An armored girl wielding a sword appeared from the large building on the other side of the square, advancing towards Scalia and the others as if she wanted to stop them all by herself.

"It's over. The city is already ours, and soon our comrades will defeat the soldiers who are fighting outside."

That wasn't actually entirely true; on the contrary, according to Daemon's words, a good part of their chances of victory came from the task that Scalia and the others still had to complete.

"There is no reason to fight any further."

"I have sworn to protect this city and its people, and I will do it no matter what!"

The order not to kill was still in effect so Drufo tried to knock out that mad one with some of his skillful shots, but she intercepted all the arrows and broke them cleanly.

Then it was Passe's turn. He charged like a bull waving his ax above his head, which was first dodged and then tripped to the ground after suffering a blow which, had it not been for his shaggy fur, would have split his belly in two.

The others were already ready to jump on her all together, but Scalia stopped them; not because he feared for hers or their safety, but because all of a sudden she felt a strange heat run through her body, accompanied by an irresistible shiver.

"You stay back. I'll deal with her."

The challenger motionlessly watched Scalia coming out of her group and moving in front of her, and once they were face to face they spent some time defiantly gazing into each other's eyes.

"I don't think I know your name."

"Does it matter?"

"I want to know who I'm fighting with. Besides, my brother always says it's polite to ask your challenger's name."

"If this tone is your idea of being polite, I'd say you still have a lot of work to do."

They looked like a couple of female cats hissing on each other showing their teeth than two warriors about to fight.

"My name is Isabela, and I am a Temple Guard."

"I'm Scalia, daughter of General Zorech."

"I've heard of him. His reputation preceeded him."

"Ironic, don't you agree? A Temple Guard who challenges the daughter of the Dark Lord's First General to a duel. It means I will consider your death to be just compensation for all of our comrades your ancestors killed five hundred years ago."

Scalia thought that maybe that was why her heartstrings had vibrated the moment she saw her; perhaps she instinctively recognized that shiny breastplate and that gold coat of arms that her father had sometimes told her about.

"I warn you, don't you dare use the bind. Try it, and my friends will all jump on you together."

"Who do you think I am? This will be a fair duel. I swear it on my honor as a Temple Guard."

She couldn't wait any longer.

"Here I come!"

She charged with all the strength and speed she was capable of, driven by a lust for battle she had never felt before.

During the last battle she had been able to break through the enemy's shields and pierce them with a single blow, and she was sure that this time too it would be the same; Isabela however not only managed to deflect her sword by letting it slide placidly on her own, but Scalia herself came very close to being pierced in the belly, managing to avoid the blow almost by accident.

"I don't believe it! Did she parry it so easily?"

It wasn't really just swordsmanship; the instant their weapons touched Scalia had felt something strange, as if all the energy she had put into her attack had vanished.

As if that weren't enough, Isabela had managed to scratch her slightly, and Scalia immediately realized that although the seconds passed, the wound showed no sign of wanting to heal.

"Don't be so surprised." said the opponent as if she had read her thoughts. "Both my sword and armor are blessed. Your powers, whatever they are, will be nullified as long as you are in my vicinity."

Now it was all clear.

That's why a blow that at least should have broken her arm had turned into a caress so easy to push back.

"Damn you! This is playing dirty!"

"So then? Didn't you want to kill me to avenge your comrades? I'm waiting for you."

"Now I'm going to kill you, you damned presumptuous!"

Scalia had always considered herself a good swordswoman, but perhaps she had always trusted too much in her physical strength, far superior to that of any human being.

Now instead she looked like just a monkey holding a stick, a brainless lizard without style who had forgotten all teachings and tried to prevail relying solely on power.

"Is that all your skill? It is nothing but sheer brute force."

"Shut up, damn you!"

Scalia made an effort to silence her anger and regain some self-control, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get past her defenses; Isabela, on the other hand, had already managed to wound her twice more, and the fact that she was obviously refraining from inflicting deadly attacks only made Scalia even more furious.

Luck, however, suddenly came to her rescue. Since they had started fighting Isabela she hadn't been still for a moment, moving her legs left and right like a dancer and almost always dodging her opponent's attacks without even having to use her sword.

Maybe she got distracted, maybe she put her foot down badly, but at a certain point she lost her balance, and a grimace of suffering appeared on her stone face.

"This is the end!" Scalia shouted aiming at her left arm, not considering that with she could have severed it with her opponent in such state, whether she wore magic armor or not.

But she didn't care. She just wanted to win.

But it was her sword instead that snapped like a toy, merely ripping apart the white cloak that hid Isabela's arm and revealing a gleaming metal glove that glowed with a magically charged light.

"A holy shield!?"

Her father and old Taren had told her about them, but since they were only given to the strongest Guards she never thought she'd see one with her eyes.

Her amazement was so great that she almost didn't oppose Isabela's counterattack, ending up eating the dirt after a couple of assaults which she resisted defending herself as desperately as uselessly.

