(The next day...)

I woke up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes in an attempt to wake myself up. Evac had been called yesterday afternoon. If I could remember correctly, the tenth wave of civilians would be leaving soon.

Luna was curled up beside me. I tried to move, but she wasn't going to let me do such a thing.

I huffed, halting in my attempts to get out of bed, "Fine, I'll stay."

She chuckled and started purring softly.

"Crazy cat," I murmured.

In the low light of the morning, she stuck her tongue out at me.

I sighed and started to recollect on the events of the previous day. After evac was called, I sent Nova to take stock of the ethridium supplies in the city. Obviously, there was a stupid amount available, but it was worth it to take stock.

"Well, it really isn't a bad thing," I mused to myself, grinning: "Nova could create a fair amount of explosives with a sliver of the ethridium available for use."

My grin faded when I remembered seeing the first few waves leaving the city last night. There was great sadness emanating from the groups: mothers holding or guiding confused children, husbands and older sons helping their elders walk through the crowds, friends and families trying to stay together in a maelstrom of confusion.

I sighed, "Was this a good idea?"

"You already started the ball rolling," Luna reminded me, "These people are counting on you, Helix."

"I thought you were still asleep," I grumbled as she chuckled.

"I have catnaps," She murmured, yawning widely.

"Pun intended?" I asked in mock-innocence, "Get it? Cause you're a cat?"

She slugged my shoulder, "Very funny."

"Heh," I mused. My mind drifted back to thinking about today's events.

"We may have to talk to Richard," One of my voices began. " I'm not sure if he needs us to do anything today. Eh, most of this morning's events will be about making sure everyone evacuates the city, so I'll have to ensure my team has something to keep them busy...a bored group of misfits is a dangerous one."

"Too true..." another voice breathed, "Too true..."

An hour later, Luna finally let me get up.

"What?" She began innocently, "I was comfy."

I rolled my eyes, "Get dressed goober."

She rose an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I don't want to get slapped for accidentally staring, so please get dressed," I repeated.

She rose an eyebrow, but she thankfully got dressed.

We met the rest of our team at a local tavern, aptly named "The Loony Miner." A fair amount of soldiers were also in the tavern, and even the barkeep had an ethridial rifle on the counter of the bar. He gave me a slight nod when he saw me.

Dorrian waved a piece of mutton at us when we saw him and the others seated at a table: "Mornin' Helix, Mornin' Luna," He began, mouth full of mutton.

Ana slugged him, "Please swallow before you speak."

He rose an eyebrow, "How many times have you said that? Or rather, gone through with it?"

Ana looked like she was about to slap him, but she then laughed evilly, "Alright, fair enough: Don't choke then."

Dorrian choked on his food from laughing too hard.

Ben shook his head, "You two should've seen what happened before you got here."

"Nope, I'm good," Luna replied instantly.

"Yeah, I don't want to know," I chimed in.

"You really don't," Ben confirmed.

I snorted as Dorrian looked at me.

"What's the plan today?" He asked after he finished eating.

"I'll go ask Richard if he has anything for us to do. If not, then today will be a free day," I replied with an innocent smile on my face.

Analise sighed, "Training day?"

"To a degree."

Ana groaned and laid her head on the table, "I knew it."

I chuckled, "If you want to practice, then please do. A hoard of bloodthirsty demons are marching toward this city, and I'd really like to make it through this mission in one piece."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Ben Idly stabbed a piece of chicken with one of his arrows. Gnawing on said-piece of chicken, he asked: "What do you suggest we do?"

I shrugged, "You each have special ways of practicing. I suggest you enjoy today while you still can. When this hoard arrives, we won't have very much wiggle room, and I have the slightest feeling the leader of this hoard isn't too happy about us wiping out a decent amount of his forces. What I'm trying to get at is that we have to be ready to wipe these bastards out with extreme prejudice when they show up."

"Extreme prejudice?" Ana echoed.

"Aye, you need to hate what you're fighting. That hate will drive you to fight harder-it'll keep you alive," I explained with a slight edge to my voice.

Dorrian rose an eyebrow, "Hate? Hate will keep you alive? I thought hope and perseverance were the way to go when it came to fighting your enemies?"

I sighed deeply and felt a dark scar from my past rear its ugly head, "Hope and perseverance are temporary feelings. They run dry when a battle goes to shit. In the end, only the hatred felt toward your enemies will keep you fighting."

