Cearbhail:

So... we've met the War Mages, a couple Shadowwraiths, Nexa, Vara... and now... it's time to meet some Shadowscales.

Enjoy. =^^=

[Deejena Raneet-xedeh]

"Shadowscales, this is your last assignment." Shadowmaster Riviella Juf-vaho paced around our group. "On the map I have provided for you is your final assignment. Your group of four will be competing with two other squads of four. You four have shown the most valor so far, and if you four work together as a team, I can say I will personally vouch that three of you will end up joining the ranks of the infamous Shadow Squad. Do not let the fact that one of you will not be joining the Shadow Squad hinder your teamwork. Whoever does not end up joining the Shadow Squad will still be an exemplary Shadowscale, and will be granted an impressive post with an impressive squad. Do not fail me, do not fail this mission, and do not fail yourselves."

Ram-ku, our fastest runner, glanced at the map. "Do we get any information on what we're doing?"

Shadowmaster Riviella smirked. "I've worked with a lot less than a map. If you have any problems with the assignment, do your scouting. You're assassins. The only information you will receive is that you're hunting a rogue Shadowblade. The individual was a male. As far as anything else I could tell you, would be damaging to the assassination. They have a Hist that has known to offer scale-changes. The individual may not even be a male at the moment, but still Argonian, still have all their skills as a highly trained Shadowblade. The individual responded to the name Urjinrash back when he was a respectable sort."

Meesei, our resident bad girl, scoffed. "That loser?" She shook her head. "He's not a real Shadowblade, just a pretentious pretender noble with no actual training."

Shadowmaster Riviella glanced at Meesei, her daughter. "Meesei, this is serious. He's dangerous. He was trained by his mother in the arts of Shadow, Shadowmaster Dragna. She was a very powerful Wraith during her training. Her son is likely to be just as powerful. He'll likely favor a Wraith skillset, being an Atronach."

Meesei wasn't even a Shadowscale, she was training as a Shadowblade with her mother. She was assigned to our squad because our last teammate died from an accidental… poisoning. It's hard to poison an Argonian, but it's possible. He took a bad needle from one of the plants we're supposed to look out for, and he died of asphyxiation. The poison made his neck swell up and closed off his windpipe. But hey, the famous Night Choker is not a plant to prick your tail against. Our teacher, Shadowblade Junutod, took a recommendation from Shadowmaster Riviella to allow her daughter to get some time in the classroom. Bond with her future squad and all that. She was going to become our leader if we failed to get into the Shadow Squad.

That being said, I don't really care for her. She's… uncaring. She's spent most of her days in our classroom sleeping, or starting fights with some of the lesser families. She's part of a noble family, and therefore… in a higher status than the rest of us. And she acts like it.

Meesei waved off Shadowmaster Riviella's warning. "If we want to find him, I just have to tell him that the Sect-raneet family are not really nobles, and that they don't deserve the right to be nobles. It's not like his mother fought in the Blood-Rage War. It's not like his mother fought in defense of our Queen's and War Lord's lives. Once we scream it loudly enough for anyone to hear, he'll react… one way, or another."

"And you should be cautious about that. Shadowmaster Dragna earned her name as a Shadowmaster through her own strength and determination, not by acts of war. Not like me." Shadowmaster Riviella glared at her daughter. Riviella glanced away from Meesei, addressing the rest of us. "The circle on your map is where we believe the Shadowblade may have relocated himself. The other two squads will not be joining you on this mission. They have other targets to hit. I saved this target for your team. You four are… well… you're the best. And I believe you can handle a Shadowblade." She glanced over to Meesei. "Let the students handle as much as they can. Only interfere if you believe they may be in danger."

Meesei gave the thumbs up. She didn't really care about any of us.

The Shadowmaster looked at each of us. "Any questions?"

I glanced at Ram-ku. He looked contemplative. I glanced from him over to Vistha. Vistha just sat on his tail, arms crossed, crewing a small root. He didn't talk much. He… he's messed up in the head. I guess it's on me, as usual. "Would it be above my station to ask why this Shadowblade has defected?" With his mother being a renowned Shadowmaster, there had to be a reason he was going rogue. He was a noble. There was no way he'd be quick to run from a noble family such as his.

