FIVE DAYS BEFORE WINTER SOLSTICE
"You're taking us where?" Celeste stared at me like I'd proposed jumping off a cliff.
"The Thornwood Breach. Eastern edge of the Corrupted Forest. Second Circle demon activity confirmed by suppression units yesterday." I continued packing supplies—healing potions, mana crystals, emergency beacons. "We leave in an hour."
"That's insane," Kieran said flatly. "We're students. The Corrupted Forest is patrolled by C-rank minimum teams. We're not ready—"
"You're not ready for controlled, supervised combat. That's why we're doing this." I looked at my assembled team: Celeste, Kieran, Jakob, Mira, and Sarah. Five students, various skill levels, about to face real danger for the first time. "In five days, I'm meeting with a demon who's powerful enough to send Second Circle messengers. In seven years, Azkaros invades. You can't prepare for that in a training room."
"So your solution is throwing us at demons?" Mira's voice was sharp with fear and anger. "That's not training. That's execution."
"That's reality. The demons won't wait for you to be ready. They'll attack when you're tired, scared, and underprepared. Better to face that now, with me as backup, than during actual invasion when no one's coming to save you."
Sarah, who'd been quiet, spoke up: "What's the actual plan? Or are we just charging in blind?"
"Reconnaissance first. Luna, Seraphina, and I will scout from above. Identify threats, map territory, find the demon nest." I pulled out a rough map. "You five will form a combat team. Clear smaller threats. Draw out the larger demons. When something you can't handle appears, you retreat. I intervene if necessary."
"If necessary?" Jakob looked pale. "What counts as necessary?"
"Life-threatening injury, Third Circle entities, or complete tactical collapse. Anything less, you handle yourselves."
"That's terrifying."
"That's combat. Welcome to the reality everyone's been sheltering you from."
Kieran crossed his arms. "And if we refuse?"
"Then you stay here. Safe. Comfortable. Completely unprepared for what's coming." I met his amber eyes. "But then you're off the team. I need people who can function under pressure. If you're not willing to face controlled danger now, you'll be useless when real danger arrives."
The room went silent.
"I'm in," Sarah said first. "We've been training for months. Time to see if it actually works."
"Easy for you to say," Celeste muttered. "You've been training with him one-on-one since the beginning. Some of us are newer—"
"Two months for Kieran. Three weeks for Jakob and Mira. That's more preparation than most people get before their first real combat." I started distributing equipment. "Kieran, you're point. Earth sense keeps you aware of physical threats. Mira, stay central. You're our lifeline—keep everyone stabilized. Jakob, rear guard with your mice. They're expendable scouts. Celeste, you're our primary offense. Sarah, you're tactical command. I've taught you strategy—use it."
"Wait, I'm commanding?" Sarah blinked. "Shouldn't you—"
"I'm oversight, not command. You need to learn leadership under pressure." I handed her a communication crystal. "This connects to mine. Emergency only. Otherwise, you make the calls."
She took it with trembling hands. Not fear—excitement mixed with terror. Good. Fear kept you alert.
"One hour," I repeated. "Pack light, prepare for six hours in hostile territory. Dismissed."
THE THORNWOOD BREACH
The Corrupted Forest earned its name honestly.
Trees twisted into impossible angles, bark black and weeping some viscous substance. The air tasted wrong—copper and rot and something that made your teeth ache. The mana here was dense, heavy, corrupted by centuries of demonic presence.
"This is horrible," Mira whispered, hand over her mouth. "The ambient corruption—it's like breathing poison."
"It's diluted here," I said, leading them through undergrowth that seemed to writhe away from my presence. "Deeper in, it's worse. The Eastern Wastes are completely saturated. Walking there without protection would kill normal humans in hours."
We reached a clearing—relatively clear, anyway. Trees formed a natural amphitheater around open ground.
"This is the staging area," I announced. "Luna, Seraphina, and I will scout from the perimeter. You five stay here until I return with targets." I looked at each of them. "Remember your training. Trust your team. Don't try to be heroes—heroes die first."
"Encouraging," Jakob muttered.
I jumped, releasing just enough power to launch myself to the treeline above. Luna materialized beside me, her anomaly nature making her invisible to normal sight. Seraphina appeared a moment later, moving through branches with inhuman grace.
"They're terrified," Luna observed.
"Good. Terrified people stay alert." I scanned the forest with enhanced senses. Multiple demon signatures—mostly First Circle, a few Second Circle. Perfect. "Seraphina, what do you see?"
