There was only one way to describe what was around me. A scorched wasteland… and I wasn't even in the camp proper yet. Smoke hung in the air, and ash swirled along the ground before sweeping into the sky. Off in the distance, a large section of the rolling plains of green grass could be seen burning after one of the pillars of fires or another had turned it into a hellscape.

Stepping past the outer edge of the ten-foot tall berm, after passing the ten-foot-wide and fifteen-foot-deep trench around it, with sharp spears of wood buried into the side that did absolutely nothing in the attack, I finally got a good view of the fish camp. "Make way!" Cracked a commanding voice. "Move aside!"

Jerking out of the numbed state I had entered as I processed the destruction, I hopped to the side of the passage in the earthworks as a turma of cavalry thundered past me from behind. It might have been my imagination, but I thought all thirty of the men glanced at me and my scout recruits as they passed.

Whether I was right in my split-second observation or not, I knew I wasn't the only one in a dark mood. The horsemen's faces hardly altered from their grim frowns and hard eyes as they took in the destruction all around us. Their mindset was simple, they had a mission, and anything that would not help or hinder them was irrelevant. Which included me and my scout trainees.

They stopped and circled within the first thirty feet of the fish camp entrance, churning up the loose, blackened soil. Then, an armor-clad figure fell from the sky, thudding to the ground ten yards from them before walking up to the cavalry commander, who trotted forward while keeping tight control of his horse.

The two spoke for a handful of seconds before the knight stepped away and crouched low. As he extended his legs, two small spears rose from the ground under his feet to assist his action. The combined force of the earth's push and his leap threw him hundreds of feet into the air, where he was swallowed by the night once more.

"Turn, ho!" Shouted the cavalry commander as he held up his saber tilted to the side. As one, the turma of cavalry performed a tight arc and exited the fish camp, showing no indications of diverting towards the Triad as the horse's hooves beat against the ground.

From what I could see, their eyes were fixed to the east, where the birds had come from. Wherever they were headed, I doubted I could see it with my eyes even if there was daylight, and I didn't want to be the ones standing in their way.

As I tracked the cavalry vanishing into the gloom, I found myself looking at my trainees. "Spread out, search for survivors," I ordered them, then turned in and walked further into the camp.

Within the first few steps, I came across four bodies of dead… well, to me, they had become legionaries. I didn't even bend over to see if they were alive. Their throats were slashed open, and their chests had gaping wounds, with not even a trickle of blood leaking out. No, these unlucky bastards weren't counted among the living within this smoldering camp.

Call it a twist of fate, but the camp was fairly well-lit, even discarding the patches of still-burning fire nearly the same color as the golden comet. As I looked at them, those fires not contained within braziers were snuffed out as the ground rose up around them and collapsed. Now, only the moon and the surprising number of untouched campfires were lighting camp.

Even if it was only the moon, I could see fine as an elf at night, not that I needed my sight right now. Closing my eyes, I let the noise I had been ignoring until now fill my mind. All the screams and groans of the wounded and dying scraped at my heart and prompted me to move. Get to work, asshole.

Turning to walk to someone I could see twitching, I stopped as a slight movement to the side caught my attention. Taking a few steps and kneeling down, I pulled back a scorched scrap of a tent, revealing a young woman curled up in a slight depression in the ground underneath.

Her eyes were squeezed shut with pain, and her arms were crossed over her stomach, keeping the broken-off spear shaft sticking out of her gut locked in place. Slowly, I reached down, touching her shoulder lightly, causing her to flinch back, her body tensing in fear. At her reaction, I felt a wave of guilt and shame that I had not handled the situation better, as, of course, she would be fearful after what had just happened.

Eyes snapping open, "Ahh! N— Don— Who… are you?" The woman stuttered in bewildered shock before her eyes darted past me, frantically searching the area. I felt my heart twinge at her frailty and hopeful fear. "Are… they gone?"

"Yes." I softly said, gently but firmly tugging at her arms to get a better look at the wound, "The beastkin are gone, but I need to get a look at your injury." After a few more soothing words, I pulled apart her arms, revealing the base of the spear shaft. Carefully, I pressed my fingers against the edge of her injury, eliciting some sharp hisses of pain that I ignored as I bent down and sniffed, letting out a sigh of relief when I didn't smell any foulness.

