're no longer in any immediate danger but we have to get you back to Atland, quick." she explained. The slave girl was quiet; sadness apparent on her expression. Mira looked at her and sighed. "It's not your fault, you know..." Mira told her. The slave girl nodded in acknowledgement but she still appeared sad. Mira looked to Alere once more. "Quince, his wyvern, and Rei were captured by the goblin forces. They stayed back to create a distraction for us to escape." Mira explained. Looking up, it was still yet to be dark. It seems all of that happened in a relatively short period of time. The goblins were behind but not by much so it's imperative that they reached Atland to warn the Wallguards of the incoming invasion. Fortunately, it is also known that the goblins prefer to keep humans they captured as slaves rather than outright kill them so the chances are high that Quince and Rei are still alive. A wyvern would fetch good money for the goblins too. In any case, the slave girl finally decided to speak again. "I-I'm Elise." she introduced. Mira gave a weak smile. "I'm Mira. I'm glad we rescued you. Without your healing magic, I'm not sure what would've happened to Alere." Suddenly, both Raum and Mira's wyvern stopped and began to growl. They were warning about something up ahead. Mira took out a telescope to scan the upcoming part of the forest. "There's a small goblin unit up ahead. There's four of them in total." Mira reported. "We can't fly. Maybe we should find an alternative route? But... this is the fastest route to Atland..." Mira said, letting her sentence trail off. They may have to engage the enemy.

Dorian scanned the crowd as he and Captain Gungneer stood before the new trainees gathered at Training Area One. The congregation of people was more than last year's, which was slightly heartening as it meant more people were willing to fight and die for the safety of others. The tall young man was eerily silent as the Captain went through his impromptu speech - or lack thereof - providing necessary instructions to the new blood and introducing themselves as the Lieutenant and Captain who would be testing their aptitude in the magical and martial arts, respectively. When Captain Gungneer completed his talk and told Dorian to weed out the weak, the younger of the duo merely looked to the elder, uplifted a single eyebrow, closed his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and yawned. "Tch. Whatever you say, old bastard," Dorian stated, observing the rift growing in the crowd of people, separating the magical from the mundane, "But I think you'll regret it when I send a bunch'a crying trainees crawling to you're sorry ass." It was all a jest of course, goodnatured teasing between two military-types. With that said, Dorian broke away from the big group congregated in front of Captain Gungneer. Once he was reasonably away from Gungneer's trainees, he whistled loudly twice and beckoned for his group of Magic Brigade wannabes to follow him to Training Area Two. A short walk later, the group reached the grounds of Training Area Two. It was very similar in appearance to the first training ground but with more magic oriented training apparatus - dummies and targets designed to stand against elemental damage, and so on. Dorian stood before the group in silence, mainly due to the fact that he had not managed to think up an adequate lesson plan to pit these trainees against in the time allotted to him. Obviously he would not do something as barbaric as pitting these new blood against himself in martial combat; such a thing would be rather useless in gauging ability merely due to the gap in training. Though he had to think of something quickly. He was already standing before the crowd at the Training Area, after all. Gah, no wonder the old man yelled at him so much. This was indeed a hard job. Dorian stared at his recruits with his usual unintended intimidating gaze. The silence was deafening, and some of the trainees were even fidgeting in place, uncomfortable with it all. "...Alright." Dorian finally broke the silence with a single word. "I want you all to divide yourselves into three groups. Those who focus on defense and utility, head to the left. The ones who like to hurt things, go to the right. And those who know only the basics of magic..." A pause as Dorian looked around at the groups forming, and eyed the leftovers. "...Get the hell out of here." His words were spoken with no hesitation, no remorse. "As it stands, everyone in group three is just going to be a burden on the Brigade. You're better off heading back to Training Area One and requesting a division change after you make something of yourselves. Now go." Once that was done, Dorian faced the two groups left over. "Now you guys." He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect when really it was just to stall for more time to think of a plan. "I want the offensive mages to have at the dummies, and the defensive mages to test each others' barriers. Any healers in the audience get to deal with the casualties. And maybe if everything goes smoothly we'll have a sparring exercise. Got it? Good, now get to work." ...Good enough,' Dorian thought.

