Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

The days passed in a blur. Between jumping back and forth from the site of our new mountain home, Devour’s rambling lessons, Arachne’s terrifying reveal of all the barely-contained horrors that might kill us all - there was a fucking black threat sealed under the Tympestshard Council capital - Night’s steady introduction to all the different people I should know, the rest of the Eventide Eclipse’s shenanigans that I kept getting dragged into, and more, I was kept so busy I barely had any time for me.

Let alone my clinic. Which made me sad on one level, but I also knew it was temporary, and it’d be much easier to handle the Triad with the full backing and weight of being a Sentinel.

A bit of a cop-out, a bit of a cheat, but hey. Life wasn’t fair. Any way I could stick it to gangsters. Iona was asking some worrying questions about what legal protections members of a Sentinel’s group got when it came to the Triad.

On the endless list of people to meet and things to do was the [Quartermaster], who needed to issue me multiple sets of gear and armor - both ceremonial, and practical.

She was nothing like what I expected.

“Oh my gosh! You’re the new Sentinel! I have heard SO MUCH about you! I just can’t believe you’re here! Eeeeeeeeee! This is so exciting! Oh! Right! I’m Harper. Okay, okay, you HAVE to tell me EVERYTHING. Well, you don’t have to tell me EVERYTHING, but you know what? I want to know! Dish, girl!”

The whole time the [Quartermaster] was dancing around me, tape measures flying all over the place as she held my arm out.

With all the questions she was asking, I didn’t get a chance to get a word in edgewise. Even Auri was looking on with wide eyes.

“Okay, okay, more importantly, I have to know your usual armor and style. What do you use? What do you like? How potent is your armor skill, on a scale from 1 to 8? Any, like, exotic weapons, or are the standard ones fine? What was the fairy realm like? Was it totally cool? Did you really get magical hearing? Do you know what your team needs? Our rates on team member gear is very reasonable! Hey cutie, what do you like? What skills or gems do you think you can charge? There’s this new drink at that cute place down the road. It’s, like, to die for. You HAVE to go and try it. Girl, have you worked out your symbol yet? So, um, have you figured out where you’re staying yet? How…”

Nothing at all like what I expected. The gruff [Quartermaster] of Remus that I had known and vaguely loved was mentally obliterated. There were going to be no mental comparisons between the two. No parallels to be drawn. No wistful longing for the past, as I saw echoes of him here.

Not. At. All.

I left fairly dizzy, having gotten maybe a dozen words in while she talked and talked and talked. Even Auri was looking a little dazed at the whole thing.

The other issue was - we didn’t have a home yet! Vitruvius had gotten us plans, and what Amber had paid up combined with Night’s introduction was enough to get some builders interested and scheduling us, but I still hadn’t gotten any of my pay - I wasn’t a Sentinel on paper yet! - and it took time to make everything happen. Builders weren’t just lying around waiting for us to give them a job, and we weren’t exactly next door. The first task was getting a road to our little mountain redoubt, then construction could start.

Iona had cleared the entire plot of land in a single afternoon already, which was nice. She’d stacked all the stripped trees off to one side, and I’d laid down a half-dozen runes to help preserve the wood. Digging the stumps out was another challenge, then leveling the ground, making sure there were no surprises for the diggers, then making sure we had security for them, and…

Building a home, a good home, even with a ton of money to throw at the problem, was hard. There was something magical about cuddling up with Iona in our little shabby lean-to, even if the elements did their level best to wreck us every night. Thank goodness for the mild autumn air, we’d be in trouble if it was winter.

That got me thinking of Immortal wars, the big ones that apparently destroyed nearly everything. I should learn how to rebuild a vague semblance of civilization for myself before my opportunity to do so vanished, and I ended up in the school of hard knocks instead. Just another thing to add to my ever-expanding list of things to do! Better than being bored, honestly.

Just like that, time flew by, and it was time for Exterreri to officially recognize that I was a Sentinel.

The [Quartermaster] stepped back and clapped her hands.

“Oh. My. Gosh. You, like, look totally badass in that! Girl, you are going to, like, totally BLOW THEM AWAY! There’s a set of enchantments in the back that’ll make you slightly glow, and given that you’re the star of the show today or something, you should totally use it!”

I felt badass. Harper was good at her job, crazy stream of consciousness with no brakes on her mouth or not.

The ceremonial set of armor was done. It didn’t have gems, arcanite, a helmet, spear, or shield, but I did have a short sword and a cape. The whole thing was made out of some pitch-black metal - I swear there was a skill involved somewhere along the line - tastefully trimmed with red.

