I looked over to see Erevan standing there with his arms crossed. And a small gathered crowd of refugees and enclave members alike. Children were primary among them, looks of awe across their faces.
      “First you leave me sleeping then you get into a merry little duel without me.” Erevan huffed dramatically as he walked over. His loose billowy shirt was open to his waist, leaving a swath of perfectly toned chest exposed. “You two look like you’re having an inordinate amount of fun.” He rested a wrist on the hilt of his own rapier. “Mind if I join?”
      I smirked and stepped back from Adran, flicking the rapier up into a guard. “I’m already ready to dance with you again.”
      Adran cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m, uhh, I’m sorry. I, uhh, I think we’ve overstayed our, uhh, time here at the training ground. I’m sure other would like to--”
      “Can we watch you?!”
      “Ooo, pretty please!”
      The children erupted into a chorus of pleas and praise, calling for Adran, Erevan and I to continue the duel. Adran stiffened for a moment then sighed and nodded.
      “For the children,” Adran said.
      “Oh, but this time, let’s make it a bit more exciting,” I said. “I want you to go all out. I will too.”
      Adran’s eyes widened at me slightly. “But, what about Erevan? Shouldn’t we--”
      “Oh, I insist. Don’t you dare say no,” Erevan said.
      Adran looked between the two of us and sighed. The slight smile dropped completely as he raised his longsword. “All right then. Don’t get mad at me if it’s more than you can handle.”
      I raised my rapier, drawing upon the song.
      Erevan gripped the hilt of his rapier.
      Shadows lifted from the ground around Adran, forming tendrils that slowly crawled up his legs.
      Suddenly, Adran exploded forward, his eyes completely black, and he slashed down, the blade whistling through the air. At the last moment, I brought my rapier up, deflecting the attack and side stepping. A crack snapped through the air and the end of a whip wrapped around the blade of the longsword. It pulled taunt and Adran dug into the ground, straining against Erevan as he pulled on the whip.
      I dashed forward, thrusting towards Erevan, and a dagger appeared in his hand. He parried the thrust and countered with a kick to my legs. I jumped back only for Adran to appear, rushing Erevan with the pommel of his sword ready to strike. Erevan leaned backwards below the heavy strike and twisted upright. He threw the dagger at me and I swatted it aside. Dashing forward, I struck at Adran’s back only for the shadows to lash out and divert my blade. Adran whipped around and thrust the point of the sword at my chest.
      I twisted away and thrust a strike at Erevan. He caught the blow with his own rapier and rushed in close, bringing up a dagger towards my throat. At the last moment, I dodged aside and snapped my rapier up against Adran’s neck. He froze, sword held aside. Then a blade came to rest against my throat.
      “You have Adran, and I have you,” Erevan said. “Looks like I win this round.”
      “I wouldn’t be too sure,” Adran said. “Look behind you.” I looked over to see a shadow arcing up beside Erevan, a keen edge floating just behind his head, ready to strike like a scorpion’s tail.
      “Well that’s a neat trick,” Erevan said.
      “A draw then.” I let my rapier vanish and clasped my hands before me.
      “A draw.” Adran sheathed his longsword and straightened up with a grin.
      “So it would seem.” Erevan sheathed his rapier and I cast a glance around for the daggers and whip that had menaced us. All of which were nowhere to be found. Which meant he was very good at hiding things.
      “It would seem I was wise to leave the danger to you three,” Tanis’s voice said. We turned to see the awed expressions of everyone around the training field. Tanis stood at the entrance to the training field.
      “Oh, it would seem the audience has gotten even larger,” Erevan said, waving to the onlookers.
      “You flatter us, Sir Grimhan,” I said, dipping my head to him.
      Grimhan approached us and bowed with precise form. “I wanted to see how you were all faring this morning.”
      “Make sure none of us had run away in the night?” Erevan said.
      Grimhan cast a glance at him then looked to Adran and I. “Do you have a plan of attack?”
      “We must eliminate the commander of the forward camp,” I said. “If I recall Praiteron military protocol correctly, the forward camp will cease all active missions and return to the main army.” Erevan, Adran and Grimhan stared at me for a moment before Grimhan nodded.
