The Purpose of the Day

There was an abrupt change of context, so violent that Tenever felt himself feeling for the edges of the dream, but was thrown back by the immediacy of the scene.

The interior of an armoured vehicle was once again folded around him, but it was mostly upside down. He sensed the throbbing wrongness of a breach in his wards, which were stretched to fit around the huge vehicle.

While they continued to rise, Tenever came to the conclusion it had been an improvised explosive. Crude chemical ingredients, possibly augmented with some basic anti-arcanics. This would be the only attack. He raised both hands, flipped them over, and brought the 25-ton IFV down on its shocks in a crash of metal.

He kept falling though, pushed by a grip on his arm, which finally allowed him to reach out - Tenever woke to the softly insistent beeping of the mission countdown timer he used for an alarm clock. Sadie released his arm and leaned back, nodding to the approaching dawn.

"Giddyup, soldier. Daylight's wasting."