"Set another two shells in the crevice of that stone," Valen instructed, from another piece of the wall nearby. He pointed behind him, as he stuffed a small handful of Salamander rounds into a small crack in the block of stone in front of him.

It took a few minutes for her to understand his plan, as the old Sergeant had instructed them to march out, past the last wall, to take the fight to their enemy. The manoeuvre he was describing wasn't in the handbook or even something in their years of training.

"Set, sir," Mia reported, as she put a couple of rounds next to the four she had already set nearby.

"Good. Take cover behind that rock up ahead. Do you remember staggered cover?" Valen asked.

Staggered cover was a retreat manoeuvre, where one squad would provide covering fire as another fell back. Not in the handbook, but Valen had drilled her platoon on it a few times almost half a year ago. "Yeah. But you said you need at least two squads to make it effective."

"We're improvising," Valen replied. He stopped at the block of broken stone he planned to use as cover, and looked back at the breach in the Wall. "It just occurred to me."

"What, sir?" Mia asked, confused.

Her sergeant turned to her and smiled. "No one's ever been this far from the City. Not since the Maester Rebellion, before the First Invasion."

Mia recalled the lessons on the subject. The Maesters were like the Crafters; they could wield the flame. But they were used to having authority, and objected to having oversight. When they were pushed out, they left with nearly a quarter of the City following them. The Crafters were imprisoned, despite fighting the Maesters, and probably would have stayed that way if the First Invasion hadn't happened.

"Feels a little like victory, sir?" Mia asked.

Valen laughed, as he readied his Salamander. "It does."

Twenty yards behind, Mia waited as the crowd of creatures drew closer, hundreds of them in tightly packed groups that shuffled forward as if pulled along on strings, like puppets. Their awkward gait grew faster, frenzied, as they saw Valen ahead of her.

Her Sergeant fired into the crowd, felling several of the creatures with flashes of blue fire streaking into their chests. As they fell, they tripped over others, drawing a group of them to a near halt.

He stopped to reload, forsaking cover, and stood tall and proud against the oncoming mob. He moved almost leisurely as he checked the fit for the Salamander rounds, before setting it in place and closing the latch.

Four more shots into the mob, reload once, and Valen stepped away from his cover, retreating to the far side of the rock she had hunkered down behind.

He had set nearly eight shells on that rock, ones he may need when they ran for the next wall. Mia rounded the corner and advanced, but Valen waved her off, even as the mob passed the corner and charged.

He fired one shot, at the rock he was using as cover, and the air around the Gloamtaken bloomed with blue fire, a fierce burst of light that threw at least a dozen of the creatures to the ground.

"Burn me," Mia whispered, as Valen didn't even bother to gawk at his success. Instead, he turned and ran to her position, dashing around the rock and laying his back to the wall,

"How the burning hell did you do that, sir?" Mia asked. "You a Crafter or something?"

Valen shook his head. "You'll know a Crafter at work when you see one. That was just a half-dozen Salamander rounds going off at the same time. Pack them into the stone, and all that fire gets released in one direction."

"Isn't that against regulations, sir?" Mia asked.

"Probably," Valen replied, lamely. "You remember where we set the others?"

Mia grinned. "Aye, sir."

"Good. Let's go." Valen said, and Mia darted out of cover and set her eyes on the advancing mob.

The bulk of the horde was only twenty yards off, gathering strength near where Valen had detonated a half-dozen Salamanders. She fired straight into it, emptying all four shots into the group and sending the closest creatures reeling.

"Open firing chamber," she recited to herself, mantra-like. The empty casings fell to the ground near her feet, and her free hand already contained four new shots to replace them.

Ahead of her, a few of the creatures that fell struggled awkwardly to her feet.

"Place shells," she said, dropping all four into the firing chamber. The rest of the mob, almost as a single entity, turned to stare at her for a heartbeat, then surged towards her.

"Check the fit," she said. She was only half-aware of the advancing mob, focusing on making sure the shots in the firing chamber were secure. She gave each shell a quick poke, to make sure they didn't jiggle.

"Close the chamber and pull the latch until it clicks," she finished, closing the gun with a quick yank.

"And fire," she said, as she pointed her weapon at the advancing horde, and burnt the air with flashes of bright blue flame.

The closest one, barely a dozen yards away, was thrown back as the fire lanced through it, careening into the crowd behind. Mia's next shot brought four of them down, and she knew without looking that none of them would get up again.

"Time to fall back, Corporal," Valen instructed from behind her. As she turned, she noticed him pointing to the rock, where another batch of Salamander rounds had been stuffed into the crevices.

