"Ready," Joxin said in a calm tone. In response, the shield bearer beside him tensed, "Shift." At the command, the shield bearer standing in the space between the crenelations of stone on the ramparts of the Middle Fort slid to the side. Drawing back on the string of his raised bow and stepping into the small gap between the shield and his stone cover, Joxin aimed and released his arrow at the beastkins that were climbing up the ladder to the western bridge in half a second.

Before he could see if his shot connected or not, he was stepping back into cover. Joxin might not have seen what he hit, but he was confident he hit something. Whether the wound would make the beastkin fall to a watery death or slowly bleed out was another matter entirely.

Reaching for another arrow from the stand next to him as he moved, Joxin looked down at the weapon in his hands. Truth be told, he was a decent shot with the bow. He picked it up as a young man living on the Great Plains, though his skill never really progressed as hunting wasn't his thing. During his decade of service, while going out on patrols in bum fuck nowhere, getting a supply of fresh meat became a lot more important, and hunting was the only way to guarantee it.

Tracking beasts through the southeastern border of the Great Forest and the Swamps was… well, Joxin actually missed it. The smell took some getting used to, but the constant warm temperature was enjoyable. And it was where he learned of his natural talent for surviving in nature. However, the ending was… less than pleasant. Worse, it left a bitter taste in his mouth whenever he thought back to that time.

But none of that mattered at the moment. Joxin could be one of the worst archers in the legion, but as long as he knew how to aim, draw, and release a bow in a direction, he would still hit something right now. That wouldn't be as effective as what he was doing, but it didn't change the truth. There are too many beastkins on the bridge to miss.

Joxin's shots might not be hitting a target as often or accurately as he would like, but even flinches could add up and affect the flow of a battle, and that was good enough. His middle-aged partner, who Joxin had no idea what his name was, had started sliding back into place before the arrow was off Joxin's string, almost clipping the feathers on the arrow shaft mid-flight with his shield.

And yet, before the legionary could fully cover the slit in the battlements, a spear clipped the upper right corner of his shield. Some might call it lucky, but Joxin saw the older legionary attempt to twist and lift his arm to the side to take the blow on the shield surface at the last second. He only managed to deflect the spear, but it was more than most could have managed, and due to his efforts, the weapon half slapped against the shield's face before flipping over its edge along with the man behind before clattering across the ground, somehow stopping at Joxin's feet.

Looking from the warped steel at the shield edge to the throwing spear hitting his toes, Joxin felt his mouth suddenly dry out. If his shieldmate had hesitated for the smallest of moments, Joxin would have taken the spear to the chest. The older man only gave the briefest look to the spear as he flicked his wrist, sending out a tendril to grab the spear, pick it up, and send it flying back the way it came.

Screams and shouts sounded to Joxin's left, but they blended into the cacophony filling the air. Any one noise was hardly noticeable among the constant clang of metal striking metal and wood thunking into flesh and chipping stone. But every time Joxin heard a scream nearby, he couldn't help but perform a quick survey of the mental network to ensure he didn't have to turn and fight the beastkins on the walls, as he had a not-so-small fear of being stabbed in the back.

Thankfully, Joxin was fortunate in his placement on the battlements of the Middle Fort. He wasn't one of the poor bastards standing above the gates, all of whom were swept away to who knew where when the fist of water smashed the gatehouses to pieces. And then, when those fighting in the gap of the western gate were pushed back, half of those on the battlements were forced to turn and fight off the beastkins leaping to the top of the walls.

Luckily, another knight arrived in time to push back the mage beastkin from the breach, or whatever he was, but plenty of the normal beastkins remained to be killed. A daunting task that Joxin was not sure he and the other defenders could manage.

The fact of the matter was that those inside the fort were never meant to participate directly in the fighting. If those on the bridges themselves were pushed back, Joxin and those with him were supposed to hold until relieved. Relief that seemed to never want to stay here more than a second before moving on.

Or so Joxin was told in the union, as he actually hadn't seen a knight within the fort this night, though he did hear them. Not that hearing the knight was much of a challenging task, as it was impossible to miss the impacts and cracks of high-level castings affecting the world as knights swung their weapons, spreading death and destruction far and wide.

By the time Joxin had the opportunity to turn and look in the direction of the noises, the knights had disappeared, leaving them to deal with the aftermath and continue the battle. Well, it was more like enduring slowly being pushed back until the hammers were needed again, but that was the fate of a legionary. Where in the cursed elementals are the knights going?

Then again, the answer to that question didn't matter to him, and this disaster seemed pretty standard if they were fighting the Imperials. Now, with his rationalizations mostly done, all he had to do was pretend the beastkins were humans and do his job while surviving whatever popped up in front of him. An easy task with how close Joxin was to the Western Tower of the Middle Fort, as all he had to do was keep firing his bow.

"Ready," said Joxin, his voice in no way making it above the din of battle, but his intention of being ready to release his arrow was passed to his partner through the union. "Shift," Joxin said a moment later. Stepping into the gap and releasing the arrow, Joxin's aim was thrown off as he jerked back in surprise. No longer caring what happened to his shot, he crouched and hopped to the side, more pressing worries than the wolfkins surging to the forefront of his mind.

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"We have flyers incoming!" Tribune Draglin's voice sounded in his mind a couple of seconds after the blare of mental warning that compelled him to look up and to the northwest, causing him to miss his shot. "Archers on the walls, keep them off the troops!"

Eyes lifting to the sky, Joxin's attention was caught on the walls of the Western Fort of the Triad before he could make it to the clouds. The crimson fires raging outside the walls outlined those on the ramparts struggling for dominance, a battle that looked more desperate and fierce than the one he was engaged in.

