And with this, we conclude Under the Banner. While I (Silmarilz1701) wish my health had permitted me to fully flesh out the missing chapters, I'm glad we could bring our vision to fulfillment. Maybe someday I can come back to Sveta. But until then, on behalf of AdamantiumDragonfly and myself, I thank you for your readership, your reviews, and all your support. It has been such a joy.

If you can, please consider donating to The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund sponsored by the UN, or any other relief effort for the people of Ukraine.

Bonus Content

Fighting Monsters

For hours, Sveta listened to the rain on her window. With the warmth and weight of her blanket against her body, she took comfort in the quiet stillness of the dark. Sveta didn't know how many hours had passed. All she knew was that the warmth to her back came from Ron, and the droning sheets of rain against the window came from November in Boston. And she could live with that.

At the squeak of a door hinge, Sveta closed her eyes tighter. The pitter-patter of small feet that followed didn't surprise her. Lena's nightmares seemed to become more frequent with each week that passed. She knew she should get up. She knew she should comfort the sniffling child she loved more than anything in the world. But the warm sheets and the hypnotic monotony of the rain lulled her.

"Lena?"

Ron. He kept his voice low and tried to suppress a yawn. Sveta felt the bed shift. The footsteps that had been getting closer to her side of the room stopped.

"Did you have another nightmare?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I want to talk to Mama."

Sveta released her breath through her nose. Opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with the window just as lightning cracked across the sky. As the thunder followed, she got ready to sit up. But then she paused.

"She's asleep. Can I help? I'm pretty good at scaring monsters."

The bed shifted. Lena's stifled sniffling continued, but slowed. Sveta closed her eyes again. Her breathing calmed.

"There was monster. It grabbed me, tried to eat me… to take me away. The monster had black eyes and…"

The girl trailed off into Russian, her voice quivering. Again, Sveta prepared to get up. But Ron was quick to reply in kind. She couldn't help but smile at the way his American accent struggled with the Russian. But as he asked her more about the monster in Lena's mother tongue, it reminded her of why she lay in a warm bed with a blanket to comfort her and rain pounding against the windows in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Your mom fought monsters like that, did you know that?"

"She did?"

"Yeah. She told me about them."

"Was she scared?"

"Of course. It's normal to be scared."

"Do you get scared?"

All Sveta heard was the rain. Even as a cold fear gripped her heart, her breathing faltering and her muscles tight, silence fell. But then he spoke again.

"Yeah, sometimes." His tone wavered slightly. But then he spoke again, clearer. "Fighting monsters is scary, Lena. But you have to do it."

"Why?"

"Because that's how you win. You can't let the monsters beat you."

"Did Mama beat them?"

"She's here, isn't she?"

The heat in her body and the pounding heart in her chest was what reminded Sveta every day that she was there. She hadn't become the third victim of a Korovin pistol. And as Ron reassured Lena yet again that no monsters would come for her in the night, she forced herself to believe his words herself. The bed shifted, the door hinge creaked, and then she heard only two sounds: the pounding of rain against the window, and Ron's steady, deep breaths.

As the blankets shifted again, Sveta finally allowed herself to move. She turned in the bed, letting herself look at the hazel eyes of the man next to her. When he saw her, he sighed.

"I thought I could save you from another bad night," he muttered.

But Sveta just smiled. "You did."

FIN

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