She nodded and turned to run to the next stone. Valen took a position with his back to the stone and nodded, prompting her to start running.

She took it at a sprint, forcing herself to take in air as she pounded her legs into the ground. It only took moments for her to cross the half-hundred yards, all of which passed in a haze of motion until she set her back against the stone, and readied her Salamander again.

Behind her, Valen was reloading his weapon, and the creatures were closing fast. He barely had enough time to close the firing chamber before the first one was on him.

As he closed the latch, he threw the Salamander into his left hand, and his right went to his sword. The old man set his leg to brace for a leap. To Mia's disbelieving eyes, somehow drew his sword, stabbed the closest creature, and sheathed it before the Gloamtaken hit the ground. He then ran, cutting to the right of her line of fire, as the mob converged around the stone.

Mia smiled, aimed carefully, and fired into the crowd.

The shot pierced through one of the creatures and hit the shots set into the stone. The flash of blue was bright enough that it blinded Mia for a moment, as she turned her head away to shield her eyes.

She looked back, to see the crowd of creatures scattered across the grounds, riddled bodies lying broken across the field. Her heart skipped a beat, as she couldn't find Valen and feared he lay somewhere among the fallen Gloamtaken.

But a blur of a figure moved at the edge of her vision, and she whirled in place, Salamander at the ready, to find Valen darting around the far side of the stone she was using as cover.

They shared a grin, before glancing back towards the still advancing horde. "We should have kept the rest of the squad," Mia said, breathlessly. "We could have held."

"For a little while," Valen admitted. The old sergeant was grinning from ear to ear, a fierce and predatory expression that made Mia pity the invaders a little.

"Which rock is next?" Mia asked.

"This one," Valen replied, pointing to the Salamander rounds packed into the crevices. He pointed with his back turned, as he stared out at the Gloamtaken.

"Can't hold here, we need to thin them out more," he said, quietly. Mia barely heard him over her own hammering heart. "Make for that rock up ahead. The big one. Go!"

She started springing again, barely staying ahead of Valen, who wasn't even bothering to glance back. They both made the next rock at the same time, and running around to the far side, set their backs against it to catch their breath.

Valen glanced back, and between pants, asked, "Can you hit it from here?"

Mia grinned, swung the Salamander around, and found dozens of the creatures were already making their way around the stone. "Not a problem," she said, and fired.

She managed to shut her eyes as she fired this time, so the flash of the explosion didn't blind her this time. She ducked down to orient herself and noticed Valen crouched beside her, checking the latch on his weapon. The old sergeant hadn't even bothered to watch, to see if she hit her target.

As the fire died, as quickly as it appeared, they turned back to survey the damage. Dozens of the creatures were sprawled on the ground, unmoving. Others were picking themselves up off the ground, and the mob had been halted.

For a moment.

"To the next one, Corporal," Valen ordered. Mia nodded, and started running where he had pointed.

She ran around the next corner, and nearly tripped when she saw someone crouched behind the rock, packing Salamander rounds into the crevices.

"Lieutenant!" Valen exclaimed, behind her. Amelian turned to regard them for a moment, before noticing Valen was saluting despite the circumstances. Mia cursed under her breath for missing it, and followed the Sergeant's example.

"Sergeant, Corporal. Good to see you. We need to put some more distance between ourselves and the Gloamtaken," Lieutenant Rustov said, all crisp professionalism. She turned to Valen and smiled. "I've added to your Salamander Pits, to string them together."

"Mia, one shell acts as the detonator, and one will spread the explosion to the next pit. Go over every pit in the string, make sure it will work. Valen and I will skirmish to buy you time. Go!" Amelian ordered, pointing towards the next rock.

Mia didn't move, looking at Valen. "What's a Salamander pit?" she asked.

"Rounds stuffed together and used as a bomb. What you've been shooting at for the last few minutes," Valen explained.

Mia saluted sharply and dashed to the next stone. Behind her, Valen and Amelian charged back towards the enemy, Salamanders firing bright blue bursts into the distant mob. She forced herself to turn away and focus on her work.

First stone. Eight rounds. She could see the shot dedicated to detonating the others, turned sideways and jammed into a crack. Analyzing it had a calming effect on Mia, as she carefully examined the puzzle in front of her.

The detonator was the first shell in the line, turned sideways. The casing was cracked. Deliberately cracked, like someone had smashed it against the rock a few times. Will detonate easier. Smart.

The next six rounds were loosely packed and left mostly open. Th last one was pointed towards the rock but wasn't jammed in far enough to focus the fire. She took the shot out and started chipping into the stone with her sword, to try to deepen the crevice.