Riviella shook her head. "It's not above your station, Raneet-xedeh. The Shadowblade, in question, was on scene when the Code Red-Eye was in effect in Lilmoth. He saw that we were hunting a little girl. He… he disagreed with our willingness to kill a girl. More so, he also claims to have witnessed something the Warlord wishes him to forget. He plans on going to a nearby band of… revolutionaries, and tell them the false claim that the Princess of Argonia… the Princess of Shadows, stood in defense of the Khajiit girl we were hunting, that the Princess of Shadows killed Shadowscales and Shadowblades in order to defend our worst enemy. This information could cause… certain actions of the Shadow Legion to come into question, questions like… are blood-ragers even dangerous? Are they our enemies? Why did we fight an entire war trying to find and kill them? Why are we still throwing Shadowblades and scales at Red-eyed Khajiits whenever we find them? Are we going too far? And there are… sympathizers who could use this information for call for revolution. Nobles who would call for change, and push their agenda in an act of war, all in hopes of becoming the next ruler of Argonia. Because of these lies and treachery… this Shadowblade must not be allowed to live. This is a capital offense, and your squad has been ordered to eliminate the threat to our national security."

Vistha scoffed, spitting out the root he was chewing on. "So, is it true? The Princess acted against her father?"

Riviella shook her head. "Of course not. She was hunting the blood-rager just as much as anyone else. This rogue Shadowblade is just trying to get a band of revolutionaries on his side of a conflict he has fabricated. If he gets a movement going, he can very well instigate a civil war within our borders. The clan is he reaching out to are casteless. Argonians that fled our system, abandoning their birthsigned stations. They already fled our great country, rejecting our most sacred laws, and if they learn that the Princess of Shadows may reject the rules of our system… we may have a revolution on our hands. So, your task is to go in and neutralize the situation. Make it fast. If you sense any collaboration from the local populace, you are ordered to clean the town."

Clean the town? Kill everyone? I'm not sure I can do that. But…

I sighed.

If that's what I'm ordered to do. Let's just hope everyone there will be civil.

"Do what you can. Any other questions?" Shadowmaster Riviella looked around.

I raised my hand again. "If possible to bring the Shadowblade in alive…"

The Shadowmaster shook her head. "He's too dangerous. Kill him. As soon as you get the chance." She glanced down at my katana. "Do you have a problem with shedding blood? Afraid to get your katana wet?"

Oh… so she knows.

I shook my head. "As long as I clean the blade, no dishonor will befall my family name." I answered as calmly as I could.

Shadowmaster Riviella nodded. "Then you should have no trouble dispatching the criminal. That is all, Shadow Daggers. You are dismissed." She stepped back into a portal of Shadow, vanishing in a single step.

I looked over to Ram-ku and Vistha as I pushed myself up onto my feet. "Well, our target is north-northeast, about 3 klicks. One of us will have to keep our eye on the map, using our counting system to track our steps…"

"Okay, losers. Here's how it's going to go. Target is that way." Meesei stepped in front of me, nodding to Vistha and Ram-ku, pointing north-northwest. "Ram, you're the fastest runner, so… you'll be scout. Go to the village, get a nice spot, and try to locate the target. Vistha, you're the riot control. If the village becomes a threat, I want you to silence them in any way you deem fun. I'll use my poison to kill the target." Meesei glanced back at me, looking me up and down. "Deejena will read the map."

Meesei clapped her hands, and just like that, we were in mission mode. Ram-ku was already taking off, taking our only map with him. The blue-scaled boy with short black feathers took off in a mad dash, using his long legs to race through the marshlands. I could barely keep track of his movements as he expertly navigated our homeland's intricate marshes.

Vistha was standing by me, watching Ram-ku take off. He scoffed, shaking his head. "Show off." Vistha wasn't the most nimble of our group. He was strong… that's his thing. He can't run all that fast, but he can cleave a Hist in two… if he ever felt the need to do it. The man's a powerhouse. His dark-red scales with his black throat and blood red spikes reminded me of the Jakak-raneet clan that he famously shared a name with. The clan of blood-red warriors that stormed Elsweyr's beaches during the Border Wars. Vistha was the grandson of one of the only survivors of that massacre during the end of the Border Wars. If his grandparent hadn't been a simple Lord, Vistha would probably be a Shadowblade. Being trained by the best generation of Shadows, however few survived, is what would help our nation rebuild.

