❝𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.❞
Selfishly fascinated with her own strength, Valen Ferreira is willing to do nearly anything and everyth...
VALEN SOUNDLY CLENCHED THE REINS OF HER HORSE AS THEY VENTURED DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO WALL MARIA.
The earth thundered as over a hundred horses pounded their hooves on the untamed grass, ushering onward the combined forces of the Scout and Garrison Regiments. In the hour they'd spent preparing for this impromptu operation, the sun's light had grown more vicious and uncompromising, glaring down on their heads; the wind had picked up speed, gently nudging the grass and scarce trees studding the prairie. For such treacherous lands, the prairie was exceptionally innocuous by impression— no one could have guessed that at any second, a swarm of Titans expected them eagerly.
They crested over a mound, zipping past a cluster of pine trees. Behind Valen, six Garrison soldiers tailed them closely. Valen hadn't cared to glance back since they departed from Trost, but when the lifts had carried them down from Wall Rose, she sensed the utter fear they radiated, how it hunched their shoulders, paled their skin until it was translucent in the light of the descending sun. Not only were they scared, but inexperienced, too, having never stepped any farther than the ledge of the Wall while on cannon duty. She disliked this arrangement, being named second-in-command for a group of weaklings— no amount of leadership would diminish their cowardice; how Levi planned on pulling the group together was beyond her.
As she was trained, Valen gave the field a cursory glance. The horse racing alongside hers belonged to Levi, who was curved over, clutching the reins of his horse. After their dispute, he'd disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared— it was when the Scouts and the Garrison convened atop Wall Rose when they crossed paths again. Their only interaction since their quarrel was a stern debriefing delivered by Levi himself, but that debriefing was addressed to the squad in general. He hadn't liked her being there— she understood social cues better than anyone else—yet he still had to address her as his second-in-command, the temporary senior team leader of the First Squad.
And she liked that.
Popping echoed from the northern end of the formation; red flares streaked the darkening sky, originating from the formation's right flank. Valen reached for her pistol, popped in a pre-loaded barrel, and fired a flare of her own before sliding the pistol back in its holster. She scanned the skies for a response from Commander Erwin.
Precisely three seconds later, a green flare slashed across orange, soaring in the direction of the right flank.
What's going on? Had Reiner and Bertholdt hijacked the formation? The Commander had created the formation specifically to evade danger, not swerve directly into it. She swiveled her head to ask Levi what was going on but stopped when she sighted his pursed lips.