A dull thumping, that was the first thing Alere was aware of when he returned to the world of the living. A dull thumping that become more intense as he gathered his senses, his head felt like it was going to burst; his stomach lurched. Opening his eyes was difficult as the little light seemed to blind him. As he tried to straighten up he listened to Mira and the slave girl talk. Quince, his wyvern and Rai's sacrifice hit him like a ton of bricks."Blood and ashes" Alere slumped back in the saddle, feeling deflated."Blood and bloody ashes" He cursed. These people were his responsiblity and he had failed them; and for what? he should have acted faster or stayed behind to get them out. Hi head lolled down froom exhaustion and he noticed through his shredder trouser leg that the wound had been healed, he felt a twist in his stomach. Magic alwasy healed so cleanly, the only thing reminding him of his injury was a deep soreness, like he had hopped 20 miles on one leg. Now he wouldn't even have the decency to show up wounded for having lost three. Raum suddenly froze in her tracks, growling in one direction, her nostrils flaring. Alere nodded grimly as Mira confirmed the situation. "We're not running, we end them." He said as he let himself slide from the saddle onto the ground, he dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. he was still too weak to stand straight. The girl joined him, worry painted on her face as she tried to hold him upright. With a nod he sent Raum towards the small patrol. She dropped to a crouch and snaked into the forest foilage. It was amazing how a creature of her size could almost be invisible with just a bare minimum of cover, all thanks to her black fur and scales. "Mira, get that lance of yours and stand at the ready, they might come our way once Raum scatters them" Alere said as he settled on the ground, pulling his canteen and drinking greedily, his throat was parched. After he had his fill he offered it to the girl, who took hold of it gingerly. Part of him wanted to go with Raum, hack them to pieces for what their kind will surely put his teammates through but he knew he would only be a burden in this sorry state, reporting to the captain was the urgent business at hand. - A short distance away - "Quiet and look!" The goblin in charge hissed to his subordinates, waving his scimitar around. Rakanishu had the biggest weapon, so he was the boss and he would be damned if he let the others forget. He and three others had been sent from the main group to find a group of humans that had gotten away from them. If he was succesful they might make him into warboss. the prospect of all the grub and drink he could ever want just given to him made him lick his chops. Suddenly a shrill shriek echoed through the forest. "That sounded like Lobber, where is he?" The three remaining goblins looked around them in a panic, noone had seen what happened to their fourth member. They stood back to back as they noticed soft rustling leaves, every now and then a bush shook slightly and then ... silence. Nothing was heard except their frightened breathing, even the forest itself seemed quiet as they scanned the treelines. A loud roar erupted behind them as Raum came barreling towards them, rending the closest goblin asunder under sharp clawed paws. Rakanishu dropped his weapon and turned tail, just in time to see his last squadmate snapped clean in half by her powerful beak. The goblin dashed through the forest, too scared to look behind him as he feared he might see the wyvern in hot pursuit. The last thing he saw before things went black was the flat side of a Wallguard lance. Mira shook herself as she looked down at the filthy creature, it had been so noisy coming their way she would have noticed it coming from 5 miles away. It seemed the wretch was out cold but still alive. She hesitated giving the killing blow before Alere waved her away, instead telling her to tie it up to take with them to the capital. It might prove to be an useful source of information. Before long they were on their way again. Elise riding with him and the goblin hogtied behind Mira. Before long they saw the familiar sights of the Wall, Alere never thought he would be so happy to see this constant reminder of the worst war humanity had lived through again. A young guard came towards them, halting them and asking for identification. Alere shot him a glare that nearly made the poor sod whimper aloud. "Get me to Captain Gungneer, I need to report to him" The poor man faltered and seemed doubtful before Alere snapped a resound "NOW!" at him, making him turn around and quickly lead the way. Alere followed in tow, ordering Mira to take care of their wyverns and making sure she, Elise and the goblin would follow along shortly to report to the captain. If the goblin horde was as close as he thought it was, every minute would be of importance.

