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In a matter of minutes, the last man fell to the ground, the barrel of Sigrid’s Mag-Gun smoking while her bullet ate away at the dead man’s chest.

With Leo’s protection, the attackers had never stood a chance.

They must not have known who Leo was if their plan was as simple as an ambush.

They hadn’t been expecting a night-wielder among us.

Leo ripped the Mag-Gun out of my hands. “Next time I tell you to get out, you fucking do it,” he scolded me, his face cold as stone. He pointed to Simon’s body on the ground. “You could’ve been killed.”

My ears reddened with embarrassment at his lecture. I might be working through some issues, but I was a soldier just like Sigrid and Cal, and poor Simon. I wouldn’t run away again like I had from my world. And Leo shouldn’t ask me to.

I put my hands on my hips, straightening my shoulders. “I’m not just going to sit by and⁠—”

“Save it.” He made a slit of darkness in the air in front of me and tossed my gun into it, sealing it back up with a blinding flash of white light. “Next time I give you an order, you follow it.”

“That isn’t up to y⁠—”

“Everything is up to me!” he roared, the earth shifting like an earthquake.

The compassionate king was gone in this moment, his hazel irises still stained with black.

“This is my kingdom, and right now you’re part of my team. Don’t ever go against an order or else⁠—”

“Or else what?” I snapped back. “Huh? I’m a fucking soldier, and a damn good one. You don’t get to sit me on the sidelines of a fight. Ever.”

Cal let out a low whistle.

Sigrid said nothing, her head bent in prayer over Simon’s body.

Leo exhaled, hanging his head in defeat, and stepped away from me, walking toward Sigrid to comfort her.

Her head was still hung low when he reached her, and he rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take him home,” he said softly to her, his voice pained.

Sigrid looked up at him, her eyes wet.

He touched her cheek. “Burn the rest.”

She nodded, the bodies of the attackers instantly engulfing in flames on the ground around us.

I walked away from the burning bodies, giving Leo and his friends space to mourn their fallen soldier.

Wanting to make myself useful, I readied the horses, calming them the best I could after all the commotion.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was out of line for arguing with Leo, my ears still ringing from our fight. But how could he order me to stand down while his friends fought, and died, around me? I might be new to the weaponry on One, but it seemed that war was the same no matter which Earth you were on. And I was an expert at war.

Bad guy.

Weapon.

Kill bad guy.

The end.

While I was on One, Leo needed to treat me like the rest of his soldiers. Because what would I be if I wasn’t a soldier?

Sigrid joined me at the horses, her shoulders sagged forward with grief.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said quietly, unsure if I should hug her or leave her be.