"I don't believe it!" said Passe. "Scalia has lost!?"

Before she could raise her head, Scalia had the point of Isabela's sword resting on her forehead.

"It's over. Just give up."

But no.

She still had one card to play.

Zorech had told her never to do it, because being a mixed-blood she could risk getting hurt, but now it was a personal matter in which she neither could nor would afford to lose.

Bluffing pitifully, she ducked her head as if she really meant to give up.

But the instant Isabela let her guard down, the surprise arrived.

After all, Scalia was still half-dragon, and in addition to the horns, the tail and the long life she had also inherited from her father the ability to breathe fire.

"But what..." the guard yelled as a flaming cloud came upon him.

It could not even be considered a real blaze, but that was enough to reverse the situation; standing up, Scalia used all of her remaining strength to land one of her punches knocking her out.

"You're right. It's really over."

"You cheated. How dare you call yourself a swordswoman?"

"Look who's talking. I'm not the one who hid the magical sword and holy shield. And in any case, there's no honesty that matters in war. Whoever wins is always right."

"So come on, what are you waiting for? Kill me and let's get it over with. Just promise me that you will not harm the townspeople and the sick."

In truth she had never really wanted to kill her, and now that the rage was passing she was realizing it again.

She was still undecided on how to get out of that situation without further hurting her pride when Isabela literally collapsed in front of her, starting to shake and coughing up blood.

Even if she had put all of herself into that last punch, she had been careful not to hit her in dangerous places, so there could only be one explanation.

"No way! Are you sick too!?"

Now Scalia was able to make sense of those indecisions and awkward movements that had allowed her to win, and what little remained of her self-esteem crumbled under the weight of an awareness so heavy that it threatened to crush her.

She couldn't die. She wouldn't let her, not before beating her in a real fight and making her swallow all of her conceit.

"Hurry Passe, find someone who can help her! The others follow me instead. We still have one mission to complete."



"The city! The city has fallen!"

The sight of the Imperial standard taken down from Basterwick's main tower and replaced by a red, white and blue rag shocked the soldiers still engaged in battle, and for how things were turning out Mannius knew it was now only a matter of time before they were routed.

"Where are you going, you rabbits?" yelled Van Lobre as the militia under his command began to flee and scatter across the countryside. "Return to battle at once!"

With the enemy both in front and behind and every escape route closed, there was only one thing left to do for Mannio.

"Raise the white flag!"

As if they were waiting for nothing else, the flag-wavers immediately obeyed, and when a flag was also raised from the opposite camp, the clashes stopped, allowing the two armies to get back into line.

"What are you doing? What does all this mean! We can't give up!"

"It's over, Mr. Mayor. We lost."

"We have lost nothing! Who are you to decide? I am your commander in chief, and you all must obey me! And I order you to fight at once! Did you hear me, you damned ones? I told you to..."

That was the first time for Van Lobre to be punched, and considering Mannio's strength his baptism in such sense was decidedly traumatic.

"How dare you? Arrest him now!"

Instead it was he who was arrested.

"Damn you! This is treason!"

"Consider it a coup d'état, you idiot!"

"Let go of me, damn it! I told you to let me go!"

While Van Lobre was being carried away Mannio sent his second Verus to request a meeting with the enemy commander to attempt to negotiate an honorable surrender; the centurion had never been a diplomat and he felt only disgust for politicians, but given the circumstances, more than diplomacy, one could hope only for the victors to be merciful.

"At that time?"

"They accept, Centurion. Just you and me."

The meeting took place on a raised hill in the heart of the battlefield, sheltered from the mud but where everyone could see what was happening, under a cloth hastily set up for the occasion.

"Centurion Mannius. It is a pleasure for me to meet you. I've heard very good things about you."

"I'm not here to listen some self-righteous chatter. You have taken the city, so we are certainly not in a position to negotiate."

"The fact that you are here is worthy of respect. It means you're wise enough to know when it's time to stop swords and talk."

"But I want to be clear about one thing. This meeting will die in its bud unless you give me your word that no harm will be done to the inhabitants of the city. Between the mayor and the plague, these people have already suffered too much."

"You can rest easy. Do you see the flag pole? There is no black flag over it, which means that the occupation took place without any casualties. Our fight is not against civilians and the helpless. Nor will it be against you if you decide to surrender now."

"What will be the fate of my men if we do that?"

"Whoever wants to can join us, all the others will have to be arrested and interned until the end of the war. But you have my word that none of them will be harmed. When this land is freed from the Empire's control and returned to its people, they can either stay here and start over or return to their homes."

Mannio was confused and surprised, even if he tried not to show it; never once in its history had the Empire parleyed with a defeated nation, limiting itself to setting ultimatums that the opposing side had to accept in order not to be swept away.

That boy had everything to demand anything he wanted, yet he was being nothing short of chivalrous, not to mention that he was a human commanding an army of monsters.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You said it yourself. These people have suffered too much."

