The only light that night came from the stars, but the two tenebrage scouts didn't mind.

The pair hid in brush upon a hill overlooking a luxcian camp. Just from their position they could hear all manner of singing, dancing, and conversation. The two scouts had kept their watch for many hours.

One of the tenebrage, Umbren, was almost at his breaking point. The only reason he hadn't stood up to ease the pain in his knees from kneeling for so long was the fear of being spotted, or what Loutrin would think of him if he did so.

Umbren wasn't too far off from your average tenebrage, with his black hair and pale skin. The only thing that set him apart was the glare in his eyes that made him seem like he was always bothered by something, and also the fact that he was short by tenebrage standards.

However, he reached the point where he had to enact some sort of change, so he took off his hood. He didn't really quite understand why he had it on in the first place under the foliage that covered him.

Due to this being the two tenebrage's first mission, even the smallest sound sent a jolt through their bodies, so Umbren's action was noticed by Loutrin almost immediately.

He was taller than Umbren with sharp features and a long nose. It looked as if he was always tired due to the way he held himself and the bags under his eyes.

He looked at Umbren with a wry smile, "Was that really necessary, you almost gave me a heart attack."

Umbren tried to come up with an excuse quickly, "Well...um...I thought it would just get in the way. Besides they were hidden and I doubt any luxcian could find us even if they tried."

Loutrin raised his eyebrows at his excuses, "Oh, really."

Umbren tried to come up with a better excuse, but everything he could come up with only made it look worse. Though his stubbornness compelled him to keep the hood off.

He wanted to bring up that they should head back, but the idea seemed embarrassing, especially after what had just happened, so he waited for Loutrin to say something.

Luckily for Umbren it didn't take too long for this to happen. He caught sight of Loutrin looking around to make sure there wasn't anything around them.

He suddenly stood up, and stretched his arms to the sky with a grunt, "I think it's time we ought to report to the master."

Umbren nodded in relief and stood up as well and copied Loutrin's actions. As he was doing this a flash of light appeared in the corner of his eye.

It was only a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Umbren to pull out one of his throwing knives and prepare to put down the source.

Loutrin eyed Umbren curiously, "What is it?"

"I thought I saw a light back there near that tree."

Umbren pointed to the location, and Loutrin moved till he stood next to him to better look at where he was pointing.

Loutrin furrowed his brow, "You go on ahead, I'll stay behind and see if I find anything. I'll be right behind you."

Umbren nodded slowly and went on. He started to bite his fingernails out of frustration. He worried about the worst case scenario, that it was a luxcian scout. He didn't have his hood on, so he had to hope to Tenebrage that they didn't see his crescent pupils. But even if they did, who else would be wandering this close to a luxcian camp. Though if it was a scout, Loutrin would surely find them. All Umbren could do was hope it was just his imagination.

Loutrin rejoined him shortly after he finished his train of thought.

Umbren looked towards him questioningly.

"I looked all over where you pointed, but I couldn't find anything, not even a trace of anything having been there."

Umbren sighed in relief, "Thanks for that, sorry about making you do all that for nothing."

Loutrin waved his hand has if telling him not to worry about it

Umbren nodded his head and turned his thoughts back to the task at hand. They were about to give their first report, and to the master himself no less. Truthfully it filled Umbren with a nervous excitement. He went over what he was going to say over and over again until they came to the Black Crescent Camp.

Umbren and Loutrin arrived at the base of a tree that was massive in size. It certainly was the biggest one Umbren had seen. The trees of the forest were so massive in fact that a whole tenebrage force could make camp on top of them without any want for more room.

The two scurried up the tree with not many missteps, except for the time Umbren nearly fell, but was saved by stabbing a knife into the tree. Once the pair reached the top, they were greeted with a view of the camp.

Tents surrounded what appeared to be a tree with its top cut off. By what no one knew. Master Yorburn's tent overlooked the platform made by the tree in the center, and the other important tents also surrounded the platform as well. Then the tents for the Black Crescent soldiers could be found further away from the center.

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Umbren and Loutrin went down a branch- that was big enough for five men to walk side by side on- to the platform. At the moment it was used as a place for the soldiers to come together before the mission was to be carried out.

The two tenebrage went to Master Yorburn's tent without saying anything to the others around them, for they were fixated on the task in front of them.

When they entered the tent, they found Yorburn hunched over a large desk-how they got it up there, Umbren had no idea-which contained maps and other papers on it.

Yorburn spoke in a tone that was stern and demanded respect, "Give your report."

Umbren blinked for a few moments, as his mind had gone completely blank, but he regained his senses shortly.

The voice that came out of Umbren sounded overwhelmingly nervous. All he could do was hope that the master didn't notice, "The luxcian caravan as made camp in the clearing."

Before Umbren could go on, Yorburn spoke in a monotone, yet irritated, voice, "Well we already know that. How many guards?"

Yorburn was still not looking at them, which was lucky for Umbren whose face broke out in panic at the request, since he had neglected to count.

