Wayne followed his Cohort as they made their way to the edge of the clearing around Light’s Reach. The long grass waved and whistled in the wind, making a soft high note as it blew through the plants’ reaches.

A Legionnaire stood waiting in the grass with an envelope and a large bag, the white of their casuals marking a stark contrast to the greens and browns of the Wildes behind him.

It was a daunting sight, the twisting roots of the jungle trees growing out from each other in layers. The Western Wildes immediately lived up to its moniker as the tiered jungle, as Wayne could immediately see at least three layers of trees growing up towards the sky, their long and writhing branches extending over a hundred strides upwards.

An ethereal chorus rose from its depths, a mix of the wind and chirps, clicks, and whistles from various beasts and bugs. The total effect was a high pitched piercing noise that was an ever present backdrop even from here in the clearing, only broken when the Legionnaire addressed them.

“It’s nice to meet you, 1st Century, I am Grand Triarr Desmond. In this supplies pack there are prepared rations that can sustain your Cohort for five days, along with a variety of other exploration supplies and equipment. Do not lose this pack, or you will likely die.”

He dropped the bag to the ground, and gestured to the envelope.

“In this envelope are the details about the Rift we have selected you to handle, along with a rough map of the area you will find it in. I advise you to open it after traveling thirty minutes into the jungle, and not before. That is all of the official help and instruction we are allowed to offer.”

Then he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Good luck Hastas. You will need it.”

Handing the envelope to August, the Grand Triarr bid them adieu and left them to their Assessment. Wayne kept his eyes on the jungle, but was thinking about who he would be able to trust during this Assessment.

His first instinct was to trust August, as she hadn’t seemed a bad sort yesterday when they had interacted. However, she had made her allegiance to Lord Heirdt no secret and the man in question was who Wayne was most worried about.

Jonathan hadn’t reacted to anything yet, still standing imperiously with his arms crossed. The small smirk Wayne had seen before was absent in a way that almost made him question whether he had seen it at all.

Next to him was someone who had fought on his team in yesterday’s training, the man who must be Homer Urlondst. The immediate impression the boy gave of was one of a sycophant, his body language never far from supplicating to the heir to the archdukedom. The first word’s Wayne heard him say did nothing to dissuade that opinion.

“At your command, Lord Heirdt.” Homer said with a slight bow.

Then, the smirk came back in full force on Johnathan’s face and Wayne was completely positive he hadn’t imagined it earlier.

“Yes. Yes you are.” The boy said.

Then Johnathan turned from the jungle and addressed the group directly.

“While we are in the Wildes, I expect perfect obedience. I will not tolerate insubordination.” He announced casually.

At his words, August and Homer went to flank him, also turning from the greenery behind. Wayne was tempted to disagree immediately, but realized that this situation was actually beneficial for him. He would be at Johnathan’s mercy out there, but that was the case anyways.

This way, though, the fifth and final member of their Cohort would be more inclined to be friendly to Wayne under their shared oppression. Especially if Wayne was in any way correct about Jayna’s personality.

“Drown yourself.” She said succinctly, a cold look on her face.

Then she stormed past them and started making her way through the foliage, leaving no room for rebuttal. Then, predictably, the Cohort’s attention turned to Wayne.

I may not have any experience in politics, but even I could see that coming. Which almost certainly means this situation is what Johnathan was engineering all along…

Wayne hated this. Having to second guess every action and reaction was already frying his nerves before he had even entered the Wildes, but Wayne did have some ideas about the young Lord’s intentions for him.

“I will follow your lead, Lord Heirdt. And… I’ll try to convince Jayna to fall into line as well.” Wayne added the second bit at a much lower volume, hoping the other girl couldn’t hear him from the path she had picked into the Wildes.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, my Lord.” He said, moving to follow Jayna into the Wildes so she wouldn’t get separated from the rest of the Cohort.

He made his way towards the strange trees, their strangely elongated roots making the ground level a tangle of wooden tendrils that were difficult to navigate. The ground itself was covered in almost a carpet of smaller multicolored bushes and weeds. As he followed Jayna’s path deeper into the Wildes, he couldn’t see the twisted smile that Johnathan now wore openly.

* * * * *

As Wayne stepped into the Western Wildes, the first thing he noticed was how little sunlight made it through the jungle to the ground. It made for a surreal sort of lighting, stray beams of the sun reaching through tangled vines like a prisoner reaching for freedom.