Believing I knew the extent of the wound, I lifted my head and looked the woman in the eyes. As soon as I did, I froze as it felt like I was being sucked into the violet depths. I had never seen anything quite like her eyes before, and the world began to fade around me as I stared into them. Shaking my head and lurching my slowed thoughts into motion, I focused on what was important.

"Umm… Ahh, anyway… I'm going to remove the spear shaft. You're not bleeding badly, and theirs no smell, so it looks like you were lucky in that it somehow managed not to cut anything important on the way in, but if you start moving around, it's just a matter of time until something is severed, and then theirs a good chance no one can help you. Since you're not in danger of bleeding out, it will take hours for the healers to get to you…" Realizing I was rambling, I trailed off.

"Look, the bottom line is that you'll be fine as long as we get the spearhead out and wrap a bandage around the wound, okay? But to do that, I'm going to have to enter a union with you, do you understand?" Looking at her… angry dark face? No, confused. She didn't understand what I was saying, as her eyes and mind were clouded with pain.

With gentle firmness, I pushed her shoulder, forcing her to roll onto her back. Then, I planted my hand on her sternum as the other grabbed the spear shaft right above her stomach. Mustering up a thread of mental energy, I formed the smallest tendril I could and probed her mind, seeking a union.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

For an instant, I thought she was in too much pain to accept the invitation, but then her tendril lashed out and connected with mine with surprising strength. As suddenly as I had the thought, the strength vanished in a wave of pain, and I could feel I had control over her mental energy used to form our union.

"Stay still," I said soothingly, increasingly transfixed by the woman's elegant features and wanting to calm her panicked and fear-filled eyes. At her growing emotions, I sent her a pulse of steady confidence and reassurance into our union as I gave her a small smile. "It will sting, and you will feel an uncomfortable pressure, but it will be over soon." At my words, her erratic breathing slowed, and she gave a short nod, telling me she was ready.

Using her mental energy, I formed a tendril and reshaped it to create a thin layer around the spear shaft, ensuring my energy was on the inner edge of the casting. Moving the mental energy down the wood, I layered the weapon until I reached the point of the spear tip. Once I was sure I had covered everything, I slowly increased the size of the shell, pushing back on her flesh and organs as I rounded out the edges of the steel points.

With no chance of the weapon catching or slicing anything, I pulled the spearhead out quickly and smoothly, trying to minimize the sudden flaring of mental energy I was using. Dropping the spear to the side, I wiped off the beads of sweat forming on my forehead with my arm, then whipped out my bandage to press against her wound.

What I had just done had stepped awfully close to exerting my mental energy directly on a person. It was only thanks to her willingly letting me use her power and wanting the procedure done that I wasn't crossing the line. Otherwise, I couldn't touch her without my tendril quickly dissipating to nothing. Even so, what I did took a lot out of me, and I probably wouldn't be able to do it again anytime soon.

The woman let out a few grunts and whimpers of pain while I worked to staunch the bleeding, but it was hardly noticeable. Leaning to the side, I pulled out my knife and then used it to cut away a relatively clean-looking section of the tent that had covered her. Tearing it into strips, I pressed it to her wound before giving her a reassuring smile, "Hold this tightly in place, and you should be fine."

Her face twitched in something I couldn't quite make out, and her entire demeanor brightened as a grateful smile stretched her dark lips as she said, "Thank you, brother. I hope there is some way for me to repay you? Though that would require I know your name." With a start, I looked back, as I had already started to turn away, and I finally noticed her pointed ears.

A flush of embarrassment tinged my cheeks as I said, "Ahh~. It seems I forgot my bedside manner. I am Scout Green." I gave her a slight bow as I got to my feet, trying to not look like an idiot as I did so.

"Trainee Luna." She said. "And thank you, Scout Green… Again."

"It was my pleasure," I responded, half distracted. The Fish Camp was still in turmoil, and no one had taken over command yet. No one but my trainees would follow me, but if I set up a casualty collection point right next to the main road and exit, I doubted anyone would make too much of a fuss. "I'm gonna make this a collection area for the wounded. Stay still, and we'll do what we can to make you comfortable."

