Chapter 150: On the March

Irina POV

In centuries of life, she'd never gotten used to the fear and anticipation of warfare. Even though it had been decades since she'd seen her first actual battle, she still felt nervous about marching into battle. She fingered the hilt of the sword that Dimitri had helped her select. She'd never cared for guns, personally, even though she could shoot.

"Ariana, ever shot a gun?" she asked as they marched from the Humvee to the command post on a hill in the late afternoon.

Ariana wrinkled her nose. "I know the basics. Uncle Bill thought I needed to learn to shoot. He's a gun owner with a license."

Impressed, Dimitri raised eyebrows. "You can shoot?"

"She can." Uncle Bill looked proud of her.

"I can." Ariana beamed. "I hit quite a few targets at the gun range, and Uncle Bill had me shoot clay pigeons in the backyard." She patted the hilt of her own sword. "Dimitri had me do sword practice in Ampero."