Fiher danced into their hideout, basking in the excitement of his fellow assassins. Their imaginations ran wild with Fiher. They could see the amazing changes that would come to the future generations of Xenai—that there could *be* future generations of Xenai. Their power would be unstoppable, yes, but they would finally be able to break free of their stagnation. Proliferation as a race has been a flat line for so long, the possibility of such a leap was amazing enough. But once they added in the equalizing factor to it, that eventually all the Xenai could have the same power, was intoxicating. No more would they be subjects of the strongest sourcecasters. They could pick their leaders from any Xenai they wanted.

Gallen, the leader of the group, sat quietly in the corner as the others spoke with excitement about the changes they foresaw. Fiher watched him closely. His emotions were constantly changing. *Unstable*. Suddenly, his smoke went flat and his eyes glazed over. He was talking to someone on the void network. Fiher's Intuition went blank. *He's deep already.*

Fiher turned back to the group, telling the others again of his encounter with Shara in the cave. They drank in every word, especially when she tried to protect him by sending him away.

"It's a good sign!"

"Do you think if we make her, she could make peace with the Pact for us?"

"Either they will accept her and maybe us, or she will become a true Xenai. An exile. Either way, we will do well."

Gallen's eyes started moving and the black mist around him formed into sharp spikes then started buzzing back and forth. Fiher instinctively dropped into a defensive stance, resting his hands on his hips, above where he wore his daggers.

"We have new orders. We are to grab her and take her to the exploratory lab in Tawee."

Fiher felt a rise of anger, "Whose orders?"

Gallen looked at him sharply, "Does it matter? It's orders."

It couldn't have been Merende. He wouldn't take her there. Not if he wants her to ever trust us.

"We will wait," Fiher said forcefully, "I need to talk to Merende before we do anything."

Gallen stood and moved up to him, "No, Merende doesn't know what to do with her. We have higher orders than him now."

The Mahari.

"We can't hand her over to be tortured. That won't end well for us. She won't help us." Fiher moved his hands down to the hilts of his daggers.

Gallen said nothing, but pushed against the wall behind him and launched himself at Fiher.

Fiher pulled his right dagger while lifting his left arm to block the tackle. He stumbled back on his foot to keep from toppling when Gallen's force hit him. The leverage from his back leg allowed him to push back at Gallen. His left arm slid up under Gallens chin and he drove himself forward, until Gallen was pinned against the wall.

"All of us here believe in a future for the Xenai. We won't let you ruin it." I hope they will back me up.

The sound of the chairs scraping the ground as the others stood echoed in the room. Gallen's glare at Fiher's face shifted to a focal point behind his shoulder.

Good.

Two of the others appeared on either side. They grabbed Gallen's arms.

Joren thrust his face into Gallen's while pushing his arm to the wall, "Did you tell her where we are?"

Gallen remained silent.

Joren glanced over at FIher, "We can't take the risk. We have to kill him and find a new hideout."

Fiher sighed, then jabbed his dagger up into Gallen's chest.