Celica had strayed to the edge of their hiding place, so she was one of the first to see the dragon march into the ambush’s sight. As the rest of the dragon’s body crested the bend of the valley’s path, her eyes were drawn to a blue marking on the monster’s foreleg. It was made indistinct by the distance, but the bluish shade of the emblem representing the Endolan forces contrasted heavily on the beast’s brown hide.

Behind her, whispers and mutterings spread as more and more students became aware of the enemy’s appearance. Several rose and shuffled over to the edge of the valley, trying to get a better view of their invaders, while others began milling about and trying to settle themselves into organized groups, sensing the beginning of the conflict drawing nearer. The graduates and Shifter professors of the Academy began to assert themselves then, forming the core of squads and calling the students that had been assigned to them, even as the command to wait was given to them. No reason to be unprepared when the time came to charge.

One such call echoed in her head, as loud and clear as if the speaker was right beside her, snapping her attention away from the approaching forces. She looked behind her towards the milling Demons and Titans and swallowed, suddenly realizing how dry her throat felt. With one arm she began pushing through the throng, the other firmly pressed over one her holsters, her claws reflexively tapping against the weapon. She was only aware of the motion because of the clicking sound that tickled her ears as her claws scraped against the gun’s steel. 

Eventually, the graduate she’d been assigned to came into view. He had assumed his Shifter form already. Humanoid and tall, whatever skin remained uncovered by his armor was colored in a gray hue, scaled in some places, and with tusked, leonine features that lent him a ferocious air. A deep, orange mane flowed from his scalp, seeming to glow from within. She couldn’t tell at his age as he was. His eyes flicked from the group of Shifters he was addressing and they fell on Celica, wincing slightly as their eyes met. Celica cringed and broke eye contact. A twinge of irritation managed to escape the cold knot in her chest as she reminded herself of the effect her gaze could have on others.

Ignoring her slip, the Ifrit gestured for her to approach, inviting her into the group. Celica moved closer, studying the other Shifters from the corner of her eye. There were about ten of them, all Shifted. She did what she could to identify some of the creatures arrayed before her. Celica counted a pair of Earth Elementals, taking on the shape of humungous stone golems, as well as what looked like a Chimera with a lion’s head and torso, the back legs of a goat and a snake head for a tail. Owing to a pair of wings and heavy plate armor, Celica pegged a blonde, short-haired woman standing by her as a Valkyrie, though her armor had a more traditional look than Alice’s, and she carried a shield on her left arm. Another Yukianesa stood opposite to her, ice covering the base of her jaw and neck in much the same way as crystal had taken the place of Celica’s arms and left eye. Celica thought she recognized her features, but she could not recall a name. To this last one she offered a perfunctory nod. She was not sure she could have pushed words out of her throat if she wanted to. The others looked no less odd or mismatched, but she could not immediately give a name to them.

The Ifrit stared impassively at the motely group, the only one out of all of them who had finished his training at the Academy. As the silence stretched, Celica found herself wondering if the man had ever led others in a fight before. For all she knew, the man had finished his training but had never seen proper combat. 

[i]Wouldn’t that be nice? We’ll figure it all out together[/i], came the dry thought, with that lining of quiet hysteria that came when one was at the brink of something terrible and could not figure out whether to laugh or to cry.

The graduate sniffed, seemingly unimpressed by the weight of their own stares. “We’re going to play this one by the book,” he finally said in a gruff, vaguely accented voice. “You’ve all done this before, unless they changed things up since I was a recruit. Combat practice may seem like a game compared to this, but you’ve been training for a reason, so let’s keep it simple.” He sniffed again, glancing at the pair of golems. “We’ll be falling on them quick and deadly-like, so Titans, do as much damage as possible from the start. We want the first strike to bloody them bad enough to send them reeling, but don’t get carried away. Stray too far from the main group and you’ll see how fast numbers take down big and stupid.

“Demons, keep the Titans in sight. Kill anything that gets distracted by the giants prancing about, and if you see them in trouble try to run interference. The big lugs will draw the fire away from you. Let them fall and you’ll see what it’s really like having dragons trying to eat you alive.” That sounded like it came from experience. It did not relieve her as much as she thought it would. “Understood?”

A few halfhearted murmurs came from the group. “I said,” the squad sergeant growled, lip peeling back in a fanged grimace. “[i]Understood?[/i]”

“Yes, Sir!” came the chorused reply.

“Good. Follow orders and keep from getting surrounded and maybe we’ll be lucky enough to live through this one.”

