PUG STOOD.
The students who joined him, Miranda, Nakor, and Gathis looked around the cave curiously. Two torches burned, cutting the gloom.
Pug said, “We come together tonight to ratify a vow each of you has already given to me in private. Others will come to join us over the years, and a few of you will leave, but this group will endure.
“We meet in a conclave, for no one outside this group may know we exist. We must linger in the shadows, hidden from the sight of those who live in the world of light.”
Pug looked from face to face, and said, “Each of you will act on behalf of people who will never know you exist, who might even fear you or oppose you if they knew of you, out of ignorance or because they are misled.
“Death will be the reward for many who choose this path.”
Pug pointed to the mouth of the cave. “Out there are men who have taken a path that leads into the darkness. Some are allies, others are ignorant of one another; some are unaware of who they truly serve, and others willingly embrace the evil we face. They will all seek to destroy us.
“Some of you will leave us, seeking to find our enemies. Others will be looking for new students to send here for training. Others will remain here, to teach and organize.
“The school at Villa Beata will continue as it was, and those who find us, without us seeking them, as many of you have done, will be welcomed here as before. Again I repeat, no one outside of this group may know we exist.
“We will deal in dreams and nightmares, in a war few out there can imagine. We are brothers and sisters in this calling, and we must be obedient to the needs of this conclave. No one of us can be above that need. If our lives are the price, so be it.”
No one in the room spoke.
Pug said, “We are the Conclave of the Shadows and we oppose the madness of the Nameless One and his agents.
“We have endured the Riftwar and we have survived the Serpentwar. We now prepare for the next struggle, one that few will know of, one that will be fought where few can see. It will be a war in the shadows.”
Pug put out his hand and Miranda took it. He nodded to Nakor and Gathis, and led his followers out of the cave, down the path to their home.