With their initiate year over, the Pettit family dispersed to their separate adept postings: Jenn would be on the border with Krogga, defending against incursions. Yukiko was to patrol near Alturis, giving her the chance to see Gregory’s home and childhood friends. Mindy was going back to Grackle to help their younger friends with their troop training. Gregory was headed off to the far northern end of the empire, going to what was known as the most dangerous patrol for an adept magi.

Gregory was sure that Sage Laozi Windfoot had set his posting there to make sure no one said he’d played favorites, but it made him worry for his men— it would take months to get to the town of Coldwood, and his year wouldn’t begin until he relieved the current adept. That would make it closer to a year and a half before his family could gather together in Krogga.

To get there, Gregory would need to use his foresight and knowledge to survive. It wasn’t just the bane beasts that would make the post dangerous, but the eurtik who lived in the north, too. The free eurtik were hunted by slavers, but were also known to attack slavers and magi guard units alike to try to free their kin.

If that wasn’t enough, Gregory would also need to play politics while in the twin towns of Coldwood and Icelake. Both had magus-tier magi posted to them, as incursions of eurtik and bane beasts were common. They were probably the worst kind of magi: those who loved eurtik slaves, or would willingly profit off helping the slavers.

Gregory would need to make hard choices for his adept year. What would he let happen around him while posted to the most dangerous part of the empire? Was it better to turn a blind eye to get by as easily as possible, or would he stand in the way of the powerful people there?