“Well, color me thoroughly impressed, boy,” Grant chuckled as Davon pushed into the command tent. “Fine work indeed.”

  Emma gave Davon a proud smile. “We heard the explosion from here. Well, the explosion and Tenebris’ fury.”

  “Be glad you weren’t near him for that,” Davon joked, approaching the Vanguard leaders. “My ears are still ringing.”

  The three shared a laugh. Caught in the high of his success, Davon realized this was the clearest his mind had been since he first became a Revenant. On his own, he had successfully completed a strike that truly wounded the enemy. Even better, for the first time, his need for revenge had abated.

  “Once again, well done.” Grant clapped a massive hand onto Davon’s shoulder, sending him off-balance for a moment. “That will buy us some breathing room while Mia gets here with the final wave of reinforcements.”

  “So that’s where she’s been. Feel like it’s been years since I last saw her,” Davon remarked.

  “Mia’s been on the front lines of scouting ever since the invasion started,” Emma explained. “By herself. She’s been covering our flank ever since the siege of Walden’s Hold.”

  “She’s the only reason we can be certain there aren’t any other Crimson Reavers here in the east,” Grant added, turning to look at the map. “She’ll likely set out again as soon as the reinforcements arrive.”

  “So what’s next?” Davon asked, still riding the high of victory.

  Grant’s reply was blunt. “Next, we wait. A few more teams are out there, doing sabotage work. We have to wait for reinforcements before our next big move.”

  “We can always use more scouts in the field,” Emma offered, giving Davon a knowing look. “Especially those willing to stay in the city for longer periods.”

  Davon nodded, barely able to keep the excitement out of his voice. “Yeah, that sounds excellent.”

  “Good, then get some rest and get going,” Emma replied. “We’ll send you a contact every few days to pick up your report and bring some supplies.”

  Davon turned to leave, itching to get back into action. “I’ll rest when I’m there.”

  “Slow down now, Davon,” Emma called, speaking through a chuckle. “Taz has something for you. See him before you set off.”

  With an even more enthusiastic nod, Davon said goodbye to the Revenant leaders and headed immediately towards the Boneshaper’s tent. He made plans as he walked, preparing himself to stay long-term behind enemy lines. Even before he left central command, he had made up his mind.

  He wouldn’t return to the Vanguard camp until Kai and Lyla resurrected.

  Arriving at the Boneshaper’s tent, Davon exchanged friendly nods with Taz. “Emma tells me you’ve got something for me?”

  “Yeah, one moment.” Taz turned to his pile of crates. “Since ye saved me an’ all, thought I’d do ye a favor.”

  Davon watched as Taz picked out a crate, roughly the same size as the one used to store explosives, and placed it on the table in front of him.

  “Went ahead and cleaned up that Necromancer for ye,” Taz explained, tapping the crate with his index finger. “That’s one third of ‘im. The rest will be waitin’ for the other two.”

  Eagerly, Davon took the crate and put it in his pack, then pulled out the empty explosives crate and handed it back to the Boneshaper.

  “Thank you, Taz,” Davon said sincerely. “I’ll put this to good use in the Imbuement Chamber.”

  Taz nodded as he put away the empty crate. “Of course. And remember to tell that brawny one I owe ‘im a story, when he wakes.”

  With a friendly nod, Davon turned to leave, this time heading for the camp’s Imbuement Chamber. He was thankful to be able to improve himself again before heading back into the city.

  The whole Crimson Reaver army will be on high alert, no doubt, he mused. That’ll make things interesting.

  When he reached the Imbuement Chamber, Davon took a moment to look at the small, dome-like stone structure. It was the only real building in the entire camp. The entire thing appeared to have been carved from one piece of stone, with two stone doors added to its front.

  He pushed the stone doors open and walked inside, paying no mind when the doors closed behind him on their own.

  “Current status: Strength ten, Endurance fifteen, Agility twenty, Resonance ten, Aptitude forty. Results: Average Journeyman,” the Chamber’s voice announced, breaking the total silence. “Compatible materials detected within chamber. Commence Imbuement?”

  “Yes,” Davon replied instantly, excitement building within him.

  “Commencing Imbuement.”

  Having grown accustomed to the experience, Davon found he could enjoy the strange sensations that always accompanied Imbuement. Feels almost like swimming in a hot spring, he thought to himself, dredging up pleasant memories from his Night Runner days.

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  “Imbuement complete. Capabilities improved: Strength fifteen, Endurance twenty-five, Agility forty, Resonance fifteen, Aptitude sixty. New results: Powerful Journeyman.”

  Satisfied, Davon smiled to himself and waited for the Chamber to let him leave.

  “Process complete, releasing Revenant.”

  Stepping back out into the Vanguard camp, Davon noticed that his movements felt much more fluid than before. But unlike the previous Imbuement, the improvement felt… natural. It was as if the world was no longer holding him back, and he could finally move how he was supposed to.

  Davon savored this new ease as he set off for the camp’s entrance. He felt ready and eager to get started on his new assignment. Yet, beneath all his confident enthusiasm, Davon was aware of a lurking sadness.

  He wished he could share his success with his companions.

  No… not companions, not anymore, he corrected himself. Friends.

  Davon smiled at that thought.

  Once he reached the camp’s entrance, Davon stopped and looked outward toward Heinburg. He frowned as he spotted three Crimson Reaver patrols making their way through the snowy field between the city walls and the Vanguard camp.

  Well, I suppose Tenebris is royally pissed off, Davon mused.

