North Landton

As the sun finally found it's way down the side of the sky, Liliana decided it was time to come out. She poked her head out from the small cave opening and looked out at the forest covered on snow. The small, pale girl took a few small steps outside her den, her eyes closed and her ears searching for any sounds that were unnatural. Satisfied after a few moments, she opened her eyes again, taking a few more steps outside, into the forest she knew like the back of her hand.

There was a breeze out tonight, chilling the air even more that it already was. The breeze blew her long white hair behind her, and forcing her black cloak to open and flutter behind her as well. Not bothering to force it back closed, Liliana ran her hands over her simple white dress, smoothing it out, and began to walk forward. Her light blue eyes saw into the dark easily, growing over the years to have similar properties to a cats. They even glowed in the dark if you looked at them right.

She honestly had no idea what she was doing. She had plently of food stockpiled in the cave, and it was't like her main source of water had dried up and she had to find a new one. But she just felt like walking. Perhaps there were some travelers out tonight... Liliana blinked at the thought. It got lonely out here, and a few seconds of company could do wonders. But travelers weren't always nice people.

Silenceing her thoughts instantly, Liliana turned her attention back to the world around her as she came to her favorite clearing. It was a small circle with no trees in it, the circle where her and her only friend had practiced their fighting skills, but it had been unused for years now. Now it was just a place to sit and think, which was exactly what she decided to do.

This was what Liliana did a lot of nights. She simply wandered around, sometimes taking breaks to sit and sometimes sing in a language she had known since birth. A language she spoke more often than english because english was spoken to people she met. And Liliana lived her life alone.

As her thoughts began to circle her mind, Liliana shivered. It wasn't due to the cold, she was used to that, but rather because her thoughts scared her sometimes. For example, her thoughts turned this time to a subject she spent a lot of time on. The possibility of leaving.

A small, but not always dormant, part of her brain told her to run. Run out of the forest, find her friend and the group that had taken away her life, and introduce them to the justice that was her and her weapon. But that was only a small part. The rest of her was deathly afraid of leaving. She simply wanted to stay and wait, and maybe her friend would come back one day, and everything would be normal again. Liliana had no idea what to think anymore. Only self defense was unaffected by her tormented mind.

The pale girl looked up to the moon, silently wishing it would somehow give her an answer. But she knew it wouldn't. It was the moon. And as beautiful and as much of a connection Liliana felt to it, the moon was not going to talk to her. But that didn't stop her from hoping. Liliana looked back down, listening to the forest once more. But not even hearing any animals nearby, it was dead silent. Not liking the silence as she usually did, Liliana began to sing under her breath.

"Tää jylhä kauneus ja ääretön yksinäisyys..." She started quietly, but as she went on, it slowly got louder. "Lapsuuteni metsän, taivaan. Kaikuu se haikeus halki tän matkan aamun tullen yö tarinansa kertoo..." Liliana paused her slow soft voice, but after a moment she continued, slightly louder. "Jylhä on kauneus ja ääretön yksinäisyyteni sitä henkeensä halajaa kehtoni hauta, hautani paikka, erämaan viimeinen on..." Liliana stopped and smiled, feeling a bit better. This singing was rumored to be the cries of a ghost in town, with Liliana the ghost, but Liliana herself didn't know that. She just sang to help herself cope.

Satisfied, Liliana resumed her silence, looking back up at the moon.

Waking up to the sound of the train bumping through the terrain and a voice saying; “we’ve now arrive into the northern parts Neos.” Valerie rubbed her eyes. She was sitting alone in a railway carriage on her way to North Landton. She looked out through the window, it had already gotten dark but there were at least two more stations before the one close to North Landton. Valerie stretched her arms and legs; she had been sitting in the train since morning. ’I wonder if I will be able to find my true parents there.’ She glared into the distance; snow was beginning to appear on the ground outside. ’I hope they won’t hate me for appearing; I just want to know who I really am.’

A woman appeared with a wagon before her “Anything you want my dear?”

”No thanks, I don’t have any money on me right now.” She said even though she was quiet hungry.

The woman found a sandwich and gave it to Valerie “It doesn’t matter my dear, you’re a paladin right? I often give a little to our protectors.” The woman smiled. Valerie took the sandwich and bowed her head to thank the woman. “So miss paladin, where are you going?”

Valerie took a bite of the sandwich ”North Landton, it will be the first place on my journey.”

The woman’s smile disappeared. “North Landton? All alone? You know that the celestials have a hard time getting control over that village right? Last time I saw paladins go there, they were three and none of them came back.”

Valerie didn’t know any of this information, the only thing she knew about North Landton was that it was a mining village in the north, a very poor place but not that the celestials didn’t have it under full control. ”Are you sure about this miss?” a voice appeared in the train again “Next stop, North Landton.” ”Wait already?” She rose from the seat finding the few things she had taken with her. ”Whether you are right or wrong doesn’t matter, I have some business in this city I need to attend to. But thank you for your kindness I have to go now.”

