She walked with a determination that would be altogether unfamiliar to her friends on the other side. What would they think of her walking down this hallway, with pillars of marble and a floor inlaid with actual, real metal? It seemed so far away from what she was doing now and yet the problems of there seemed somehow intertwined and familiar to the ones that she had here.

Nothing worked the same over there of course, and the orbs lighting her way were a constant reminder, being as they were all over this world. As she joined her troop, she steeled herself for the coming storm. The windows showed the battle that awaited them, and there was no turning back now.

As a group, they headed down the helical stairway, wondering how many of the thirty would come back, if any at all managed to survive the day. Everyone else seemed to be in the same mood. She slowed as she approached the door at the base of the tower, and took a breath before turning the handle that would signal to the other side.

Clanking of steel and a smattering of gearworks filtered through the heavy iconclad door before it swung open without a sound of it’s own. The roar of the rain and wind seemed to set the mood practically perfectly.

Charging out and standing aside, she counted their numbers silently as they marched onto the rocky plain which surrounded the rampart and lined up to the final pause before steel met flesh in the coming hours.

“It is dangerous out there today. I want you all to remember your training. It is vital that we hold the enemy, because there is little resistance that the others can offer. You were not all hoping for this, but it is now time to put your skills into action. Let’s move.”

The battle had begun.