He replied.
"Why?"
The boy hesitated.
Garron’s eyes narrowed.
"Because... there are wolves?"
Several children shook their heads.
"Wrong."
Garron said, as the boys face immediately stiffened.
"Because Greyhaven requested assistance after several Direwolf packs established dens near the surrounding livestock trails, and your sect decided that exterminating them would provide practical experience for its younger disciples."
He explained.
"Memorize it."
Garron then pointed toward another child.
"Where are you from?"
"The Redpine Sect."
The girl answered immediately.
"Where are you going?"
"Greyhaven."
"Why?"
"To assist with exterminating Direwolf packs threatening the surrounding villages while gaining practical wilderness experience."
She replied.
Garron nodded.
"Better."
He said, before pointing toward someone else.
And then another.
For nearly half an hour, Garron continued questioning the children at random, deliberately changing the wording of his questions and demanding immediate answers until everyone around the campfire understood the cover story well enough to repeat it without hesitation.
Eventually, Garron stopped.
"One final rule."
He said, as his expression became colder than before.
"If someone asks you a question you cannot answer, you say that they’ll have to speak with Instructor Garron."
He explained.
"You do not improvise.
You do not invent additional details.
And you do not try to make the story more convincing by adding information I haven’t given you."
Garron warned, as his gaze slowly moved across every child around the campfire.
"Because the easiest way to discover that someone is lying is to let them keep talking."
Nobody interrupted him.
"Stoneville isn’t Ashfang Village."
Garron continued.
"Nobody there knows you.
Nobody there cares about you.
And if one of you disappears into an alley because you were stupid enough to wander away from the group, I may not even realize you’re missing until we’re already outside the gates."
He said, as several children instinctively moved closer to one another.
"So memorize the story I’ve given you.
Stay together.
Keep your mouths shut.
And for the love of everything sacred, don’t give anyone inside that settlement a reason to become interested in you."
Garron concluded, as silence settled around the campfire.
The excitement that had filled the children only minutes earlier had not completely disappeared, however, it had now been mixed with enough apprehension that nobody spoke about warm beds or cooked meals anymore.
Riven quietly looked toward Mary, Stacy, Garsim, and Dara, as without needing to discuss it, all five understood that tomorrow they would remain closer together than ever before.
Because for the first time since leaving Ashfang Village, the danger waiting ahead of them would not come from poisonous plants, wild beasts, or the unforgiving wilderness.
It would come from other people.