The New Light of Hope Book I: The Adventure Begins.

Chapter XXVI: The Sentinels.

Aurora:

That very same night, we slept within the shelter of the Forest Spirits Division for the night and would leave before sunrise the next morning. But the problem for me the I could not sleep at all, I was having trouble trying to fall asleep that night due to the fact that there was a dispiteous threat out there with a taste for human and animal flesh and a thirst for blood–further more, I feared what would happen to either me, my friends, or my family, or even the forest at that! So, when everyone was asleep, I decided to go on a late night stroll to help get my mind off of everything. But before I left, I looked to make sure that nobody was following behind me.

When I was far away from the Division, I let a small and quiet sigh. God, please help. I begged. But I knew that God cannot just solve problems just as simple as that, but in a time like this, I felt desperate, I did not feel safe, I felt somewhat yonderly from all of my friends in a way. There are many words to describe my feelings at that time: Scared, anxious, paranoid, nervous, and above all... fear.
Suddenly, I became startled by sound of a quiet, yet concerned voice: "Aurora?" Startled, I quickly spun around to see who it was; it was Amethyst. "Amethyst, what're you doing out here?" I angerly asked in a quiet tone, I did my best to try and not raise my voice since we were all mourning the death of BlueFire along with the Forest Spirits Division; talking was somewhat allowed, but mammals had to speak or whisper as quietly as they could and minimum volume as well. But we were not to talk too much. "I noticed that you looked a bit restless and then I saw you get up and leave and so I followed you with you knowing." She told me. "But why exactly? Whatever's on your mind, you can at least talk to me about it. I'm one of your best friends, Aurora."

Amethyst:

"Well, I-" She was lethologica at the moment and did not know how she would explain it to me. Thought she tried to get the words out of her mouth somehow. Then she sighed and calmly, but quietly said: "I've just had lots on my mind recently; especially after BlueFire's death earlier today. And there is a lot more that's on my mind right now."

Amethyst: "Gosh, must be a lot to take in, isn't it?"

Aurora: "Yeah, it is."

Amethyst: "If all this was botherin' you and didn't feel comfortable to share with your mom, or your dad, or even your siblings, then you could've talked to either me, Sadie, Jemma, Abby, Bella, Milly, or even Summer at that and not just me if you didn't feel comfortable to talk to me. You know?"

Aurora: "I know, I'm sorry."

Amethyst: "Don't be, I'm one of your best friends, Aurora, and I'll always help you out no matter what."

She smiled upon hearing those words, though her eyes depicted her exhaustion. "Thanks, Amethyst. And I'm glad you're giving Summer a chance." She said.
"Anytime. Now come on, let's get back to the Forest Spirits Division and try and get some rest. They're gonna find out sooner or later that we're not-" before I could finish my sentence, I heard a strange noise coming from nearby bushes, startling us. "Who's there?" Aurora asked; no answer, only dead silence. Well, only at that time, that is.
We looked around but we saw nothing. Just then, a mysterious entity jumped from behind the bushes to attack us; it was a pig-like figure with a jet black body and an orange highlighted face, claws, teeth, and a ribcage; the figure then attacked and scratched the right side of my muzzle, leaving two claw marks on the side of it, in which to this day are still there. I felt pain at first but then I fought back at that moment and before he could strike me again, Laura came to help out. "You leave Amethyst alone!" She yelled; this had given Aurora enough time to pull out her sword and kill the strange creature. "What was that thing?" Aurora asked. "And who are you?"

"I am Laurel and what you both just encountered are called Sentinels; they also work for the Insolence." She responded. We were both surprised by what she said, even I was surprised. I had not heard of the Insolence up until that point and that was the first time hearing about it. But before I could ask, Laura said: "There is no time to waste, for it is not just that creature alone."

Aurora: "Wait, there's--"

She stopped paused for a second and was frozen with a horrified look glowing in her green eyes. We both turned to see what she was looking at-it was a hoard of sentinels; all of them were different colors –mainly purple, orange, white, green, or red– all of them were standing in one spot, ready to attack. "Oh, dear God." Aurora muttered. "What do we do?"
"Well, we have no other option but to fight." I said. Aurora was with me on that idea and so was Laura. And that is when our first ever battle in the forest had occurred—there were sentinels all around and all three of us fought them off; some of them we scared off while some of them were killed by Aurora in an act of self-defense and some were killed by Laura. Eventually, we managed to get rid of all of them –or, so I thought at first– but there one more; it was completely jet black, facial features and all from top to bottom right behind Aurora. But I managed to see the creature with my ability to be able to see in the pitch black darkness of the night. And once I saw it, I yelled: "Aurora, behind you!" She turned around but she did not see the figure at first until it scratched her on the left side of her face near her jawline. Once she realized what happened she attacked and killed it. "I can't believe we just fended off an army of sentinels or whatever they're called." I rasped
"Damn right we did!" Aurora replied with pride. "Perhaps... perhaps that's part of the supposed threat here in the woods."

Amethyst: "And by that, you mean the so-called 'Insolence'?"

Aurora: "Yeah, and I know you don't know about them but I might as well tell y--"

"Aurora? Amethyst?" We heard a voice call out our names, we turned around and noticed that it was Summer's voice. "We're over here!"
Then she and the rest of our friends along with ArrowHeart and Compass ran from behind the bushes. "I've been lookin' everywhere for y'all but I couldn't find y'all anywhere!" Summer told us. "Where have you girls... been?" She stopped for a moment when she saw the scars on each of our faces. "What... what happened to you two?" She asked us with concern. "It's a long story." I said. "You two shouldn't just run off like this." Compass said. "We're sorry, I just had trouble sleeping." Aurora confessed

"Well, why didn't you say so?" ArrowHeart asked. "NightStone or Hope could have given you something to help you out!"

Aurora: "I didn't know that! I just... I'm sorry for wondering off."

Amethyst: "I'm sorry too."

Summer: "Well, all that matters is that you're both alive with only a few scratches."

Compass: "We will get NightStone and Hope to check on the both of you. But next time, don't run off like that unless you're given permission by an accompanying authority."

Aurora: "Yes, sir."

ArrowHeart: "Now come on; let's get back to the Division."

Aurora: "All right."

We all then went back to the Forest Spirits Division. But this was something that we have never forgotten about and I realized that Maria and Amanda were right; Laura was doing her job by helping to protect not only me, but my friends as well.
…
Aurora:

When we got back to the Forest Spirits Division, we were escorted to the Healer's Den by ArrowHeart where both NightStone and Hope were waiting for us to enter. I suppose they heard that we were missing too. I guessed. "I see you've both been brought back safely…" Hope said, sounding unamused. She then took a moment to examine us before using the herbs in stock to help with our wounds.

"That should do for now, though both of you will have scars now." She told us when she finished.
Keep in mind now that these are the many battles that were yet to come.