"I didn't expect it to be... so soon."
What Shadow Song had really meant was that she'd thought she would die on the front lines and never see Annan again...
This was no place to catch up. The prisoners saw the Warden talking to a boy riding a Dragon and seized the chance to slack off. Shadow Song answered by cracking her whip with a sharp snap.
"If you don't want to go back to that lightless Dungeon to wait for death, keep training!"
The prisoners flinched at the crack and went back to thrusting their spears at the scarecrows before them.
"Not bad. I thought it would take you a while to find your footing."
Annan could even see a trace of Della in Shadow Song... In some ways, their lives had followed much the same path. Both had lived in darkness, both had met Annan and seen their fates change, and both had become Wardens.
"Prisoners are much like beasts. Show them you're tougher and fiercer than they are, and they'll fear you," Shadow Song said, her gaze shifting past Annan.
Several Guards stationed outside the Camp came over.
"Lord Annan!" They saluted him.
"And you are?" From their armor, Annan guessed they were cavalrymen from Valley City.
"People Valley City sent to keep an eye on me," Shadow Song said.
"Warden, we aren't watching you. We were ordered to watch those unruly prisoners!" the Guard Captain said earnestly.
Shadow Song neither agreed nor disagreed. She had no intention of letting the prisoners escape.
"Where are Delatorre and Naven?"
"The two Holy Grail Knights are in the city right now!"
"And the others?"
"Some went into the city with the Holy Grail Knights. The rest are scattered around the foot of the mountain, like the Warden!"
They were