A week of drills, bruises, and early mornings passed before the instructors gave us anything resembling real work.
"Your squads are being deployed," Halvren announced at morning assembly. "No, not to war. Patrol assignments. One week. Rotating districts around the capital."
A murmur swept through the ranks. Finally — something other than drills and sparring.
"You'll walk the outer quarters," he continued. "Outer merchant districts. Farmland border zones. You are there to observe. Intervene only when necessary."
His gaze swept the crowd. "You are not full soldiers yet. Act like it."
Each squad received a leather satchel marked with a bronze disc identifying us as Empire trainees. No armor. Just the basic training uniform and a short sword. Enough to look official — but not enough to start a war.
Squad Four was assigned the Eastern Commons, a thin stretch of land between the outer farms and the crumbling aqueducts that once fed the city's old wells.
"Not glamorous," Riken said, strapping the satchel across his chest, "but at least we won't be stuck herding goats."
Vell smirked. "Don't jinx it."
The patrol began at sunrise.
Mist clung low to the dirt roads. The city walls faded behind us as we followed the old trade route east, passing stunted trees, dry creek beds, and stone fences half-swallowed by weeds.
We walked in loose formation — I led the front, Riken just behind, Vell and Brayden flanking the middle, and Danya taking rear.
Malric had been reassigned to a different group for the week — something about "disciplinary reshuffling." I didn't ask.
By midmorning, we reached a narrow cluster of homes — worn stone huts arranged in a loose circle. Chickens darted between fence posts, and a few farmers eyed us from afar.
"Empire business," Brayden called out with rehearsed confidence, raising the satchel to show the bronze disc. "Just passing through."
An old woman gave us a curt nod. "Keep your blades sharp, then," she said. "There's been trouble near the old river tunnel."
I paused. "What kind of trouble?"
She wiped her hands on her apron. "Livestock missing. Heard sounds last night. Screams. But not human."
She spat to the side. "Could be a big cat. Could be something worse."
We followed the path she pointed out — east of the homestead, toward the dried remains of an old aqueduct. It ran parallel to a collapsed riverbed, once a water source for the lower districts. Now it was just dust and roots.
The stone tunnel entrance yawned ahead, dark and cracked open like a broken jaw.
"Empire regulations say we don't enter unsealed infrastructure alone," Brayden said, quoting the handbook.
"Technically," Vell added, "that's only if we don't have a commanding officer."
Riken peered inside. "It's just a tunnel. Probably rats."
"Big rats don't leave claw marks like these," Danya said quietly.
We all turned. She was crouched by the stone, brushing dirt from a set of deep grooves carved into the wall — too wide for a dog. Too deep for a blade.
And fresh.
"I want a record of this," I said. "We note it, mark the entrance, and return at nightfall. In formation. We're not getting picked off one by one because someone wanted to play hero."
Riken nodded slowly. "Didn't take you for the cautious type."
"I'm not," I said. "But I'm not stupid."
We marked the tunnel with chalk and moved on, finishing our patrol loop around the eastern perimeter. We didn't speak much after that.
The sun was hot by midday. Dust clung to our boots. And the further we walked, the more I felt something… off. A kind of pressure in the air — like the moment before a storm, but without clouds.
By the time we returned to the barracks that evening, my shoulders were tight with tension.
After rations, I filed our report. I kept it clear, factual, and handed it to the duty clerk. He stamped it and slid it into a file drawer without comment.
But I noticed how his eyes lingered on the part about claw marks near the aqueduct.
Too casual. Like he didn't believe us.
Back in the barracks, Squad Four gathered in our usual corner. Riken sharpened his dull blade, Vell stretched silently, and Danya polished her boots — though her eyes were distant.
"What do you think it was?" Brayden asked quietly.
"I don't know," I said. "But I don't think it's just a wild animal."
Riken tossed a pebble into the air and caught it. "I vote monster."
"Don't joke," Vell said flatly. "We're not ready for that."
He looked at me. "You're the leader. What's next?"
I met his eyes. I didn't smile.
"We go back tomorrow."