Tenebres sucked in a breath at the same time as his imp, though his was a lot more nervous than the crimson fiend’s exuberant gasp. As expected, the tiny red demon bent at the waist and released its breath as a gout of flickering flame, too wide for Allana to be able to dodge before it consumed her.

  Not that she let that stop her.

  Allana took a short step forward, in the direction of the flame, and then she was gone, safe from the flames and standing behind the imp. The diminutive fiend didn’t have time to react before Allana’s dagger sank into its skull, killing it instantly.

  Tenebres had to admit, she was getting better with her new gift. He was starting to think that it was, indeed, a better fit for Allana, even if it was, by itself, so much less powerful. To Tenebres, it felt like a bad trade, with her losing her conjured weapons, concealing illusions, and potent special attack in exchange for a simple distraction and a flexible teleport.

  Still, Allana had made the new gift work for her since her shaky first fight with the green imp. Their second night practicing, she had surprised Tenebres and his blue imp alike as she revealed her new augment–a sudden cloud of poison, manifested in a flash and able to affect its target through simple contact. And tonight, she had displayed enough mastery of her short-range teleport to avoid even taking a hit from his red imp.

  The girl bounced back from the dissolving imp and gave Tenebres a proud grin. “Three for three!” she declared.

  Tenebres rolled his eyes. “Technically, you did need my help to kill the green imp.”

  “That was the first night!” Allana claimed, acting affronted. “Watch, summon it now! It won’t even lay a claw on me!”

  Tenebres smirked, but before he could reply, another voice cut him off.

  “Oi! What was that!?”

  Even if their travels had been peaceful so far, the two had fought side by side enough to react instantly. Allana spun around, dropping into a crouch and spinning her daggers, while Tenebres moved back a couple steps, lifting a hand and running the formula for a force missile through his mind, ready to fire.

  “Who goes there?” Tenebres called back in the direction of the voice. They had stopped at another of the small, crude campsites set down by travelers long since gone on their way, but Tenebres still hadn’t expected to meet anyone else there. They hadn’t encountered a single soul on the road in days now.

  The shapes of three figures resolved at the edge of the camp, slowly walking closer. The figure in the lead was smaller than the two behind it. One of the remaining two was tall and lean, the other stocky. None bore weapons in hand, but Tenebres knew as well as anyone how little that meant. No one would travel the deadlands without some way to defend themselves.

  Allana must’ve had similar suspicions, as she didn’t move from her ready stance. “Stop! No closer!”

  The foremost figure stopped at the order, head tilting, and after a step, the other two did as well.

  “Seems like a poor greeting for a few fellow travelers,” the first figure called back. The voice was masculine, rough and smokey, and was somehow familiar to Tenebres, if only distantly.

  “It’s an odd place to meet travelers,” Tenebres spoke warily, “so far from… anything. I’d know your business before you get any closer.”

  The same figure answered. “We were merely planning to make use of the same camp as you two, it seems. But we saw some flames, heard some ghastly noises. We thought someone might be in trouble.”

  “And you thought to come help?” Allana asked derisively.

  “That is what wardens do, after all.”

  “Wardens, is it?” Allana turned to look back at Tenebres, her eyes questioning.

  Tenebres pursed his lips. If they truly were wardens, they were probably not in danger, but it was a dangerous claim to trust without evidence.

  “You can come a little closer. But no abilities or weapons!”

  “You do the same! Put up those blades!” It was one of the other figures who spoke this time, the tall one, Tenebres thought. Another masculine voice, this one was younger, but strident.

  “Bugger that!” Allana replied. “There’s just two of us and three of you–staying armed is only fair.”

  “It’s fine, boys,” the lead figure told them. Tenebres grimaced. He was confident–or, perhaps, he was underestimating them.

  Telik had been confident, too.

  But still, that voice seemed so familiar, why couldn’t Tenebres place it?

  “Whatever you say, boss,” the third figure replied. Another young man, by his voice, with a rural twang that made Tenebres’s eyes narrow. Another familiar voice.

  The leader walked forwards, lifting a hand to push back the hood of his cloak even as he entered the light of campfire, revealing a weathered face and a wild burst of white hair, and Tenebres blinked in shocked recognition. No wonder he hadn’t placed the voice at first–he had only met the man once, months before, on his way to Emeston.

  Tenebres relaxed. “It’s okay, Lana. He’s telling the truth, he’s a warden.”

  The old man and Allana looked at him in about equal surprise.

  “Oh yeah?” the warden asked. “And what makes you so sure?”

  “We met once before,” Tenebres called to him. “I was in a caravan not far from Emeston, and we were attacked by bandits.”

  The old warden narrowed his eyes, studying Tenebres closely. “Ah, right, the pretty boy… I torched a man in front of ya, didn’t I?”

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  Tenebres huffed. “Yeah. Yeah, you did.”

  As they spoke, the other two wardens approached. Tenebres was unsurprised to see that one of them was the broad-faced young man he had helped arm that day. Tenebres thought he remembered them discussing a third member of their party that day–that must be the tall, lean boy with the pinched face, whose voice Tenebres hadn’t recognized.

  Allana slowly rose from her battle crouch, giving Tenebres another questioning look. He nodded at her, firmly, and the girl sheathed her daggers.

  A little bit of the tension went out of the air, and the lead warden nodded. “Right then. You might recall I’m Barnaby, warden officer. These two are my cadets, Sartoh and Siroh.” He gestured to the tall and broad young men in turn.

  “I’m Tenebres. This is my hired hand, Allana.”

  “Hired hand, is it?” The grizzled man looked the girl over speculatively. Tenebres recognized the appreciation that seemed to be common to anyone sun-drawn when they looked at Allana, but his gaze stayed professional. “She don’t look like much.”