  To his surprise, the thought of the general seething with anger didn’t scare him like it used to. In fact, he felt a wicked grin spread over his face. He looked forward to giving Tenebris even more grief.

  Putting away thoughts of revenge for the moment, Davon invoked his Invisibility rune and prepared to leave the safety of the camp.

  Then he paused. Maybe, just maybe, heading right into the beast’s den barely an hour after destroying one of its most valuable assets was a bad idea.

  The doubt lasted only a moment. Davon shook his head and refocused, deciding he would stick to his convictions. Besides, he’d already given Grant and Emma his plan, so it was too late to back down.

  Mind even more firmly made up, Davon walked out into the field.

  It wasn’t long before he came across the first Crimson Reaver patrol. Davon slowed down and dropped low, ducking behind a nearby boulder for cover. He peeked from behind the rock to inspect his enemies as they passed by. Moving to keep the boulder between himself and the patrol, Davon counted a dozen soldiers and several sergeants being led by a Necromancer.

  Not only are they sending more people, they’re sending the more powerful ones, Davon observed.

  He waited until the patrol was at least sixty feet away from him before he moved out of cover.

  Only then did he remember that his Invisibility rune was still active.

  Looking down at his transparent self, Davon let out an annoyed sigh. Old habits… he grumbled. Then he shook his invisible head and kept moving.

  After another few brushes with similarly-sized patrols, Davon found himself once again by the same rock near the gates of Heinburg. Checking the locations of the guards, he waited until it was safe, then Shadow-stepped onto the wall.

  He took a few moments to study the city streets. Even from the ramparts, he could see double the number of patrols compared to that morning. And that wasn’t the worst of it. While previously, most of the patrols had been led by sergeants, now each had either a Duelist or Necromancer at its head.

  Davon toyed with the idea of an ambush, but quickly tossed it aside. Causing more trouble so soon would end only one way, and he knew that damn well. Taking the high road would be a much better idea. Literally.

  Davon turned his attention to the skyline.

  Shadow-stepping onto a nearby roof, he felt the strain of abusing his runic powers beginning to catch up to him. A burning sensation at the base of his skull warned him to slow down the usage of his abilities.

  Rather than being worried, though, Davon was curious about this feeling. He could feel it much more clearly than before, and if he focused, he could follow the exact thread of connection that caused it. He wondered whether the increase in Aptitude from that morning had something to do with his newfound awareness.

  Pushing those thoughts away, he focused on the task at hand.

  Davon took his time travelling over the rooftops, careful not to slip or make noise. He kept a close eye on the Crimson Reaver patrols moving through the streets below him. While the alleys were still left mostly abandoned, he did notice a few patrols combing through them. The enemy soldiers even moved into several buildings, presumably searching through them for any infiltrators.

  As he drew closer to the city’s inner walls, Davon noted a significant increase in Crimson Reaver forces moving about. He stopped to observe them for a while. Most were carrying panels of carapace-like materials through the streets. He tried to piece together where they might be taking these materials, but eventually decided they must be taking them all over the city.

  With that in mind, Davon settled down on his current rooftop and looked around. He hadn’t noticed them before, but more and more buildings made of the carapace-like panels had popped up all over Heinburg. Some were even placed on top of existing city buildings.

  Davon moved on slowly, keeping his eyes on the streets. Crimson Reaver construction became increasingly dense as he approached inner Heinburg. Barricades and towers had been erected on every corner, with soldiers carefully keeping watch.

  He looked down at his transparent form with a surge of gratitude. Without Invisibility, infiltration would be impossible.

  Crouching at the edge of a roof, Davon watched for a while as the soldiers below him built layer after layer of barricades, with standing towers behind each layer. The carapace panels were fascinating. They seemed to root themselves to the ground after being placed, using what Davon could only describe as fleshy tendrils to dig into the cobblestones.

  Davon furrowed his brows. They’re preparing for our siege, and they’re making it as annoying as possible, he thought.

  He remembered what Grant had said about the Revenants having ‘tools to deal with threats such as Tenebris.’ Davon wondered if these ‘tools’ included something to break through line upon line of rooted barricades. Come to think of it, how far would the barricades extend? What if the Crimson Reavers pushed their fortifications all the way to the outer walls?

  Worry crept into Davon’s heart at the thought of the coming siege. The Revenants were powerful, but if they couldn’t find a way to break past these barricades quickly, the Vanguard’s assault would be all but doomed.

  That’s why scouting is so important, he told himself firmly, pushing himself to move on. Every piece of intelligence we gather increases our advantage.

  Finally, Davon spotted the location he was heading towards: the bell tower he had taken refuge in after his initial attack on the forge failed. It was the tallest building in that section of the city, so he thought it would make an excellent hideaway and the perfect vantage point to begin his scouting.

  First, however, he needed to make sure it was safe. Upon arriving at the belltower’s roof, he took the time to clear each floor, from top to bottom. He found some traces of recent footsteps in the dust, but no living creature.

  Once he was certain no Crimson Reavers were still inside the building, he made his way back up to the top floor and scaled the ladder leading to the belltower. He then used his blades to hack the ladder into pieces, hiding the remains in his enchanted material bag. That would cut off easy access to the tower. He could always use Shadow-step.

  Davon climbed the stairs to the roof. Standing atop the belltower, looked around the city one more time, preparing himself mentally to spend a few weeks there alone.

  Not a bad view, excepting the Crimson Reaver buildings, he thought with a grim smile.