That night, Liana felt something was off. She couldn't sleep, so she decided to go for a walk. Just as she reached for the door handle, someone knocked on her door. She got a shock, but still opened the door to see who was knocking at her door so late at night. Opening the door, she saw Lillian and Liz standing outside, fully decked in black.
(Liana's thoughts) 'Something's wrong',
Liana thought, but aloud she asked,
(Liana) "What's going on?"
(Lillian) "Can we come in first? I'll explain inside."
Liana nodded, then moved to the side to let them enter. When they were all seated at one of the many tables in Liana's temporary room, she asked again,
(Liana) "What's going on?"
(Lillian) "We might have to go… out for a while."
Liana raised her eyebrow.
(Liana) "Out? As in?"
Liz answered for Lillian.
(Liz) "Lillian thinks something's wrong outside the walls. She would normally go alone, but this time she figures it will not be too dangerous, so it can be used for our training. Essentially, this is the first session of training."
Lillian nodded.
(Lillian) "But, if I'm wrong, and it's dangerous, I expect you two to leave the fighting to me and go hide somewhere or make a shield at the least."
Liz frowned.
(Liz) "That is the only part of it that I don't like."
Lillian smirked.
(Lillian) "Yeah. It would be mine too. But I still am responsible for anything that happens to you two. Especially Liana."
Liz nodded, while Liana raised her eyebrow. Lillian saw their expressions and laughed.
(Lillian) "Your reactions couldn't be more different. Anyway, go and get ready, Liana. If you don't have something suitable for battle, you can either borrow one of mine or Liz's."
When Liana heard that, she nodded, then thought for a while.
(Liana) "I don't exactly have anything that might be suitable... But I think I would like to borrow one of Liz's. Yours may just be a little too… Long."
She said this, comparing their heights. Even though Lillian is just a year older than her and Liz, she is a great deal taller. When Liz heard that, she started laughing.
(Liz) "She's right, Lil. You're a little tall to be lending clothes to her. I'll go fetch a stealth suit."
She stood up and walked out. Liana turned to Lillian.
(Liana) "A stealth suit?"
Lillian nodded.
(Lillian) "Yeah. It's what Liz and I are wearing, also what the soldiers who are trained in magic wear, just that our suits are a little more… advanced. There are more things on it and it works better too. We don't have enough time to teach you all the details of the suit, but I'll teach you the basics and the things that you will need to know for this mission."
As she finished talking, Liz appeared carrying a black suit that looked strikingly similar to the one she was wearing.
(Lillian) "You found one?"
Liz laughed.
(Liz) "You made me so many it'd be impossible not to."
She turned to Liana was had a slight frown on her face.
(Liz) "Here, try this on."
Liana took the suit, and stood up, but turned back around and asked,
(Liana) "Made it?"
Liz laughed and replied,
(Liz) "Yeah. That's the reason, if Lil hasn't already told you, that our suits are different from the others. She designs them herself."
Liana nodded slowly and went to put the suit on. After a few minutes, she came out wearing the suit. It fit perfectly. She grinned at the two of them and said,
(Liana) "It fits."
Lillian nodded.
(Lillian) "Good. Now I'll tell you a little of what the suit can do. It allows you to become invisible if you can't do that by magic. If you can however, it will still become invisible along with you. So will any weapon you're carrying. The suit also prevents you from making any sound while moving, of course, except talking. If you whisper, only the people that you're intending to hear it will hear. Talking normally other people can hear you as well. The suit also lets you carry as much as you want, without being weighed down by it. This function is mainly used for weapons. Also, the things that you are carrying can't be seen by anyone except the bearer until you draw it out. Does that make sense to you?"
Lillian said, showing Liana the triggers for each respectively. Liana nodded slowly before asking,
(Liana) "Is this why after the first time we met I never saw you carrying all your weapons like that again?"
Lillian laughed and replied,
(Lillian) "I wanted to see your reaction to a girl your age carrying so many weapons. And your expression was brilliant, although you were quick to hide it. But yes, I usually just store them in the suit."
Liz shook her head at her sister's antics, but she had a smile on her face the whole time. She knew how stressful Lillian's work could get and was glad that she was still able to embrace her playful teenager side.
(Liz's thoughts) 'She's been more relaxed than ever since she came back this time. I don't think she's laughed this much in a long time… Even though she's already relaxed when I'm around but this seems to be a whole new level… I wonder—'
She blocked out her thoughts as Lillian stood up and gestured that they should move out. Liana and Liz both nodded. They ran out together, until Lillian stopped abruptly when they were just before the walls, then turned around. Liz and Liana stopped just in time to keep themselves from crashing into her.
(Liz) "What's going on?"
Lillian frowned.
(Lillian) "Why are there more of them now?"
(Liz) "What do you mean?"
(Lillian) "There were four originally. Now there are ten."
Liana wondered how Lillian knew that, but didn't want to say anything, so she turned to Liz. But it turned out that Liz knew as much as she did, as the next moment she asked Lillian,
(Liz) "How did you know?"
Lillian simply shrugged with an 'innocent' grin. Liana held back a laugh when she saw Lillian's expression.
(Lillian) "I have ways. I'll tell you some other time."
When they got out of the clan's walls, Lillian led them straight into the forest, turned around and said,
(Lillian) "After this, only converse through mind-link. Liana, if you don't want to tell Liz your—"
Liana interrupted her before she could finish. She turned to Liz and told her,
(Liana) "It's Capricous."