Everyone looked at me in surprise.

"I...take it you speak from experience?" Ben began slowly.

My laugh had an edge of harshness to it: "Aye. However, my reasons for hating this demonlord and his hoard are different."

"How so?" Ana inquired.

"These bastards are threatening our way of life: They take Volhime, and the shit hits the fan," I explained, feeling a dull pulse of anger arc through my body, "That is why I say 'hate what you're fighting'. That hatred will give you the passion needed to continue fighting-to continue pushing yourself forward: Through passion, you gain strength. through strength, you gain power, and through power, you gain victory."

I pushed my darker side back down into the recesses of my mind and clapped my hands together when silence had enveloped my team. "Right, where were we?"

"We were...talking about our plans for today, weren't we?" Luna asked meekly. Everyone nodded in confirmation.

When we finished eating, everyone split up and went about their separate ways: Dorrian and Ben went to practice archery, Analise went off on her own, (Which worried me slightly) and Nova went back to the main stronghold. That left just me and Luna.

"I guess we need to hone our skills in offensive imagery magic," I mused, and Luna nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose we do. We did pretty well at the Skirmish in Klausiin, but I take it 'good' isn't good enough?"

I chuckled. "You read my mind. I know our skills are better than good, but we can never stop practicing. We need to work on precise strikes rather than the wild carnage of Klausiin. We are fighting in a city, after all."

"Hmm...point taken," Luna murmured

We found a sparring arena by the guard barracks and started to practice precise attacks and sturdy shields. Two hours into the practice, we both needed a break. My attacks and defenses were pretty good, but Luna's shielding wards were still tons more resilient than mine. The sparring had reached a stalemate when we called break.

"Whew," I breathed, taking a swig from my canteen, "Good job Luna. You're a tough nut to crack."

She grinned, "And you're unpredictable in your attacks. Even in your more-coordinated strikes, I barely have enough time to mirror your actions."

"Heh, I've changed my fighting style because of that. Your ability to study certain fighting styles and mirror said style is truly formidable."

She grinned, "May I have a drink from your canteen?"

"Oh, sure," I replied, handing her my canteen. She drank deeply, then sighed in relief.

"You really think so?" She replied, handing the canteen back, "I just...pay attention to someone's fighting style and then...boom. I'm using that fighting style."

"That's how it usually works. I try to copy the way you create shielding wards, but that secret of yours seems to be kept under wraps."

Luna chuckled, sticking her tongue out at me, "Ha."

I shook my head, "Ready to get back to training?"

She huffed, "Yep, let's do this."

Two hours later, we were still at a stalemate. Luna was taking a 'cat nap' by the time we were done with training, so I had to give her a piggyback ride back to the Loony Miner since she was out cold.

When I did get back to the tavern, I set Luna down in a booth and sat down in the opposing booth, sighing to myself in contentment.

The barkeep came to my table and asked if I wanted a drink.

"Cherry whisky, please," I replied.

He got me a pint, and I sipped at the mug in appreciation.

"Thank you. What's your name?"

"Nicolas. Call me Nick," He replied.

"Why did you stay here, Nick?" I asked.

He shrugged, "This is my home. Also, your team and the guard may need a few drinks to pass the time. Heh, I may even join in the fighting. Ain't no way in hell am I going to sit here on my ass while everyone else goes out and has fun."

I chuckled, "Your offer is appreciated, Nick. However, I don't want you risking your life."

This seemed to surprise the barkeep. He scratched his beard in thought, "Never thought a Templar would care about a simple commoner like me."

I sighed as I remembered what Stanford told me when he made me his second in command: "Victoria has pretty much ruined the good name the knights Templar once had. She was extremely snobby, demanding, and as self-centered as you'd expect a member of the Alysian aristocracy to be. She bossed around everyone: Fredrick, me, commoners, even other Templars who were her equals. So yeah, no pressure Helix."

I silently cursed my boss as I smiled at Nick," It's my job to go out into the fray and risk my life to keep everyone alive. I don't want you risking life if it's not necessary."

He nodded. Thankfully, I think my response changed his outlook on the knights Templar. He went back behind the bar and starting cleaning dirty mugs.

A few moments later, Dorrian and Ben entered the tavern, soon followed by Ana. She must've gone hunting because she had blood on her hands, chest, and mouth. (At least, I hope she went hunting. I swear, if she murdered someone...)

