Tenebrage ran around the camp seeing to the task they were responsible for and getting ready to move out.

Umbren meandered through the camp, having nothing really to get done. Everything he owned was on his person. He wore the new cloak that he was given by the disciples. With it came the fear of dirtying or tearing it. Even though he knew it was inevitable. This was not just because of who he got it from, but the quality of it, too. In the light of day Umbren could now see that the cloak was lined with silver. The cloak itself was probably the most valuable thing that he owned or will ever own. Umbren also held the new throwing knives and a new kukri. The weapons were of much higher quality than the ones he had before.

Umbren wandered to the attoka stables. Faldrid was grooming one as the stable hands around him prepared to get the mounts to their masters.

"Did you rest well last night?" Faldrid asked upon seeing him.

Umbren gave a bit of a smile and scratched the back of his neck, "I couldn't really sleep."

Faldrid nodded, "That is to be expected, due to your experiences yesterday. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm always here."

"Thanks for your concern, but I’m still not gonna tell you what happened. Besides, I'm really better now."

"It hurts that you would expect any ulterior motives from me. It is my responsibility as your senior to look after my junior after all." Faldrid's gaze became more stern, "I doubt you're any better after a restless night."

Umbren's smile darkened at Faldrid's last words.

Faldrid looked down and noticed Cronai at Umbren's waist, "Is that a result of your restless night?"

Umbren didn't say anything, but continued to stare at Faldrid giving him his answer.

Faldrid let out a sigh, "I guess it can't be helped. You know how to use it?"

Umbren rested his hand on the sword's sheath, "I learned the basics in the training camp." Umbren smiled back

"Sometimes the basics aren't enough, but at least you won't make a fool of yourself if you use it." Faldrid turned his attention back to the attoka.

Umbren walked up to it. it white eyes didn't show any sign of hostility, and its black coat had a certain gleam to it, showing it had been taken care of.

"How old is he?" Umbren asked

"Dela? She's about seven."

"Really? Have you had her that whole time?"

Faldrid nodded and smiled with pride, "Yep ever since she was a babe."

It was common for a tenebrage soldier to have an Attoka, but most were killed in battle. It is even joked that the age where they would naturally die is unknown. So Faldrid and Dela was certainly a rare occurrence.

Umbren offered his hand to her and after sniffing it she offered him the back of her ear. After petting it he could hear a sound of agreement from the attoka.

Some time passed like this until…

"Faldrid! Hey Faldrid, are you here!?"

The voice came from a man with unremarkable features, except for his disheveled black hair and the ornate horn around his waist. He wore a dark blue cloak like all other soldiers so it would be easy not to notice him when walking around camp.

"Quiet down Relam, what do you want?"

"Oh, there you are. I'm just here to deliver orders."

Relam walked up to Faldrid handing him a letter.

"Who's this?" Relam asked gesturing towards Umbren

"He was one of the boys under Yorburn." Faldrid said while reading his letter.

Relam expression turned to one of panic, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you in any way!" Relam said while frantically shaking Umbren's hand.

"didn't I say to quiet down." Faldrid said in an annoyed tone.

Relam ignored him though and kept shaking Umbren's hand.

"It's okay, you didn't do anything to offend me." Umbren said, finally freeing his hand.

Relam was about to say something back when he was interrupted by Faldrid.

"Hey Relam are these serious." he asked with an anxious smile.

"Hmm. Why wouldn't they be?"

"I was afraid of that." Faldrid turned back to Dela. "Looks like you're gonna see some action again girl."

Dela stomped her hoof at this, as if ready to carry out the task.

Relam shrugged at this and turned back to Umbren

"Oh, what's your name? I may have your orders on me."

"Umbren"

"Umbren Umbren Umbren... Here we are." Relam took a piece of paper from a bag he carried. "Hmm. Lucky you. Your in Lord Mortis's group."

"Really?" Umbren took the letter and stared at it with a certain apprehensiveness. "Well thank you Rel-"

Relam's face turned to one of embarrassment, "Oh, yes, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself yet." He said frantically.

Relam took a step back and regained his composure. "I am Relam, the call of Tenebrage," Relam bowed

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"Hmm, that title wasn't as bad as the other ones you've come with." Faldrid said, turning his attention away from Dela.

"The other ones weren't that bad."

"Then why do you keep changing it?"

"Hehehe." Relam laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, I need to finish delivering these, so I'll be off." He waved and turned to exit the stables.

"I hope you'll be able to blow that horn of yours, Relam." Faldrid said.

"So do I, so do I." Relam said with doubt in his voice.

As Relam left, Umbren turned back to Faldrid.

"Faldrid, he had a title but I'm not familiar with it or his name. Who is he?"

"I'm not surprised. First off, he keeps changing his title. One wasn't given to him, but he thinks he needs one, due to his role. In truth I agree with him. Only if he could stick with one."

"What is his role?"

"You saw that horn on his belt, didn't you?"

Umbren nodded. Relam carried a horn at his belt that was made of a black material, decorated with elaborate purple patterns.

"You know that child's tale. The one we're a hero, Kymos, sounds a horn that encourages tenebrage to fight the luxcians. Well, the horn of Kymos is passed down through the generations, and he was Relam Kymos. Though the task of holding the horn is more of a job stemming from tradition."

"I knew about Kymos but not about the last part. How many times has Relam had to use the horn."

"He never has because we keep mostly to the dark and ambush our enemies, we don't really want to give our presence away, now do we? To my knowledge it has only been used once or twice after Kymos."