Saya was not sure what she had expected. Like everything else that has happened so far. The whole adventure was simply out of her reach. Even if she tried to stay as calm as possible, so that Shiki would feel comfortable, deep inside she was insecure, too. There was no way for Saya though, to let her guard down infront of these humans. Especially not after what the guy said about the Wallguards and the Extinction War. She sighed heavily when he finished talking. The reason why both Shiki and her were sent to infiltrate the humans was that they could find out more about them and prevent to prevent the dragons being killed by the humans. It was probably good to get to know about the military affairs of their enemy. But would it really be alright for them without being detected? Saya felt quite uneasy thinking about what would possibly await them. It did not get much better when they reached the training area. The straw dummies and targets were none of her concern. What bordered her was the large number of humans. Everyone was to gather in the center of the field. Males and females, tall and short humans. There were all sorts of them present. They would have to face all sorts of those dangerous creatures. While the girl was still looking around she could hear the one with the glasses introducing himself. So, Brenard was his name. She was wondering whether it would be worth remembering him when she heard Shiki telling him their names. A smile crossed her lips as Shiki almost said ‘broodmates’ instead of ‘sister’. Turning to Brenard, she added a simple: “Nice to meet you, too.” Was it nice for them to have met? Saya wondered about the words of this Brenard. There was nothing nice about two species meeting when they were enemies. But then again, the humans thought all the dragons had been killed. The young girl shook her head slightly to get rid of her thoughts. It was no use thinking about that now anyway. At the same time two people arrived in front of the group telling them to divide themselves based on their abilities. And that was already the first problem Shiki and Saya were running into. Narrowing her eyes, Saya turned to Shiki who was looking at her too. She was not sure how to answer his question. If they would really have to split up… But then again it was a great opportunity for them. “I guess, that means we will split up.” Saya showed Shiki a big grin and held up her thumb. Then she hugged her brother and whispered into his ears. “This way, we can get to know more about these humans from different approaches. Just stay calm and do your best.” Having said her goodbye she turned away from Shiki. She ran her hand through her bright blue hair as she followed that lieutenant. ”I guess, I should remember his name. Dorian.” Saya thought and looked at the other humans who were also following that guy. Feeling a little insecure about what she should do, Saya smiled at a few others who were close to her. Talking to them was not one of the things she wanted to do in that situation. However, she guessed that showing a polite attitude would not be the worst idea.

"Just stay calm and do your best." Saya's last words before she and Shiki had separated echoed through his mind over and over again. For the young dragon, it's easier said than done. Shiki stood there, nearly shaking, as he watched the humans around him practicing their combat prowess on the straw dummies and targets. He recognized some of the weapons that were being used: a sword, a lance, a dagger. However, there was one weapon that he had never seen before. It looked to be a bent piece of wood and metal construction attached with a long piece of string. "Hey, stop standing around like that, Shiki. We're supposed to be practicing." Brenard's voice came from behind him. "Huh? O-Oh right." Shiki responded. Going to the weapon's barrel, he noticed that the familiar weaponry had all been taken and the only thing left is that strange bent wood construct that he was fixated on about earlier. With no other choices, Shiki picked it up and walked over to Brenard. "A bow, huh? I wouldn't have guessed. Oh, didn't you take any arrows?" Brenard asked. "Arrows? What's that?" Shiki asked in reply. Suddenly, a curious look formed on Brenard's face which Shiki quickly mistook for suspicion. "R-Right, of course! Arrows: how could I forget!? Hehe..." Shiki nervously laughed it off. "Crap, that was close. If this human gets too suspicious, I'll be done for." Shiki thought before returning to the weapon barrel. Right next to it was a separate barrel full of quivers - each filled with about ten arrows. Of course, Shiki had no idea if these were arrows or not. Hoping for the best, Shiki grabbed a quiver and attached it to his waist since it looked most appropriate there. "Hey! You can't treat the wyvern like that!" a young feminine voice caught Shiki's attention. With