Fortunately, Loutrin spoke up. "Twelve guarding the perimeter and nine in the camp itself. Though I doubt those nine will be sober enough to get in our way."

"Those numbers seem to be a little small," Yorburn muttered under his breath. He turned to face them, "Did you notice anything peculiar while you were scouting the camp?"

The flash of light crossed through Umbren's mind, "No, nothing out of the ordinary."

Umbren regretted the words right when he spoke them, but Loutrin didn't seem to mind the lie.

Yorburn looked back down at the table in deep thought, "Hmm...If they have that little amount of guards and it will be dawn soon, we ought to strike now."

His words sounded uneasy, which caused a shiver to run down Umbren's spine.

As the two turned to walk out of the tent the master called out to them, "You two did a good job... for a pair of rookies."

At that moment, Umbren's heart swelled with pride, and he thought it might have been the happiest moment of his life.

His thoughts were interrupted by Loutrin who spoke with sarcasm, "Well it seems like we made the master proud. You want to go get something to eat before he calls us all together?"

Loutrin seemed relieved, Umbren noted that he must have been as nervous as him going into their report.

Umbren didn't remember what he ate that night. All he remembered was his restlessness as he awaited Yorburn's orders. Loutrin looked to feel the same way as he fidgeted with his food.

After some time passed the master called all of the tenebrage to the center platform in order to have a mission briefing. Before he started, he looked around to assure that everyone was present.

This took longer than Umbren expected, and all he could do was remain fixated on Yorburn's dark green cloak as it blew in the wind.

Once everyone arrived the master gave a cough to get everyone's attention. Though it was unnecessary as everyone was already focused on him.

"We will split up into three groups. The first will sneak into the camp, and dress up like tenebrage slaves. Then, after everyone is ready, they will attack the luxcians. Make sure to attack quickly and swiftly, so the luxcians don't have time to debilitate you with their power over the mind. Also, by any means necessary you are not to let the enemy know that you are Black Crescent!"

Yorburn's voice demanded the attention from everyone near, and Umbren hung onto every last word.

"The second group will poison the food, water and maybe if we have time the wine." He smiled when he said the last part. "Again, it is of the utmost importance that we don't give ourselves away, if we do, they'll check their supplies and find what we have done."

Yorburn paused to make sure everyone was listening, "The third group will be just a precaution. If anything goes wrong, they will report to the nearest tenebrage force."

The master let out a sigh, "The secondary objective of this mission is to save the other tenebrage slaves. Though the first objective comes first."

Yorburn abruptly walked back into his tent, as if nothing important had happened. Umbren stood in a trance for a few minutes. After he snapped out of it, all he could do was wish to be in the group that actually poisons the supplies as he went to get his assignment.

Umbren thought that Faldrid would be a battle-hardened veteran and master strategist, since that was what he had heard. Though what he got was somewhat disappointing. When he entered Faldrid's tent he stood before a bald and haggard man with messy clothes sitting at a desk covered with paper.

As Umbren requested his orders the man seemed annoyed, "Yes, yes, yes Umbren,"

Faldrid threw his black scarf behind him, shuffling through the papers on his desk frantically, "Yes here you are, you will be with the group of decoys entering the camp."

He said it so fast that it took a while for Umbren to process it, and when he did, he just stood there feeling like there was more. Faldrid didn't seem to even notice him anymore though, so Umbren awkwardly left.

He read his orders with disappointment. He didn't know how he felt about dressing up as a slave, but he did know it was at least better than scouting.

The order also mentioned that the group would meet on the central platform. Sure, enough, when Umbren arrived he was greeted by a group of soldiers with Master Miglo in front of them.

Umbren found that he recognized many faces among the crowd from the training camps. Actually, most of the soldiers seemed to be rookies just like himself.

For some reason the word, "test," immediately popped into his head. He didn't know if this mission was one, but he hoped that he passed with flying colors.

As Umbren approached the group one face in particular stood out to him, "Loutrin, so you've been assigned here, too."

The only reason that Umbren was able to pick him out of the sea of dark blue cloaks, was because he was quite tall with a slender figure, and one of his arms was entirely covered up, so that no skin showed at all.

Loutrin smiled at Umbren, but it was obvious he tried to mask his worry, "Oh...It's you."

Umbren smiled back waving his hand, "My name's Umbren, don't you remember?"

Loutrin scratched the back of his neck embarrassed, "Well I'm not all that good with names to begin with, and we didn't really talk to each other that much before that scouting mission."

"It's okay…well are you excited about our new mission. I'm pretty sure it's the first one for both of us that doesn't involve scouting."

Loutrin shrugged, "Hmm, it doesn't seem too difficult. All we really need to do is cause a small revolt then leave."

If someone paid attention to his words, they could have noticed his uneasiness, but Umbren was too caught up in his own thoughts, so he envied Loutrin's confidence

Umbren chuckled a little to cover his own worry, "Easier said than done."

"ALRIGHT YOU BLUECLOAKS LISTEN UP!"

Master Miglo's voice boomed throughout the entire camp.