Attention!

The next day, Kabhathea called everyone together before training was to begin. Estille was present as well, so I knew what was coming.

Kabhathea stomped her foot. "Attention!" The idle chatter of the knights, which had been greater than usual due to the appearance of Estille, died instantly, and Kabhathea continued. "My loyal knights! Listen carefully; I will not repeat myself. One wentz from today, I shall lead you all in a march on the Median. There, on that vast battlefield, each and every one of you will have a chance to prove yourself, both as a worthy knight and a valued comrade." Hushed, anxious voices muttered and murmured throughout the arena. Were they nervous, like us? Or...?

I glanced down at Marigold, who stood beside me. She looked back at me blankly. I thought she must be afraid, though her face didn't show it, and for a moment I thought she was rather good at masking those sorts of emotions, but that wasn't really true. I could see it, deep in those emerald eyes of hers; there was something—not an abject horror or trembling fear, no—it was a small, slippery sand-grain of anxiety that sat and festered and could slowly grow into a horrid black pearl of despair. It was the kind of thing that couldn't just be routed out with a few nice words or a good drink—in other words, the kind of thing I had no remedy for.

"Now," said Kabhathea, "I will explain the details of our mission. Our effort to push back the Order Sfyrae has seen increased success as of late, and we believe that with a little more, we may be able to take control of the midpoint between our Capital and theirs. This would be a huge strategic victory for us, as we could use this point as a forward base, both to secure our position along that front and to gain a secondary route along which to attack the Order Dorian."

The murmurs amongst the knights grew. Suddenly, one of the knights called out, "huzzah!" and another followed suit. Soon, everyone was whooping and chanting. So they weren't nervous, after all... they were raring to go, hungering for battle and honor, without even having heard all the details. I didn't know what to feel. At first, I was still afraid. But, then I started to think about it. These knights knew what they were getting themselves into, right? They had lived in this world for much, much longer than I had. Maybe there was no use in worrying. Their rallying cries were rousing, and I found the corners of my mouth curling into a grin. I found my back straightening into a proud posture. I found my fist rising into the air and pumping along with the knights, and I found my lungs heaving to shout out with the others, "Yah! Yah! Huzzah!" and so on.

I felt a jab in my side and snapped out of it. Marigold was looking at me with the face of a disappointed parent, and I half expected her to hiss "you're embarrassing me!" and then drag me away by the ear or something...

"Sorry," I said, rubbing my neck awkwardly. "Not sure what came over me there." As my eyes drifted to avoid meeting Marigold's gaze, I happened to spot Ynwe and Far standing side-by-side in the crowd. They stood out, for, like Marigold, they both showed a total lack of enthusiasm. Far noticed me looking at them and nudged Ynwe, and they both shot me a grim look. I was reminded that Ynwe, and presumably Far, too, had been fighting much longer than the rest of the knights in the arena, and their grave demeanor tugged my fiery mood back down to a more cautious place.

Estille raised their hand, and the lively chanting subsided. "Good," they said. "It is wonderful that you all are so... eager." As they hung on that last word, their eyes seemed to fall upon Ynwe and Far. I shivered. "Now, as for the reason for my presence here... I have been working tirelessly to secure our position along the Sfyraean front. My knights have thus far propelled us to victory after victory, but now, we face our most important battle, and so what I require is not merely numbers, but strategy, specialists, and an element most rare in this plane whose history has repeated itself for far too long—that of surprise. Whether you realize it or not, despite your relative inexperience, these are the strengths you offer. So, I wished to come gaze upon you myself and judge with my own eyes how best to utilize those strengths."

They gestured to Kabhathea, and she nodded and spoke. "Yes—the truth is, this group is... experimental. Though many of you could be considered 'normal,' a large portion of the knights here were chosen for some unique quality that we believed could offer an advantage. For some of you, it may be obvious; for others, we may need to tease out your usefulness. So far, we have honed your fundamental fighting skills, but now, we must move on. To be candid, the time we have is less than I had hoped for, but..." Estille glared at her briefly. Kabhathea noticed and cleared her throat. "We have Estille. They will be with us on the battlefield, and they are here with us now. As you can imagine, they cannot be here constantly, but they have designated some of their precious time to assisting us, so make use of it! And remember: as individuals, we may be weak, but together we are one! We are Spathos!"

With that, she drew her sword and pointed it to the heavens. Estille followed suit, wearing a serene smile on their face, and so did the knights. All together, a battle cry full of emotion echoed forth, and I was once again sent spiraling into a blazing pit of fervor and fellowship. It was such a new feeling, so invigorating and moving! I felt my lip quiver and my eyes water. It was so strange! Was this what I had been looking for all along?—the passion, the glory? Serving the gods in their holy realm? Making new friends and learning new things? Perhaps, perhaps... but still, when I looked at the little witch wringing her hands beside me, an uncomfortable knot welled up in my stomach. The future was a scary thing, indeed...