the immediate mention of a "wyvern", Shiki couldn't help but see what it was about. Over near the stables in Training Area One, a young woman with green hair was confronting a young man with curly black hair who is standing next to a submissive wyvern. The wyvern looks to be fearful of the male human. The girl with green hair looked angry at the other human. "Someone like you is not fit to be part of the Wyvern Corps!" she fiercely scolded. "Tch. What's it to you? Who cares how I treat it? It's a tool for battle. Nothing more, nothing less." the other human replied rather arrogantly. "You know why dragons no longer exist yet wyverns remain? It's because wyverns are obedient. They know who the superior being is. I'm glad dragons were eliminated. They were such useless creatures. Unlike wyverns who exist for humans to use - not to pamper. See?" he explained before putting his foot on the wyverns head nonchalantly. Seeing that, the girl balled her hands into fists; she even looked like she was about to hit the man. "Get your dirty foot off of him!" Suddenly, the man was pushed into the stable behind him by Shiki who had ran up to him once he saw what the man did. Shiki looked quite angry. If there is one thing he couldn't tolerate, it is hearing a human insulting dragons or wyverns. It reminded him just who exactly the enemy is and why they needed to be eliminated. The girl looked at Shiki in surprise but he didn't notice her as he was too busy staring down the other human. The green-haired girl turned her attention back onto the man as well. "Don't you talk about dragons or wyverns like you know anything about them! We wrongly judged dragons based on a few bad ones but there are still good dragons out there! Just like the one who protected me!" the girl stated. Hearing what she had just said, Shiki looked to her with widened eyes. "S-She encountered... a dragon...!?" Shiki thought. Suddenly, the loud alarm of war horns reverberated throughout the Wall and Atland. The citizens of Atland, hearing the alarm, proceeded to retreat to their homes. Amazingly, they were rather calm about it. Then, a Wallguard came rushing into Training Area One. "Everybody listen up! A goblin force of five-hundred strong is heading this way to Atland! This is a call to arms! All of you here wishing to be part of the Wallguards are now asked to prove just that! Everyone: prepare for battle!" the Wallguard rallied and is answered by a resounding battle cry. It was time for the recruits to prove their bravery in the field of battle. The invading force is drawing ever near. Now was the time to gear up and head to their respective posts. At the central gate, hundreds of Wallguards belonging to the Assault Troops and the Magic Brigade will gather in preparation to tackle the enemy force on foot. Converging atop the Wall is the Archer Squadron with their bows and arrows and siege weapons. Finally, soaring overhead are the Wallguards of the Wyvern Corps. At Training Area Two, the mage recruits were also given the same message: to prepare for the invasion. Dorian is to lead the new recruits into combat. The central gate awaits them. Back at Training Area One, the green-haired girl looked to Shiki after the situation had been explained to them. "Well, you heard the man. It's time to gear up for battle!" she excitedly said before rushing off to prepare herself. Shiki noticed that Brenard also left. It looks like he has no choice but to ready himself as well even though his mind was occupied at the moment. At the medical tents, Alere was being healed by professional Wallguard mages. They would do a better job than Elise who, while also skilled in her own right, possesses a more varied arsenal. She was there with Mira and Rakanishu, the leader of the small goblin unit who had been captured earlier. Captain Gungneer was also there to get a report of the situation. Of course, he had already heard the essential message which was why he sent word for everyone to prepare for battle. "So the green bastards assembled a small army, huh? Not bad." the captain said rather calmly. "Mira, lock this ugly son of a bitch up then prepare your wyvern for battle. We'll have an interrogator extract the information we need out of him later." Gungneer stated. "Yes, Sir!" Mira replied before dragging the goblin off. Gungneer looked to Elise. "Missy, you stay here, got it? Normally, I'd put you to work but seeing as how you're in no condition to be exerting yourself, you just have to keep Alere company." Gungneer stated. He then walked towards the tent's entrance. "Well, I gotta go. A Wallguard's duty is on the field of battle regardless of rank," a grin then came onto the captain's face, "and that's the way it's supposed to be." he finished while looking fondly at his giant battle axe. Half an hour left before the invading force arrives at the Wall...

