Liana fell asleep quite quickly, as she hadn't travelled for extended periods of time before, and she was tired from the travelling. When Lillian was sure that Liana was asleep, she got back up and walked over to one of the windows, thinking.
(Lillian's thoughts) 'She could see the wolf. She must be special, but how? I can't tell her the truth about that… yet. No one knows about that except for… Except for Liz… I wonder why she didn't say anything about—'
In the same instant, she heard someone outside, breaking her train of thought. She quickly put on her cloak and mask, as she had taken it off, but hadn't changed out of her clothes. She went outside to find the source of the noise she heard. When she realized they were people, she put an invisibility spell on the dome, then went in search of them. They turned out to be bandits, but these bandits seemed to only have one mission, to find 'her' and get rid of 'her' because 'she' always jeopardized their attacks, saving the people they were attacking. Lillian knew they were talking about her, so she went back to the clearing where the dome was but stayed on the other side of the clearing. When she figured out how long the bandits would take to get to where she was, she went back into the dome.
*
(Lillian) "Liana!"
Liana woke up almost immediately, startled. She sat up quickly and looked at Lillian, sleepiness and confusion clear on her face.
(Liana) "Wha… What's wrong? Has something happened?"
(Lillian) "Nothing has happened. Yet. But for now, I just need you to stay in here, and no matter what you do, don't go outside until I come and call you, okay?"
Liana was still confused, but she trusted that Lillian would explain later on, so she just nodded her head.
(Lillian) "Good. I have put a few spells on the dome, one is to make it invisible, the other is so that whoever is outside can't hear what's going on in here. Just stay in here and wait for me."
(Liana) "Okay. But I expect an explanation later. And stay safe."
Lillian nodded, then disappeared. After Lillian disappeared, Liana realized that the windows on the walls now had curtains on them. When she pulled back the curtains, she could see outside. For a moment she was worried, but then remembered that Lillian had put an invisibility spell on the dome.
*
Meanwhile…
(Bandit Leader) "Search the whole forest if you have to! Find her!"
The other bandits obeyed their leader and spread out in search of 'her'. Lillian watched them, waiting. Then when there were only two men left with the leader, she took off the invisibility spell on herself.
(Lillian) "Looking for me?"
(Bandit Leader) "What?!"
He jumped a little, but quickly covered it up, saying,
(Bandit Leader) "Oh, so you decided to show yourself. Why didn't you show yourself earlier, I wonder... Too many people? Scared you can't take all of us on?"
Lillian scoffed. In a demeaning tone she said,
(Lillian) "Scared? Shouldn't I be asking you that? Standing here, waiting for your men to find me for you? And you need two guards?"
The bandit leader looked scared for a moment, but his fear quickly turned into anger.
(Bandit Leader) "Scared? Scared?!?! I'll show you scared!"
He drew his sword and started walking towards Lillian slowly. Lillian's expression didn't change as she said softly,
(Lillian) "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not without your men at least."
When the bandit leader heard that, he stepped back, but didn't sheathe his sword. The two men stood at the side, wondering what was going to happen next. The bandit leader told one of them to call for the others, while telling the other to draw his sword. The first guy blew a horn, the sound echoing all through the forest. The second guy drew his sword but stepped backwards. When all the men had come back the clearing, they all stood at one side, waiting for instructions, and shooting scared looks in Lillian's direction. Lillian was just standing there, waiting for them to do something, when suddenly, a shout rang out.
(Unknown) "Men! Attack the bandits! Protect her!"
*
Liana, who was still waiting inside the dome, got a shock when she heard the shout. She walked over to the side of the dome that she thought Lillian was at and pulled back the curtains. The sight before her eyes gave her an even bigger shock. Lillian was standing calmly at one side, surrounded by a group of men, and bandits who were surrounding them. One of the guys were talking to Lillian.
*
(Lillian) "I can handle it. Bring your men to stand to the side. Let me handle this."
The guy bowed as he said,
(Guy who was talking to Lillian) "On your commands."
The guy told his men to follow him, the jumped out of the circle of bandits, away from them. His men followed him, leaving Lillian alone with the bandits. The bandits were shocked for a moment, but when they realized the men weren't going to do anything, they turned their attention back onto Lillian. Lillian smiled a smile that sent shivers down the backs of all the bandits when she saw their attention was back on her.
(Lillian) "I'm going to give you all a chance today. Either you go to the dungeons and spare your lives, join me, or, well, you die. You choose."
The bandits looked scared for a moment, but their leader spoke. Or rather, shouted.
(Bandit Leader) "I'd rather die than go to jail or even think about joining you!"
He stomped his feet and charged at Lillian. At just the last moment, Lillian moved her body slightly to the side, dodging just out of the way. The bandit leader missed her, and because of the speed he was going at, lost his balance and fell over. A few of the men looked like they wanted to laugh but didn't. The bandit leader got up hastily, glaring at Lillian. Lillian just stood there, expressionless. Then he ran off shouting,
(Bandit Leader) "You may have won today, but we will win in the end!"
His men looked a bit confused at first, but quickly followed their leader. Lillian watched them run away, and when they were out of sight she went to talk to the leader of the soldiers, who were standing at the side, and gave him some instructions. The man relayed the instructions to his men, pointing towards the direction that the bandits ran, and about half his men ran off towards that direction. After Lillian finished talking with the leader, she went back into the dome and told Liana that it was okay to go out now. When Liana came out of the dome, again she was surprised by what she saw. Those men who were surrounding Lillian earlier, were standing in one line in front of the dome. One of the men, whom Liana supposed was their leader, walked up to Lillian and bowed slightly, doing a greeting which Liana didn't recognize. Lillian returned another greeting Liana didn't recognize as well, then turned to Liana.
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "Do you want them to know your real identity or not?"
Lillian asked Liana through the mind-link.
(Liana, through mind-link, to Lillian) "I think let's keep my heritage a secret for now."
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "Ok."
(Lillian) "Liana, meet John. John, Liana."
(John) "It's a pleasure to meet you."
John said, turning to face Liana. He turned to Lillian, and she saw a questioning look on his face.
(Lillian) "John is one of the captains in the army of my tribe. Liana… is a friend."
That seemed enough for John, as he greeted Liana with the Traditional Adrenian Greeting, then said,
(John) "We will escort you back from here."
Lillian nodded.
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "Get some rest first. We will set off in the morning."
The two of them headed back to the dome, while John went back to his men. When they were back inside the dome, Liana asked Lillian,
(Liana) "Why did he come to rescue us? And why escort us back to the tribe?"
Lillian raised an eyebrow, then said,
(Lillian) "You will find out. Very soon, in fact. But for now, you need to rest."
(Liana) "Okay. You get some rest as well."
Lillian nodded, then followed Liana to her bed, and when Liana had gotten into her bed, she went back to her own bed.