"That was well done," Kenton told Allana and her friends. They stood, along with a large number of other sentinels, in the ruins of what had once been a major gnoll war camp–one of the largest ever found in the Arboreal Wastes.

At the edges of the glade, the trees had begun to turn, the yellow and orange decorating their leaves betraying the turning of the seasons just as much as the mild chill finally supplanting summer's warmth.

The camp had held over a hundred gnoll infantry, well-armed and well-trained, backed by a small coven of hags–one legion, two rot–and a handful of ogres. They had dug into a well-hidden glade, accessible only by crossing between two bright white birches, and had created a well-fortified camp, complete with a spiked wooden fence Olivia had called a palisade, a deep trench, and a raised watchtower.

Four full cadres, led by Kenton and his companions, had been dispatched to handle the threat, joined by Lord Merrick and a couple high level Freeblades.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes, as the higher-level gifted brought the full weight of their powers to bear. Lady Ash, a red-skinned wraith sentinel, had begun the attack with a literal firestorm, destroying the gnoll's fortifications and reducing their number even as Merrick and one of Kenton's teammates collapsed and bridged the trench. With the support of Kenton's summons–faceless metal soldiers created from loose rings of the knight's chainmail–and another of his cadremates, a siege archer who had created a ballista from a pile of loose timber, the more melee-oriented battle-gifted had then charged the camp itself.

Allana's friends, as one of the two low-levelled cadres attached to the force, had mostly provided support, attacking on the flanks and ensuring that the main offensive force didn't get swamped by sheer numbers. And while she was still convinced that the four of them were at their most dangerous, their teamwork and abilities honed to a razor's edge by months of constant combat, their contribution was fully overshadowed by the more powerful sentinels.

Allana had watched as Merrick, the stout, giant lord had met a charging ogre head-on and matched the massive outsider blow for blow, shattering its bones and beating it to a pulp with a maul that had to weigh nearly as much as Allana herself. She had seen Celia, Kenton's scout, dance through the camp, wielding two glittering blades as she combined Allana's speed and Olivia's strength into an unstoppable, ever-moving, living scythe. She witnessed Kenton direct a dozen of his summoned soldiers in a tight wedge, matching and even surpassing the tightly coordinated tactics of the gnolls.

Allana had seen Adeline fight plenty of times, and had dueled the knight-gallant frequently over the past months. She knew just how much difference lay between her and the highest tier of Adept and Expert battle-gifted. But that knowledge didn't compare to the actual sight of the high level gifted charging into a fight outnumbered nearly ten-to-one, and winning without a single casualty.

"We barely did anything," Allana pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"I counted eleven kills," Tenebres offered. "But three of those were just picking off wounded ones, so…"

"You did plenty," Kenton assured her. "Adeline wanted you to have the chance to observe high level gifted in combat, and you did, while also chipping in."

"How many did your summons take down?" Allana asked.

"That doesn't matter."

"Nineteen," Celia said, winking at Kenton as she walked by. The knight gave his scout a glare, and she scampered away a little faster.

"He's an Adept now," Olivia said, unnecessarily reminding Allana of the fact, like it was supposed to console her.

"So what? I've killed Adepts before!"

"With all due respect," Kenton said, "you killed scum. Crimelords and proxies. Cowards and cockroaches."

"And even then, we barely won," Tenebres muttered.

"It's almost like Adeline wanted us to see what real Adepts looked like before one of us got ourselves killed mouthing off to the wrong person," Cadence observed.

Allana turned a glare on the celestial, but her innocent smile was too bright for Allana to hold it for long.

"Either way," Kenton said, "you did well. Did any of you even take a hit?"

"Light wounds only," Olivia reported. "Allana's charms were more than able to heal us back up."

Kenton nodded appreciatively. "That's a handy gift you've got," he told her. Allana rolled her eyes, looking to one side and trying not to seem appreciative of the knight's compliments. "Healers are great, but your charms let you do some healing while fighting, without distracting you."

"Maybe," Allana admitted, "but they stop working if I don't maintain them every couple weeks. The magic leaks out."

"Balance," Kenton said simply, like that was enough of an explanation to be fair coming from a one man army.

"So what next?" Olivia asked, obviously trying to drag the conversation back on topic.

"We'll be staying here for a little bit," the knight explained, his tone making it clear that "we" did not include the four young adventurers. "We want to see what we can dig up from the camp, maybe find out if there are any more of these–and if we're lucky, we'll catch some stragglers returning here.

"In the meantime, I'm sending the lower level cadres back. You don't have the boons to stay out here like we do, and someone needs to let Adeline and the sentinels back in the city know what happened."

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Olivia frowned, and Allana felt her own shoulders tighten.

"To be clear," Cadence asked, "you're sending both low level cadres back together?"

Kenton responded with a grimaced attempt at a smile. "Yes. After an attack like this, we need to keep numbers up, for safety."

"Fantastic," Allana muttered, already bracing for a long hike back to the city.

"It'll be fine," Olivia insisted, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as the rest of them. "We're on duty. He's not going to start anything."

"Want to put any money on that?" Cadence asked.

"...No."

"Good travels," Kenton told them. He rapped his hand against his heart, a brief salute and clear dismissal.

"Alright," Olivia said, leading them away from the senior knight. "Now we just need to find him."