Alere hung his head as the familiar cold ripples of magic coursed through his body. He had made his report to the captain, including his estimation of their numbers and foul tactics, forcing mages to hide their troops. He naturally felt uneasy to report the loss of 3 squadmembers, hoping they would make it out okay anyway, they were tough and if they could rout the invasion force now they might be able to get to them. Captain Gungneer took the news in stride, it seemed the man had multiple sources of information, which made sense for someone in his position. Alere stood up and saluted as the Captain made his way outside, although his expression was grimm. "A wallguard's duty is on the field of battle eh?" He thought, turning to look at the mages and Elise all but guarding him. "Where does that leave me..." "You, private." He said as he gathered his gear, earning a look of confusion from his supposed guard. " Take the girl to the Lower City, to Saint Cassiel orphanage. A woman named Sheila will look after her, you are to stay there and look after the orphans until the enemy force has been disbanded." the young man was about to protest but Alere cut him off. "That is an order, private!" He hated pulling rank on anyone and technically as a sergeant he was only in charge of his own squad but thankfully the mage didn't seem aware of that, politely asking Elise to follow him. Alere swung his sword over his shoulder and made his way out, the healing had relieved him of pretty much all of his wounds and aches but left him hungry like a horse, a pit gnawing in his stomach. the energy for healing magic had to come from somewhere and as such it took a great toll on the one being healed as well. Outside he saw people mounting a defense in a hurry, several squads forming to march to the gates. Alere blew a sharp whistle on his fingers and almost immediately a reaction came from the stables, cursing and shouting as stablehands were all but knocked aside as Raum rushed to his side, leaping over panicked Wallguards. The large beast skidded to a halt in front of him and nuzzled her head against him hard enough to almost knock him off his feet. "yeah, you're a good girl, you're such a good girl." He said as he russtled the fur on the side of her head, making her purr loud enough to be heard from several feet away. Alere winced as he traced over the newly formed scar just over her eye, not all wounds healed with magic disappeared completely. "What do you say girl, want to go again and make them pay?" Raum chittered loudly in response and turned around so Alere could get onto her back. As they moved towards the front Alere came across Lieutenant Dorian Starkkewolfe, seemingly in charge of whipping some recruits into something presentable. A perfect opportunity for him to make his way into the fight. he had seen the Lieutenant a couple of times while he was on guard duty, but never had the chance to speak to him. "Lieutenant Starkkewolfe." He called out, slowing Raum down to standstill beside him. "Sergeant Alere Ruadhan reporting for duty, sir. What are your orders?"

Dorian eyed the trainees as they began setting themselves up to take part in his impromptu training exercise. However before any substantial exercise or training could take place, the loud blaring of war horns shattered the chattering of the recruit crowd. Dorian merely sighed loudly as the sound filled the air, undoubtedly reverberating through the city and warning all the citizens to get inside somewhere they'd be safe. There was no panic on the mage-trainer's part even as the voices in the crowd got louder, conjecturing about what was going to happen next. As if on queue, a messenger arrived to provide the necessary information to Dorian and his group. Five hundred goblins had come together as a massive army and were now approximately thirty minutes away from arrival at the city's colossal walls. Not only that, it would be Dorian's responsibility to lead these Magic Brigade wannabes into battle and to make sure they stayed safe and reasonably sound. Just his luck. Would it have killed the goblins to have waited until he managed to evaluate them all properly at the very least? "Alright recruits!" Dorian declared authoritatively, a surprisingly effective act in spite of his youth that was likely supported by his almost thuggish mannerisms, "You heard the man, we have thirty minutes to march over to central gate and get our shit together!" He marched as he called out to the people he'd be watching out for in the coming battle. "If you disobey my orders in this mission or do anything to endanger your comrades, you will regret it! If you currently possess any gear, don it! If you're having second thoughts, run off to the city and make sure you never show your face here again!" Commands such as that filled the air until they finally reached the central gate. The hustle and bustle of people - a good deal being new recruits themselves - was the only thing that could be heard that morning. But although it was loud out at the gate, there was a silence from the city, a calm before the storm. Dorian moved to the front of his group again. "Alright trainees," Dorian began, eyes scanning the crowd and taking a mental attendance, "consider this your big test. If you live, you get to be a Wallguard, plain 'n' simple. But if you die..." He shook his head and grinned grimly. "Err...Well, you're not gonna die. Not if I can help it at least." He took a breath. "Alright. I want all the healers back here, tending to the wounded at base. Offense, you get to be right behind the Assault Troops, in the "second row" so to say. Don't worry 'bout the infantry, the Assault Troops'll take care of 'em for you. No, I want you guys aiming your spells at any and all ranged enemy combatants in sight, and dealing with any green bastards that slip through the Troops. Defense, you'll be "third row". It's your job to shield your allies, don't worry too much about dealing damage, just make sure nobody dies. Second row, Troops, and the Archers'll kill 'em all for you." Dorian glared at his group again. "I don't want any 'heroes' out there, got that? Good. Head out." Admittedly the strategy was a very rudimentary one, but it would have to do for now. Dorian hadn't the time or opportunity to explain anything more sophisticated than that. At least his worst case scenario was just losing about a third of his claaaaaaaaah god what was he doing with himself. He was a lieutenant, he was better than this. And those green bastards were stupid little idiots anyway. Taking them out and saving any trainees in peril would be easy enough. No need to worry. Especially since worrying about recruits was more or less a regular occurrence. Dorian was snapped from his little panicked thought process by a Wyvern Rider, Sergeant Alere Ruadham. Another orphan like himself. The young Starkkewolfe sighed. 'First off, take this crappy teaching job. I'm not cut out for this 'public speaking' bullshit no matter what that old man says,' he thought irritably before pointing at the two recruit groups, "Protect the recruits. The vets can handle 'emselves I reckon, but I'm worried about the lack of training time. I've got mine in a pretty basic formation, so you'll know when something's up." He glanced to Captain Gungneer and his group. "It's them I'm worried about. Who knows what's going on in that bastard's head. Better tactics than mine, I'm hoping."

