On the last day of winter, the wardens left Valley Hearth.

Only eight chose to take the King's commission and stay with Farris, becoming the core of the Valley's burgeoning new militia. Neither Rose nor Beryl were among them. Aton, too, left with the wardens, though few believed his excuses about there being more work to find in Correntry.

On the first day of spring, the adventurers left Valley Hearth.

There were five of them, as there had been when they left Correntry. They were clothed, armed, and armored much as they had been when they strode forth from the trade city over two months before–but there was no doubt in Tenebres's mind that they were different, now.

They had risked their lives–not for vengeance or duty, as they had when they fought against Hellesa, but for the good of each other, for their friends and for the helpless citizens of the Valley. Since then, the winter had further honed them, polishing their abilities, earning them experience, and pushing them to their limits as an individual and as a team.

But now, they were en route to a bastion city, to a Waste. There, Tenebres was confident that they wouldn't be exceptional–they'd be lucky to even rival the skill of sentinels who had been fighting against a similar density of monsters for their entire careers. And yet, Adeline expected them, somehow, to be in place to make a difference amidst whatever tangle of aristocratic politics and alien plotting awaited them in Elliven.

And that was leaving aside his fears about this abomination Adeline had described…

#

Their second night out of Valley Hearth, the adventurers camped in a small clearing along the road. A mile or so back, the lights of a roadside village, one of the small settlements that catered primarily to traders and travelers, twinkled in the night, but the adventurers had made the decision to keep pushing, rather than stop there for the night.

"Hey Oli," Tenebres asked. "Can you tell us anything about Elliven?"

The girl blinked in surprise, the question seeming to throw her off as much as Cadence's obvious interest.

Allana, of course, looked like she was barely paying attention, instead idly whittling a small knot of wood. A light sheen of magic danced around her hands as they worked, imbuing the knot even as she carved it.

"Uhm…" the girl shifted on her log, obviously uncomfortable. "I mean, you've both been to cities."

Cadence frowned. "Not to a bastion city, though," she pointed out. "It's okay if you don't want to, but…"

"I'd really rather-"

"Too bad," Adeline cut Olivia off, sitting down next to her, a challenging fire in her eyes. "Your cadre has questions, Oli, and you can answer them, so you should."

Tenebres arched an eyebrow, and felt Cadence giving him a probing look. After staying remote all winter, Adeline had suddenly become more bold, more challenging, with Olivia, pushing her in a way she hadn't before. Was it a product of her becoming a knight, or something else?

Neither Cadence nor Tenebres was sure, and if Allana had any opinions on it, she hadn't voiced them. It seemed like there was something passing between the two women, but the three of them just didn't have the background to know how much of the tension was based in Olivia's obvious crush on the woman, and how much was caused by Olivia's sudden promotion, or her transition, or their return to Elliven further straining things.

Olivia frowned at the fire–but, after a moment, she nodded. "Okay," she said, in the tone of someone prepping for heavy, unpleasant labor. "What do you want to know?"

Tenebres and Cadie swapped shrugs, and the celestial took the first question. "What's the city like? Is it as big as Correntry?"

Olivia pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Big… I guess so, but in a very different way. Correntry is big, but it's sprawling. Its design and infrastructure are rooted in economic and population demands. But Elliven isn't like that."

"Because it's a bastion city, right?" Tenebres asked. "It's designed around defense."

"Exactly," Olivia agreed. "Elliven was built around the Highcastle, the keep in the city's center, and that's still the densest and most populous part of the city. But its grown out from there over the years, spreading around the edges of the Wastes. At this point, it's kind of like a crescent moon–a large center that spreads out and becomes thinner as it goes around the city."

"It can't be that big, though," Allana drawled. "It's what–fifty years old?"

"Fifty-four, this year," Olivia confirmed.

"Exactly." Allana didn't look up from her whittling while she spoke. "Emeston and Correntry are nearly two centuries old. They've had plenty of time to grow."

Olivia shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. Yes, the trade cities are older, but they were permitted to grow as they needed to. Elliven was a project of the entire Realm, a necessity once the Arboreal Wastes formed. You don't understand the sheer scope of the resources committed to Elliven upon its founding.

"Stonemasons from Allvany, carpenters from Correntry, pioneers from the Twin Cities, they all came to help build Elliven, led by Terastian military engineers and Arsiletian architects. Elliven had a population of ten thousand within five years of its founding, and it has only continued to grow since then."

"The Builder's Union remains one of the most powerful political forces in the city," Adeline added.

Olivia nodded. "They caused my father no end…" She stopped suddenly, as if realizing what she had said, and she shook her head. "The High Court doesn't like them," she said instead.

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"The High Court… those are the nobles, right?" Cadence asked.

"Yes," Olivia confirmed. "But the nobility in Elliven is… weird."

"Weird?"

"Remember that Elliven is a city of transplants," Adeline reminded them. "The current generation are the first to be true Elliviens. Their parents, especially amongst the nobility, are those who chose to leave their homes and go to Elliven in search of opportunity. Most of them still remember and associate themselves with the cities they were from."

"Which translates to the Arsiletian nobility still ruling the Court, by and large," Olivia explained. "Not full goldbloods–few of those wanted to leave Arsilet–but there's plenty of lesser nobility with some goldblood in them who were more than happy to move to a city where they'd be the most prestigious citizens. The Gerrots, the most powerful family in the city, are one such group."

