Time was wasting away into the depths of what felt like eternity. I possessed the tolerance of a two year old child as the minutes ticked away, sounding off tick by tick in my head like the clicking of hooves. However, when the crunching of hardened ground alerted me to Cetan’s approach, a small smile touched my lips, relief. But with a dual-horned stallion barreling toward me at high speeds, I couldn’t help but flinch and back away at the sight. A heavy gasp burst from my lips as the stud skid past me before falling on his ass completely. If I hadn’t been so shocked at the sight of him, I would have laughed but impatience and annoyance made my expression hard. “I can see that,” I muttered.

My frustration was apparent despite the fact that internally I felt quite ashamed for taking it out on Cetan… Of course he always had a way of throwing that guilt out the window by shocking me completely with his utter ignorance. Sloths? I couldn’t even deem the term close enough in pronunciation to what I’d explained to him upon his first day in the Edge. All I could do was shake my head in dismay. “Sleuths Cetan. Sleuths,” I sighed.


I wasn’t sure how sly the dark, dappled stallion could be… but in my heart of hearts, I hoped that he could be clever enough to suit the position. So far… he’d been everything but.

At least his heart was in it.

However, with Astraea drawing nearer, as I hoped she would after such an awkward moment shared with her fellow Slueth, I turned to greet the mare with a sullen rumble. I hadn’t yet been blessed with the chance to meet Jahzara but I assumed she must have been somewhere along the outer reaches of the Edge. She would find her way to our company in time but I had no intentions of waiting… my mind was too restless. “Jahzara will find her way here eventually I’m sure. But until then, I’m sure she will appreciate my plans to prepare you both for what we have in mind,” I stated curtly. On any other day I would have sought their friendship but for now I was their leader and as such, I demanded respect for the things I could provide them.


“Now, as you may or may not know, Sleuths are very few and far between. You’re looking at your fellow sneaks, aside from Jahzara, and there are a multitude of things I will be asking of the two of you,” I said before resting a serious gaze on each in turn. “I want you both to know that I will be testing you and putting you to task in order to prep you for anything and everything to come. I have implemented a riddle challenge that you will be required to participate in along with your companions in the Edge, should they choose. There will be four rounds in which you will have to create plausible stealths for Jahzara and myself to guess. Each round will pertain to different herds throughout Helovia and I expect you to think of your own victims so I suggest getting to know your fellow Helovians.”

My voice was hard and authoritative; I had neither room nor patience for indiscretion and I wanted my Slueths to take me seriously. “However, the first round will be decided by Jahzara and I. You will each have a chance to guess one another’s riddle so that your superiors are able to gauge your abilities to create cunning stelaths.” With that, my curious eyes found both faces hoping that they still possessed the strength to continue. If they were unable to cope with my firm hand then they deserved no part of my guidance as Specter.