Luna acknowledged my words with a smile and slowly closed her violet eyes, but my gaze remained locked on her face for long seconds, even as I knew I had a lot to do and should be moving. I watched as her face shifted from the hard lines of pain to a sharp elegance as she relaxed. Her high cheekbones, razor-thin eyebrows, and hair that looked a pale white in the moon, but when I blinked, turned a light green. Combine all of that with her violet eyes, and she was striking. Almost enthralling.

Duty called, however, and my body continued to turn, almost against my will. When I could no longer keep my eyes on her perfect form, I sighed regretfully and set about my tasks. Looking around the scorched ground, I looked for anyone nearby. "Joxin! Anooha! Come here!" The two glanced at me at the call and started jogging over as I continued to wave them over.

Instead of waiting for them, I began walking as I looked around, examining my surroundings in detail. Right off the bat, I could take in the main changes to the landscape, as they were blatant. The main gate to the western entrance to the Triad was destroyed, nothing more than a pile of collapsed and melted stone. But that was nothing compared to the center of the fish camp, which looked like a giant had decided to try and dig around the earth in search of something.

Long trenches that you could stack multiple full-grown adults and still not reach its edges crisscrossed the ground between the outer and inner parts of the Fish Camp. The few spots not filled with trenches looked to be part of craters thirty feet across and some amount deep as I could not see the bottom from where I was.

At the center of all that destruction were three or four cohorts of legionaries still standing in a defensive formation. Their shields were raised to protect them from all sides as messengers and pulse messages left their ranks in frantic sprints. More than their physical shields, I was sure they were also ready to form an energy shield should the beastkins return.

Off to the eastern side of the group was a couple of centuries, I assumed, were trying to clear the ground enough to make a path out of the destruction for the cohorts. Details I could only make out because of the convenience of the sunlamps some of the fish were carrying. However, none of that had anything to do with me.

Around the edges of the destruction, I could see individuals start getting up and stumbling around as they searched for Ancestor knew what. While I knew I should be moving to help them, my attention kept drifting to an utterly unharmed tent standing alone in all the destruction as if nothing of consequence had happened. What are the odds?

After I felt like I had a grasp of the situation, I made my decision. "Joxin, gather up anyone able to run and head back to the fort, find the medicos, and grab all the bandages and stretchers you can get, then come back."

"Instructor!" Joxin said while slamming his fist to his chest before turning and running off, but I paid no attention to him as my mind had moved on.

"Anooha, I'm making this a casualty collection point. Tell everyone to bring the critically wounded here. And I need you to find or make basins of water and bring them here from the river… And food, we're going to need it soon."

"Yes, Instructor Green!" Anooha responded, also slamming her fist to her chest and scurrying off to gather people for her task. Instead of standing around, I started spiraling around my collection point. I checked every body I stumbled across to see if they were still living. And it paid off.

Within the utter destruction of the camp, the beastkin left a surprisingly large number of people alive. Gut and leg wounds were the most common, with blows to the head coming in third. Sure, every third person I came across was dead, but from the quick inspection I gave them, it was more often than not from shock and blood loss than a fatal stab.

…It was weird, but I gave it little thought as I helped those I could with what I had on hand and moved them to the growing collection of wounded. As I worked, time quickly passed. When Joxin finally returned with the bandages, stretchers, and a few orderlies, I started using the stretchers to collect those I didn't want to move under their own power in case it would worsen their wounds.

The orderlies began wrapping wounds and performing some stitching on the most critical patients before sending them to the medical facilities back in the Triad. Hours passed in such a manner until the cohorts at the center of camp started marching past us as they made their way to the walls of the Triad.

As the last few centuries passed, two broke off to the sides of the entrance while the last stopped in the center of our gathering. "Who's in command here!" shouted a deep, resonant voice.

Looking around, I saw that those who reacted to the voice at all — instead of ignoring it and focusing on their work — were making sidelong glances at me. Fuck me… Sighing, I finished tying off a bandage before standing up and walking toward the voice. "I guess that would be me," I called out, tiredly waving my arm.

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