I too… would be a Shadowblade. I am of noble birth. My parents are just simply… dead. They died when two blood-ragers stormed our keep during the final days of the Blood-rage war. Both of my parents, Shadowblades, were cut down by the Khajiits. The katana my mother kept was passed onto me. But since I was too young to learn from her, I was never brought into the Shadowblade apprenticeship. No Shadowmaster, or Shadowblade would take me. My family legacy… is tainted, in a way. The practice of blood-magic is… not forbidden, but… unspoken. My family's katana… is bonded to its owner by rite of blood-bonding. Whoever owns it, slits their tail, and coats the blade with their blood, seeped with Hist sap and full of Shadow. We then heat the blade, let the Sap and blood dry, but the heat seals the magicka within… making its enchantments stronger. With each family member… the sword becomes stronger.

That's why Shadowmaster Riviella asked me if I was scared to wet my blade. Spilling non-family blood on my blade. It can be washed off, and if not heated, will never bond with my weapon. Either way, this sword belongs to me. My blood is already within it. If a few extra drops from people I kill are added to the enchantment… so be it. It only makes my blade stronger, and therefore… me stronger.

Meesei glanced back at Vistha. "He's fast, so not using his speed would be stupid. By the time we'll get there, he'll already have everything scouted. Now, Vistha, we need to hurry to keep up. Deejena, just stay behind us. We'll need your katana if we're ambushed." Meesei reached down, plucking a deadly thorn: Branz thorns. "One drop of this on my dart… and…" Meesei laughed. "His toes will start to go numb, his heart begin to race. And then… his anxiety will spike. His worst fears will begin speaking to him… and he'll question everything. Everyone around him will become a spy… an assassin. If he's made these people his allies, his very words will break it apart. So… here's what we'll do…"

Meesei looked at me. "Deejena. You're from a disgraced family. You're… basically nothing to the noble families. So… you'll go in, try to find the leader. He'll likely reach out to you, and you'll explain about how you couldn't live with your family's sin, all that dribble." Meesei rolled her hands. "But, you'll tell him how everyone hates you, so you ran from home. It won't be far from the truth, honestly. And I'm sure if you need some motivation, I can dredge something up. What was written on your scabbard last week? Blood whore?" Meesei chuckled. "Wasn't me, just saying. But… you have to admit, even among the lower class Shadowscales, you're an outcast, a freak. So… by sending you in, the Shadowblade who knows every Shadowblade family… will know you by your last name. Use it when you're captured… and he'll connect some dots. Once you I.D. our target, I'll be watching from the treetops. You will let me know which target it is by nudging to me… something obvious. Don't make it too obvious, or he'll see the attack coming. Just… tap your leg with three fingers twice. That's all I will need. I'll launch a tiny dart, one that small enough that will be undetectable… if you collect it.

"You'll probably have… two minutes to escape. That's usually how long it takes the poison to take hold. He'll go crazy for a full minute before his heart finally beats so crazily that he had a heart attack. I'll confirm the kill, and we'll call up the Shadowmaster. Our assignment will be completed… and we'll go home."

Vistha chuckled. "And when the crowd goes wild, so will my blades." He patted the two swords hanging over his shoulder. "Killer and Sawtooth really want to cleave some tails off today, don't you?" He pet-talked to his swords.

