Shadowguard

Mountains were tall.

Everna had always known that, but peering up at them from the base put into perspective how tall the Scintillating Peaks truly were. They towered overhead and, much like spears molded from stone, the snow-capped peaks pierced the heavens above. No one knew how tall they were; the steep inclines made climbing over them impossible. Those who dared met a grisly end, if they didn't vanish, never to be heard from again.

Folktales claimed the gods created the Scintillating Peaks to separate Trellan from Indaria in the wake of a devastating war between mortals and the immortals a thousand years prior. The mountains rose from the ground at sharp angles, as if the gods pinched pieces of the earth and flung them skyward. The Scintillating Peaks had no foothills. Flat plains met abruptly with solid rock, and beyond the stony mountain faces pocked with caves and jagged edges, the geographical features of the area suggested nothing of a mountain range within the area.

Forced isolation, many believed, was their punishment for defying the deities that ruled their world.

The clergies vehemently disagreed with the folktales, as they insisted not every unusual feature of their world stemmed from divine intervention. The deities followed strict rules regarding their involvement in mortal affairs; the clergies acted in their stead. The gods maintained enough of a presence to keep the peoples of Iridia aware of their existence, but withheld from direct interference. They limited their blessings and wisdom to a few and offered them only in exchange for offerings or devout worship.

Regardless of how they formed, the Scintillating Peaks were stunning, especially on the nights the ribbons of light danced across the sky. Pendel's Harvest Festival fell on the first night of the year when the aurora, as the elves called it, appeared and many of the townspeople found their way to the rooftops to watch the shifting array of colors towards the end of the festivities. Assuming they were in the goblin's cavern for only a day, the aurora should take to the skies any night now.

Everna pursed her lips. Had it already been that long? It would have to be as the Harvest Festival fell in the middle of Leaffell, the final month of the autumn season. If no further complications delay it, the Harvest Festival would be tomorrow, on the fifteenth. With that startling realization came another; her twenty-fourth birthday was now only seventeen days away.

It'd been nearly a month since Mayor Ashburn died, though it felt far longer. With the exhaustion wrought by her sessions with Wil and with how much time she spent in the safe house's dismal library, the days seemed to blur together. Even before that, the days leading up to the disastrous break-in seemed fewer than they should be. Had she not glanced at the calendar before they departed, she wouldn't know what day it was, let alone what month.

Yet, those realizations were of little consequence compared to the revelation Lissette had given her earlier in the day. It weighed on her mind as they continued their trek across the plains, and her attempts to probe her for more information proved fruitless. Lisette refused to elaborate; she'd already defied Osain's orders and told her more than she should have.

Still, even without the details, Wil's initial suspicions no longer struck her as baseless paranoia. How could they not think she was involved if someone had told them, prior to the assassination, that she would be the culprit? They'd have been remiss to ignore it.

Had Shroud pulled the wool over their eyes, or was there a third party involved that none of them considered?

Though the situation was still very much a concern, the boundless plains of the Wildlands offered what might be her only chance to have a single day without fretting over the intricacies of her impending doom. She'd be wise to take advantage of it while she could.

"How far off are we now?" Everna asked, shifting into a more comfortable position in her saddle.

After the first hour, discomfort set in. Her leathers chaffed thighs. A dull ache pitted at the base of her spine and slowly extended outward. By the third hour, her rear went numb. Now, her legs buzzed with the telltale signs of lacking blood flow. They'd need to stop soon.

Beside her, Lisette hummed. "We're still a day's ride out, I'd wager. It'll be noon tomorrow before we arrive."

"Only because she took us off track!" Vina complained from behind. "Then took her sweet time getting us out of that mess!"

"Every time she opens her mouth, I further regret not leaving her behind," Everna grumbled.

"You were the one who insisted we go into the cave," Lisette reminded Vina. "You also said not to worry about the dead goblins all over the forest. That it wasn’t unusual."

"They were dead! And it isn’t unusual!"

"Dead, but still present."

With a frustrated huff, Vina fell silent.

The western road, which picked up half-a-mile west of the forest, ran parallel to the base of the mountains. A wide grassy plain, dotted with scattered oaks and apple trees, stretched far to the north. They passed herds of wild cattle and antelope grazing in the distance. They were an ideal solution for their lost rations, but after much debate, they settled for apples.