Together with others Saya arrived at Training Area Two which at first did not look to different from Training Area One. Here too, were dummies and targets lined up on the field. Saya and the others gathered before Lieutenant Dorian, waiting for him to tell them what they should be doing. He seemed to have not made up his mind at first, but then told them to divide themselves. I already know how to heal, so I should probably focus my skills on defending. I’m not here to fight, just to observe and learn from the humans. And if I know how to defend, I would probably also get to know how the humans attack. With that thought, Saya walked to the left of the lieutenant. She was glad that she was taught how to use magic by the elder dragons. After the lieutenant harshly dismissed those who only knew the basics of magic Saya looked around for someone to practice her barriers with. But who could she possibly do that with? Still doubtful of the humans she bit her lower lip. Then she shook her head. That’s not the time to be distinguishing between dragons and humans! Scolding herself, she spoke up to a girl with long, scarlet red hair and put up a smile. “Hey, can I practice with you?” The girl turned her head in surprise towards Saya and quickly nodded. “Eh? Sure, why not.” And so they started testing their barriers. While Saya started off with some rather really basic barriers to see what the humans are capably of, the red haired girl already used some powerful magic attack. “Are you sure you’re right here with those skills of yours?” With narrowed eyes the other girl looked at Saya. “I’ll do something else… Let’s try again.” A ‘hmpf’ was all Saya got from her before they went back into position. But just then they heard the loud blaring of a horn. Not knowing what that meant, Saya gave her training partner a puzzled look as she noticed how everyone else around her started to talk to each other eagerly. The other girl only narrowed her eyes again and growled. “There we have the problem.” She pointed towards a man who just arrived to announce an attack by five hundred goblins. That does not sound good at all… I wonder how Shiki is doing. There was no time for her to worry about him though. Lieutenant Dorian urged them to get to the central gate. There, he gave them a speech that was probably supposed to motivate them. Seeing as how this was a very serious situation, Saya could not allow herself to get into any trouble. It might not be a good idea to test out her defending spells without bringing out powerful spells she was taught by the elder dragons. Even if it meant that she had to treat humans, she went to the back where the healers gathered. If the attack of the goblins was over, she would still have the opportunities to learn about the other spells the human would use. There was still too little she knew about them. After arranging themselves the lieutenant told them to head out. There weren’t too many others who stayed back as healers. Saya could see the girl with the red hair from before heading out as a defender. So some of the humans are not too bad at practicing magic. She has to be careful as to not be seen as weak or she will lose this opportunity of infiltrating the humans. Saya has to quickly find the right balance between showing enough strength to stay and not to make the humans suspicious with her dragon physiology.

