They kept coming. It was going to be a long night.

The waist-deep river made the enemy sluggish, and it was simple for Miro to read their actions and dance around them, darting to the left and the right, his zenblade rising and falling as the blood mingled with the water. But Miro was beginning to tire. He was accustomed to covering a lot of ground when he fought — often when a battle ended he was surprised to discover he had travelled several hundred paces from where he started — but here, fighting in the river, the water dragged at his legs.

Bodies floated past, both in black and in green, some mangled by the explosions of the orbs, others showing the deep gashes of swords.

Miro tripped on a log buried beneath the water and fell. A black figure above thrust down at him, and as the water filled Miro's mouth, he knew he was dead. Then an orb flashed in the distance, and in the snapshot of light Miro saw the figure above him wore Alturan green. The warrior was holding out a hand to help him up.

As Miro regained his footing he heard shouts. "Altura! Regroup!"

Miro looked around, given a moment's respite by the late arrival of a fresh band of his men. The battle was raging but the sheer numbers of the enemy were taking their toll. The Alturans and Halrana had been pushed closer to the Alturan bank, and Miro could see the situation was dire.

Then he saw a shadow flicker and a line of light slice through the air. A legionnaire went down, swiftly followed by another. A second shadow took down three soldiers in quick succession. Water dripped down the lines of the silhouetted form, and for an instant Miro saw the shape of a zenblade and the flickering symbols that covered the man's armoursilk before in a flurry he became a shadow again. Miro's brothers were out there.

Miro raised his zenblade above his head. "Altura!" he shouted.

The roar of his men echoed his cry.

Miro reactivated his zenblade and armoursilk, chanting the runes in quick succession. He blazed like a vengeful spirit, as with his men rallied behind him he took the fight to the enemy.

~

MIRO returned alone from the border perhaps three hours before dawn. He'd left Marshal Beorn in charge; the situation there was growing desperate. Miro knew he needed to return to Sarostar where he could press the case for diverting some of the men from the Petryan border to where they were needed most.