  Allana’s lip twitched in a hint of a snarl, and Tenebres quickly jumped in before she could answer. “She’s a blade out of Emeston, and I assure you she’s plenty skilled.”

  Barnaby’s face still looked doubtful, but he shrugged it away. “And where are you headed to?”

  “I wasn’t aware our reasons for traveling were any of your business,” Allana shot back.

  The warden gave her a mild look. “The safety of these roads is my duty, miss. And as your… employer… can attest, we’ve had bandit problems in these parts lately. So I’d say it very much is my business.”

  “I’m a mage,” Tenebres hastily explained, shooting Allana a pleading look. “I went to Emeston for my exam, and now I’m heading home.”

  “And the girl?”

  “You said it yourself, sir. I know firsthand how dangerous these roads are. Gift or no, I wanted a second set of eyes with me.”

  Tenebres could tell the old man didn’t believe him. Even with his charm boon, it seemed like Tenebres couldn’t fool anyone who cared to pay attention. Allana and Geoffrey had both caught him in his lies the moment he uttered them, and Barnaby clearly believed his words about as much as they had.

  After a moment’s silence, one of the younger wardens, Siroh, spoke up. “I think that makes sense, don’t it sir? We know he was going to Emeston, only makes sense he’d want some help on the way back.”

  Barnaby’s mouth twitched, but Siroh was right. The warden’s hunch that Tenebres was lying wasn’t the same as having proof, and wardens couldn’t just arrest on suspicion.

  “Fine enough,” the older man finally relented. “Where are you headed?”

  “Cu–”

  “Geltis,” Tenebres spoke over Allana.

  Barnaby’s eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. “That so? Seemed like your sellsword there had another destination in mind.”

  Tenebres tried not to wince. The warden officer was already suspicious, and that slip could be the only evidence he needed to–

  “I was just going to say ‘could you back off, you crusty old shit.’ The boy was just smart enough to try to cut me off.”

  Barnaby blinked at Allana’s words–then he threw his head back and barked a harsh laugh. “Ha! Aye, fair lass, fair. Guess you are more than you look, ain’t ya?”

  “Sir?” Siroh and Sartoh seemed as disconcerted by the exchange as Tenebres, but the weathered man waved their concerns away.

  “You’re only two days out from Geltis. I’d get a move on. And maybe plan to stay there for a bit–we’ll pass back through that way once we’re sure the bandit problem’s been dealt with. Skilled or not, these are no roads for two young people like yourselves.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Allana replied coolly. She hadn’t relaxed the way Barnaby had after her insult, and still seemed wary of the older man.

  “Right then. How about we all settle down then? It’s getting on late.”

  Allana and Tenebres traded a look, and he could see the frustration in her eyes. There would be no further discussing this situation while the wardens were still around, but they had no real excuse to avoid it. Trying to keep moving now would only stoke Barnaby’s suspicion.

  “Very well,” Tenebres relented, turning towards the campfire.

  It was going to be a long night.

  #

  By the time they hit the road the next morning, in the opposite direction of the three wardens, Tenebres and Allana were both fairly grumpy. Neither had gotten a full night’s sleep, as Allana had insisted that they keep watch alongside the wardens. The girl didn’t trust the trio, and while Tenebres thought she may have been behaving a little unreasonably, he couldn’t quite blame her.

  It seemed like Barnaby’s watchful gaze rarely left the pair.

  Sartoh proved as sullen and suspicious as his officer, though noticeably worse at hiding it, and Tenebres was confident that the lean man’s words that night could’ve been counted on the fingers of one hand. Siroh, on the other hand, had been plenty companionable, even apologetic for his comrades’ behavior. Of course, he had been a bit too companionable, and wildly underestimated how willing Allana was to put up with his flirtations.

  Overall, Tenebres was relieved to see the wardens go on their way shortly after first light. He and Allana soon started off in the opposite direction, striving to make at least a few more miles before they took an early stop to catch up on their sleep.

  “What was that?” Tenebres asked. “You insulted him, but he seemed like he didn’t care.”

  Allana grimaced. “They’re Emeston wardens, Seo. Just like everyone else in that city, I doubt they’re on the up-and-up.”

  “You think so? I definitely saw them fight bandits…”

  “Yeah. To defend a caravan. One that had probably paid them to do so. That old one, Barbybutt or whatever, was trying to get a bribe out of us. That’s what that little interrogation routine was about. My answer showed him I was actually from Emeston, and that I wasn't gonna deal.”

  “Seriously?”

  Allan nodded. “Definitely.”

  Tenebres squinted. He hadn’t picked up on that–but then, he was a transplant. He wasn’t as fluent in the language of crime as Allana was, and he doubted he ever would be. “So why didn’t we just pay him off? We took a fair bit with us when we left.”

  Allana shook her head firmly. “One, because there was no guarantee they’d take it. If we tipped our hand, showed we had enough coin to consider the bribe, he might’ve just decided it was easier to clean us out.”

  “And that would’ve meant a fight.” One they probably couldn’t have won, based on the firepower Tenebres had seen Barnaby display.

  “Exactly.” Allana paused, pursing her lips, then shrugged. “Plus… I don’t know. That’s our money. It was Geoffrey’s. I’m not gonna spend it buying off some crusty shit and his asshole cadets.”

  Tenebres snorted a little laugh. Now that sounded like the Allana he was used to. “I’m gonna need to get used to having a charm boon, too,” he told her. “I half-expected you to stab that big one when he tried to hit on you.”

  Allana rolled her eyes with a huff. “If he kept it up, I might have.”

  “But still. It’s odd to see you so… subtle.”

  “Was implying he had to resort to forcing himself on women because no one would be interested in him otherwise really that subtle?”

  “By your standards? It was masterful.”