“If you plan on infiltrating an enclave with a fake mark, understand your life is no longer in your hands the moment you make contact.”

—General Colmys Faird in a memo responding to the idea of an infiltration mission

Before long six women and two men shuffled out of the tent, each dressed in makeshift armor and sporting paint on their faces. Rasmus greeted each by name and introduced them to Zaina—their names flew by like a half-remembered river of greetings. Assembled, they didn’t look like any fighting force Zaina had ever seen; they were scantily clad in shoddy armor and ragged clothes. One of the men and two of the women carried composite bows while the others carried no weapons of any kind.

Sivanya stood by with a grin. Once everyone was out of the tent Rasmus addressed Zaina, “It’s my understanding that you do not wish to wield your fang?”

Zaina nodded. Everyone stared at her for a moment, making her heart beat faster; she always felt uncomfortable in new groups of people, and in this case her discomfort was also mired in anxiety over being found out.

The moment passed. When Rasmus spoke every one of his warriors turned to him with their full attention. Admiration was clear on some of their faces, but others looked at him with what appeared to be a ravenous hunger. Either way Zaina breathed a sigh of relief when the faces turned.

“Very well,” he said. “In that tent you’ll find what you need. We prefer bows, but if you’ve never wielded one, we have guns you could use.”

“I’ve never even seen one in person,” Zaina admitted. “I’d be willing to give it a try, though.”

“Perhaps if this were a better time,” he said. “If you’re good with a gun we could use you up and running. We lost our last gunner a few patrols ago.”

One of the women, a shorter, pale woman with long, brown hair and purple-and-red streaks of paint running up and down her face, chimed in. “But we avenged Avori six times over since.”

Rasmus nodded. “There are a few extra rules that come with being the gunner. I’m sure Lady Sivanya still remembers them—if she would be so kind, she can inform you while we make our way to the rendezvous.”

“I suppose you caught me on a good day,” Sivanya said with a warm, light-hearted chuckle.

“Excellent,” Rasmus said. “Deni, if you would be so kind to show Zaina where we keep the guns?”

A woman with crossed arms loosed a deep sigh. She was a Hagaran, a species very similar to humans aside from their short, curled horns and gray skin. Her eyes were a piercing crystal blue with fiery red pupils, and her shaggy, medium-length hair was somewhere between black and dark brown in color. Her nose, ears, lips, and horns were all excessively pierced, and strange-looking tattoos covered her neck, face, and shoulders. She wore a sleeveless black shirt and black slacks, both littered with holes. “Very well, Captain.” Her gaze fell to Zaina. “Follow me.”

Without saying another word Deni turned and walked into the tent.

Rasmus chuckled. “She takes some time to trust people, but she won’t bite.”

Zaina shrugged and followed her. The tent’s interior was quite spacious, with small cots lining the outer walls and a single, gigantic bed in the middle of the room. From the looks of it, that was where everyone slept—pillows and blankets were strewn about every which way on the jumbo mattress, which looked worn.

Deni hurriedly made for one of the beds on the far side of the tent and pulled a large bag from underneath. The contents within clattered and clanked as she hoisted the bag on the bed and opened it.

“Well,” she said in a cold tone, stepping away from the bed, “take your pick.”

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Zaina peered into the bag—they had phase cyclers, birifles, scrapshots, and even what looked to be a coil-gun. Peletins—some labeled, some not—were strewn about within.

Without a second thought she grabbed a phase cycler and a scrapshot. She went through the beads carefully, making sure not to take any incendiary ammunition, and selected a few peletins of hyper-velocity rounds. When she was done she gave a nod to Deni, who led her back outside.

Rasmus nodded. “You sure you want to wear that? Azaria, do we have a spare cloak?”

A tall, dark-skinned woman standing in the back nodded. Her hands were held diminutively in front, her fingers intertwined; she was pretty, with loose, curly hair and stunning amber eyes, and her voice was soft and sweet. “I packed extras for our guests.”

“Thank you,” Rasmus said. “Let’s get moving, now. We don’t want to keep the others waiting.”

He turned to Lady Sivanya, who chuckled and said, “Lead on, Captain.”

