Leon, Seraphine, Ira, and Vyra departed.
Ira turned to her father before they moved, her voice carrying the particular directness she brought to everything.
"Take care of yourself. And if you're getting beaten, just run — don't try to be a hero about it."
Her father's face twitched. The sentiment was clear enough, and he understood exactly what she meant by it — she was telling him his life mattered more than any battle outcome, which was genuinely touching. The wording, however, was something a daughter probably shouldn't say to a peak Sage rank former leader of an entire race in front of fifty people he was about to command.
He pulled her into a hug instead of responding to the wording directly.
"I'll take care of myself and everyone here," he said, with the composed authority of someone who had been leading people through impossible situations for longer than most of the soldiers present had been alive. He looked at Leon over her shoulder and gave a single nod.