The three of us climbed the trees, using mud and whatnot to camouflage our scales and armor. We soon blended in with the trees and we raced across the treetops, keeping our eyes open for whatever traps these recluse runaways could think to prepare. They have a Shadowblade on their side now. If they ever wanted to militarize, they'd have the perfect leader. So far, they were runaway Mages, Shadows, and other lesser groups. The Mages never completed their final test in the… something chamber. And the Shadows were washouts that couldn't complete their training. Instead of being casteless lower-class servants the rest of their lives, they chose to run a town by their own means. So far, the Warlord has left them alone. I guess… we're changing that today. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I don't really… care for the caste system of being born into your career path. There is no real proof that one birthsign affects you in a special way. I mean… sure… it has some effect on the Mages… Atronachs, Rituals… but… Shadows aren't all that sneaky… except they can turn invisible. I didn't want to tell anyone… but I'm not a Shadow. I'm a Serpent. I can still turn invisible, but… I have some added things, like being able to use Light. Being from a noble family, I could choose my life. I chose to become a Shadowscale. No one would apprentice me because of my family's bloody legacy. So… the next best thing to follow in my family's path was to become a Shadowscale. I'll bring honor back to my family, even if I have to start at the bottom.

We spent the next hour or so racing across the treetops. We never saw any traps, or any scouts. There was nothing at all out of the ordinary as we approached our waiting scout: Ram-ku. He was waiting, sitting in the split in a Hist Tree, one that branched off into three massive branches, each big enough to let us all sit around each other comfortably as we took notes on the small… encampment. To call it a town was a stretch. It was a tent city, thirty or so tents. You would see Argonians going about a… I'm going to say normal routine for those that are casteless. A bunch were working a small field, growing vegetables. Some were harvesting Hist sap. And others were hunting fish. A few other Argonians looked lost and confused, like they were trying to find a reason to exist.

Ram-ku looked down to the tent city, nodding to it. "I've had 20 minutes or so to look down there. It's not as big as I would have thought it would have been. No military training exercises have occurred at all. Some using Shadowports to get around the town, however small it is. No one has done any perimeter sweeps. I'm within spying range, but I only got this close because no one has done anything to make me want to backtrack. Are we sure our target is in this village? I think we have the wrong target."

Meesei shook her head. "The intel pointed us right to this spot. Are there any other settlements in the area?"

Ram-ku shook his head. "I thought the same thing. There's nothing for at least a klick. This village is all there is. It's next to a river, great for fishing. Marshlands seem to be flat enough to allow farms to grow and prosper well enough. Fruit frees. These casteless can easily support their own village with little trouble." Ram-ku shrugged. "The Hist from the intel seems to be in the center of the town so… it all adds together. Our target should be among these casteless."

Meesei looked over to me. "Well, let's get started. You'll look…" She looked me over. "too prepared for your role. But, we'll just assume you left school and came here. You weren't attacked, or betrayed. Otherwise, they'll suspect that others will follow. Just, ease your way down there, earn their trust, give me the signal… and I'll murder him."

I nodded. I guess this was as good a plan as any. "If I find him, do you want me to kill him?"

Meesei shook her head. "He'll see you coming. This requires stealth. And my blowgun… is very stealthy."

I guess this is the best plan we could come up with. The only other one I could think of was putting Vistha down there in my place. He would be more likely to think he's disgraced, but… I'm a more convincing actress. Might as well get this over with. The sun's beginning to set. I want to get this over with.

I climbed down the treetop as quietly as I could. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'm playing the part of a runaway. I glanced down at my Shadowscale student armor. It looks like real armor, but it has the school's logo on the chest plate. It was also made out of our cheaper rubber armor. Nothing like an actual Shadowscale armor.

I brushed my black feathers out of my eyes as I started wading through the swamps up to the tent city. A few of the farmers looked up from their crops, watching me as I walked into the town's outskirts. The farmers looked to each other, as if wondering if they should do something or not.

"Gaz! We have a Shadow!" One of the farmers screamed. He screamed it loudly enough that everyone in the whole marsh could hear me.

An older Argonian, a male with whiting scales, pushed open a large tent. He leaned on a cane as he walked out into the town. "Well… another one." He walked over to me, looking me up and down. "A… student."

I nodded. "Yes. My name is Deejena Raneet-xedeh."

Gaz, the elder of the village, looked me up and down. "You're young. They sent a child… to kill us?"

Well… he wasn't far off. "I'm… not here to kill anyone. I'm from the…"

"Raneet-xedeh clan." Gaz nodded. "I know of it. So… if you're not here to kill us, what is your reason for coming here?"