Up until that moment, Adeline had been studying Olivia in the firelight, but at the mention of the Gerrots she sharply looked away, her eyes growing troubled. "Lysander Gerrot will be the most problematic of the nobility," she explained. "He had the majority of the High Court under his thumb before Sir Toren showed up, and he's still been grabbing at every bit of influence he could in the days since."

"What about the other powers?" Tenebres asked, honest confusion mingling with the need to change the subject. "Are there any magical orders or anything?"

Olivia shook her head. "Not as such. The primary powers in the city are the High Court and the Builder's Union. Hypothetically, the Emerald Order, Elliven's knights, should be the third major branch, but their numbers are as limited as their influence. The knight-triumphant is little more than a voice in the High Court."

"It's not as bad as all that," Adeline said, giving Olivia a wan smile. "The sentinels have been slowly pulling influence of their own away from the High Court, and a few of the nobles have thrown their weight behind them. The mages, the arbiters, the dedicated common sentinels, all the groups that would be major powers in the other bastion cities have instead begun working together, presenting a united front."

Olivia frowned thoughtfully. "Really?" she asked. "I had heard that those attempts to resist the Court weren't really going anywhere."

"You weren't a sentinel," Adeline reminded her. "But things have also been changing of late. Sir Toren and Sir Kenton have both thrown their weight behind the so-called Freeblade faction."

""What about the Duke?" Tenebres asked. "I thought all the bastions had a central leader of some kind?"

"Hypothetically, they do," Olivia said, "but Elliven is different."

"It was the King's idea," Adeline explained, "after the early construction in Elliven was complete, the King announced that he would not be appointing any existing noble as Duke of Elliven. Instead, he declared that he wanted the city's ruler to come from its people–that any gifted who reached Master within the Arboreal Wastes would be eligible to become the new Duke."

"But it's been fifty years," Cadence said. "How is there still no one in charge?"

"The King's contest was declared before anyone knew about the Arboreal Wastes' flaw," Olivia told her. "For some reason, the Arboreal Wastes spawns few monsters above lesser rank, and there's no record of any above moderate."

Adeline nodded. "That was part of why the abomination was such a threat–most sentinels in Ellieven stop active duty around Adept level, either retiring or going to one of the other Wastes, because there's not enough truly dangerous monsters to go around. That also means that, in fifty-four years, no Expert has managed to inch over the line to Master in the Arboreal Wastes."

"The High Court has taken over rulership of the city instead," Olivia continued. "They vote by council on any major issues, and split various civic responsibilities between them. And, by and large, they like it that way."

"Which is just all sorts of too bad for them," Adeline commented dryly.

"What does that mean?" Tenebres asked.

"As I told you," she said, "change is coming to Elliven. The other adventurers, and ourselves, are part of that change, but there's more coming."

"The King's Authority?" Olivia guessed.

Adeline nodded. "The last word I received said that he almost has matters settled in Emeston. He's leaving a cadre of Aurul Knights in charge of the Warden's Office there, putting the scare into the Gold Council and ensuring that the last of the hag proxies are rooted out, then he'll be turning his attention to Elliven."

Olivia huffed a breath a little too dry to really be called a laugh. "And I thought it was bad enough that the King was taking a direct hand in things in the trade cities–the High Court will pitch a fit if he tries to revoke the Ducal contest now."

Adeline's face grew increasingly solemn. "You're right. So it's a good thing there will be some adventurers there when we're needed." With that declaration, the knight stood up, turning to the road not far from them. "It's time you all get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."

#

Elliven was a city of marble, sprawling and beautiful, just as Olivia described.

Only… hadn't she said something about the local stone being white and blue? This marble was a dark, obsidian black, like witchglass, shot through with veins of blood red, giving the wall the appearance of being carved from burnt flesh.

"Something's wrong," Tenebres said, his voice echoing through the empty space.

There was no response. Where were his friends? He was alone.

The gate was ahead of him. Olivia hadn't described Elliven's entryways, but Tenebres felt sure that they weren't supposed to be made of that pitted black wood, nor reinforced by a portcullis made of what looked a lot like bone…

"This isn't right," Tenebres said.

This time, his voice caught the attention of the guards at the gate, and four heads suddenly turned to look at him, showing him four broad, bestial snouts, four sets of red eyes, four pairs of hands reaching for weapons of witchglass and tarnished steel…

Why were there gnolls standing guard at the gates of Elliven? That didn't make any sense, not unless…

"This isn't Elliven," Tenebres declared to himself.

He wasn't alone anymore. He recognized the form that stepped up next to him, the man that had haunted his dreams for the past month.

The figure that looked like an older him glared at the four gnolls, and they recoiled, little whines slipping from their throats.

"It is and it isn't," Tenebres told himself.

"That's not an answer," the younger man grumbled at the older.

Tenebres turned to look at himself, revealing the scars that ran over one side of his face, and he cocked a little smile at the boy. "It is, and it isn't," he repeated. A current of dry amusement coursed through him. Had he really ever been that young?

Tenebres blinked, a moment of vertigo overcoming him as he realized that he was experiencing his older self's feelings. The moment of disorientation passed, and Tenebres sat up, back in that clearing at the side of the road, the fire crackling fitfully nearby, his blanket wrapped over his slim shoulders.

It was Allana's watch shift, and she looked up when she noticed him moving around. "You've got another hour til your shift," she told him. "Get some rest."

"Easier said than done," Tenebres mumbled to himself.

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