Valerie walked out of the train into the cold winter-like night. The station at North Landton was actually three miles away from the village itself, but it was the only village around here. Valerie began walking on the road towards the village, ”Brrrr… Why does it have to be this cold here?” she put on a brown carpet around her hiding most of her armor and skin. ”Why didn’t I think about taking something hot with me, l-like a pair of gloves or just… Anything… Brrrr.” She was shivering with cold. She looked up as she walked on the road. If the moon hadn’t been there; there would have been no light around for her to see where she was walking.

All of a sudden after walking for fifteen minutes Valerie stopped and looked at a forest entrance on the left side of her ’I have seen before.’ She turned towards the forest ‘This was what I saw in that… Dream?... But it can’t be.’ After looking at the forest for a few minutes she decided to walk into the forest. ”I’ve seen this before.” The further she walked into the forest the more she was assured that she had seen the place before. Suddenly she remembered ”The cave!” without realizing she had been talking to herself all the time she set into run. ’Can it really be true? Was it not a dream at all?’

Valerie stopped. She was standing right outside the entrance of the cave she had seen in her vision. Even though all of her instincts told her to run back to safety her curious mind had taken over. She wanted to know what was inside the cave. She took a step into the cave, without having an idea of what was going to happen.

Liliana sighed. She was sitting on her makeshift bed, one leg hanging down and the other she was clinging to tightly. It had been a day since her little chat with Undine. Liliana hadn't slept very well since. Her eyes had light red circles underneath them. But you couldn't really see them unless you looked from an upward view. Not that in mattered.

Someone is coming for you, Liliana. Those were her words. Liliana ran them through her head several times. One person. She could handle one person, right? Of course, Undines word had been vauge. One person was looking for her. But what if they brought an army? People that weren't really looking for her, just following the person that did? That would fall under Undines words. Liliana shivered. It wasn't due to the cold.

In order to relieve her stress (Something she didn't often have to do) Liliana got up and pulled her black cloak around her, walking outside. The moon was high and brighter than usual, providing light even for a regular human to see fine. Liliana silently hoped that this unknown person or persons used it to their advantage. Assuming they came tonight.

"Undine... are you here? Please be here..." Liliana said quietly as she came to her favorite clearing for the second time in as many nights. There was no response. Had she not lived alone for years, Liliana might have cried. She desperatly wanted her to come back and take her biggest fear - loneliness - away. if only for a few minutes. Instead, she only sighed and sat down.

Liliana closed her eyes, deciding to enjoy the silence as long as it was here and meditate. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but she did know that she snapped her eyes open when she heard the last thing she had ever expected.

"The cave!"

Liliana's brain was thrown into an information overload. This person was a girl. She had been purposely looking for a cave. And from the way she said it, it didn't sound like she was just looking for any one. She sought a specific one. And Liliana had a sneaking suspition she knew what cave it was. The girl stood up sharply, her scythe materializing into her hand from thin air. And she smirked. And evil, 'bring it on, bitch' kind of smirk. Liliana slowly turned around, not making a sound. Years of practice had had Liliana gain the ability to sneak perfectly quietly, even on ground that would say otherwise.

Soon Liliana found herself back to a tree, out of sight of whoever was trying to find her. She peaked out for a second, and saw some girl with grey hair standing not a foot from Liliana's home. The mystery girl took a step closer to it, actually entering the shelter. Well, she doesn't seem hostile. Just curiou- ... what? Those markings... those...

Liliana snapped. Those markings that the girl had on pretty much anything she had were the same as the paladins from a few years ago. The ones who killed her only friend in the world. Liliana's eyes went dark blue, a drastic change from the bright, light ones she usualy had. Oh, sweet revenge.

Liliana slipped out from behind the tree, taking light steps towards the girl, still not making a sound. Without even a moments hesitation, Liliana held her scythe up to the back of her head and spoke. "Freeze, paladin asshole. Put up your hands."

Assuming the girl did what she was told (If she retaliated Liliana would jump back to avoid it and the fight was on.), Liliana circle around to the from of the girl, still holding her scythe towards her. "You've got a got of nerve to come back here, hm? What, Nicor not enough for you? You want my head too!? Who are you! What are you doing here!? Kerro minulle! Spill it!

As Valerie had taken the last step she had the feeling that it had been stupid not to listen to her instincts and run back to the road. Even though the moon was very bright this night, the wood was still pretty dark because of the shadows from the trees. Suddenly a feeling of cold steel appeared on the back of Valerie’s head, if it hadn’t been because of the voice right after she would have jumped a step forward; away from danger.

- “Freeze, paladin asshole. Put up your hands.”

