Savannah deals with the aftermath of the Quest. Read the tenth and final chapter of the Paragons episode War Games.

All thirty-one Apprentices and their six mentors waited in the Hex, all eyes glued to the General, who stood in front of the Scoreboard.

“Green Team, step forward,” he ordered.

We did as he’d asked. Bronte was terribly pale, but she put on a brave face. Kylie stared at her feet. Dutch looked just as expressionless as always. Asher attempted a smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. I had no idea what I looked like right now, but I could only hope I wasn’t a total mess.

“Two hours ago, these five Apprentices smashed through the gates of the Black Obelisk.”

My team had spent those two hours sitting in a room, waiting. No one had asked us a single question. No one had come in until it was time to take us back to the Castle.

“Then, masquerading as Watchers, they delivered Object 2861 to me.”

Shocked murmurs rose from the other Apprentices.

“Silence!” The General’s voice cut like a knife—no, make that a really large sword.

The crowd fell silent.

“Green Team, you stole a Government vehicle, damaged Government property, and impersonated soldiers in Gaia’s Army.” The General rattled off the charges against us, each one like a hammer striking a nail into the coffin of our future.

The other Apprentices didn’t dare start muttering again. Though a few of them were smirking.

“However,” the General said, that single word wilting their smiles, “you also demonstrated enormous perseverance when confronted with a battle you, seemingly, could not win. Furthermore, you proved you would go to any lengths to ensure the survival of your nation.”

Bronte perked up.

“You also completed the scenario’s objective and fulfilled the criteria of your individual roles.”

Ha!

“Therefore, I am declaring Green Team the winner of this Quest. You will all be awarded bonus points to reflect your exceptional performance.”

Yes!

“Well, almost all of you.” The General’s gaze snapped to me.

Uh-oh.

“Apprentices, you are dismissed. Except you, Miss Winters,” he said with a hawkish smile. “You will stay.”

The thirty other Apprentices dispersed, some more slowly than others. A few of the Victory kids were hanging back, moving at a leisurely pace, probably so they could bear witness to the major chewing-out I was about to receive.

“The General dismissed you!” the yellow Knight belted at them, and they made a run for it.

And then I was alone with the General. He paced in front of me, his hands folded behind his back, not saying a word.

Until he pivoted toward me to demand, “Well?”

“Well?” I asked.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Winters?” he barked.

“It was all my idea.”

His jaw popped. “Of that I have no doubt. This whole wild, reckless scheme reeks of you.”

“You rewarded my teammates for that scheme,” I reminded him.

“I rewarded them for winning,” he countered. “And for following the roles I assigned them. What role did I assign you?”

“Bait,” I ground out.

“Yes, bait,” he said, the word rolling off his tongue with satisfaction. “And did you fulfill that role? No.”

“I lured the other teams in so my team could drop paint-filled balloons and pellets on them!” I protested.

“And then?”

“And then we ran to the extraction point, just like we were told. Except it was all a lie. You lied to us.”

“Tread carefully, Miss Winters.”

I drew in a few long, deep breaths, trying to calm myself. “There was never going to be any extraction.”

“No, there was never going to be any extraction,” he agreed. “And the moment you realized that, you went rogue. You concocted a rebellious plan in which you stole a Government vehicle and used it to smash through the gates of the Black Obelisk, damaging both.”

“You rewarded my teammates for that very same plan. So you can’t punish me for it.”

“Of course I can,” he said after a long, drawn-out pause. “Because it was your idea. But your greatest mistake of all was when you decided not to stick to your assigned role. You were supposed to be bait, Miss Winters, not an agent of destruction. You obviously failed to understand the point of the assignment.”

“The point of the assignment was to finish the Quest successfully, no matter what went wrong,” I argued. “And, besides, the whole thing was totally unfair to begin with. You lied about the situation, lied that there was going to be an extraction.”

“Situations change,” he said coolly. “Knights are expected to adapt.”

“That’s exactly what I did,” I told him. “I adapted. And because of that, we won. But still you berate me for it. Why?”

He made an impatient noise. “I explained why.”

“Because I surpassed my role as bait.”

“Exactly.”

“So, just so we’re clear, you’re punishing me for exceeding expectations?”

The General’s nostrils flared. “Don’t be cute, Miss Winters. It won’t get you anywhere. In fact, it’s the very reason you lost your chance to earn bonus points today.”

Well, it could have been way worse. At least I didn’t lose points.

Like he’d read that thought, the General said, “You should count yourself lucky that I didn’t kick you out of the Apprentice Program for what you did.”

I bottled up the fifty-thousand comebacks dancing on my tongue, yearning to jump out.

“Wise choice,” the General told me. “There might be hope for you yet, Miss Winters.” He said it like he didn’t believe it. Like as far as he was concerned, I was a lost cause. “You may go.” He gave his hand a dismissive flick, like he was batting away a mosquito.

I hurried out of the Hex before he changed his mind and expelled me from the Program on the spot. Eris was waiting on the grassy lawn in front of the Castle gates. The other mentors and Apprentices were nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, are you ok?” she asked me.

“Well, the General didn’t kick me out of the Program.”

“You’re very lucky. He’s not an easy man to please.”

“But easy to displease?” I suggested.

“Yes,” she agreed. “Very.”

“I guess he figured he couldn’t afford to lose a potential Knight.”

“The Government is wary about wasting any Gaian with a single drop of magic,” Eris said. “But be careful, Savannah. Try not to do anything like this again. Whatever miracle saved you from expulsion today, don’t count on it to save you next time.”

“I know,” I replied. “And I’ll try my best.”

“Though it’s too bad. This was by far the most entertaining War Games Quest the Castle has ever seen!” Eris laughed as we moved toward the gates. “The mentors got a good look at the action, what with all the cameras everywhere.”

I cringed a little at the thought of all the cameras everywhere.

“You should have seen the look on the Watchers’ faces when you stole that SUV right out from under their noses!”

I shrugged. “They really should be more careful not to leave the keys in their vehicle.”

“Indeed,” she agreed.

“So, out of curiosity, what exactly was in that treasure box we brought the General?” I asked her.

“A peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.”

“Wait, what?” I laughed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, the mentors got to pick what went in the treasure box, and we thought it would be hilarious to send the General a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.” Eris pushed open a side door in the gate. “Well, see you bright and early tomorrow morning for your next Quest.”

“What kind of Quest?” I asked her, passing through the open gate.

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” she said with a wink, then closed the door behind me.