"And do you really think this will change anything?"

"If we don't try, we'll never know. After all, what alternatives do we have?"

Now that the deal was settled there was only one thing left to do.

"Officers like you could be very useful." Daemon said, as if he had read his mind

"I can negotiate the safety of my men, but I must be prepared to take responsibility for it. There is no honor in changing one's flag depending on who is stronger."

"Other legionaries have lined up alongside us."

"They're young. They have the right to dream of a better world. I'm too old to start chasing dreams that would force me to go against what I've fought for all my life. I entrust my men and this country to you, boy. I trust you will give them something better than what they have had so far."

With that said, and without betraying any emotion, Mannio drew his officer's dagger and slit his throat.

Suicide had long ceased to be a custom for imperial officials who failed in their duties, but Mannio was not a man to fail in his principles. Even if he no longer believed in that Empire for which he had just sacrificed his life, he could not bear the idea of having failed to defend it.

"Spare everyone. If anyone lifts a finger, I'll kill him with my hands."



From the moment Septimus had described the character, I immediately understood that Mannio's fate would be none other than that.

I had known enough old NCO veterans in my life to know they could be both a useful resource and a nuisance. On the one hand, the magnetic appeal they exerted on the troops was undoubtedly useful and allowed them to keep their units in hand even in the most desperate situations, on the other, their attachment to duty too often made them fossils, capable perhaps of admitting the change of customs but not of adapting to it.

So why was that staging of the taking of the city necessary, you ask?

Firstly to avoid an unnecessary bloodbath, and then to get that clueless Van Lobre off my back without having to get my hands dirty. I was certain that relations between them must be tense and that at the fateful moment Mannio would put the lives of his men before the greed of a maniac.

The entrance into the city was even too scenic, but it was necessary to impress both the inhabitants and the spies who would later report to the Castle. At the rear of the column also marched the captured legionaries, and since the big blue shields were catching all the attention nobody seemed to notice that they no longer had spears or swords: a little precaution to prevent some nut from doing something stupid and a way to allow them to keep up appearances.

"Great job Scalia. There would have been many more casualties without your help."

"We would have done it even sooner if it hadn't been for a little hitch. Who would expect a Temple Guard in this remote place?"

"A Temple Guard!? And where is she now?"

"To the sanatorium. Apparently she was infected too."

"And yet she managed to get you into trouble, according to what Passe and Drufo say."

"What's with this sarcastic tone? She caught me by surprise, and what's more, she cheated!"

"And I bet you did too."

It was a stroke of luck I had never expected, so ignoring Scalia's puerile arguments to justify her behavior in the duel I immediately headed to the sanatorium, where I was sure of finding the person I was looking for.

In my previous life I had become accustomed to the sight of the dead and dying, but seeing a man being eaten alive by a disease was a sight in front of which it was still difficult for me to find the strength to remain impassive.

Faced with all that suffering, it seemed to me that I had returned to the leper hospitals of Alexandria and Cairo, where I had seen many, too many young lives rot in that very wretched Egyptian campaign.

Luckily in that world there was magic, which even if it couldn't completely cure the sick was nevertheless able to relieve some of their pains at least and give them some more hope of survival.

I partly expected that, knowing of the ongoing epidemic, Lady Valera would not hesitate to do what was in her power to go to the aid of those people, but meeting her there, busy healing the sick with her mystical arts until she turned pale as a dead herself, was a bit of a surprise.

Saints are always so predictable.

"Lady Valera."

"Mr. Haselworth."

"You should have figured it out by now, that surname was just an act. To you, I'm just Daemon."

"The city is yours, and I am the bishop assigned to the governor you are fighting against. If you want to expel or kick me out, I won't oppose it. All I ask is that you allow me to assist these people a little longer."

"It is not my intention to do anything like that. On the contrary, I would have asked you to stay if you wanted to leave. No one but you could help these people, whose fate is as dear to me as it is to you."

Sylvie didn't seem surprised to hear me talk like that. Perhaps she thought I was determined to exploit her presence to curry favor with Gaia's followers even though I was the leader of a revolution of monsters, who certainly weren't supporters of the church and her representatives; and she would have been right.

"Thinking you might need it, we brought uncontaminated food and water with us. It's not much, but I hope it helps."

"It sure will be."

"I will also implement the quarantine measures. Even if the disease does not affect monsters and half-bloods, we must avoid that any of us end up carrying the contagion around without meaning to. Therefore, my soldiers and I will stay out of the city, and will only leave once the quarantine is over."

There was no rush anyway.

The germ that caused the disease had a survival time outside the body of only six days, so it would have been enough to wait a week to be able to leave safely.

Much less than the time it would have taken Ron to organize the new expedition, especially now that we had cut off his supplies.

"I'm having a headquarters set up just outside the north gate. You can find me there for anything."