Shiki wandered aimlessly around, trying to figure out just where he was supposed to go. Saya was nowhere to be seen and neither was Brenard. Although Shiki preferred not to be in the company of a human, he was the only other person Shiki could rely on for assistance right now. Suddenly, he bumped into a lanky mustachioed man dressed in modified Wallguard uniform. The man also carried a bow. "Are you daft, lad?" the man asked, hunching over the much shorter Shiki. Shiki didn't exactly know how to respond and just gulped nervously. Seeing that, the man sighed. "You have a bow I see. Well then, we've not another second to waste. The Wall awaits us." the man said before gesturing Shiki to follow him. The two of them quickly ascended the stairs to get to the top of the Wall where the other members of the Archer Squadron are preparing for the upcoming invasion. Meanwhile, Shiki is still fixated on what that green-haired girl said before about encountering a dragon. He has to tell Saya about this later on. In any case, as they arrived at the post, the Wallguards turned and saluted the mustachioed gentleman. "Captain Kain, preparations are just about complete." one Wallguard reported. "Very good. Let's have a good showing, shall we?" Kain said before turning to face Shiki. "Lad!" he called out, surprising Shiki. "W-What is it?" Shiki quickly responded. "Well don't just stand there drooling. Get over here." Kain directed Shiki to the edge of the Wall. "Make sure you don't mistakenly hit any soldiers out there, understand?" With that comment, Kain left to inspect further down the Wall. "Don't look so nervous, recruit. Just keep your sights clear and your aim true." a Wallguard standing next to Shiki advised. At the central gate, Gungneer arrived accompanied by two other individuals. The first is a young man dressed in full armor attire who has a mace on one side of his waist and a blunderbuss on the other. This young man is Lieutenant Gil Flamme: a prominent Wallguard officer of the Assault Troops. Then there is the legendary Commander - a rank above Captain - of the Assault Troops and the superior to Gungneer, Commander Seth Einzhart. He is a gallant man who wields a mighty sabre into battle. Despite being a man of few words, Commander Einzhart's presence alone is enough to rally the thousands of Wallguards present here today. However, it's unusual to see him on the battlefield as his duties lie more to the king - a fact despised by Gungneer. Einzhart looked over all the Wallguards and recruits at the central gate and smiled. "Look at them all. So adamant in their resolve to protect Atland. Oh how I miss being here in the thick of it all." Einzhart fondly reminisced. "Too busy being an errand boy for the royal family, huh?" Gungneer remarked. Einzhart chuckled in response. "My duties extend beyond the Wall - beyond Atland. I am an 'errand boy' for humanity if you are to be correct." The Commander turned away to face the city within. "See to it that no goblin steps foot onto Atland soil, would you Gungneer?" Einzhart subtly commanded. Without waiting for a response, Einzhart left towards the city. Gungneer and Gil approached the front of the central gate where Dorian stood waiting. Gungneer was both surprised and pleasantly delighted to see Alere in the crowd. "Now that's a Wallguard who knows his duty," Gungneer must've thought. Gil turned to Dorian before looking over his shoulder to see some mages out of place. "Can't say I envy your position." he simply said, referring to how Dorian is stuck with looking after recruits. He then turned around to face the gate with his arms crossed, standing there silently. Finally, the time came. The massive central gates opened and out came hundreds of Wallguards and recruits from the Assault Troops and Magic Brigade. At the forefront of the entire assembly stood Dorian, Gungneer, and Gil. Alere and Raum stood alongside the Assault Troops. Saya was in the back with the Magic Brigade. Finally, atop of the Wall stood Shiki. He could see the entire forest expanse and beyond from where he stood. Looking down, he could see his sister in the crowd and another sight caught his eye. Shuffled into the Assault Troops was the green-haired girl from before - the one who encountered a dragon. "Could she have really..." Shiki let his thoughts trailed off. "Wallguards! Here comes the first wave!" Gungneer shouted, an excited and proud grin formed on his face as he swung his massive battle axe to the side. Just as Gungneer said that, a huge swarm of goblins burst through the forest clearing all yelling wildly as they storm the Humemark Valley towards what they foresee as glory. Most were on foot but some rode giant boars that dwarfed most horses and even rival some wyverns in terms of sheer size. They all carried crude equipment but don't let that fool anyone, they are formidable fighters. Just exiting the forest clearing are catapults, dragged by giant boars, designed to launch huge boulders and nets to catch wyvern riders. "CHARGE!" Gungneer gave the order to the Assault Troops as he proceeded to charge with them.

