Reunion before the storm

The Mana flowed from his pool through his body until it reached the rifle in his hands giving the bullet an explosive enchantment. Haemir pulled the trigger causing a loud blast that hit the scarecrow and blew it up, leaving nothing but a slightly burned ground.

"Well done Haemir with that you mastered the flow of your Mana, the rest now depends on you, I sadly can't teach you any magic that uses more Mana than I possess so you will need to figure it out yourself." Aiduin who witnessed the destruction of the shot stood beside him.

"Thank you, master."

Two months had already passed since Haemir woke up in the village. During his stay, he was directly instructed by Aiduin while several soldiers of every hidden village were dispatched and attacked several enemy bases together with a small militant group from normal Elfen citizen who joined the rebellion.

"Given that you finished your training you can now participate in the upcoming operation that takes place the day after tomorrow, so get a good rest."

"What will my first mission consist of, master?"

"You will be informed during the strategy meeting tomorrow. Oh and now that you finished the basic training you don't need to call me master anymore"

"Yes, ma... Aiduin."

Haemir packed his equipment and went home.

"What should I do with this lad, he has become an excellent soldier after all the intense training but he is losing himself in hatred and revenge towards the empire." Aiduin sighed as he watched him walk away.

Through the harsh drills and his obsession with revenge after witnessing his father being killed, Haemir became more of a killing machine than a soldier. He stopped talking to comrades and the only feelings left in him were hatred and revenge, completely forgetting the existence of his two other family members. When he arrived at the small room that served as his home in the past months, Haemir sat on the bed and started writing in his diary as he did every day. As always, he made some simple muscle training afterwards until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.

"It is all your fault son. You could have saved me with this power but you didn't and now look at me." His father standing in front of him was severed with bullet holes.

"No father, I... I didn't know that I have this power, it... it's not my fault!"

With a sweat-soaked shirt, Haemir woke up from his nightmare. His heavy breathing seemed extremely loud in comparison to the calm night.

"My nightmares are getting worse by the day."

Knowing that he wouldn't fall asleep again he used the time for a run and to further train his ability to control the Mana flow. At point nine o'clock he was already sitting in the meeting room prepared for any mission he might receive.

"Now then lads, let's get this over with." The general of the resistance called by everyone the Bear, due to him apparently taming a bear, was standing in front of them.

With a stick in one hand, he pointed on the strategic map behind his back as he talked.

"This is a once in a lifetime possibility for our cause, the enemy forces have been pushed back to their last defensive line and the reinforcement from the capital got slowed down by stormy weather. Therefore we will use this opportunity to finally get rid of all the Empires scum on our lands and directly attack them! While our forces will strike from the east, Haemir and four other soldiers that are able to use explosive enchantments will join up with militant groups in the southern village called Derdriu to start the assault from there. You will be responsible to create a breach in the enemy defences so that the infantry can push forward. The assault will take place tomorrow at midnight. If the operation is successful Greenwald will be ours and we can probably fend off any incoming troops at the Ogeroy Creek until winter. The departure to the village and the headquarters in the east will be in three hours. That's all, good luck lads and may Rianke give us power."

"Yes Sir!"

With that Haemir and four explosive enchanters departed towards Derdriu village. They didn't talk much during the trip since everyone was in deep thoughts about the upcoming battle. If they win this could be the last fight until winter.

For the first time in two months, Haemir witnessed the devastation of war, fields and houses were either in ruins or burned to the ground. The smell of corpses filled the air and not a soul was to be found on the streets. When they arrived at the village a small armed group of militants welcomed them and while he was waiting for new instruction from his squad captain a militant soldier approached him.

"Br... Brother is that you?"A familiar voice rang in Haemirs ears, it was his younger brother Aymon.

"Aymon? Aymon what are you doing here and what about mother?" He felt like he just woke up from a long nightmare after recognizing his brothers face in front of him.

"You dare to ask about mother after you just disappeared without a trace? She fell ill after grieving over your and fathers death! I tried my best to procure medicine and food but with the little money I earned, I couldn't afford either of them. If only you would've come back or at least write us that you were alive mother might have regained her will to live and fought against her sickness!."

"How about you two go and have a talk in my tent" One of the militants who overheard the conversation and apparently had a higher rank pointed in the direction of a green tarp.

Both thanked him and went inside. While Aymon was furious about the sudden appearance of his brother, Haemir was absolutely devasted, not only did he lose his father but now also his mother and Aymon hates him.

"W...What were her last words?" The trembling voice of Haemir broke the silence.

"She called your names repeatedly in the last minutes before her death. And, and what happened to you, why didn't you come back?"

They spent the night talking about what happened during the past months slowly starting to behave like two brothers that reunited and casting their grudges aside for the time being.

Summer 1916 after Idemis' ascension, one of the largest offensive operations from part of the resistance later known under the name of Operation Bastion started. The rebels dispatched 500 village soldiers and 800 militant forces while the enemy had gathered all the remaining troops in the region to defend the last HQ, amounting to 2'500 troops.