50
Arrival
Aaron hurried into the unfamiliar Elite training grounds, a handful of his trainees and a couple of journeymen following on his heels. He tried—quite in vain, he was sure—to exude confidence, yet this was the first time he’d actually been within the grounds of the Elite. The intense, charged atmosphere hit him, causing him to draw in a startled breath. He’d dealt with their injuries before, but he’d never been in the presence of the whole squad like this. Feeling the shock and a little fear from some of his journeymen, he shook himself. The junior journeymen had never dealt with the Elite at all, having been sheltered until now from those who bore the Taint. Aaron cursed internally; he knew he had to stop thinking of the veil as ‘the Taint’.
“Steady. The Elite all wield the v
