Chapter 1. Now: Luca

At dawn in the New Legion’s camp, Luca sharpens a sword while instructing shaken recruits, reflecting on their inexperience and the limits of preparation. His god-given halo draws uneasy attention even as he focuses on practical survival. A subtle shift in the camp’s rhythm pulls his attention toward the river.

Learning of bodies at the south bridge, Luca and his tribune push through converging legionnaires. The crowd parts reverently for Luca, revealing three hanged Magistrates—two women and one man—dangling above the rushing Sophanes. As he fears identifying a woman he knows, relief hits when it is not her, followed by nausea and collapse against a wall.

The gathered voices surge into a chant of “Thirty-three,” tallying the Magistrates left in the Citadel. Luca’s tribune quietly implicates Centurion Roskia, whose unsanctioned hunts and executions have fueled momentum but also brutality. Luca recognizes Roskia’s cohort as both effective and dangerously uncontrollable.

As hope rises among the ranks for an emptied Forum and imminent victory, Luca feels only dread. He anticipates the New Legion’s river crossing and foresees catastrophic consequences if Maris Casperia is taken next. The chapter closes with Luca walking back toward camp and the temple fire, burdened by the cost of what they have already done.