Nova was the last of my team to enter the tavern. She had two hand cannons with her and a strange rifle slung onto her back. Setting one of the hand cannons down, she pulled out a pouch from one of her pockets and set it onto the table.

"No touchie," she cautioned us with an infectious grin.

"Why?" Dorrian asked warily, "What's in the bag?"

"Oh, you know: explosives. As far as I know, they're extremely dangerous." Nova replied with a casual shrug.

Dorrian dropped the mug he was holding, "Then why the hell did you set them on the table?"

Nova took the rifle off of her back and tossed it onto the table, "I dunno."

I shook my head and took another sip from my mug.

Luna woke up and looked around groggily, "Oof...Where am I...? Oh, right, hello everyone."

Analise grinned, wiping blood off her face, "good afternoon to you too, Luna."

Dorrian rose an eyebrow, "What did you kill?"

"Only a deer..." She replied innocently.

He scoffed, "I can hardly believe that. If you only killed a deer, then explain why you have blood on your chest?"

She smiled coyly as she wiped the blood off of her breastplate, "I tell you, it was only a deer..."

I sighed. It's been about four hours since I dismissed these maniacs. Feels more like four minutes now that I think about it...

We ate lunch/dinner and hung out at the tavern. Some of the guardsmen of the city entered the tavern as well as we dined. They wore armor that seemed way too advanced to be created anywhere else but here. (I can barely describe how the armor looked, but I'll try to anyway: first off, it kind of looked like a set of steel plate mail armor, like my own. Only, it wasn't as bulky, and it was way shinier than my set of armor, which was a dark shade of steel gray. This armor was a lighter shade of gray with a light blue tinge to it. My point is: these guardsmen and their suits of armor made me look obsolete.) They also carried rifles much like the one Nova brought in and tossed onto our table.

They all nodded when they caught sight of me, and they sat down in various booths around my group.

We were all getting in a few drinks to pass the time when a guard ran into the tavern, looking like she had seen a ghost.

I finished my whisky in a single gulp and stood up.

"Alright, listen up!" I barked, and the tavern faded to silence.

I looked at the female guard that had entered the room, "Let me guess: the demon hoard's marching on our doorstep?"

She nodded quickly.

"Are all of the civilians out of the city?" I asked her

"Yes-well, there's still one group left that's leaving the city now," The guard replied.

"Are they far away from the hoard?"

"Yes, they are," She assured me.

"Then let's give these bastards a show," I replied with a wolfish grin.

I spoke louder this time, addressing the rest of the guardsmen: "Alright, our enemy approaches. I suggest you cast any doubts, any insecurities out of your mind at this moment because they will do you no good. Report to your captain, and gather the resources necessary to bring a swift demise to our enemies. I expect you all to fight like your life depends on it-you know, because it does."

"Their captain is right here."

The guardsmen captain walked into the tavern and regarded me solemnly, "What's the plan, Maestro? I'm following your lead for this battle."

Some of the guardsmen looked at their boss in surprise while others nodded in agreement.

"Alright, here's the plan: All the guardsmen should arm themselves with the strongest weapons in your arsenal and activate every golem that still properly works. Next, position yourselves in buildings around the marketplace inside the mountain city. There, we will ambush the hoard and rain down fury on them. I suggest you all get into groups of four; that'll reduce the risk of being singled out and overwhelmed. My team will stay together to maximize carnage."

"I get to join, right? You still owe me some demon heads, you wanker."

Half the guardsmen had a heart attack as a certain loony-weapons maker swaggered into the tavern.

I smiled, "Of course you get to join in on the ambush, Dante. Go with my team. Just please don't use them as target practice."

He grinned madly. He wore a pair of goggles so people could look at him without going crazy: "Don't you worry. They'll be safe with ol' Dante around to save the day!"

Nova facepalmed, "You're delusional."

"Why, thank you love! I'm flattered by your kind words!" Dante replied.

Nova tried to hide her face, but to no avail.

I smiled and looked at my team: "I'll join you all after I have a little chat with the hoard of demons. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Everyone nodded while Ana flashed me her mischievous grin, "Don't get yourself killed, loverboy. You'll have a certain-white haired cat waiting for you," She continued, winking at Luna, who blushed.

I shook my head in exasperation, "Trust me, I won't. Alright my dudes, may the gods be in your favor. Stick to the shadows, don't be a hero, rain down fire and fury on our enemies, and fight like there's no tomorrow."