A/N: So this is the last chapter and Faolan gets killed by another Herald and the story is over... Actually I'm joking. Happy April Fool's Day! (The end is projected to be around chapter 67 and I'm not telling you what happens. XD.)

This time when Faolan followed Dashiell into the Commander's tent, he was relaxed in a rough hewn wooden chair, sipping at a goblet of some liquid Faolan couldn't immediately identify. She wondered if it was wine. She wrinkled her nose, sniffing the tent- it didn't smell like alcohol. Thinking on it, she realized she'd never really seen any werewolves drinking. Maybe the combination of a very emotional wolf and the lowered inhibitions and decision making brought on by drinking was such a bad combination no one did it. Either way, Faolan wasn't a drinker- at least not in any recent lives.

"Report," the Commander said crisply, standing up as they entered and setting the wooden goblet down on the center table. As usual, his face was expressionless, and he gazed at the two of them as if he couldn't really care about them either way.

"She trained herself in the basics- making walls, that is. She can read what people are thinking in about a fifty foot radius, mind searching she needs to be very close, touching preferably. However, she can send and receive specific messages to up to five miles. I think she'll need about a week to be up to par, and then she'll be fully usable as a telepath," Dashiell explained quickly, "And she isn't lying about anything. Faolan is Faolan, same on the inside as she on the outside."

"Excellent," the Commander said, and Faolan wondered if she caught the hints of a smile at the corners of his lips, "We need more people with skills like yours- when fighting against an enemy like Valdemar. Their white demon riders have mind powers of their own."

He paused, then looked directly at Faolan, his cold blue eyes digging into her own and he added, "Faolan- your Scout group is in camp for the week. Do the morning workouts with your group. After lunch, report to Dashiell for mind training. At the end of that week, your Scout group will be sent out again. Dashiell will be staying here, and you are to relay everything your group sees to him. Directly. You'll be on the front line, scouting among the most dangerous parts of the front. If you get close enough and see enemies in white, or of high command, read their minds. I expect you to use your skills like any other. Understood?"

Faolan nodded, and said, "Yes, sir," feeling a shiver of nervousness run through her. One little slip in the middle of the night and now she was thrust into the center of things, instead of hanging around the edges as she had before. Being at the front part of the front meant she was going to be on missions where action was almost a given.

"You are dismissed, Faolan," he said, "Dashiell, stay for a moment."

Faolan turned around and slipped outside past the wolf formed guard, glad to be out of the tent. The sun was very bright, and Faolan closed her eyes against the glare, her head giving her another twinge to remind her it was still in pain. Frowning, she went over to the medical tent, wondering if werewolves had any good cures for headaches. The tent flaps were open, but it was still warm under the thick canvas. A series of white cots formed three lines inside. About a third of them were being used, and on them were a mixture of minor to severely wounded werewolves. It smelled like blood and festering wounds. Leaning over one patient was a man that had a distinct stink to him, and he wore robes Faolan immediately identified as those of a Karsite priest. It was Jessen- the one who'd trained Dashiell. Faolan wrinkled her nose in dislike, but made herself walk over to him.

"Excuse me, sir?" she asked softly and he looked up and frowned at her.

"What?" he asked with a glare.

"Do you have anything for headaches?" she asked, feeling slightly inane.

He muttered something under his breath and straightened up, peering at her with intense disinterest in her and then said, "No. Do I look like a Healer? Go lie down out of the sun, put a washcloth over your head, and try to find someplace quiet."

Faolan nodded and said, "I am sorry for interrupting you."

"Don't be," Jessen growled and turned away from her.

Faolan sighed and left, deciding to follow his instructions. But first she needed to talk to Ursula, and see if the Scout Captain knew what was going on- and if anything more was required of her today. She found the woman on the practice field, hurling throwing axes at a target. She stopped when she saw Faolan approaching.

"Found yourself a knew skill?" she asked wryly, twirling an axe easily in a hand.

"Sort of," Faolan answered, "However useful it may be- it has given me a killer headache today."

"Hah," the woman snorted, "Witches. Well- I've been told we're off for a week until your ready. I suppose I should just be grateful we get to keep you, though I know not everyone will appreciate us being moved up in the order of scout groups. Better soldiers means harder assignments. We're doing sentry duty and messaging- though I'm told you have your own schedule for the week. I don't have anything for you now- take an hour break or so, see if that headache will go away, then come back here and show me your archery skills, headache or no."

Faolan nodded and said, "Yes, sir. Thank you."

"I need to keep my Scouts in good shape, don't I?" Ursula inquired, turning back to the target and letting an axe sail through the air to impale the straw humanoid shaped target's jugular. Faolan winced, and turned to go, taking that as dismissal.

OOO

A little over a week later Faolan found herself running through the woods at night, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She was, by herself, scouting out a small canyon. A group of six soldiers were behind her, three human, three wolf, ready to ambush any Valdemarens they stumbled upon. Faolan hoped it wouldn't come to that. The soldiers had been in this area for a few weeks, and they said it was tough stuff. The Heralds, or 'white demons' as they were most oft called, had many tricks up their sleeves, and the local Captain was being very cautious. The rest of Faolan's scout group was dispersed over the mountain, keeping a relative contact with their human-wolf system, and, of course, with Faolan.