I was going to need to drill a lot with the new gear once I got it. In some ways, the armor was similar to Remus’s, but like… only if I looked into the sun after getting a massive concussion. Armor was armor, and it was meant to keep us safe and protected. There were only so many ways that could be done.

It was full scale, extending all the way down to my hands, where I had a pair of gauntlets. It went down past my waist, past my knees, flaring into a long skirt for mobility. Thick greaves went up to almost my knees, minimizing any potential angles of attack.

My lack of a true armor skill was being felt. Harper was trying to figure out if it was even worth equipping me with true armor, or if a different configuration would work.

My sigil - the Sentinel badge of Remus - was emblazoned on my right breast, a stark gold against the dark void. There was a second spot on my left breast, ready to accept the official Sentinel badge of Exterreri.

I’d asked for, and gotten, my cape to be red instead of the standard black. It had always been my color, and I was too used to the fashionable red capes of Remus, instead of the black of Exterreri. That had taken some wrangling, but it did otherwise fit the color scheme the Sentinels had going.

My ‘real’ armor was still being worked on, every Sentinel having custom-made gear, and I was working with Iona and Fenrir to see what, if any, gear they wanted as part of my ‘team’.

“Brrrpt?” Auri asked.

“Didn’t we discuss you turning your flames just so?” I reminded her.

“BRRPT!” Auri half-jumped in realization.

I wanted to smack my forehead at her antics… before remembering that we were bonded in large part due to how similar we were to each other, and it was exactly the type of thing I’d do.

With a flicker, Auri’s flames changed, mimicking my black, gold, and red design. She proudly lifted her beak up.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeee! You two are, like, totally perfect for each other! It’s so cute!” Harper squealed with delight, then got serious again.

“Right! I think it’s time! Go, like, knock their socks off or something!”

I nodded but didn’t leave, instead going through a set of stretching exercises to make sure I knew how to properly move in this gear. It’d be embarrassing to fall on my face during the ceremony because everything was so new to me. Even worse, it’d make us look bad.

Us.

I was starting to think of myself as one of these Sentinels. Time and exposure to Devour, Arachne, Flood, and a few more was starting to ease me into it.

One of the practically-invisible, omni-present threads reached up and tapped my gauntleted hand lightly.

“I think that’s my signal to go.” I apologized to Harper.

“Go get em! I’ll be cheering from the stands!” The woman told me.

Naturally, awkwardly, we both left at the same time and started to go in the same direction. Sentinel Mirror - or if it wasn’t her, it was one of her [Clones] - met me at the gate of Stormwatch Castle.

“Dawn! Excellent, you all set? Got everything? Nerves, jitters, anything wrong?”

“I’m all set! Hey, at least they don’t spring the promotion on us as a surprise anymore.”

Mirror gasped.

“No. Did they seriously do that?”

We started walking and talking. I immediately started to get stares, looks, and people parting way for us on the road.

On one hand, I was somewhat used to it from Remus. On the other, it had literally been over half a decade since I’d last experienced it, and it was all sorts of strange and unusual.

“Oh yeah. End of Ranger Academy, they were announcing teams, which was also when people found out they hadn’t made the cut. Nasty stuff. My name never came up, thought I was being kicked out. Instead, they promoted me to Sentinel. Scariest twenty minutes of my life.” I confirmed.

Mirror shuddered.

“Wow. I’m glad they don’t do that here.”

“How is it done here?” I asked.

“Well, depends on the designation they want to give you. Core is straightforward. I got a letter one day, asking if I was interested in joining the Sentinels. I replied that I was, and four months later everything was arranged and organized. Took me another two years to finalize building my team, and here we are.”

We continued to chat about some of the more mundane aspects of Sentinels in the modern day and age, before finally arriving at one of the many arenas Sanguino had scattered all around. Iona was waiting for me at the gate, wearing her own armor and tabard.

“Hey badassosaurus!” She gestured, and I happily skipped into her arms. She kissed me, uncaring of the look or image, and I kissed her back, my butterflies suddenly turning into flutters.

“You good? Everything alright with Fenrir?” I asked.

Iona nodded.

“Oh yeah. Gave the event [Organizer] one heck of a heart attack and two levels, so I think he’s happy. Devour is trying to make friends with him, and I think he’s succeeding. Every time Fenrir snaps his jaws at the Sentinel, Devour snaps back. The dude has no fear.”

Or he knew he could single-handedly take Fenrir apart if he needed to - but I wasn’t going to say that part out loud.

Things started to move very quickly, and I once again thanked my lucky stars that I’d remembered medicine from my prior life, and not event organization.

“... and now, back from the dead, can we please welcome - Sentinel Dawn!” The [Announcer] called out.