"Bleh, envy is for the weak anyway," Dorian quipped, waving off any of his fellow Lieutenant's concerns, "If I couldn't shoot down a few of the green buggers coming after my men, I shouldn't have been a lieutenant in the first place." The three officers stood at the front of the gate as a silence beset their group, a beacon of calm before an incoming storm of chaos. Dorian's fingers curled tighter around his spear, muscles tensed, body itching to draw goblin blood today. Waiting, it was always the damned waiting. The ticking of the proverbial clock rang loudly in Dorian's mind, counting down the seconds left until the battle began. The gargantuan gates creaked open, revealing an expanse of verdant forest before the veritable army gathered to defend the human capital. There was an unsteady pause in the action following the grand opening of the gates. Eyes, Dorian's and many others, glanced around the surrounding foliage. The air was heavy with anticipation, finally broken by a simple declaration by their commander. The first horde of the green-skinned raiders broke through the trees like water through a dam. At the forefront of the battlefield was Captain Gungneer, leading from the front followed by the wave of steel that was the Assault Troops of the Wallguard. Dorian looked to his group once the front-lines of both sides made contact. "Well? The hell are you all waiting for?" Dorian spat, turning back to the front of the battlefield. He twirled his staff, and thrust it into the air with one hand, a wild grin on his face. "This is it recruits! Time to show these green bastards humanity's resolve!" Dorian crouched low, staff held behind him. The familiar sensation of mana gathering in his legs focused his mind forward, eyes locked in on a point in front of him. Shot forward like a bullet, ending his high-speed dash in a leap that burnt off his remaining momentum. His spear was poised to impale the unlucky bastard he landed on. Mana flowed through his hands, as he shifted his grip to the underside of his spear, ready to lever it forwards and fire off a flurry of spells with his staff upon landing. Blood boiling, the young Lieutenant entered the fray with an extremely prejudiced impalement, following through with the magical blasts from his thrust-forward staff.

Murmurs arose from among the clattering of steel, anxious remarks over how the battle would go. The tunnel leading to the gates was dark, dimly lit by torches but all could see the worry on the soldier next to them. It was those heavy minutes before battle, not knowing if this would be your last day or not. for the recruits, the feelinfs were so much more intesne, some even praying openly to ask to see the sunset. Both rider and mount stood silently as statues, an isle of calm surrounded by onlookers in awe. If one of them would dare to look Alere in the eyes they would see he wasn't who he normally was. A nonchalant tension like a viper poised to strike, the aura of a killer, truly terrifying.“There's no poetry in me, Wallguards. No fine words." He stared down at the recruits, his gaze seeming to consume them. "be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for our home" Some seemed inspired; a soldier who would do anything to protect what was dear to him. Other folk thought it was simple bloodlust, a berserk savagery that neither knew nor cared what its target was, and so it was when it struck without warning. But Alere knew if he gave himself to it knowingly, it was as cold as it was hot, as rational as it was lethal. To embrace the Rage was to embrace a splendor, a glory, a denial of all restraint but not of reason. It was pure, elemental purpose, unencumbered by compassion or horror or pity, yet it was far more than mere frenzy. Raum mirrored his emotions as the gates opened, letting light stream into the tunnel. That moment of calm bursted away as he let out an roar, joined by Raum's thundering call and threw them forward into an unholy carnage of blood, fangs, steel, and death. Spears stabbed at her, snapping like toothpicks on her iron hide as goblins were torn asunder left and right, ripped to shreds by her claws or horribly broken by Alere's heavy sword. At one point he must have dismounted Raum as he found himself standing among goblin corpses, all slain by his hand. They were making good progress, most of the goblins being forced through him and the more experienced Wallguards, while the recruits had to mostly deal with stragglers. The display of carnage by their superiors also bolstered their courage. With cries of victory echoing already. But he knew, Alere knew this would be only the first wave, a prodding of their defenses, find their weaknesses. But they would find none, the wall would stand, as it always had. A loud snort brought him back to the battle as he stood face to face with a horse-sized boar, its tusks covered in steel to make them even more deadly. Its rider goaded it forward with a shriek, trying to impale Alere and run him over. The stampeding of hooves, the warcries, the sound of his sword hitting the ground. No time to run, to roll to the side, the beast would be upon him. The boar shrieked again, not in anger but in agony this time. It was stopped dead in its tracks, hooves futily treading the dirt. Somehow, Alere had managed to seize it by its tusks, fingers digging in deeply enough to leave dents on the metal. through gritting teeth he forced the beast to a standstill, much to the amazement of onlooking soldiers and goblins. With an unearthly roar he gathered his strength, lifting the boar and slamming it on its side, crushing its poor rider and snapping the deadly teeth off. Once he was certain the beast was out of commision he gathered his sword and stumbled back a few paces, drawing heavy breaths. The exertion combined with the drain of healing made him feel a bit woozy. he whistled and within seconds Raum was by his side, shielding him from the remaining goblin forces as he tried to regain his composure, taking the time to try and see how the rest of the battle was going.