Faldrid put a saddle over Dela's back. "Well, I got to go meet up with my group, wish me luck, it's been a while."

"I will, by the way do you know where lord Mortis is."

"He should be over in the south side of the camp. Also, a little word of advice, it isn't common for lord Mortis to put someone he barely knows into his group, so be prepared for whatever he throws at you."

Umbren nodded, and with that Faldrid rode away.

As Umbren walked towards the south side of the camp, he thought about his talk with Faldrid. Why did Lord Mortis assign him to his group? Did he want to punish him? That couldn't be it, Lord Mortis said so himself that Umbren wouldn't be punished, but what if that was a bluff? He could have just said that to make Umbren think he wouldn’t be punished.

There was also another possibility, though it was unlikely. What if Lord Mortis pitied him and was making sure he was okay? Umbren hoped that he didn't come off as that crushed when he talked to Lord Mortis, but what if he did? Though Lord Mortis didn't seem like the type who would do such a thing.

As Umbren pondered these things he spotted Lord Mortis on top of an attoka.

Umbren looked around and realized where he was, he was right next to the mountain of unused weapons, which he had ventured to the previous night. The mountain was currently being disassembled as tenebrage were loading the weapons into crates. Lord Mortis was overlooking all of this, but no one dared ask him questions or for advice.

"It took you a while." Lord Mortis said in a stern voice

"I came right after Relam gave me the order."

"That Relam shouldn't take so long to do such a simple task. You can mount this attoka." He gestured towards a saddled up attoka.

Umbren accepted and got on the attoka.

"Does he have a name?" Umbren asked

"I don't know. his master died some time ago."

"But I thought an attoka dies with its master because of their bond."

"Under certain circumstances an attoka will reject its master, usually if they are tormented by their hand."

Umbren looked down at the attoka with a sympathetic gaze, only for it to be met by a harsh one in return.

"Morta is waiting with the rest of our group near the entrance of the camp. I want to leave as soon as possible, so head straight there. I will meet you when I make sure everything is in order around the camp."

"Yes, my lord." Umbren bowed his head.

With that Lord Mortis rode off. Umbren watched him until he turned a corner and was no longer visible.

Umbren made his way towards the entrance of the camp. Though it took more time than he would have wanted because the attoka resisted his commands. He finally just had to let the attoka do what it wanted to do, but that seemed to work out well since he knew where to go.

As the attoka took Umbren to his group, he had a chance to observe the camp one last time. There were tenebrage still receiving orders from messengers like Relam, and rushing to fulfill their roles once they were assigned. There were also the ones who participated in packing up the supplies of the camp. To Umbren's knowledge they were heading to the closest town, Haden. Apparently, all the groups were supposed to reconvene there once they had successfully carried out their task.

According to the letter Relam had delivered to him, the groups were supposed to carry out what Yorburn and the others had failed to do. Umbren didn't exactly know what that meant, but the group leader was supposed to have more information, so he assumed he would learn more once he got to the entrance.

As the attoka brought him to the entrance, Umbren spotted Lady Morta surrounded by her Hands. Umbren didn't recognize any of them except for one in a green cloak, Alsarie.

"Lady Morta," Umbren bowed his head as he approached.

Lady Morta was mounted on an attoka, ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"Ah, yes Mortis told me he was bringing you along. How are you holding up." She said with a considerate smile.

"I appreciate your concern, but it is wasted on someone such as myself."

"Don't say that. My concern is wasted on no one, especially you."

Umbren nodded, "Well I'll just say that a good night's rest helped a lot."

"That is a relief."

The Attoka that Umbren rode gave a snort as if asking for attention.

"Oh, and who might this be?" Morta said, looking at it.

Upon being asked about it, the attoka snorted and jerked its head as if showing off.

"I don't know, Lord Mortis just gave him to me."

"Well In that case I hope that you two become good partners. I did always envy you all in that aspect."

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean my lady?”

Morta looked down at her own attoka, “It’s simple. I’m not able to bond with them like you all can. Though I think this one likes me despite that.”

Umbren’s eyes widened, “How?!” Umbren changed his tone of voice to a more respectable one, “Sorry my lady I shouldn't have been so rude.”

Morta gave a gentle smile, “You don’t have to apologize. But in regards to your question, it’s just the price of being the disciple of darkness. I’m denied the blessing of the soul.

Umbren took in all of Morta’s words. He wondered if he would be able to bond with this Attoka, and looked down at the beast with its harsh gaze, and doubted that hope.

"You said that Mortis gave him to you, so do you have any idea when he's going to get here?" she asked with a slightly aggravated expression.

"He said he had some things to take care of." Said Umbren.

"Really, I thought he was done with everything."

Umbren shrugged his shoulders in response.

After a moment the conversation grew louder as it approached the group.

"My lord, I must insist that you don't do this." A meager voice said.

"How can I trust you to lead a team, when you can't even send orders in a timely manner?" Another voice said.

"But think about how much I’ll grow from the experience."

" I doubt it, and besides you would blow that horn the first time you got the chance to."

"What? My lord, that's a baseless claim, and even if I did do it, that’s my job, isn't it?"

As the voices rounded a tent to the main path that led into the camp, Umbren could get a clear view of the owners of the voices.

Lord Mortis had one hand guiding his Attoka, and the other holding the lead of another.

As they drew nearer the figure with Mortis spotted Umbren.

"Oh, Umbren, nice to see you again so soon." Relam said.