She closed her crimson eyes, her temporal perception active. "Four possible futures branch from this moment. In two, they succeed with minor injuries. In one, Jakob panics and nearly gets Mira killed. In the fourth..." She paused. "Celeste goes berserk. Loses control of her power completely. Burns half the forest."
"Will any of them die?"
"No. But success isn't guaranteed." She opened her eyes. "You're gambling with their safety."
"I'm preparing them for inevitable danger. There's a difference." I pointed to a cluster of demon signatures about five hundred meters east. "First Circle demons. Ten of them. Corrupted wolves, probably. Good target for initial engagement."
"You're cruel," Luna said quietly.
"I'm practical. They need to know what real combat feels like. Better now than when it actually matters." I dropped back to the clearing. "Contact in five minutes. Eastern approach. First Circle corrupted wolves. Ten minimum."
Sarah immediately started organizing. "Kieran, sense for additional threats. Mira, center position, prepare healing. Jakob, mice forward as early warning. Celeste, you're with me on the line. Wait for my command."
"What about me?" Celeste asked.
"You're our heavy hitter. When they engage, I need controlled burns. Not forest fire. Precision." Sarah's voice was steady despite her fear. Two months of training showing through. "Everyone clear?"
Nods all around.
I retreated to the treeline. Luna and Seraphina flanked me, invisible to those below.
"Here they come," Kieran said, hand pressed to earth. "Ten... no, twelve signatures. Fast. Very fast."
The corrupted wolves burst from the undergrowth.
They'd been normal wolves once. Now they were nightmares—flesh warped by demonic energy, extra limbs sprouting from wrong places, eyes glowing sickly green. They moved with unnatural coordination, pack tactics enhanced by demonic intelligence.
"Hold!" Sarah commanded.
The wolves circled, testing, looking for weakness.
Jakob's mice charged forward—three tiny undead scouts engaging creatures fifty times their size. The wolves snapped at them, momentarily distracted.
"Celeste, NOW!"
Fire erupted. Controlled, precise, exactly as trained. Three wolves caught in the blast, howling as corrupted flesh burned. But they didn't die—First Circle demons were tougher than normal creatures.
"Kieran, left flank!"
He raised both hands. The earth surged upward, creating a wall that blocked three wolves from circling around. Good tactical use of terrain manipulation.
"Mira, Celeste is overheating!"
I could see it—Celeste's fire burning too hot, too intense. The suppression crystal I'd given her was glowing, straining to contain her power. She was approaching her limit.
Mira moved without hesitation. Placed her hand on Celeste's back, cooling enchantment activating. Not healing—but mana stabilization, something I'd taught her last week.
The pack was breaking formation. Sarah had created chaos, disrupted their coordination. Now it was cleanup.
"Jakob, converge on injured targets!"
His mice swarmed the burned wolves. Not killing them—distracting, harassing, keeping them occupied while others finished them off.
Sarah herself was fighting now. Her swordsmanship was brutal, efficient—nothing fancy, just lethal precision. She'd come so far from the sheltered princess who'd demanded training months ago.
Seven wolves down. Five remaining. The pack leader—larger, smarter—was holding back, reassessing.
"It's analyzing us," Kieran warned. "The big one. It's too smart for normal corruption."
"Second Circle intelligence," I murmured from my perch. "The pack leader absorbed enough demonic energy to gain self-awareness. Dangerous."
Sarah saw it too. "Formation delta! Kieran, wall! Jakob, harass! Celeste, wait for opening!"
The pack leader charged. Not at Sarah—at Mira. It had identified the healer as the support pillar.
Smart. Terrifying, but smart.
Kieran's earth wall erupted between them. The wolf crashed through—more powerful than he'd anticipated. The wall crumbled.
Mira screamed.
Sarah was moving, intercepting, her blade catching the wolf's claws inches from Mira's throat.
"CELESTE!"
Fire engulfed the pack leader. Not controlled burns this time—desperation. The heat was intense enough that I felt it from fifty feet away.
The wolf burned. Thrashed. Died.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Twelve corrupted wolves. Dead. The team standing. Alive.
"Status!" Sarah commanded, voice shaking slightly.
"Kieran, minor lacerations. Earth wall backfired, stone fragments hit me. I'm fine."
"Jakob, mice are dust. But I'm uninjured."
"Celeste..." Mira was examining her. "Severe mana exhaustion. She burned through three days worth of reserves in that final blast. She needs rest and stabilization."
"I'm okay," Celeste gasped, but she was clearly not okay. Trembling, pale, eyes unfocused. "Did we—did we win?"