Rasmus marched into the forest. By now Zaina’s sense of direction was beyond repair—she didn’t know if they were heading toward the mining site or Deonago. The entire group marched in complete silence.

After a while Rasmus held up his hand, and everyone froze in place. Another group was coming, all dressed in black cloaks. Zaina recognized two among them—Tarina and Varok, the two she’d met upon arriving. Beside them were four others.

This is all they have doing patrols right now?

Rasmus stepped forward and raised a hand in greeting toward the other group. Then, standing between both parties, he addressed them. “All right, then. We all know the drill by now. Stick with your partners. If you want to talk, don’t. If you have to talk, whisper. Keep in touch so we all know what’s going on. Don’t provoke a fight if you don’t have to, but if they cross our boundary or attack, don’t hesitate to kill. Trouble’s always coming, so everyone stay on high alert. Tarina, Varok, Demi, and myself, along with the visitor and our dear leader, will take the central corridor today. I have a feeling that’s where they’ll push. Everyone else, usual stations. Be on standby.”

Rasmus’s party donned their cloaks, and the group dispersed into the forest. Zaina didn’t know where the forest’s central corridor was, so she waited for Sivanya to lead the way. Instead, she stood back with her arms crossed, watching everyone march into the woods in pairs. Once the duos had fanned out a bit she started walking, and Zaina dutifully followed.

“You really think we’re going to see any action today?” Zaina asked in a soft whisper.

Sivanya answered without hesitation, “I’d be more surprised if we didn’t. They’ve been quite tenacious lately. By the way—“—she handed Zaina a cloak and an old, scraped-up earpiece with a small, wired comm—“—here. Take these.”

Zaina pulled the cloak over herself and put the earpiece in. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“So, what exactly is the central corridor?”

“We’ve broken the forest up into sectors to help make our patrols more manageable,” Sivanya said. “The central corridor is where they’re most likely to attack on any given day. The lakefront and westerwoods are the other sectors, but they’re a little quieter. In a better time, we’d have a little more flexibility to not throw you into the fire on your first day of patrols. Sadly, this is a pressing time for all of us, and we need as much help as we can get on every front.”

A sorrow-inducing realization struck Zaina. In Sivanya’s eyes was a bitter and almost resigned desperation, reflections of the daily fight to survive. These people, this community—beleaguered and outnumbered—wanted so little, and even that was too much.

“So,” Sivanya whispered, “we’ll be approaching our patrol territory in the next hour or thereabout. Best to keep noise to a minimum. Once we get into position I’ll be right by your side. We rotate spots every thirty minutes, so it’s thirty moving, thirty watching. Make sense?”

Zaina gave an affirmative nod and followed Sivanya in silence until they came to a patch of bushes upon the crest of a low-sloping hill. From the outside the bushes appeared to be a single, solid patch of thorns and leaves; but when Sivanya helped Zaina climb to the other side, she saw plenty of space for two people to spread out.

Pretty brilliant little hiding spot.

Now there was nothing to do but wait, letting time pass in bored silence. Zaina didn’t realize thirty minutes could go by so slow. Lady Sivanya seemed content to sit among the trees and wait with a watchful eye, but Zaina was restless. She wanted to get up, to walk around—to ask questions and try to get to know Lady Sivanya more. Instead she continually scanned the still trees for movement and waited for something, anything to happen.

After what felt like an eternity of quiet, Zaina felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned, and Sivanya gestured for Zaina to follow. It was finally time for them to head out.

It only took half of forever.

Lady Sivanya stood noiselessly and climbed back over the brush. Zaina tried to make as little noise as her companion but failed, her heart pounding with every snapped twig, every jostled branch, and every shaking bush.

Sivanya navigated the forest with ease, seeming to know their next destination by heart. Their silent journey continued for a while. Zaina was prepared for another few hours of boredom when a few ear-splitting pops made her and her heart jump. As echoes rolled through the forest, Zaina knew there was no mistaking that sound.

Scrapshot. A big one.

Sivanya turned to face Zaina, her eyes steeled and her lips pulled into a tight frown. She mouthed the word, ‘Ready?’

Zaina nodded, and they were off.