—that was the magic number on the battlefield.

​

Circulated among the battalion were unsubstantiated rumors that if you ever reached that mythical tally count, you’d get to walk free. The School of Fire, they called it, and those branded in it had earned their right to live on as an elder.

​

I never heard of anyone even getting close. Yet, there had to be someone, right? Aren’t

all myths rooted in some splinter of truth?

​

At a commendable tally of fifteen, I know exactly what kind of monster I am.

 

But anything beyond that seems to transcend human.