“No,” Gil grunted, turning to face me and stop walking. “The king will tell everyonehedid it.”
Voski shot him a disapproving look as we stopped with him, but didn’t reply. “There’s only one chance for retreat, and that’s now. You can turn around and go back the way you came. You never saw anything, or heard anything. And if anyone ever asks us, we don’t know what they’re talking about. You don’thaveto take this on,” he said, leaning in intently. “And you should ask yourself if you want to. If we take one step around that corner, it’s an agreement that you’ll walk this path until the day of your death. We will stand with you. We’ll help you. And the otherswill too—just as you’ll help us. But you’ll never walk away. Your life is forfeit to this mission.”
What about Donavyn?!I swallowed hard. “What’s the mission?”
Both men’s faces went grim. “Selfless pursuit. Leadership in humility. Integrity at all costs. But ultimately… victory.”
I stared, expecting more detail, but both of them merely stared back, waiting.
There was a single moment—a flutter of nerves because I didn’t know what was around this corner, nor who was there. I was already exhausted, and had only just earned my Furyknight pin a week earlier. How would I find time formoreduties?
But, apart from Ronen, these men were the two I’d most admired and respected in my squad. They were dark, and capable, and strong.
If they were in on this, I wanted in, too.
I looked back and forth between them, and shrugged. “What are we waiting for?” I asked, trying to make the words sound stronger than I felt.
They both grinned. Voski offered me a hand to clasp first, then Gil, then they both hugged me.
Voski was the one who murmured in my ear, “Welcome to the Shadowfang, Bren.”Then he clapped me on the back and pulled me with him towards the light and sound coming from around the corner.
They’d lied—it wasn’t one more step. We continued walking through the serpentine cave with water trickling down the walls and the growing sounds and light ahead. They offered a few more hurried explanations.
“The Shadowfang are secret, even from the Furyknights. We don’t mention the name aboveground, and we never speak about our instructions at all. We don’t even hint that this society exists.You’ll be told which leaders know of it so you know who to approach if there’s a problem.
“You’ll be training intensely for a few weeks—outside of your normal patrol hours. Then any duties undertaken areon topof your normal duties. If your Shadowfang responsibilities ever overlap with normal duties, you take instruction from me, or Ronen,” Voski said.
“You?You’rethe leader here?” I asked carefully, glancing at Gil.
They both nodded.
“Rankings in Shadowfang are separate to those in our squads and Wings outside it, and must be respected implicitlywhen you’re on duty.Out there, I’m a Fang Wing Furyknight, and Gil outranks me. We both take orders as members of Fang Wing, or the Seventh Squad. In here, we’re both Shadowfang, but I outrank him. Webothoutrank you.” Voski softened the dig with a small wink. “But you’re already used to that.”
I rolled my eyes, but appreciated the reminder. I was still so new to all of this.
The Flameborne who were pinned and became fully-fledged Furyknights were all assigned a Wing: Flyer, Flame, or Fang.
Out there, I was Fang. We focused on stealth. Our roles could be anything from flying scouting lines over an unknown landscape, to setting up an ambush for enemy ranks on the ground. Like me, Gil and Voski were also Fang wing.
“But, wait,” I whispered hurriedly. “You’re saying I could be sent on mission with our squadandfrom here?”
“It’s rare—we usually know which duties you’ve been assigned and will work around them. Or within them. But sometimes, yes. Sometimes your Shadowfang orders will remove you from normal duties. When that happens, you let us, the leaders, figure out how to excuse you without suspicion.”
I chewed on that, trying to remember times I’d seen my brothers given extra duties, or taken off normal patrols. I couldn’t. But was that because it hadn’t happened, or because they’d just kept it all quiet and I hadn’t noticed?
“Is Einar here too?” I asked. Einar was our other squad brother in the Fang wing.
“No,” Voski said shortly. “Shadowfang can come from any wing, Bren. Any Furyknight who isn’t one of us doesn’t even know we exist. But just like our squads, we’re assigned groups within this order. We can be sent on mission as part of a squad, or individually.
“I’m your Wing Leader in theShadowfang. And, because he already knows you and volunteered, Gil will be your Advocate.”
“Advocate?”
“Just a brother who watches out for you,” Gil said easily. “Trust me, you’ll need one. Things can get hairy fast. We’re all just lucky we now havethreeShadowfang in our squad. Most Shadowbrothers have no one else in their squads. That makes it a lot harder.” Then he eyed me from the side. “Did you tell anyone you were coming?”
I snorted.“No.But I almost woke Donavyn. If this is how we do this, it’s going to be tricky. The man has ears like a cat.”
Voski shrugged, unconcerned. “Most of the time when there’s a meeting called, I don’t sleep in the barracks. I make an excuse to be out or gone. Sneaking out is a pain. You’ll figure out what works for you. But, no matter where you are, or what time of day, always have a plan to extricate yourself.Always.Meetings are usually at night, but can be called at any time.”