That was my cue, and I stepped out onto the floor of the arena.

A new voice barked orders, crisp and high.

“Sixth Legion! Present! Arms!”

The [Legionnaires] of the Sixth were forming a corridor, all the way from where I entered the arena to the stage I was expected to go to. In resounding unison, they banged their spears against their shields once, then thrust them upwards and slightly towards each other, forming a corridor of steel for me to march through.

I started to march through, remembering to start with my right foot not my left - another one of those little differences Devour had taught me in the past two weeks - and kept mindful of my appearance. Who I was. What I looked like.

Eyes straight. Shoulders back. Auri on my shoulder, looking dignified. The little rascal was secretly delighted to be the center of attention for so many people, and her flames glowed a little brighter, a little hotter.

That reminded me of my own glowing enchantment Harper had said was in my armor, and it started to softly glow as I activated it.

While I was keeping my eyes forward, not scanning the crowd, Fenrir was impossible to miss. He was curled up in the arena, taking up almost a quarter of the sandy floor himself. A few exceptionally bold fellows had climbed up on him, and were using him as seating, but I couldn’t tell the rest of what was going on.

Then I was at the stage. The eight Ranger Commanders were there - four vampires, four humans - along with almost all of the active Sentinels, in their own full regalia. Same color scheme, except for the cloaks. I was starting to recognize them. Skater. Mirror - the one earlier had definitely been a [Clone]. Invincible, the troll standing tall. Archmage, the gnome. Devour, his cape also being a minor variant with the crow feathers. Blob, who had to have one hell of a story behind that as his title. Terminus. Spark. Depths. Malice. Flood, and so many more.

And, of course, standing before them all, in the place of honor, Arachne. She gave me a little encouraging smile and nod as I stepped onto the stage.

“Sixth Legion! Order! Arms!”

The Sixth, in neat, almost-perfect unison - they were comprised of normal people after all - retracted their spears back, banging them once against their shield, and returning them to their side. Whoever was giving commands - the legata, probably - then ordered the soldiers to turn towards the stage, and assume parade rest.

Ah, death by speech. At least the Ashes were blotting out the sun, preventing the entire arena from becoming an oven.

Night was conspicuously absent. I made it to the front, and one of the vampire Commanders stepped forward.

“Many thousands of years ago…” He started to drone on, giving a big long speech about my history.

Again.

Instead, I took the chance to scan the crowd, and see if there was anyone I recognized.

Iona was on Fenrir’s head, and my heart practically exploded for joy as I saw that she’d managed to secretly copy my Sentinel badge, and had it on her tabard, along with a secondary copy on Fenrir’s head.

I loved that woman. I had to figure out how to ask her to marry me.

I scanned through the crowd, and Night wasn’t the first familiar face I saw. I grinned as I saw a shocked Livia, the leader of the Ranger team that had stopped us on the way to Sanguino, finally putting together that I was indeed a Sentinel.

I mentally filed the look on her face away under ‘priceless’ in [Astral Archives], and resolved to figure out how to bump into her later during the party. Oooooh, I was looking forward to that conversation.

She was sitting with the rest of her team, who were all excitedly chattering with each other, fingers pointed my way.

I wanted to wave but didn’t, aware that nearly every eye was on me.

I finally managed to find Night, sitting in an average seat, slightly apart from anyone else. He clearly noticed that I’d found him, and shot me a cheeky wink.

He was technically off-rotation, and so ‘didn’t count’ as a Sentinel, which also meant he didn’t need to dress up and present. I imagined a number of other Sentinels were scattered through the crowd, either off-rotation, or with the Shadow designation.

The speeches went on and on, and I was being painted as way larger than life than I actually thought I was. Founder of medicine, savior of humanity, protege of one of the progenitors, without me nobody here would be alive today, and those were the simple claims. They had some utterly wild and outlandish ones in there, like how I’d single-handedly wrestled a bull.

At last Arachne got up, and she was mercifully short and sweet.

“It is my greatest joy and honor to welcome Sentinel Dawn back to the fold. The endless sands of time have changed how we operate from the glorious past, and in her return, a slightly new position has been found for Dawn. Please all join me in welcoming War Sentinel Dawn back to the fold, to be attached to the Sixth Legion when they are on maneuvers.”

Arachne turned and saluted me, and I turned to her, and almost fumbled. I almost gave the Remus salute, instead of the Exterreri one. I caught myself just in time, gave the right salute, then Arachne pinned the Exterreri Sentinel badge onto my chest. Black and red bat against a black armor background, the two little red eyes were all that was visible until someone looked closer.

That had to be by design.

