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Levi glared through the rain, trying to make out the outline of the gathering titans.
The blood on his hands disgusted him, human blood he figured, judging by the way it clung to his skin, smearing farther up his arms as the rain beat down on him, and staining his white cuffs red.
“Levi, I’m calling a retreat!” Erwin shouted, pulling his horse to a stop beside Levi’s.
Levi nodded, gathering his reins tighter in his hands. “I’ll inform the left flank, Commander.”
“Be careful,” Erwin said, sparing him one last look before riding off.
Flares were useless in the rain, and panic gripped Levi’s chest like a vice.
The last time he’d ridden off by himself in the rain, he’d lost everything. It wasn’t going to happen again.
He ran into Hanji and the rest of their squad, and they gave Levi the news.
In the low visibility, almost a quarter of their men were lost.
“Erwin’s calling a retreat, head back to the Wall.” He was kicking his horse forward before he was even finished speaking, circling their rout to make for that everyone had gotten the message.
The rain let up as he turned to head back, catching up with a few stragglers.
He urged them on faster as a titan came at them from the side, turning his horse towards it.
Standing high in his saddle, Levi shot out his cables, sinking the hook into the meat of the titan’s shoulder.
Not the best shot, but it would have to do, he thought as he jumped from his horse and took to the air.
It swiped at him, and Levi dove to the right, out of its reach.
“Stop fighting you piece of shit and greet death like a man,” he groused as he spun around it, cutting deeply into its neck.
It hit the ground with a heavy thud, body already steaming.
Levi sneered at the blood on his blades, hating that he had to put them away dirty.
His horse was waiting for him, black coat slick with rain, and Levi pulled himself up into the saddle heavily.
Levi could see the surviving regiments up ahead, the first ray of sunlight breaking through the dark clouds.
He rode hard through the ranks, back to his Commander’s side, and the sunlight hit the water just right, a large rainbow arching over the edge of Wall Maria.
Levi stared in awe, only having seen the phenomenon a few times in the past.
“It symbolizes hope,” Erwin said as they waited for the gates to open
“We could use all the hope we can get after today,” an officer remarked behind them.
Taking in their missing as they rode past him through the gate, Levi felt inclined to agree.