"You survived," I said, dropping from my perch. "Barely. That final move was reckless. If the pack leader had been Third Circle, the fire wouldn't have killed it fast enough. It would have torn through Mira first."
"But it wasn't Third Circle," Celeste protested weakly.
"This time. Next time you might not be lucky." I looked at Sarah. "Assessment?"
She took a breath. "We succeeded. But barely. Coordination broke down when the pack leader charged. I panicked, called for formation delta when we should have retreated and regrouped. Celeste compensated with overwhelming force, but that's not sustainable."
"Correct. What would you do differently?"
"Identify the leader earlier. Neutralize it first instead of clearing the pack. Remove the intelligence and the rest are just beasts."
"Good. Kieran?"
"My earth sense warned about the leader's intelligence, but I didn't communicate clearly enough. I said 'too smart' when I should have said 'Second Circle threat, prioritize immediately.'"
"Better. Jakob?"
"I should have held my mice back until the leader charged. Used them as emergency interception instead of burning them on harassment duty."
"Much better. Mira?"
"I stayed too central. Made myself an obvious target. Should have positioned behind Kieran's earth walls for cover."
"Excellent self-awareness." I looked at Celeste. "And you?"
She was quiet, still trembling from mana exhaustion. "I lost control at the end. Burned too hot. Could have started a forest fire if Sarah hadn't commanded when she did."
"You also saved Mira's life. The loss of control was reckless. The willingness to go all-out to protect your team is valuable." I pulled out mana crystals, distributing them. "Everyone absorb these. Restore your reserves. We're not done."
"Not done?" Jakob looked horrified. "We just fought twelve corrupted wolves!"
"And you'll fight twelve more before we leave. Repetition builds competence. One successful engagement means nothing. Three means you're learning." I pointed deeper into the forest. "There's a demon nest two kilometers east. Second Circle entity with First Circle guards. That's our next target."
"That's insane!" Mira protested. "We're exhausted, low on mana, and Celeste can barely stand!"
"Which is exactly the state you'll be in during real combat. Demons don't wait for you to be ready." I met each of their eyes. "You can rest if you need to. But every minute we rest is a minute not training. Your choice."
Sarah stood, still breathing hard. "We continue. We learn. We survive." She looked at her team. "Those who need to rest, speak now. No judgment."
No one spoke.
"Then we move in ten minutes. Mira, stabilize Celeste's mana pathways. Kieran, map the terrain with earth sense. Jakob, can you raise more mice from corrupted wolf corpses?"
"That's..." He looked at the bodies. "That's brilliant. Corrupted flesh holds residual demonic energy. The constructs will be stronger but harder to control."
"Then practice control on the way. I want three combat-ready constructs before we reach the nest."
They moved with purpose now. Fear still present, but tempered by success. They'd faced death and survived. That changed people.
Luna appeared beside me. "They're adapting faster than expected."
"Because they're not training for grades or approval. They're training for survival. Different motivation entirely." I watched Sarah organize her team, making tactical adjustments based on their first engagement. "She's good at this. Natural leader."
"She's doing it for you," Seraphina added, materializing on my other side. "Trying to prove she's worth keeping around. That she won't be just another person you watch die."
"I know."
"Does she know you'd burn the world down if she died?"
"I hope not. That knowledge would terrify her."
"It should terrify you. The fact that you're capable of it." Seraphina's crimson eyes were serious. "Marcus, I've seen the timeline where she dies this loop. Where something goes wrong in the demon meeting next week and she's caught in the crossfire. You break. Completely. Loops 113-127 all over again, except worse."
"Then we make sure that timeline doesn't happen."
"Can we? Or are some things inevitable?"
"Nothing is inevitable. I've changed too much already. This loop is different." I watched Sarah, alive and commanding and so incredibly fragile compared to the powers gathering against us. "It has to be different."
Seraphina was quiet. Then: "For what it's worth, I hope you're right."
Ten minutes passed. The team reformed, mana partially restored, ready to continue.
"East, two kilometers, Second Circle target," I announced. "Expectations: this will be harder. Casualties are possible. But you handle it. I observe. Intervention only if lives are immediately threatened."
"Understood," Sarah said. Her hands were steady now. Fear conquered, at least temporarily. "Team, formation gamma. Kieran on point, Jakob and I flanking, Celeste and Mira center. Move out."
They walked into corrupted forest with purpose.
Above, three observers followed. Watching. Waiting. Hoping they'd survive what came next.
Because in five days, they'd face something worse.
In seven years, something infinitely worse.
And the only way to prepare for hell was to visit its lesser suburbs first.