She cracked the stone a bit further, and jammed her only knife into the crevice beside the round, to focus the blast. She glanced back, nodded to herself, and started running towards the next rock.

Mia nearly swore out loud when she saw it. There were nine shots packed into the stone, but only four of them would go off at once. The Lieutenant was a damn good officer, but she had no head for ballistics. Mia took them all out, checked over her shoulder for the next pit down the line, and set them up again.

Glancing at her work, Mia nodded, satisfied. The broken rock was cracked enough that the explosion should throw bits of stone around like shrapnel.

She glanced up and saw Valen slide behind a stone with two Salamanders in his hands. He dropped one and started reloading the other. Mia searched wildly, but could find no sign of the Lieutenant.

She dashed to the next stone, checked them quickly, and moved on. Not the most effective explosion, but it would spread. She didn't have time for better. Over her shoulder, she caught sight of Amelian, her curved officer's sword in hand, sidestep one of the creatures and cut it down with a swift stroke to its side. She smiled, relieved, and ran on.

"Last stone," Mia said to herself. There were no large pieces of the wall anywhere else nearby, and the Wall itself was close. She checked the rounds in the stone, replaced half of them, and jammed her sword into the wall to focus the blast of the shot that would carry to the next stone in the chain.

She pointed her Salamander up in the air and fired a shot. As soon as the light died, she opened the firing chamber to replace the spent shot, and watched out into the night.

Both of them were carrying Salamanders again, running hard to keep clear of large crowds. Valen had his short-sword in his left hand, held backwards, with the Salamander barrel resting on his wrist. As they saw the shot, they broke free and ran straight for her position.

A run was faster than the Gloamtaken could move, which bought them a bit of breathing room as they ran past Mia and stopped at the Wall. "I set some water," Amelian said, between breaths, "just over here. Drink up and catch your breath."

Mia followed them to the Wall and set herself at the ready, but Valen shook his head and handed her a canister of water. "Drink. We're going to rest here until the horde catches up."

"Don't we need to run?" Mia asked.

"We have all the time that explosion will give us. As long as you set it up right," Amelian said, finishing her water.

Mia barely stopped herself from saying something rude and stupid. Valen, however, spoke in her defence. "You know she did, Ma'am."

Amelian chuckled. "Only a Crafter can do more with a Salamander. I know."

Mia smiled, gratefully, but her confusion won out after a moment. "Sergeant?" she asked. "I didn't know a Salamander pit was a military tactic. I thought you made it up."

"It's in the Officer's manual," Amelian said, with a shrug.

"It's not, Ma'am. I've been reading those. It isn't even in the artillery specialists' manuals," Mia insisted, confused.

"Then what the hell have I been reading?" Amelian asked, looking hard at Valen.

"Just a Sergeant, ma'am. Not something I have control over," Valen insisted.

"Ash sodden shit. Direct order, Sergeant. Tell me the highest rank you ever held in the Military," Amelian asked, fierce and harsh.

"Ash of the Abyss," Valen swore, quietly.

The silence that followed was deafening, and Mia squirmed uncomfortably. Part of her wanted to rush back into the horde of Gloamtaken still coming towards them.

"I'm not allowed to share that, Ma'am. Orders," Valen said, eventually. Mia hissed under her breath, baulking at the implications of what her old Sergeant said.

"Overridden. Privilege of the Field," Amelain replied. Mia nearly choked. Privilege of the Field was a lawful privilege granted to the senior-most field officer in an active engagement. It allowed any commissioned officer to unseal any secret and override any authority in the City. It was a privilege granted to the military only during an invasion, and had only a single exception.

"The exception applies," Valen admitted.

The only exception was a direct order given by the current Lord Captain of the Wall.

"Well..." Amelian said simply. She paused for a moment, then added, "Ash and cinders." Mia might have laughed at how defeated her Lieutenant looked, in another place and time. "We'll take this up later, Sergeant. Mia, get ready to detonate the pits. It's past time we made for the next wall."

"Aye, Ma'am," Mia said, and aimed her Salamander at the stone in the distance.

She fired, and in a fierce and brilliant staccato of light, the breach in the wall bloomed in blue fire. The explosion ripped the air, knocking the air out of her lungs and causing her to stagger, even with the Wall as cover.

Valen whistled, breathlessly, after a moment. "More dangerous than even some Crafters, kid," he said, nodding to her in approval.

"We make for the Causeway," Amelian ordered, and Mia saluted sharply, just a half-second behind Valen. The Lieutenant returned it and smiled. "Move out."