With that, the soldier moved up to the Elementals and began asking them questions. What Celica could overhear seemed to relate to the Golem’s magical abilities, but she could not find it in herself to be interested. Celica drew a deep breath, wishing the apprehension would leave her. How she hated the anticipation. She tried to liken it to the feeling she got before martial arts competitions, before exams, before her first combat drills as a Shifter. It felt silly that she should try to compare a fight to the death with something so mundane – the fear had never been so keen, the stakes never felt so high – but she could not recall if she had ever managed to shrug off the anticipation then. Back then, she did not worry so much about what fear could do to her.

[i]Yes, Celica, do compare. Can’t get ahold of yourself in a friendly competition and you’re hoping to do so in a bloodbath.[/i]

She swore under her breath, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

Down below in the valley, the enemy continued its inexorable advance. There still was some distance between the two armies, but Celica realized it would not be long before the Fae on both sides came within the range of each other’s magic.

At the soldier’s urging, the Shifters approached the precipice’s edge, one in among several groups now waiting for the battle’s commence with bated breath. Those with the benefit of wings would be able to fly down below, while the others would either have to brave the slope on their own or be carried. Celica could have simply jumped and turned to mist before the ground met her, but the move could prove disorienting, and she feared the risk, so she sidled up to the Chimera. The snake that formed the beast’s tail turned to regard her curiously for a moment before looking away, quickly losing interest.  

The conflagration that lit the scene from below, followed by a wave of sound like thunder that swept over the ambush teams proved to be much more worthy of attention. Moments later, the vanguard of the armies met, and the distant cries and roars of the struggling creatures added themselves to the explosive tides of sorcery.  

A series of conflicted feelings and thoughts flitted through Celica’s mind. There was an overwhelming relief over the fact that she was not standing in that first wave, followed by a wave of shame at the thought. Then was a muted sense of horror, courtesy of the part of her mind that was aware of the significance of those cries of pain and rage that rode over the sound of tremors and explosions, clinging to the coattails of the knowledge that soon she would be in the thick of it. It all stuck to the back of her mind, superseded by a kind of numb awe, as though she was merely being witness to a particularly fascinating traffic accident.

When the order to move came to them, her body moved almost of its own accord, falling into its given role as if in a desperate bid to outpace her own mind. She swung over the Chimera, gripping to its mane and torso just as the beast let out a rumbling roar and jumped down the slope. The muscles of the monster tensed and roiled under her with fearsome strength, moving with such speed and ferocity that Celica’s only managed to register the wind buffeting at her face when they had already bounded halfway down the valley’s wall. They might as well have been falling.

The force of the Chimera’s impact on the valley floor sent a jarring tremor through Celica’s body that dislodged her from her mount, sending her tumbling off. She probably should have sucked it up and jumped down on her own. With reflexes that would have taken the breath away from any ordinary human she rolled with the fall, the rough landing leaving little more than a slight ache on her shoulder, and looked up in time to see her ride tearing into the army’s side. Shifters of all shapes and sizes followed suit, and it took her a moment to realize she was still sitting half-crouched in the middle of a raging battlefield, staring at the unfolding scene as if lost. 

Almost reflexively, Celica had her guns on her hands and she was aiming her arms at a small group of enemy Shifters, their wide eyes locked on the Chimera as they tried to answer the sudden assault. With the giant beasts rampaging along their ranks, Celica drew little attention to herself when she emptied her weapons on the ground beneath them. A whisper of power followed the projectiles, and the crystals that formed on impact suddenly exploded, sending sharpened shards flying into the groups of enemies. 

A corona of fire erupted from besides her, washing over a group of Shifters turning to face her and she saw the fiery squad sergeant standing a few paces away from her, a hand extended in the direction of the flames. Already Celica could see the Academy’s Demons taking advantage of the chaos created by the charging Titans, but here and there she began to see the huge monsters slowing down, their advance brought to a halt as the enemy managed to mount up a response or they bumped against something larger and meaner than themselves.

As their forces entered the field, Celica stood back, taking the chance to reload her weapons as she tried to make sense of the chaos that raged before her. Here and there she spied Demons locked in combat with each other, with several others harassing the larger Titans as they fought monsters several times Celica’s own size. 

She took a few shots at the latter, using her magic to push and pull at those her freezing projectiles found. She managed to get three of them trampled under the warring giants before the rest wizened up and she had to duck back behind the rest of the ambush team to avoid the sudden wave of sorcery, heart at her throat and hair lightly seared by passing lightning. She spent the beginning stages of the battle like that, sabotaging the enemy where the opportunity presented itself and making as small a target of herself as she could.

She had little desire to jump directly into the fray like some of her sturdier, better armored compatriots.