The Call to War

Chapter 33

Kathyln paced impatiently at the entrance to the underground tunnel that led into the beast glades. The guards inside the hardened building waited in an uncomfortable silence as they tried, but failed to forget she was there. They asked her to leave, and that they would send for her as soon as anyone arrived. In response she released the pressure of her newly formed dark silver core, effectively silencing them. Normally Hester would be right by her side, but decided that Kathyln would probably like some time away from her, and instead ordered one of the guards, who was a knight of the house of Flamesworth, to watch over her while she remained there.

Kathyln stopped her pacing and looked down into the poorly lit tunnel and sighed.

"Meow."

Kathyln looked down to see Lunaris' bond Ailuros looking up at her, before walking and rubbing on her legs. The small mana beast had been exceptionally crucial over the last few months, as she and Lunaris were forced to take a page from Arthur and began writing letters back and forth, with Ailuros delivering them.

She smiled as she bent down and picked up the cat and started petting it while looking down the tunnel with a regained level of inner peace. Soon footsteps could be heard in a steady rhythm, until the sight of Lunaris and his team emerged from the shadows.

Kathyln was about to take a step towards him but hesitated. After three months apart she wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and hold him tight, but her image as a princess held her back. She instead held her ground and watched him with a loving smile.

Karen and Jason smiled as they greeted the princess before continuing on to gather supplies. Orson simply bowed slightly while remaining neutral before leaving as well. They had done this run so many times that they all knew what to do without saying a word. The three of them would first go and load the unit dimensional rings full of ordered supplies, before splitting up and gathering requested items from the other members of the unit, all while Lunaris spent time with Kathyln.

He stopped in front of her before taking her in his arms and holding her tight, then kissed her deeply. He didn't care about the guards or what they might say, they had been together for so long that it would feel weird not to display his affection for her.

"Too long," Kathyln said as they broke the kiss, then put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him in for another kiss.

"I know, I'm sorry it's been so long," Lunaris replied after the second kiss.

"I understand that it's out of your control," she replied as she held his hand and began to lead him out, Ailuros walking in front as if leading the way.

"With the war pretty much at a stalemate the council wants all of the dungeons cleared as quickly as possible. Pasta had to split up the unit so we could clear a few lower ranking dungeons at the same time. He even cleared one by himself," Lunaris said as he intertwined his fingers with hers.

"I just wish I knew why they were in such a rush," Kathyln thought out loud.

Lunaris bit his lip in frustration, as he knew the reason. Being the Captain that reports directly to a key general came with several perks, one being that he was present at most important meetings. Over the last four months the units had been finding dungeons completely empty, not a single beast remaining. If it had been a rare occurrence it wouldn't have drawn much attention, but many dungeons had been found like this. This month alone Lunaris personally found three, while Pasta Bloom went to clear an AA ranked dungeon on his own in an effort to save time, only to find it empty as well. During the last meeting several weeks ago it was finally concluded that the Alacryan forces were preparing for a major offensive.