"I'm… an orphan." I shrugged. "My family's legacy has left me… casteless." Well, it's not a lie.

He looked at my school armor. "So, that's your casualwear?" Hmm… good point.

I pulled out my katana, scabbard and all. I held it out of him. There, in smudged words read: BLOOD WHORE. I could never get the ink off my scabbard. "I'm not welcome there."

The old man read my scabbard, shaking his head. "Kids can be cruel."

"The adults laughed when I brought it up." Also not a lie. "No Shadowmaster or advanced Shadowblade would take me in… no one would apprentice me. I'm done with the whole thing." Just saying it made me feel better. It was like I finally had someone to talk to.

The elder smiled. "Well, you are welcome here, child. We have some others around your age you would probably get along with. There are two that were in the Shadowscale program, and two that were in the Shadowwraith program. The four of them left last year. They found their way here thanks to a Shadowblade."

Well, I was already gathering information. "Okay. Can I talk to the Shadowblade? I kind of… want to continue my training. I want to honor my family."

Gaz narrowed his eyebrows. "No… we don't have any Shadowblades here." He nudged to the Hist tree. "The Shadowblade that visited, he dropped off his friends and he left on some assignment in Cyrodiil. The only other Shadowblade we know of visited here a week ago. He went into the Hist, asking for a new body. He came out changed."

Okay… we're getting somewhere. "Changed how?"

The elder shrugged. "It's not important. The Blade left as soon as he was completed with his change." Still running as a guy then. "Your question though, does strike me as a bit… forced. You are indeed a student, come to kill us. But not us… you chase the Shadowblade. The… defector?"

More information. They know he defected. Well, that should be pretty obvious. He was seeking to change his appearance. If he was running, he'd want to find a secluded spot, filled with defectors, and become someone new.

I looked around. More and more of the village started to surround me. None of them looked angry, or intimidating. It was more an air of curiosity. They wanted to know why I had suddenly come to their village. "Let's say… yeah, I did come here to kill the rogue Shadowblade. Did he say anything while he was here?"

"Let's say I did." I heard behind me. I snapped my head around, and standing there, was a teen about my age. He had yellow scales and bright pink hair.

I nodded to the Shadow. "So… you're the Shadowblade."

"You'd be correct." The Yellow guy answered. He was shorter than me. Was… was he younger than me?

"How old are you?"

"13." The kid answered. 13 years old? I'm here to kill someone one year younger than me?

I almost tapped my knee, but the elder wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Come, young one. We… we need to talk." He quickly pulled me away, and the crowd started to dissipate. The yellow Argonian smirked as he vanished into a tent.

The elder pulled me around the camp. "Look, I know you have friends up in the trees, watching us. I can see them. We knew the blue one was watching us for the past hour. We wondered if today is the day we're going to die."

I held my tongue.

The elder looked at me. "And then… you walk into our camp. Your… superior, I'm assuming the one that wrote that on your scabbard, sent you down here to pick out your target. And when you do whatever it is you're going to do, the kid in the camp will be killed, and… we'll likely be killed next. The Warlord has endured our existence long enough, and now that we're gaining a following, a presence… we're going to be eliminated."

I shook my head. "That's…"

"Not what they told you?" The old man chuckled. "Such cute innocence. And I'm sure the daughter of the Black Reaper Riviella isn't running around the outskirts of the town, putting branz thorns in the marshes because she doesn't want us all dead. If your target is the Shadowblade, you will upset the Shadowscale runaways. They may see the need to fight. And if they do… you know as well as I do, that will be the only reason the Black Reaper will need to kill the town."

"You know a lot." I looked at the elder.

He grunted. "My name is Gazhira Killishe." He gave me a knowing glance.

I knew that name. We were forced to learn about the Border Wars growing up. "You were the Warlord's student."