As for the source of the fires, that was obvious, with only a few of the previous two dozen siege towers still whole. Most of them were skewed far to the side or partially collapsed, with only a single side or post still standing above the battlements, skeletons of what they once were. Of the towers that still stood, every one had figures with a brilliant blue glow pouring off them to envelop the towers, and some had tendrils that extended into the melee around the siege towers' ramps.

That all… mostly made sense if he didn't think about it too hard. What Joxin could not understand was how massive divots were on the inside of the stone wall. It was like something was trapped inside the structure and wanted to punch its way out. In its attempts to do so, it sent the gigantic bricks of stone composing the barrier to knock over the buildings they struck.

But none of that was his problem this second, so he moved on. Yet, in the brief instant that he watched the battle, Joxin's eyes went wide as he saw a portion of the wall shake like a swaying tree a moment before bricks exploded out, creating another gaping wound in the Western Fort's outer walls.

Staring into the heavens, Joxin saw nothing but the dark clouds churning overhead. Then, a crack of branching lightning forked across the sky, and he saw birdkins by the thousands. They already looked to be breaking up into small groups, diving towards different sections of the Triad, some even looking like they were going to the Southern Fort and the surrounding city.

All that changed when one branch of lightning after another began forking into their flocks, dropping their now charred forms from the sky by the dozens and then hundreds. Within seconds, the beastkins' formations were shattered by nature's azure power.

But that power instantly paled in comparison next to the seven suns of purest white that burst into life above the Triad. The sudden brightness scorching across the sky made Joxin duck his head and cover his eyes with his free hand, but he did not turn away.

He knew the fight was still raging around him. He knew that with the sudden light, the fighting had taken on a new ferocity as arrows and spears struck with a sudden precision. Joxin did not care. He didn't even raise his bow to help fend off the birdkins diving to attack the Middle Fort.

"That is power," Joxin whispered, his eyes burning with wonder and desire. From the moment he saw a knight wield two earth plates to smash a melka stalking through the tall grass of the plains, saving a child's life, he had wanted to be one. Joxin wished to wield the might of the Elementals themselves. What greater rush could there be?

Not that he could comprehend such a desire as a child, as his wish back then was simple. There couldn't be a bigger accomplishment than going to the legion and returning to the tribe as a knight and gaining all that honor and recognition.

How many children dream of becoming a knight? To stand in front of a legion, fighting a hoard of beastkins stretching to the horizon, and having them all look at you with amazement and admiration. Understandable and rational emotions to be felt by those looking at a person capable of holding back any foe with the powers of the world itself. The answer is all of them.

And yet, so many children can never accomplish the first step toward those goals, no matter how hard they try. Like nearly every other commoner, they simply had too little psy. The lucky few who barely have enough psy usually don't have the dedication and will to train themselves up to the standard needed. Joxin did have the will to train relentlessly, but his psy reserves were right on the border… Actually, if he was honest, he was a little under the required level at ninety-nine orbs.

It might have been a childhood pipe dream, but deep down, he never really gave up believing that he would one day become a knight. When the opportunity came to join the scouts, he took it. Everyone knew that scouts were, more often than not, more skilled than knights when it came to pure control. They just didn't have the power to back up their skills.

Instructor Green was the personification of such a statement. In truth, Joxin had never met anyone so skilled, and it gave new life to his childhood fantasy. But what the beastkin were doing was something else. It went beyond the primal powers of nature into the realm of fantasy, like the stories of the miracles that the old gods could perform.

It was common knowledge that knights could only use what was already around them, though Joxin knew the strongest had ways around the limitation. But as a rule of thumb, a knight aqua couldn't make water in a desert, and a knight electro can't make lighting from a clear sky. The forces they used were powerful and savage in their simplicity and efficiency but also nearly as limited.

What he had heard and seen about the beastkin's powers was that they were far more versatile and mysterious and, as such, weaker than a knight's raw power. The longer the fire spheres lit up the sky, the more sure Joxin became that he was not looking at a weak ball of fire. The orbs were such a pale yellow that they bordered on white.

The seven different spheres of light streaked across the sky, leaving faint yellow lines marking their passage. In less time than the blink of an eye, the spheres darted forward, jerking and dodging from side to side as lightning bolts lashed out to strike them. Two were hit, or the orbs exploded prematurely. Joxin couldn't tell what actually happened, but it didn't matter in the end. When all the flashes and streaks of light were over, a growing bloom of fire hundreds of yards in diameter filled the night.

The only sound audible was a resounding rumble from the explosions booming its way over the fort and surrounding area. All at once, the explosion vanished, and in its place was a white and bright orange lump falling from the sky in the center of a hole in the storm clouds. Bolts of power cracked out their fury at the disturbance, branching between the open area as new clouds quickly refilled in the space. While the lighting rumbled and flashed, none of it struck at the beastkins.

"Snap out of it and shoot your damn bow!" Shouted the older man while stomping on Joxin's foot. In all his years in the legion, Joxin had never seen a knight die in battle. He heard of it happening while fighting the Imperials, but seeing it was something different…

Raising his bow, Joxin took aim at a diving beastkin, releasing his shot a moment later. Before the arrow could strike home, he had already grabbed and strung another arrow and was tracking a target next to the first.

"Fuck!" Joxin cursed as his first arrow missed the beastkin as it swerved out of the way. Holding his next shot, Joxin waited until the beastkin leveled out their dives before releasing it and quickly ducking behind the wall.

Joxin heard the thunk of the beastkin hitting the battlements, but he could not smile as tens of legionaries all along the walls were skewered through the back and fronts by thrown and thrust spears. Putting another arrow onto his string, Joxin took aim at the bastards, ignoring the fear taking root in his heart.

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