Chapter 27: Growing Rift

I found Lira on one of the outer platforms overlooking the mist-choked water. She stood with her spear planted against the wooden planks, ears angled back, tail still and tense. She did not turn when she heard my approach.

"He made his choice," I started, my voice low and as calm as possible.

"I know." Her voice was flat. "That doesn’t mean I have to accept it."

I stopped beside her, resting my hands on the railing. Below us the marsh glowed faintly in the fading light. "He’s not doing this lightly. You heard him."

"What I heard is a man so desperate to be something else that he’s willing to let his uncle carve magic into him." Lira finally looked at me. Her golden eyes were hard. "You saw Cael. You felt what that power does when it goes wrong. And Harlan watched it happen. He still walked straight into the same fire."

"I don’t support it," I said. "But I understand the shape of the decision. He’s spent his life as the powerless one in a family of mages. That kind of wound doesn’t close cleanly."

Lira’s grip tightened on the spear. "Understanding it doesn’t make it less stupid. Or less dangerous for the rest of us. What happens when the process takes him the same way it took Cael? Or worse? Do we just write him off as another necessary sacrifice?"

"No." My answer was sharp and stern. I had no intention of letting whatever happened to Cael repeat with Harlan.

She searched my face for a moment, then exhaled through her nose. Some of the sharpest anger eased, replaced by something heavier. "I trusted him. The three of us... it worked. Now he’s chosen Elandor’s side of the line."

"He’s still Harlan," I said. "That hasn’t changed yet. But the trust is damaged. I know."

We stood in silence for a while. The distance that had opened between us and Harlan felt real and immediate. Whatever came next, the easy reliance we had shared was gone.

***

The following morning I began assembling the rapid-response team in earnest.

I selected six fighters in addition to Lira. Two were veterans who had already proven steady under pressure. The remaining four were younger but trainable, chosen more for temperament and willingness to follow orders than raw strength. I kept the group small on purpose. Speed and coordination would matter more than numbers.

We drilled through the morning in one of the clearer training clearings. Formation shifts. Silent movement through reed cover. Controlled engagements and rapid disengagement. I corrected footwork, timing, and positioning without wasted words. The fighters adapted quickly once they understood I was not interested in speeches, only results.

During a short break, one of the younger men asked, "Is it true we’re going to start hitting their probes before they get close?"

"Yes," I answered. "Small groups. Fast contact. We break them, take what information we can, and vanish. No heroics, and no prolonged fights."

He nodded, looking equal parts nervous and eager.

Lira worked alongside me without complaint, though the earlier tension still lingered in the way she avoided discussing Harlan. When our eyes met across the clearing, there was understanding there, but also the shared knowledge that one of our own had stepped onto a path we could not follow.

By midday I released the team with orders to rest and prepare gear. Word had already begun to spread that I was forming a dedicated interception unit. A few additional fighters approached asking to join. I turned most of them away. Too many bodies would slow us down.

***

Harlan did not appear for the evening meal.

I learned from one of the supply runners that he had been seen entering Elandor’s laboratory hut earlier in the day and had not emerged. The information sat poorly with me. Lira’s expression when I passed it on was grim but unsurprised.

"He’s already started," she said.

"Yes."

Neither of us needed to say the rest.

Two days later the first real test of the rapid-response team arrived.

Scouts reported a small orc probe moving along one of the eastern water channels—eight warriors, light gear, likely mapping routes rather than seeking a fight. Perfect for interception.

We left before the mist had fully lifted. Lira took point with me. The others followed in loose formation, silent and focused. We caught the orcs in a narrow stretch where the path forced them into single file between deep water and dense reeds.

The engagement was clean. We hit them from both sides at once. I dropped the lead warrior before he could raise an alarm. Lira’s spear took the second through the throat. The rest of the team closed ranks with surprising coordination for so early in their training. Within less than a minute seven orcs were down. The last tried to flee and was brought down by a thrown spear from one of the younger fighters.

[You have slain Level 4 Orc Scout. +18 XP]

[You have slain Level 3 Orc Scout. +14 XP]

[Total XP: 433/600]

We stripped the bodies of maps and orders, then sank them in the deeper water. The entire action had taken less than ten minutes. No injuries on our side.

That evening Veyra summoned the senior leaders again. The reports from my team matched others coming in from the northern approaches. Grimgor’s forces were no longer content to remain at the staging ground. Small probes were increasing in frequency. The outer edges of the marsh network were being tested.

"We tighten everything," Veyra ordered. "No gaps. Antoine, your team will rotate with the existing patrols. I want interception capability available at all hours."

I acknowledged the order.

After the meeting I caught sight of Harlan near the edge of the laboratory hut. He looked thinner already, or perhaps simply more drained. Dark circles marked his eyes. When he saw me he paused, then gave a short nod before disappearing inside again.

The conditioning had begun in earnest.

Lira appeared at my shoulder. "He’s really going through with it."

"Yes."

"And we’re just supposed to watch."

"For now," I said. "We have our own work."

She did not argue, but the fracture remained. Harlan had chosen his path, and we had chosen ours. The space between those paths was widening with every day the experiments continued and the enemy drew closer.