"Pet project." The old Shadowmaster replied. "When the Border Wars began, I was training as his Shadowblade. Halfway through the Border Wars, he retired, handing it to me… as the new Shadowmaster, and Warlord. Up until that time, I never dated, only focused on the mission of learning how to lead a nation. When I stepped up to the plate, I found myself dating, getting married, questioning the war. I wasn't as aggressive as my previous Warlord, and… we paid the price. The Khajiits that invaded, I had the opportunity to kill them. And I let them in… I hoped to talk peace, but… three town slaughters later, six institutions of Shadow studies razed to the ground… I knew there would be no peace talks. Just death. When I finally had the red-eyes surrounded… I had them slaughtered. And everyone died. We managed to kill the Khajiit insurrectionists, but it costed us every Shadowblade, nearly every Shadowmaster. Including my wife. It was just me… and my daughter, Gashaviena.

"I started to doubt our ways. New warriors were selected at birth, thrown into assassins camps, Shadow art workshops. And for what? To prepare for another war? To my surprise… we chose. I had already stepped down, letting a cunning warrior by the name of Nexlanza take over as Warlord. He started the Blood-rage War. I stood by and watched as he chose yet another war. Our army had just replenished just enough to hold off an invasion, and we were invaded. By just two blood-ragers. And it costed us almost everyone again. My daughter was grievously injured. I knew I couldn't continue living like this. So, I left. I… defected. And I chose to settle here. A small farmland I could call my own. This is the Killishe Estate. And I opened my lands up for others to settle here. For those who wished to… live without needing to dedicate their lives to a broken system. And here… here we live in peace."

Gazhira turned to face me. We were standing next to the Grand Hist. "My Hist is one of a few that also feels that we've strayed the path. My Hist helps me keep my flock happy and healthy. And… here you stand. You threaten one of my comrades who has chosen to leave the world of politics… of bloodshed. Needless bloodshed. He told me about the Code Red-Eye, and how he was ordered to kill the little girl. Younger than him. And… then he saw the Princess of Shadows, Nexauvia Frazviani. She was defending the little girl, also coming to the same conclusion… that they had been ordered to kill a kid. A pointless death… for a pointless war. And so… he knew he couldn't remain there. The Princess is dead, we fear. He wanted to go free her, but feared of what would happen if he did. And what would happen to our system if it was seriously challenged."

I just stood there, taking all this in.

"If the kid were to die… life would continue on. The fear of those Khajiits invading us justified, a body we could fear. But… now… there's hope. Hope for actual change."

There's the challenging words. This was bad. This was really bad.

"And that hope died with the princess. So… I'm just and old man, living on his plot of land, with others like me who just want to be left alone. The Shadowblade living here just wants to be left alone. Will you grant us this request?"

I… I actually didn't know what to do. I was about to tell him that there was no choice, that the mission was our only chance to graduate… but… that's kind of the point, isn't it? We're being forced to fix a broken system. To keep ourselves stagnant, stuck in the same loop.

I looked down at my familial sword. My family's tradition of cutting our tails, bonding with our weapon. A cycle we continuously lived through. And yet… it bonded me to my family in a way I could never imagine being possible. It was the ultimate family heirloom, one that bonded us all together through our shared blood. And just like this sword, and how I'm treated… the system will continue to push other Argonians like me around, throw us in the dirt, spit in our faces, and at the same time… raise those like Meesei up on a silver platter because her family has been Shadows since the founding. A Shadowblade could be born a Lover birthsign as long as their parent is willing to apprentice them in the art.

I was about to ask a question when I heard someone scream. "Shadowscale!"

My blood ran cold as I turned my head.

Gazhira grunted. "It would seem your leader has lost her patience." He looked at me. He spread his arms out. "Well, Shadowscale? You have orders."

I sighed. "You are right. I do have orders." I drew my katana. "Defend the people of Argonia." It's what my mother would have wanted me to do. "Do you know which areas are covered in branz thorns?"

Gazhira nodded. "I can clear a pathway. I'm old, but I'm not powerless." His eyes glowed black as Shadow started forming around his body. "I'm still a Shadowmaster." He vanished in a Shadowport.

I sighed as I stepped into my own Shadowport. I blinked through the darkness, popping out in front of where I heard the scream. Vistha was laughing his ass off as he cleaved through a mother and her child, cutting them down in front of me.

"Die, traitors!" He screamed.

"Do you know who the target is?" Meesei asked as she walked up, nodding to me.

I nodded. "Yes." I flipped my katana around, unsheathing my blade. "Me."