It was dark, but Faolan was in wolf form, and her eyes easily saw through the trees and caught every stray mouse darting under leaves. They'd been going through this pass for the last couple of days, and so far no one had seen anything. But that didn't mean nothing was there. Faolan paused in her jog through the woods and stepped backwards, her nose twitching as she scented the wind. She thought she had picked up something- but no, there were no other smells on the wind but those she expected.

Waiting another moment, she decided it was nothing, and kept going, meandering up a hill and onto the top of a small ridge before ducking back down into the canyon. In the old days, Scouts had kept in touch by howling, but no longer. Ursula had warned her several times to keep absolutely quiet.

Fifteen minutes later she caught scent of something again, and she stopped short, shooting her eyes down into the canyon, peering with black and white vision through the trees. She couldn't see anything, but the wind was bringing the scent of Valdemarens strong into her nose. It awoke old memories, from years ago in Haven, and for a moment Faolan wasn't sure what to do.

Then she got hold of herself and darted down into the canyon, following a creek bed as the scent got stronger and stronger. When she got close, she moved up to the side, carefully stepping silently. Now would be the time that she would stop and alert the other scouts nearby and the soldiers that she'd found something and was going in- but Faolan was going to wait until she knew a bit more, because Faolan's real job was to try and stop Valdemarens from getting killed.

She took a deep breath and crept closer, all her senses on alert. And then she saw them, all of a sudden, weaving through the trees in what would be a quiet way to anyone who wasn't a werewolf. She heard their footsteps as loud, crunching steps, and saw their nervous eyes darting around the forest, looking for the likes of her. She wondered if they had a camp nearby, if they were a scout group, where they were going- and knew Ursula expected her to try and find all that out. But Faolan kept her mind to herself, and kept watching.

After a moment of watching them she lay down to think for a moment. She needed credibility as a Scout, she needed them to know she was good at it- and this was her first time seeing activity. But she also wanted to hinder them as much as possible. Looking back down, she counted about thirty soldiers, they were moving slowly and she could only see about ten at a time through the thick underbrush and woods here, but she guessed about thirty. It was a large group- for the guerilla warfare they were doing.

She sighed, and prepared to send a message to her Captain that she'd found some soldiers, when a sudden glimpse of white down below her caught her eye, and she stopped, almost forgetting to breathe as a Herald materialized in her field of vision, sitting a top a shining white Companion. The creature seemed to glow with Fao's night vision and she marveled that Heralds were even allowed to go on missions like this- even to the bare human eye that Companion had to be extremely visible. Maybe they decided there was enough cover here.

Faolan's eyes went to the rider, and with a jolt, she realized she recognized him. His face was older, and worried, but it was exactly as it had been back at the Heraldic Collegium. Faolan stared down at Christopher Alaska, feeling a strong desire to run down to him, and an equally strong desire to run away as fast as she could.

Alaska! she thought gleefully, her mind racing as she wondered what to do. She couldn't call in soldiers now- not knowing that Alaska was there, and could get hurt. But then a cold feeling sunk into her stomach as she realized that if she didn't tell, and Alaska managed to cause some trouble- and Faolan shivered as she thought of the games he had played with his powers of illusion, then Fao would be the one blamed for not seeing him.

Damn it Alaska! she thought, standing up and growling under her breath, Why do you have to be here, reminding me who I'm fighting?

Alaska's eyes, gray in this darkness, like everything else in Fao's vision, glanced upwards, and for a moment she thought he'd seen her, but then he looked back down and patted his Companion's neck. Noland- wasn't it? Faolan dug her claws into the dirt, then turned around and darted back through the woods. When she was far enough away that she could no longer smell them, she stopped her quick speed and slowed back to a jog, her heart pounding in her chest.

Should I have tried to speak to him? she wondered, but then realized it wouldn't have really done anything, except make him not want to kill every wolf he saw on sight. And it wouldn't help her either. Nor would it be good if he somehow knew that a werewolf attack was about to happen. Faolan growled again, wishing she hadn't been assigned to Scouting.

:The canyon is clear,: she sent a moment later to Ursula, :There's no one there. Not tonight anyway.:

She had no way to know if Ursula had anything to say in response, for at that distance Faolan could only hear from other mind speakers, and Ursula definitely was not a mind speaker. With an unhappy sigh, Faolan worked her way back to Alistair and Ewan- the other two werewolves she was working together with. When she stepped into the small camp Ewan was guarding, she was shaking all over, uncontrollably. She nodded to Ewan then lay down by their packs, sending him a quick, :All clear. I am exhausted. Wake me when Alistair returns.:

And then she fell asleep, ignoring Ewan's curious glance at her twitching body. Let him wonder all he wants, she thought, drifting into dreams.

A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter, and double thanks to those who review it and the last one!
StormyPhoenix- No, he doesn't know about her past lives. She did some serious mental acrobats to keep him from knowing- but really- Dashiell was trained by a Karsite Priest... XD.
GinaStar- Yeah, sometimes works funny. Hopefully it told you about this chapter in good time!
hannahbob- Thanks for your support!
ginalee- Hey, wanting to read more is never greed. (It's a good thing, actually.) But I won't tell you more about Dashiell- you'll just have to read and find out!