Then, the smells hit him, sickly and sweet. The scent of flesh, rotting. Of flowers in bloom, and the insects that would tend to them. Earthen and heavy, everything was underset by the decomposing of waste at the corners of the tangle’s floor.

Wayne made careful steps in order to save the brilliant and colorful small plants that grew from almost every inch of soil. The bright reds and blues reminded Wayne of the garb he had seen the residents in the capitol wearing. Still, he couldn’t stop and examine them at this moment.

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The underbrush and occasional thick root made the trek long and winding, as Wayne moved back and forth to find a route to where he could see Jayna stalking off to. A couple times, he almost lost her, but Wayne managed to get her back into his sight both times.

Wayne caught up to the Lightning Shaper ten minutes later, and his legs were already burning from the rough terrain. The huge tangle of root and underbrush made the concept of flat surfaces an alien concept in the Western Wildes. Simply traversing through the thickets was an effort requiring stamina and awareness, so by the time he went to talk to Jayna, Wayne was already slightly out of breath.

“Hey, Jayna… Can I… Can I talk to you… for a second?”

The girl turned and looked at him beneath her jagged purple hair. She was very clearly not struggling to the same degree Wayne was, but that was to be expected. He didn’t expect the hostility in her eyes.

“What is it, my Lord?” She asked him, dripping with sarcasm.

“You…” Wayne started, before catching his breath.

“You know my name, Jayna. Or I guess if you need a reminder, I’m Wayne. I’m new to the whole noble business, so I would appreciate it if you could just treat me and the rest of the Cohort as comrades, at least for this Assessment.”

“Hmph. Sure.” She said, turning back away from him and continuing forward.

Realizing that he hadn’t quite gotten his point across, Wayne scrambled to keep up.

“I know it probably doesn’t matter to you, that you can pass this Assessment regardless of whether we work together or not. But I’m not as strong as you. I’m… very weak. And I will almost certainly die without the entire group working together. So please, I’m begging you Jayna. Please.”

Jayna halted her advance, tilting her head to the side as if considering. Sensing an opening, Wayne tried to continue.

“I would really-”

“Quiet!” Jayna exclaimed, cutting Wayne off.

“This is a serious -mrph!” Wayne said before the other Legionnaire slapped her hand over his mouth.

He struggled for a moment, before he noticed the eerie silence from the jungle. Then Wayne was struggling for a different reason, trying to twist his head around to look for threats. Jayna released him then, and assumed a stance that prepared her for conflict.

Wayne tried to replicate it as he still scanned their surroundings. For several minutes the two of them stood there, ready for chaos to erupt at any moment. Wayne’s neck started to get stiff from looking around so much, so he eventually let out a sigh and relaxed his body.

“Is there really- Ahhhhhhhh!”

Once again, Wayne was interrupted, but this time it was because something had leapt from the tangled growth directly at his as he spoke.

He fell backwards at the assumed assault, but before it could occur Jayna jolted forwards and thrust a single sparking strike at the creature's midsection. A squelching sound and a burst of blood came out, splattering all over Wayne’s face and even finding its way into his mouth.

The strong copper tang mixed with a sickly salty flavor that made Wayne sick to his stomach.

“Ahhhh-petuah-mlemlem-ughhhhh!” Wayne sputtered, trying desperately to spit the thick viscous liquid from his mouth.

“Hrmph. I can’t- Hahaha…” Jayna’s laugh trickled out despite her best efforts.

Wayne was still wiping the carnage from his face, but he still shot her a sour look. Unfortunately, that only exacerbated her laughter. Eventually, he gave up on trying to clean himself further as he found it was just smearing the crimson blood across his skin and clothes.

Then he finally looked at the creature that had ambushed him. It was a foot long mammal with long feet and whiskers at the end of a pointed face. A common Werrell, a simple beast, no grand monster. Wayne felt foolish as he looked down at its corpse and Jayna finally calmed her laughter.

He looked up after a while to find her staring at him, her face more free and bright amber eyes filled with a question.

“You were once an orphan right? Do you… still consider yourself as an orphan?”

Wayne opened and closed his mouth without saying anything. He didn’t know exactly what she meant from the question, but clearly the answer was important to Jayna.

