Part One Hundred Twenty-Five — Setting Out

　Morning arrived quieter than I expected, the whole of Horizoncrest gathering near the gate to see everyone off — not a formal ceremony, just people who'd come to genuinely care about each other, wanting to be present before something this significant actually began.

　"You'll be careful," I told Eris, one final time, hands finding hers the same way they always did.

　"I'll be exactly as careful as the situation allows," she said, which wasn't quite the reassurance I'd wanted, though it was honest, and I'd learned by then to value her honesty over easier comfort.

Fair enough. Can't ask for more than that, given what she's actually walking toward.

　Elva, Celica, and Luke stood together near the group's edge, their own subordinates — a dozen fighters drawn from Elaine's defense force, each trained specifically under the elite trio's own demanding standards — arrayed behind them with quiet, focused readiness.

　"First real test at this scale," Luke said, something nervous cutting through his usual confidence.

　"We've trained for exactly this," Celica reminded him, steady despite her own shoulder still bearing the faint mark of her last real battle. "Trust the work we've already put in."

　"She's right," Elva added. "Fifteen thousand's a big number. Doesn't mean it's an unbeatable one. Numbers alone never won a fight against people who actually know what they're doing."

Good. Confidence, tempered by realistic respect for the scale ahead. That's exactly the balance I was hoping they'd carry into this.

　Enzo, already shifted partially into his true Elder Dragon form, surveyed the assembled group with the same careful, tactical patience he brought to everything.

　"We move as one unit until contact," he said, his voice carrying easily across the gathered fighters. "Eris's barrier holds the front line once their opening volley comes. I'll attempt contact with their leadership before anything further escalates, per Kai's specific request. Beyond that — we adapt to whatever their actual response turns out to be."

　"And if diplomacy fails?" one of the elite trio's subordinates asked, quiet.

　"Then we end this as decisively and as quickly as possible," Enzo said, something final in the words. "No unnecessary suffering on either side, if it can genuinely be avoided. But we do not lose. Not against a threat this direct to everything we've built."

That's the right balance too, honestly. Mercy where mercy's possible. Decisiveness where it's not.

　I pulled Ace aside briefly before the group's departure, the same quiet, private moment I'd taken with everyone else.

Watch them properly. All of them. And come back safe yourself, too.

I intend to do exactly that, Ace replied, warm despite the gravity of the morning. You worry too much, for someone who trained them all this well.

I worry exactly the right amount, given how much I actually love every single one of them.

Fair point, he conceded, something almost gentle in the admission.

　Nyxara appeared briefly, just before their departure, watching the preparations with open, genuine curiosity rather than her usual playful teasing.

　"You're not joining them?" I asked, faintly surprised.

　"This one's not mine to interfere with," she said, simple. "Watching Enzo's own growth properly test itself feels like something worth observing from a respectful distance, rather than something I should insert myself into uninvited."

Considerate, actually, for someone who usually shows up entirely uninvited to everything else.

　"Good luck," she told the assembled group, genuine warmth cutting through her usual playfulness. "Not that most of you actually need it, I suspect."

　The teleportation spell activated smoothly, Anti-Subconsciousness's own precision guiding the working with the same careful reliability it applied to everything since its own evolution, and within moments the entire assembled force had vanished from Horizoncrest's gate, already closing the distance toward wherever Myrath's own advancing army currently stood.

　I remained behind, same as I'd agreed, watching the empty space where they'd stood only seconds earlier, the whole weight of what I'd just sent into motion settling properly into my chest.

Fifteen thousand soldiers. My family, walking toward them, on my behalf, because I asked them to.

"They are well prepared," Anti-Subconsciousness said, quiet, its newer terse register still doing what it could to offer comfort within its own limits.

"Your preparation over these past months has not been wasted."

I hope you're right. I really, genuinely hope you're right about that.

　I turned back toward Horizoncrest's quiet morning streets, the town continuing its ordinary rhythm entirely unaware of exactly how much was currently riding on a battlefield none of them could see, and settled in for what promised to be the longest wait of my life so far.

Come back. All of you.

Please, just come back.