[*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Sentinel’s Superiority] to [War Sentinel’s Resolve]? Y/N]

War Sentinel’s Resolve: The bastion of strength and determination on the battlefield, you are one of the elite of Exterreri, unmatched in the art of war. The legions cry your name as you pass on the battlefield, and your enemies scream in terror at your presence. You are one of the major forces of war. With this skill, you’ll be the last one standing in any battle. Increased endurance, resilience, combat prowess, tenacity, courage, mental and physical fortitude per level.

The skill covered an amazing amount, but I noticed a few differences from [Sentinel’s Superiority].

First, I was no longer described as the pinnacle of humanity. ‘Only’ an elite of Exterreri.

Second, while the combat prowess overlapped, the skill went from a 25% boost to my class skills, to a wide range of physical and mental buffs. All good stuff – but was it really worth losing the insane boost.

Third, the System didn’t ask on pure upgrades. It simply made it so. The fact that it was giving me a choice was a subtle alert that the skill wasn’t strictly better.

I didn’t think of myself as [War Sentinel Dawn] yet. I thought of myself as [The Dawn Sentinel], and frankly, I liked[Sentinel’s Superiority].

I declined the upgrade.

No ding on my class though, damn. Maybe it was splitting the experience with Auri, maybe it was that I’d already reported in, maybe it was simply that I was pretty high level and dings didn’t rain down from the heavens every day anymore. A little disappointing, but not the end of the world.

The crowd, having been masterfully worked up by the speeches and event, started screaming and cheering. Iona was hooting and hollering, waving her arms at me, and even Fenrir was cracking a huge, toothy grin, unnerving the people suddenly standing next to rows of 8-inch daggers. The members of the Sixth Legion enthusiastically banged their spears against their shields.

I suppose I’d just been hyped as their guardian angel that would ensure they never died.

The weight of my role hit me then. Every member of the legion banging their shields, every one of the soldiers in front of me was now my responsibility. I’d be with them in the thick of battle, throwing out my skills, trying to keep them all alive against another army trying to kill us all.

I knew the math. I knew the numbers. I knew how powerful I was, and how much I could heal at various ranges.

I knew, one day in the near future, I’d be deciding who lived, and who died. Who I’d spend my mana on, and who I’d let fall. Each death would be a betrayal, a failure of the trust the legionnaire had placed in me.

Some of them would die, in spite of my best efforts, and they would cheer me the whole way.

“I hope you don’t hate me for saying that party sucked.” I complained to Iona once we were back home, for a very generous definition of home.

She patted my leg.

“It’s the social meet and greet. Now you’ve met a bunch of the people you’ll need to know, you’ve got a dozen appointments to learn more, and it properly established you as War Sentinel Dawn. All in all a win, yeah?”

I cracked an eye at her, the Eagle pinned in her hair making me smile. I wrinkled my nose at all the smoke. Auri was not going for a clean burn, and the wind was blowing the wrong way. She was having fun, doing what she wanted, and was clearing out all the stumps in the zone.

“Yeah, alright. Just wish I enjoyed it, or had [Social Lubricant] or something to make it easier. Instead, it’s just painful. Like chewing nails, except the pain just doesn’t stop.”

Iona patted my leg again.

“Well, a bunch of people just had fun at a party in your name. Even bailing out early, they’re still there, still having the time of their life. Seriously, it’s good for you and your reputation.”

I groaned again.

“A million things to do tomorrow.” I complained.

“Better than nothing to do.” Iona retorted.

“I can’t win with you, can I?” I said. I was feeling a little cranky from all the social things, the high of being recognized as a Sentinel again not quite making up for everything after.

Iona snorted.

“Not with this, nope. What’s next?”

I thought about the thousand different things I’d seen and been told. I shrugged.

“Get settled. Figure out what being a War Sentinel means. Beat up the Triad. Support you with your goals. Build a home. See about that bakery for Auri. Hope Amber makes it back alright. See if Julius and Artemis got my letter, maybe visit Rolland.”

I looked Iona in the eyes and thought about the last thing, the one thing I really wanted to do.

But this wasn’t the time or the place to ask her. It wasn’t the moment, and I had nothing prepared.

A different thought flitted across my mind.

“Oh!” I said, sitting up.

“Yeah?” Iona asked.

“I should totally class up now. [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] is 128, I officially got Arachne to finish giving me all the [Loremaster] details, and now that I’m a recognized Sentinel again, I can’t see anything in the near future that would help me improve the quality. Think this is a good time?” I asked Iona, checking if I was missing anything.

She shook her head.

“This is perfect.”

Well, no time like the present. I laid my head down in Iona’s lap - best pillow ever - and fell into the world of my soul as she started to lovingly stroke my hair.

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