"Are you sure that she'll come here?" The young man asked, leaning over the walls of Xaehara stronghold. It was a medium sized fort within Navori.
"She came once, she'll come again." Kayn muttered. "Besides, all we need is the mole to succeed."
Two days after the exploration of Kulhua, Lanius went back to the Order's monastery and devised a plan to reach Xayah the Rebel.
In conclusion, they decided to send in a Ziraq, friend of Lanius to approach Xayah and tell her that a very important politician of his clan was captured and currently held in Xaehara. To top it up, the young man asked his friend to exaggerate a bit and say that the Shadow Assassins planned "to off her".
"I say Winter, that is kind of a solid plan...but you miss a few details." Kayn leaned against the wall and scanned the area. "What if she doesn't buy it? It sounds a bit fishy. We talk about a vastaya that has outsmarted us and evaded capture numerous times."
"Oh we don't need to capture her, we just need to get me in touch with her." Lanius replied. "What pains me is that you might lose some of your friends."
"In comes my part. Master asked the Navori Brotherhood to assist us in guarding said "politician", and to wear our attire to blend in." Kayn snapped his fingers.
"Aren't they at war with you?" Lanius raised an eyebrow.
"With everyone that speaks...and doesn't speak Ionian, to be exact." Kayn sighed. "But Master wanted to "form a new alliance with them." and they accepted. In conclusion, the Navori are dumb as rock."
Some movement in the leaves of a tree in his far right caused the young man to slightly turn towards that direction, pull up his eye bandage and activate his Sovereign's Dominance. He scanned the tree's spiritual body. It's leaves were bright cyan...a sentinel tree. Behind its leaves sat a plum outline next to an orange one.
"They're here..." Lanius whispered as he deactivated his powers and pulled the bandage down. "...And be careful to not cut that tree with the silver leaves, it's a sentinel tree."
Kayn nodded and pulled his scythe from his back. His left arm and eye took that grotesque appearance again.
"Oi, put up a fight but don't rough her up that much. We need her to be able to flee." Lanius said to the young Assassin.
Kayn nodded and Lanius climbed up to an watchtower. Not only was he concealed there, but he would also be able to observe her fighting pattern and use that to his advantage, in case his encounter went south. He turned towards the fort's yard. About eight guards walked around the entrance and two more stood guards in front of the tower's door. Ten more patrolled the walls and another ten guarded Ahri, plus the ten reserves on the second floor.
A figure dressed in a dark blue cloak jumped from the tree, followed by another one with blonde hair. From where the young man was, the two appeared to hug and then part ways. The blonde figure moved towards the west side and disappeared behind the wall, while the plum figure moved towards the gate. It swiftly climbed up and reached the top of the walls. As it approached the watchtower, it became more clear. It was a female Lhotlan...
The young man took a good look at her from top to bottom. She had plum hair and ears that stuck out of the half cut cloak. She had a set of Amber eyes and a stripe like Ahri and himself on the left side of her face. It was unclear whether she had another one or not on the other side, as she hid that side with one of her bangs. Moving down, she wore a plum gown that ended to her thighs and plum wrist guards, and had a single purple wing on her back. Lastly, she had wrapped her legs in black bandages from her thighs till her talons. She matched Zed's description....
Lanius then remembered a conversation he had with his father when he turned twenty.
It was summer and they had just returned from a trip to the Ziraq village in Oulin. Lanius gazed at his mother who was cleaning the big bookshelf they had across the east wall.
"Hey pa? , why did you want to marry emai and not a verhean girl?" he asked his father.
"Because I happened to like vastaya. Vastaya are...so unique...so beautiful." his father replied.
His mother then came all the way from the other side of the room and pounced on him and began to purr in a playful manner. "Is that so?" she said.
Lanius shook his head, returning to the present. "Vastaya are indeed beautiful and charming..." he muttered.
The Rebel waited for something. A gold shot of light flew from the east wall towards the sky. The Navori on the walls then moved towards that light source, leaving those at the yard present. Xayah quickly vaulted the wall and landed on one that passed below her. She kicked another ones jaw and swiftly moved towards the rest. The remaining Navori realised what had happened and moved towards her with their weapons drawn.
"Alert! The Rebel is here!" one of them yelled and received a feather in his right eye mere seconds later as a response.
She plucked some more feathers from her back and flung them towards their way hitting two. Five Navori, dressed as Yánléi acolytes remained on the court.
The weapons pierced their heads and torsos, sending them on the ground. Two of them blocked the projectiles and rushed at her. They tried to hit her with their weapons, mostly curved swords and kamas. Xayah easily avoided the swings and delivered a stab to one of them at the temple with a feather.
She then kicked another at the throat and quickly spun around, slicing his neck. She then spun around and on the wall and did a flip from the wall to the ground. As she did that, the feathers that had impaled the ground or the Navori warriors flew back at her, tearing holes to the remaining three opponents.
Lanius stood there in shock. That woman was an incredible fighter. She had exterminated ten Navori Brotherhood warriors in less than a minute. "I can see why the Lothlan are called "battle dancers". Her movements are harmonically synchronised, as if she's dancing, rather than fighting." he muttered.
The Rebel stood there, trying to catch her breath. She faced the east wall, where the guards on the wall got swiped down by the other figure that made a theatrical entrance. He began to kick and punch the living hell out of them, tossing them from the walls.
As he was done, he jumped from the wall with a cheer and made his way towards Xayah. He was also a Lhotlan. A blonde male with a gold cloak and green slacks. He gave a quick kiss to her and the two moved towards the tower, when Lanius saw Kayn phase through the top wall like a shadow, ready to jump from above onto them like a hawk.