Thread: War and Greed (Javorcek x ClearSight)

While most soldiers were busy saying goodbye to their families and having a touching conversation with a mate, or simply chatting with fellow soldiers they had known through training, Myra was different. She was watching Danika, a curious expression on her face as the princess bid farewell to her family in a rather grand fashion, the adorable pup Lucy being touching to say the least. Myra herself, well after a slap against the back of her head from her father and a quick, 'make our kingdom proud' he left. Her father was a military man himself so accomplishments were what he cared about, and Myra had been raised as a soldier from the day she was born, much to her mother's displeasure. The unfortunate part, her talent actually did fall to strength and swordplay as opposed to being a good daughter, and after a few skirmishes and a campaign she was considered a veteran soldier. One could tell who had went before, rank aside, because those like Myra had a carefree look on their face and quite a few scars beneath their armor, and Myra had a good deal of those. She was more carefree than others, bordering on foolish, but nobody doubted the vice-captain's abilities, she was a force on the battlefield and had actually won the kingdom tournament previously, though after her one win she refused to fight again, she hadn't wanted to in the first place. Perhaps the most curious thing about Myra was her background though. She had been raised to be a soldier but in actuality she was a noble, a low level aristocrat but an old family with quite a bit of history as both servants of the crown and loyal fighters. It meant she knew Danika quite well, they had been together as friends since childhood, and even in recent years when time didn't allow them to meet she still had a special place in her mind for the gorgeous princess. Hell, she had pulled a few strings to be under the woman's command, using a lovely excuse about protecting her, which only worked because she was well known as a skilled military asset. Yep, 'protecting the princess', the only reason it worked was because nobody was aware of just how skilled the royal pain in the ass was. Even the foot soldiers had their doubts about any form of aristocracy being present as their leader, untested only meaning death in the hearts of some, but she had some faith things would go well. After they left the castle Myra wasted no time moving around the back, screwing up formation a bit to get herself next to Danika, a ridiculous grin spread on her face as people rearranged themselves for her. Ooooh Daaaaaanika She chirped, not sure her friend had noticed her at all, and ignoring the looks of shock on peoples faces as they heard someone call the name of the princess without any form of respect or title. The alpha wasn't scared though, she was all grin, and eye catching herself, even if the air of nobility had long since been cast aside. She was a tad tall, standing five foot nine, had a lean athletic body and ample curves hidden underneath her armor... Muscle and scars also hiding beneath the metallic uniform. Her face was feminine but had an edge of devilish charm to it, sun kissed skin giving away how much time she spent outside training and fighting, and her medium length brown hair was put up in a very short pony tail, only a few rogue strands falling across her face. She didn't mind scars but her face had been preserved with great effort, including one time where she almost died taking a sword to the chest to avoid a scrape to her cheek, it was worth it. Her mischievous green eyes sparkled and she tilted her head a bit, waiting for the princess to give her a response, curious whether her time serving the woman would be that of friend or that of a strict military nature... That would be so stuffy. --- Talia, love, you're strong, no damn wolf will be able to stand up to you. Now go be big and bad for me so I can hold my head up high. She chuckled, the short woman giving her a brief kiss and a smile. It was her girlfriend, and while they hadn't been dating for long they had known each other since the academy, and both specialized in combat magic, only Lily didn't have the aptitude with mana to make a proper soldier. Her skills were best used in the research division trying to think up effective spells or engrave spells to equipment for the soldiers, both of which took less mana. She wasn't particularly talented at that either but it could save some lives, and let more talented people like Talia worry about more pressing matters. The truth was being a mage knight had been less her choice and more her friends and family pressuring her into being one of the select soldiers, and even Lily had been for her running out to the front lines and giving their city a bigger chance at victory. The only problem, Talia was a shitty swordsman. Not the worst but her ability with a sword was comparable to anyone with less than a years experience, the only advantage she was was her immense mana pool and creative use of it. Mainly she used repulsion and attraction magic, as well as support based magic and fire spells. She had a lot of tricks, and so many books on magic in her belongings that one would think she didn't own anything else. In her mind it had all become about survival... After all, so many people were expecting her to do great things, and defend their people. --- Talia wiped blood from her blade, an ugly look plastered on her face as she sat atop a rock and surveyed the battlefield. Nearly half of the troops from two different squadrons were dead. Even her skills had led to an injury, one which she had already healed up but didn't hurt her pride any less. She had known it was going to be bad, by the time she arrived most of the fourth squadron had been wiped out, only a handful remaining and by less wolves than the usual patrol. She figured out why quickly enough, these were the real wolves, the actual fighting force of the kingdom, and the enemies Talia had been dreading her entire time on the front line. The average soldier simply couldn't compete with the strength and speed of an alpha wolf, a beta sure, with proper training and experience, but alphas could only be competed against by the most powerful humans or equally powerful wolves... And the number the mages had of that was minuscule. Their only hope was mages and mage knights, but even they were few in number compared to the wolves. Fuck she muttered, wiping the last traces of blood from her blade before standing up and sliding the weapon back in its sheath. Gather up the wounded and let's go, no reason to let them get the drop on us! She shouted, getting quick responses from her men as she herself took one last look around. She had a bad feeling, death was coming.