Naturally Vonn was the first choice for the general’s little troupe, he was top of his class in all fields, the model for a skilled mage.

“Aren’t you excited?” aria asked

“Excited for what? To die attacking Haven?”Vonn replied nihilistically as he packed his things. His room was a standard single quarter, complete with a bookshelf, a wardrobe a desk, a straw bed and a window.

“Then why are you going?” Aria asked “You could just stay, you get the choice”

“It’s the illusion of choice Aria”

“I don’t think I know that spell…” she mumbled. Vonn sighed and gave a brief chuckle

“There is no real choice, to stay means that we forfeit our scholarship, our aid. They’ll terminate my housing, I saw them filing the paperwork to terminate at least six other students earlier”

“But you’re master Grimm’s son! They couldn’t do that to you!... could they?” she asked in disbelief

“I don’t intend to stay and find out… you’ll be fine though” he said as he packed his clothes and books

“And why is that?” she asked “Am I not skilled enough?”

“No… I mean it’s..” he said flustered

“Am I too female? Too weak?” she said pushing him onto the bed

“You’re too beautiful” he said before planting a soft kiss on her lips “Too innocent and pure, war doesn’t suit you Aria. I’ll make a formal request that you do not receive any penalties for not enlisting, if I volunteer off the bat they’ll owe me that much.” he said softly

“You big lug” she taunted “I won’t let you die out there”

“I won’t, I’ll be fine”

“You know I’ve never been one to sit by and watch, besides, what would I do here without you? Probably fail all of my courses, aren’t you worried I’ll be disloyal when you leave?” she moped

“I genuinely doubt that” he affirmed

“I’ll enlist as a healer, how about that? I’ll stay in the backlines and keep you safe while you fight the good fight” she kissed him

“I like the way you think” he replied

The next morning they left together, hand in hand as they marched away from Grimm’s childhood home for what would be the last time. At the time, Von didn’t know he would never see that place again; though all the same somewhere in his heart lurked a sadness that knew this to be his last departure. They left in the company of imperial spearmen and over three hundred newly inducted ‘death mages’ whatever that was supposed to imply. The idea of a death mage was just that; an idea. A warning of sorts. Death mages had no ranks, no insignia, they all wore identical black coats and iconic skull masks. A death mage could be incredibly skilled or impeccably mediocre; the enemy wouldn’t know the difference. It was the weapon of fear, the concept of three hundred masked spell weavers, each one disguising their unique skills and trade behind a mask of conformity, they were unpredictable, hard to counter, and deathly silent. It was a message of fear. In the war of Gremand Boul they had outfitted over eight hundred enlisted soldiers in death mage garb and lined them up in the front lines at the Battle of Cartara. The enemy feared the might of so many mages that they surrendered without a single drop of blood being spilled.  Grimm was reluctant though… the Elven were not a foe easily bested. They were strong willed, insightful and above all else, they possessed unmatchable prowess in battle. Only two wars have ever been fought singularly against the Elven; one a civil war, the other a failed plot to wrest a port from their control in the Ebrenian War almost two hundred years prior. The Elven were one with their tools, capable of using any weapon as an extension of themselves, impossibly level headed and skilled, no measly scare tactic would shake these warriors… obviously the general was desperate.

“Haven…” grimm mumbled “I’ve always wanted to visit the Elven capital” Aria chuckled

“Look at you being optimistic”