"Easy," Allana said. "It's Allid's cadre. Just look for the people lounging around doing nothing and looking superior."

#

After connecting with Allid and his group (who were, of course, laying about in the shade of a large tree at the glade's edge), the two cadres set out for Elliven, following the carefully marked path back towards the city–a necessity for navigating the eldritch, multifarious reality of the Arboreal Wastes. Unfortunately, that meant there were a total of eight of them–Alyssia was currently off duty, focusing her efforts on helping Olan recover their House's damaged reputation.

It took less than an hour for Allana to realize just how obnoxious her own complaints had sounded, back at the war camp–they sounded so much more grating coming out of Allid's smug mouth.

"I just don't get it," Allid said. "There was no reason for us to even be there! Everbright and Merrick had it under control. We barely even got to fight!"

Allana gave Cadence an apologetic look, wincing at the sound of her own words being thrown back at her. Allid was bad enough the last few times Allana had met the spoiled noble–but at least then, Alyssia had been there as a moderating influence. Now, Dillen was the closest Allid had to a babysitter, and the quiet mage lacked Alyssia's force of will to bully the boy into compliance.

She couldn't help but copy the celestials' response, which seemed a lot more reasonable to Allana now that she was the one pointing it out. "It's almost like you were supposed to see the kind of power the Knights and the Freeblades can throw around."

Allid rolled his bright blue eyes. "Oh yes, I'm so impressed at how they handled a bunch of feral rabble."

"Strictly speaking," Dillen interjected, "they were chained rabble."

Allid huffed, but otherwise ignored the boy. The diminutive healer was walking near the back of the group, not far from Tenebres. In fact, Allana realized, the two mages were walking very close together.

She rolled her eyes. First Kenton, now this one? So much for Tenebres's claims of being sun-drawn.

"Feral, chained, who cares? They scarcely put up a fight. I had to cancel two reservations for this sudden assignment, and it was a complete waste of time!"

The group was passing through a glade, this one in the shape of an awkward oval that they were moving across the longest part of, going from one entrance to a matched exit. Around them, there were few distinguishing features besides a few stunted looking trees and some bare bushes.

Olivia heaved a deep breath at the litany of complaints, but didn't otherwise reply. She and Cadence were leading the party, as the celestial was the most comfortable with navigating the Wastes. That left Allana stranded in the middle of the group, alongside Allid and his two friends–the big man and the lean woman–and their complaints.

"All I'm saying is-"

"Allid," Allana growled, "please shut up."

The boy cocked his head in her direction, and his bright eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?" he asked. "What did you just say to me, co-"

"Call me commoner," Allana interrupted him again, "and I'm going to shove a knife into a hole of Tenebres's choice."

"Please don't drag me into this."

Allid turned fully towards Allana, and his two offsiders, of course, reached for their weapons. Allid himself was apparently unarmed, but Allana knew how easily a relic gifted could conjure their ensouled item.

"Want to say that again?" Allid asked, his tone low, threatening.

By that point, Olivia had turned around too, Cadence hanging a step behind the larger girl.

"Allid," Olivia barked, "stop it. Callis, Slate, hands off your weapons. Allana, watch your tongue. The next one of you I hear or see threaten anyone in this party will-"

"Will what, Argent?" Allid sneered, turning on the knight instead. "Last I checked, you're not in charge here, anymore than this wraith is!"

"Yes, but since the four of you are acting like children in Highcastle instead of sentinels in the middle of the Veteran-damned Wastes, I'm declaring myself in charge!"

"Can I ask something?" Dillen interjected in his usual calm monotone.

Allana swung her glare on the little healer in time with Olivia and Allid, but he held up under the combined focus without so much as wilting.

Tenebres, however, took a long step to one side.

"What is it, Dillen?" Olivia asked, clearly making an effort to moderate her own tone.

In the corner of her vision, Allana noted Tenebres lift one hand to scratch at his chest. Behind her, out of view, Cadence took an audible breath.

"Isn't it more than a little imprudent to be arguing, loudly, in the middle of the Wastes?"

"Extremely," Cadence immediately agreed.

Allana's anger drained away, and she swallowed sharply, feeling guilty heat rising in her cheeks. Next to her, Olivia looked similarly abashed, and even Allid lost some of his arrogant posture.

Olivia nodded a small appreciation at Dillen. "You're right, of course. We should-"

"Too late," Tenebres said.

"Indeed," a voice creaked, undisguised malice dancing through the single word.

Now their weapons did come out, but none of the youths were looking at each other anymore. Slate and Olivia moved towards the dense tangle of woods the voice had emerged from, the knight carrying her runeblade and astral shield, the massive man unlimbering a greataxe that seemed to be hewed from solid stone.

Allid and Callis flanked them, the golden-skinned noble wielding his ornate ensouled rapier while the red-haired girl had fallen into an unarmed stance even as her hands burst into flames.

Dillen and Tenebres retreated behind the battle-gifted, while Allana followed Cadence's lead, turning away from the voice to watch for any others.

It was good they did. Allana's hands tensed on her daggers as she saw another hag, this one gray-skinned and bent by crooked, misshapen muscle, emerged from the same entrance into the glade they had used, while another, bloated and rotten green in color, sidled across the exit they had planned to use.

"Yes, indeed," the first hag creaked again. "That was quite the mistake. Almost as large as sending you infants home without protection."

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