      “I’m… surprised that you’d be so knowledgeable about Praiteron protocol,” Grimhan said. “Where did you learn such things?”
      “I’m very knowledgeable about the political and economic status of Tassion and the surrounding countries,” I said. “Knowledge about militaries seems to go hand in hand with such.” Erevan’s brow tensed for a moment before he nodded in agreement.
      Adran gazed at me then slowly nodded. “It would make sense. And it simplifies the entire encounter from trying to destroy an entire camp to eliminate three or four people.” He turned his attention to Grimhan. “Once we head out, it will probably be a few days. I’ll try to send updates once I know more about what we’re looking at.”
      “Thank you, Adran,” Grimhan said. “I’ll make sure we’re ready to go once you give us the all clear. I hope to get my people to Tassion City before the main army starts their march.”
      “And we will do our best to make sure their passage is clear,” Adran said, thumping a fist to his chest in a salute.
      “And I look forward to getting that reward for a job well done,” Erevan said.
      “We will see the mission completed, Sir Grimhan, rest assured,” I said. “And in that same vein, we ought to prepare ourselves and set out for the day.”
      “She’s right,” Adran said. “Meet you both by the entrance in an hour?”
      “See you then, hero.” Erevan waved cheerily and started back towards the stairs that lead up to our balcony. I dipped my head to Adran and Grimhan, Grimhan returning the gesture with a bow, then followed Erevan to the stairs. He stood there, waiting for me, a slight smirk on his lips. When I joined him, Erevan said, “I know you mentioned having detailed knowledge of Tassion but Praiteron too? That seems surprising.”
      “It seems I know a little bit about everything,” I said. “Just nothing about myself.”
      “That must be the most frustrating thing anyone can imagine,” Erevan said.
      “You have no idea.”

      Adran waited by the runic gate of the Enclave, redoing the ties of his gambeson one last time, as we approached. He looked up and grinned.
      “Ready to go?”
      “We do know where we’re going, yes?” Erevan said. “The last thing I want to do is waste time looking for the forward camp.”
      “It about two days out from Trellvyn,” Adran said. “And if we walk briskly, we’ll reach Trellvyn by nightfall. We should get going.”
      “A moment before you do.” Jareth alighted beside our group, looking between the three of us.
      “Oh, Master Amakiir, what can we do for you?” Adran said.
      “Take this with you,” Jareth said as he held out a satchel. “It holds a few spell scrolls and potions that I think will be of use in your mission. Namely, there’s a Scroll of Circle of Death.”
      A thread of knowledge tingled in response. “Why… would you give us such a dangerous item?”
      “While you have to eliminate the commanders of the camp, you also need to eradicate the carrionites they have with them. That scroll will make it quick.”
      “Could someone explain what a ‘Scroll of Circle of Death’ is? Besides the name sounding quite powerful?” Erevan said.
      “It is an exceptionally dangerous spell,” I said. One that can cause indiscriminate death.”
      “Thus why you should probably exercise extreme caution while using it,” Jareth said. “I will leave that to your discretion, Rieta.”
      “Are… you sure you want to do that? I’m--”
      “The only person of the three of you who knows magic.” Jareth extended the satchel to me. “I trust you.”
      I gazed at him for a moment, hesitation staying my hand, before I accepted the satchel with a dip of my head. What was this feeling in my chest? It was different from when the child had thanked me.
      “Alright, let’s get going,” Adran said. He pressed a hand to a rune beside the doorway and it flared to life with green light. The outside became visible and Adran exited the Enclave.
      “Rieta, a moment if you would,” Jareth said.
      Erevan paused and glanced between him and I. I gestured for him to go ahead and I turned to face Jareth, saying, “Yes, Jareth?”
      “I spent the night pondering the nature of the magic enveloping your mind and I think I recognized its source.” Jareth paused, expression tense, as his grip shifted on his staff. “It’s… the magic is divine.”
      “Divine? Are you… are you kidding me?”
      “I wish I was.”
      I looked down at my hands. The gods, twenty in total, all well beyond the mortals of the world they’d created. “You… you must mean the magic of a cleric. The divine magic of a cleric fogs my memories.”