Liz nodded and said,
(Liz) "Mine is Hermajor."
Lillian raised an eyebrow but continued,
(Lillian) "There are ten of them, so we should take out at least four by stealth. And when I say by stealth, I mean by taking them out without getting detected."
She stopped talking and Liana and Liz nodded. They understood how they were going to do it as much as a four-year-old would, but they knew Lillian would explain, and they were proven right.
(Lillian) "We are going to take them out from outside in, it appears that they are not expecting anyone to attack, but they still took some precautions. There are four sentries, all about twenty metres from the camp, and forty metres from each other. If we were not intending to take them out, we could easily sneak in in between any two of them, they are standing outside of each other's range. But we are, and that makes it easier. We will take out each one, hide the body, then move on to the next one. Once we are done with the guards, we'll move in. It might be a bit hard to stay undetected, but we have the cover of darkness and we should try to stay undetected for as long as possible."
She looked at the two of them. They nodded, finally understanding what she meant. She signalled that they continue moving. They took out the first sentry, then moved towards the next. By the time they took out the last one, Liana had already figured out to use the suit to her advantage.
(Lillian) 'She's a quick learner',
Lillian thought. Liana was using some of the other functions of the suit which Lillian had not even told her about, much less showed her how to use it. She frowned slightly when she sensed something.
(Lillian, through mind-link to Liana and Liz) "Let's regroup first."
The two of them turned and nodded to her. They met, and Lillian said,
(Lillian) "There are more now, and they have noticed that we have taken out their sentries, so they will be on high alert. They have regrouped at the clearing, but they put out sentries that are closer to them, so they are all within seeing range of each other. We have taken out four of them but they upped their men by four, so there are ten again."
They nodded, and she continued.
(Lillian) "I know how we can take down at least three of them before going into a full-frontal battle."
She explained to them her plan, then signalled for them to move out. They each sneaked up behind one of the sentries each, then took them out. And before the others could react, Lillian had already taken out two more of them. The last one charged towards them with a spear, but Liz threw a dagger at him that went straight through his heart. By now, the ones resting had noticed, and had their weapons out and ready. There were two other men along with the leader and his right-hand man. Liana watched in wonder as both Lillian and Liz grabbed throwing knives and threw them with ease. Lillian's hit one of the men in the chest and in the head faster than he could react. Liz's, on the other hand, went through his arm and chest after the man deflected the one heading for his head.
(Liana's thoughts) 'Wow. That was cool…'
Liana let her gaze fall back on Lillian as she slipped her sword out of its sheath. The whole time they had been attacking, Lillian had only been using daggers and throwing knives, while Liana and Liz had drawn their swords long ago. While Lillian was briefing them, she had told Liana not to use her magic as she wanted to see her skills with weapons in action.
(Liana's thoughts) 'How is she only now taking out her sword?'
Lillian met her gaze before running forward and engaging the Leader while Liana and Liz attacked his right-hand man. Liana and Liz finished the right-hand man off pretty quickly together, and they turned to watch Lillian's fight. The man was pretty good, but it was clear Lillian was not using her full strength. Liz smiled as she thought,
(Liz's thoughts) 'She's always like this, letting her opponent fight for a while, then finally taking them down.'
On the other hand, Liana was thinking,
(Liana's thoughts) 'Lillian's movements are so graceful… Even though I trained with her I never got to see her in action like this, but is it just me or does she look bored?'
Lillian's movements suddenly slowed before she shouted,
(Lillian) "Liz, Liana get to the ground!"
They didn't know why but obeyed her shout immediately. They realised why about two seconds later when two swords pierced the darkness. They heard it fly past them, and the 'thud' when it hit the ground. A scream broke the silence.
(Lillian, through mind-link to Liana and Liz) "Go hide. I'll tell you when it's safe to come out."
Liana and Liz weren't very pleased but went to hide behind some bushes, using the suits to turn them invisible, Liz showing Liana how to trigger it and the function that doesn't let anyone hear them.
Sensing that they had gone to hide, Lillian turned to face her new opponent.
(Unknown Man) "Well well well. The Phoenix herself."
Liana turned to Liz, but it looked like she was just as confused as herself. Lillian seemed unfazed, but what she did next really puzzled Liz and Liana. She put her sword back into the sheath on her back. The guy walked towards him and hugged her, though she did not return his embrace. Liana and Liz gasped slightly.
(Liana's thoughts) 'Now who is that guy? Why is he hugging Lillian!?'
Liana was confused at the angry thoughts that ran through her head as she watched the guy hug Lillian. She was even more perplexed when her thoughts faded as he released her and used the Traditional Adrenian greeting towards Lillian, who merely nodded.
(Lillian) "David. A little late to the party, aren't you."
Lillian said to the guy whom Liana and Liz assumed was David, then turned her head slightly and said,
(Lillian) "Liana, Liz, you can come out now."
They came out cautiously, watching David the whole time. Liz noticed that one of the swords had went right through the Leader who was now impaled on the ground lying in a pool of his own blood. David laughed when he saw their faces.
(David) "I'm going to guess you didn't bother to tell anyone about me, if the weeks I spent with you were any indication."
He turned to Liz and Liana and used the Traditional Adrenian Greeting before bowing slightly as he said,
(David) "My name is David, and I'm an acquaintance of Lillian. It's an honour to meet her sister and her friend."
Liz raised an eyebrow. She turned to Lillian and asked,
(Liz) "Who is this?"