“I… am currently trying to be more than that orphan, but it’s… hard. I’m so much closer to that orphan than I am Lord Aouris, or a Legionnaire, or the Emperor Regent’s son, but that’s all anyone else sees me as. I’m not sure if that's what you want to hear, but that's the truth.” Wayne said, gaining confidence as he spoke.

“Mmmm…” She gave him another appraising glance. “Alright then. I’ll play nice for the Assessment, but you’ll owe me one.”

Wayne chuckled darkly.

“I already owe you one. If I survive to the end, I have the feeling I’ll owe you a lot more than that.”

* * * * *

The two barely had to wait a minute before Johnathan and the rest of the Cohort caught up to them, almost as if they had been waiting for an agreement to be reached. Wayne wouldn’t put it past him, but it could’ve simply been a coincidence.

“Hello comrades. I see that blood has been spilt. Are both of you uninjured?” Johnathan asked.

Jayna’s expression tightened again as he emerged from the roots with August and Homer flanking him, shooting the Lord Heirdt a contemptuous glare. Of course, Johnathan merely smirked and looked her dead in the eyes.

“Ask him. I’m fine.” She said during the fierce staredown, still not letting her gaze falter.

“I’m fine, Lord Heirdt.” Wayne hurriedly interjected, trying to defuse the situation.

“Yes… I’m sure you are. While we are stopped, it would be for the best for us to open this envelope here. We still have some semblance of an anchor point to base our location on, unlike what the Grand Triarr said.” Johnathan said, without moving eyes an inch.

Didn’t she just say that she would play nice?

Thankfully, Jayna seemed like she wasn’t going to completely break her word and huffed at the young Lord with a gesture.

“Hmph. Alright open up the damn envelope. I understood just as well as you that he was testing our abilities to discern beneficial information and advice. I just don’t like you.” She said while shaking her head.

Wayne felt his eyebrows raise. He hadn’t suspected for an instant that the Legionnaire giving them the mission would intentionally mislead them. Then, he thought about it for a moment longer.

The 1st Century was made up of many noble scions who would one day inherit great wealth and power. They would also inherit great enemies of means, who would have connections to the Legion of their own. It wouldn’t be very hard for those enemies to slightly alter the details of a report and leave a rival critically unprepared in a lethal scenario, their hands left almost spotlessly clean.

In fact, how could the others even know if it were a test, and not them being led to their deaths. Wayne had already been the target of assassins, what was changing what a few pieces of paper said in the grand scheme of things? Swallowing deeply, Wayne glared anxiously as Johnathan opened the envelope, as if it held the answers he was looking for.

Shuffling the papers, Johnathan extracted them and began peering over the packet containing the details of their mission. Homer and August were looking over the man’s shoulders and not wanting to miss out, Wayne walked over to do the same.

The first thing he noticed was the map that was pictured in the upper left hand corner of the papers. Well, if you could call it a map as almost the entire image was taken up with a nondescript dark green color that was labeled ‘Wildes’. The only other things to note were one road led to a smaller light green circle in the bottom right of the map, and one red dot, around the center.

Light’s Reach, and their destination.

Jayna grunted from a few feet away, not having moved to read the papers.

“Know where we are going yet?” She asked.

“Mmm. Yes, I’m just reading about the various Elven ruins we will be encountering along the way, and their approximate locations. The report states that sometimes their defenses have been known to activate upon intrusion, so it’s vital we maintain our distance.” Johnathan said absently, while continuing to read.

“Just a moment more.”

He then shuffled the papers to move to the next page, pouring over further details and documentation of the ruins. Wayne found some bark and began rubbing the now crusting blood off of his face, the scent still in his nose.

Homer gave him an incredulous look, but when Wayne shrugged, the other boy just smiled and shrugged back. August looked at the two of them and shook her head.

Eventually, Johnathan finished reading over the reports, and secured them back into the envelope before in turn placing that in the supply pack. Then he looked around at the group, shook his head as well, and pointed in a direction.

“We will set our bearing there.” He stated, then took a small object out of a pouch and began fiddling with it for a moment, before replacing it in the satchel.

“Follow me.” The archduke’s heir said, and set off.

The rest of the Cohort lined up and followed him, with only minimal grumbling from Jayna. They began to make their way forwards through the thick roots, dodging side to side in a winding path that kept them mostly en route. They trampled colorful flowers and hairy weeds underboot as they fought against the foliage forwards.

The sounds of the jungle hung heavy in Wayne’s ears, but he couldn’t help but worry about the next time it would fade to silence.