"Oh, it's fighting time?" A girl with brown scales and light blue feathers ran up to me. She held onto a small dagger. "I'll join in."

Meesei glared at me. "You, Deejena? You've joined the enemy?"

"There is no enemy here. Just civilians." I held up my katana. "Right now, you're the only enemy in sight."

Meesei laughed. "Mother wanted me to kill all the casteless, but who would have guessed I'd get to kill a legacy of blood-smiths? Today just gets better and better."

"GET OFF MY LAND!" A heard a loud roar behind me. I snapped my head around long enough to see Gazhira floating in the air, surrounded in a massive blackhole of Shadow. He snapped his hands out, and like that, I saw nothing but Shadow.

…

One dizzying fall later, I crashed into a thick muddy puddle. A few others crashed down around me. I groaned as I picked my head out of the mud. I heard someone laughing from beside me. When I turned to look at her, it was the brown-scale with short blue feathers.

The girl turned to me, laughing as she stuck out her hand. "Hi. I'm Onastvee. What's your name?"

I looked around. The other people of the old settlement were gathered around, the Hist still in the center of everything. The tents had traveled with us. It was like the whole camp left with us, placed down like nothing happened. We… we were just in a different spot.

I looked over to Gazhira. He looked down at me, nodding. "Welcome to our family."

I looked at the girl. "Hi, I'm… Deejena."

"Ooh… we're going to become the best of friends." She squealed, jumping on top of me, giving me a tight hug. Um… I'm not comfortable with this. But… at least everyone's okay. And… I guess this is my new life… for now. I did defect. There is no way I'd be able to go home now. And… honestly… I don't want to go back.

…

[Meesei Juf-vaho]

My beak was killing me. That forced Shadowport was powerful, more powerful than I've ever experienced. And we crashed ten feet above sharp rocks near a cliff overlooking the ocean. We almost fell to our deaths, but luckily, we're trained at surviving that kind of stuff.

I groaned as I rubbed my bleeding beak. "Status report!"

"My back hurts." Vistha reported.

"Ram-ku?" I looked over to the silent blue-scaled cutie looking intently over the edge of the cliff.

"Deejena defended them." He said with a sigh.

"Yeah. She's a freak, a loser. Just like the rest of them." I was hoping spending a minute with them would sway her to join them. I wanted a reason to kill her. And now… she's one of them. A legal target for me to go kill. A rogue Shadowscale. Perfect.

"So, mission was a failure then?" I felt the chilling voice of my mother behind me.

I quickly snapped around, bowing to her. "Shadowmaster! Yes! There was an old man. He was… a surprise."

"He was a Shadowmaster." Mother reported. "Gazhira. He was a Warlord back in his prime. It would seem he's still alive. And that confirms what our Warlord wanted to know. The rebels have a leader. It would seem Gazhira wants to take over Argonia. And now… he has a source of information… propaganda he can use to bring the unhappy settlements on his side. He… has the makings of an army."

"He also has the blood whore, Deejena." I growled out.

That arched Mom's eyebrows. "Does he now? That… complicates things." She rubbed her chin. "Well, children. This is beyond your paygrade, and… I'm guessing they fled their camp. It will take weeks to locate where they've gone. Report back to the barracks."

I nodded as I stood up. "Shadowmaster? Did we fail?"

Mother shook her head. "You all did admirably. The assassination would have worked if not for… unplanned Shadowmaster. If we had known of him, we never would have put this in the hands of children. The Shadow Five would have handled it. And next time… we will."

Cearbhail:

So... were you surprised? A nice misdirection?

It was going to go completely differently. I was going to have Deejena be captured and held captive in a very hostile swamp town. And when it came time for the assassination, it would go off as planned, but extraction would go horribly wrong. And not because of circumstances, but because of Meesei's betrayal of Deejena. And then, Deejena would have to fight to survive, escaping barely. And then... the debrief where they meet up with the Shadowmaster. Riviella would say that she was going to support the squad, and most of all, Deejena for her efforts, and survival tact. Of course... later on, during the evaluation, she would be passed over because of her family's legacy. And Meesei chosen in her place. That was the original plan. But... you know.