      “The magic of clerics is… there is a mortal quality to it that is unmistakable.” Jareth sighed. “Rieta, I have witnessed two divine interventions in my life. Two moments when the gods themselves wrought their will upon the world. I felt the magic unleashed then and… it is beyond doubt. The divine magic locking your memories is purely divine.”
      “But that would mean…”
      “Yes. One of the gods themselves placed that seal upon your memories.”
      My heart clenched. “But… why? Who… who could I have possibly been to… to warrant… a god… meddling with my mind?”
      “That I cannot say.” He reached out for my shoulder and paused before laying his hand on me. “May I?” I glanced up at him then nodded. He rested his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed. “What I do know is this: I want to understand what happened to you, to help you recover what was lost if that is what you desire. If you can free me from having to hold the wards around this Enclave in place, I will endeavor to help you. If you want me.”
      I looked up at him and covered his hand with mine. “I… I think I would like that, Jareth. Please.”
      “Then I best not keep you from this mission any longer.” Jareth stepped back. “I will see you soon.”
      I nodded to him and departed from the Enclave. Adran and Erevan were waiting just outside beside a tree.
      “So you just have… infinite daggers?” Adran said.
      “Daggers for days, darling, daggers for days.” Erevan raised one such dagger and flipped it into the air. It vanished a moment later and he drew another one from the bracer on his arm. “It is quite a handy feature, wouldn’t you agree?”
      “That certainly explains the whip trick earlier,” Adran said. “It caught me quite off guard. I’m also impressed you were able to keep up with us so well. Both Rieta and I channel magic when we fight all out.”
      “I wanted to ask about that,” Erevan said. “Your magic is quite interesting. Almost kind of like--”
      “Rieta! There you are!” Adran’s slowly tensing expression relaxed as he cut Erevan off upon sighting me. “What did Master Amakiir have to say?”
      I gazed at him, my heart clenching. “He was… wishing us luck… and wanted us to know that he hopes our mission will bear fruit.”
      “As do I,” Adran said. “An such, we should head out.” He turned and led the way into the forest as I trailed after him, my head still racing. Erevan fell into step alongside me and I cast a brief glance at him.
      “You look a little shaken, Rieta,” Erevan said. “What did Amakiir say?”
      “He… wanted to talk about my amnesia,” I said. “He has… a theory… about its origin.”
      “And that is?”
      I glanced at him. “Not important to the task at hand. Now stay focused, Erevan. We have a camp to eradicate.”
      “So we do.”
      We walked in quiet, the sound of wind in the leaves the only accompaniment. In fact, it was eerily quiet. No animals, nothing of the like. Carrionites were ravenous, eating everything in their territory, including each other. Even if they were some variation of domesticated, that appetite would still be devastating to the local fauna.
      Hours passed, the sun arcing across the sun. Until a shout broke through the air, ending the silence of the walk. We all tensed, looking around. The shout was far closer than comfort wanted.
      “We said halt! Now drop your weapon!”
      There was a pause.
      “You’re surrounded! Now cooperate before we drop you!”
      Adran took off running towards the shouting.
      “Bloody heroes.” Erevan chased after him and I sighed before following. We didn’t run for long before the sight of ten armored people surrounding a single person revealed itself through the trees. That said, the single person was easily over one hundred eighty centimeters tall and broad shouldered, their form built with muscles. A giant greatsword rested on their shoulder and a long braid of silver hair ran down their back.
      “You blokes are a riot,” the person said. “Thinkin’ you got me at a disadvantage. Fuckin’ funny.” Her voice was surprisingly soft. Her skin was porcelain white in the sunlight. Her clothing ragged from travel but well made in origin.
      The armored people on the other hand wore the colors of the Praiteron army. Three held bows readied. Four wielded halberds. The last three held short swords and shields. And they were poised to strike.
      “You know, fuckers, last time I checked, this was Tassion, not Praiteron,” the woman said. “So what the fuck are y’all doin’ here?”
      “We said drop the weapon!” One soldier took a step forward. “Now do it!”
      “Oh, I can’t wait to watch this go down,” Erevan said, an impish smile on his lips.
      “We can’t just stand here and--”
      A Praiteron soldier went flying by, cutting Adran off. Adran’s eyes went wide and we looked over to see the giant woman in the final stance of a throw, a grin on her lips.
      “She just--”
      “Get her!”