It was far too much work for a single meal, and Lisette was not in favor of killing an animal only to waste half of it. Without their saddlebags, they had no way to carry the remaining meat. Everna agreed with the sentiment. Hungry as she was, she couldn't eat an entire cow, and the antelope proved far too difficult to catch without a bow. Vina couldn't get close enough to strike one with her spells before they bounded off into the horizon. Lisette lost three daggers in her attempt.

The apples were both plentiful and filling enough, and the juice would stem their thirst until they could restock their supplies in Windhollow.

The rest of the day passed in tedious monotony, the landscape unchanged. Every so often, she dozed off in the saddle, only to jolt awake after another slew of shrill complaints from Vina or a brief squabble between her and Lisette. By the time dusk touched the sky, her back was stiff and her legs sore. When Lisette finally allowed them to stop for the night, Everna was more than grateful to be on solid ground.

The camp was little more than a smokeless fire and clothes strewn across the grass. Dinner came as three pheasants plucked out of the sky by an admittedly skilled use of Vina's magic. She was proud of her accomplishment, annoyingly so, despite it being the only contribution she'd made beyond constant headaches and unnecessary drama.

Everna and Lisette elected to ignore the fact that she burnt one of them nearly beyond edibility.

Vina sat several feet away from the fire, fumbling with the tuning pins of her lyre. The dissonance of the notes, and the sharp twang that accompanied each pluck of the strings, grated on her ears. It was so horribly out of tune that Everna barely resisted the urge to snatch it from her hands and fix it herself. It would be pointless, though, as Vina would ruin it just to spite her.

"Though Leah would have me believe otherwise, I can't help but question if Shadowguard has standards," Everna said. She tore off the last scrap of meat from the pheasant breast in her lap and popped it into her mouth. "How on Iridia did they scout her, of all people?"

Lisette sighed as she pulled her cloak around her shoulders and settled beside her. "They didn't. She's an honorary member."

"Honorary member?"

"One of the organization's more controversial recruiting methods. She has a badge, but that's as far as it goes. Her father's one of the Lords that sits on the Anwellian Council. He dumps a hefty sum of coin into Shadowguard's coffers," she said. "He bought her way into the organization, which is why she runs these kinds of missions. She's not good for anything else."

Everna scrunched her nose. "You and Leah make it sound like Shadowguard's organized, which isn't the impression I got from Wil. He made it sound like a rag-tag group of do-gooders."

"There's organization up to a point." Lisette pulled her legs to her chest and folded her arms over her knees. "The training cohorts and the upper ranks have a staunch adherence to order, but everything in between is a chaotic mess. The Overseers run their posts differently."

"It's a bunch of scattered groups that operate independently, but work together under a generalized principle, then?"

"Exactly. It makes things difficult for our enemies, but for the average grunt as well. We agents bounce from place to place. We don't get a say, either; you go where you're told. Outside a few exceptions, such as Wil and Leah, as soon as you get used to one Overseer's way of doing things, you're shoveled off onto the next one."

"How did you get in, if you don't mind my asking?"

Lisette said nothing for several moments, her gaze distant and her lips turned into a deep frown. "Let's just say it's a long and unpleasant story that involves two slaves escaping Indaria, and Shadowguard taking pity on them."

"Oh." Everna didn't know what else to say. Knowing that Lisette came from the other region piqued her curiosity, but even she knew there were times it was better not to pry. She'd talk about it when she was ready to.

Lisette waved her off. "It was unpleasant, but I'm free now. That's all that matters. On a less depressing note, I'm going to ruin Vina's night by informing her that her beauty sleep's going to be cut short because she has last watch. She hates having the last watch."

"Don't do that to her," Everna snorted. "She needs all the help she can get."

"An eternity wouldn't help her," Lisette chuckled as she climbed to her feet. "I'd get some sleep, if I were you. Your turn's in four hours and I think you look the most worn out of the three of us."

"I can't say I've ever done this before," Everna admitted.

"With how well you're handling it, I'm surprised. Most rookies would've lost their nerve and demanded we head back by now."

"My parents were adventurers. I grew up with their stories. I had a vague idea of what to expect, though I think this is turning into more of an adventure than I'd envisioned."

"Most people don't have to barter for their lives with a cavernbrute during their first trip into the Wildlands. I've been all over the region and I can't say I've ever had to, either."

A cheeky grin spread Everna's lips. "Make sure you tell Vina she's getting the last watch because she picked the wrong cave."