A girl’s voice. Valerie spaced out for a second ’I am not a paladin yet actually. I am just on my pilgrimage to become a paladin... Wait… Asshole?’ Valerie was out of words she had never been called an asshole before. As she heard footsteps behind her, she felt the concentration turning back, making everything clear in her head. The girl was now standing in front of Valerie talking to her.

- “You’ve got a lot of nerve to come back here, hm? What, Nicor not enough for you? You want my head too!? Who are you! What are you doing here!? Kerro minulle! Spill it!”

Valerie observed the girl: She wasn’t anything special; a very plain girl, yet very beautiful. ’She must be living here which means that she is my first task.’ Valerie slowly lifted her right hand in order to wield her weapon, but stopped in the middle of doing it. ’This makes no sense… If that dream was true. That man was peaceful, why would he want me to kill?’

Without realizing it, she was staring into the cold eyes of the girl in front of her. ’Those eyes’ She had seen such eyes before in some of the paladins that had been passing the church in Ioden ’Those eyes show great pain’ Valerie could hear the girls breathtaking become deeper.

Valerie looked at the weapon being used to threaten her; a devil weapon. Valerie could feel how the adrenaline began to pump around in her veins, making her concentration fall and her instincts taking over. One look on the weapon of a devil had made the fear inside Valerie take over. She wasn’t thinking clearly anymore; it was as if she was a whole different person. She began talking to herself ”My first task is to save this girl right?” Valerie’s hand continued the move she had started few moments earlier and touched the handle of the sword. ”I will end all of your pain now my child, in the name of Aion.”

The claymore flew through the air towards the girl in front of her, but the girl dodged it by jumping back further into the cave. Valerie stood still for a second, even though she wasn’t thinking clearly she had changed into a fighting position no one had ever used before in history ”Let me give you an advice girl. I did not come here to take your head, but with all the pain inside you this is the only way.” Of cause this wasn’t the only way, and Valerie had misunderstood the true task.

”I will end the story of a lonely light in this cave.” Valerie closed her eyes ”Let me show you my dance of angels.” And with those words said Valerie opened her eyes once more and charged towards the girl in front of her, with the intention of ending her life. The defenses were down but if Valerie would take a hit, so would the girl. The differences were their clothes which made Valerie slow but armored. Of cause Valerie had never fought a person wielding a weapon of a devil and didn’t know what she was running towards.

"Dance of Angels!? HA!" Liliana let out a laugh as she swung her own scythe. Liliana hadn't cut loose and fought something in years. This girl was going to get the full force of it. Her scythe and the mystery girl's giant sword clashed in midair. Liliana twisted the handle so the blade and the rod caught her sword for a moment. "I have a whole town of people thinking I'm the Angel of Death!!"

Liliana used her weapon induced grip on the claymore and lifted in up into the air where she couldn't use it. Quick as lightning, Liliana brought her scythe down and swung to decapitate the girl. The girl ducked and Liliana's scythe bit deep into the stone wall of the cave. Liliana tried to jerk in out, but the girl was attacking again. Sword, fist, who knew. She just saw something flying her way.

Instead Liliana used the handle of her scythe and jumped up using it, avoiding whatever she was attacking with easily and kicking the girl right in the head. Liliana came down like a cat on the handle, and swung down, ripping the blade out of the wall, but she didn't have time to do anything, as the claymore was heading right for her. the white haired girl only barely had time to lift up the handle of her scythe, the claymore hitting it instead of her.

The force of impact still sent her into a wall. Liliana flatened her back bones out to distribute the force better, but DAMN that hurt! Ignoring the pain in her back now, Liliana dropped to the ground and kicked her armored shin. it probably didn't do any damage, but it might trip her. Or at least make her stumble back. Liliana used the force of the kick to shoot off a good ten meters and out of the cave, grabbing her scythe.

She slid to a stop outside by swinging the blade into the ground, leaving a deep cut in the earth. Liliana slowly stood up, stretching. She picked up her scythe and held it down, much like a rapier. "Really? You didn't come to kill me? Well you're certainly geared up for it! I probably would have only hit you barehanded if you hadn't attacked me!"

Liliana smirked as Valerie emerged from the cave. "So if you didn't come for the ghost of the forest..." (Liliana used her name as the town knew her for a dramatic effect) "Then why did you come, hmm? Certainly not to help me. I had plenty of help, but your kind took it away!" Liliana stood her ground, keeping on the defensive.

Valerie put her left hand on her head ’That damn girl’ She kept an eye on the girl all time ”Angel of Death? Ghost of the Forest? You surely have a lot of names little girl.” Valerie smiled, even though the opponent was as serious as she was herself, she was having fun fighting her. ”But names aren’t going to help you here.”

Valerie put back her left hand on the claymore, and charged forth towards the girl, swinging the claymore with all of her strength. But the girl dodged by jumping directly up in the air using her scythe. In the air the girl made a counterattack swinging down the scythe so that the blade would hit Valerie in the back. Valerie wasn’t able to stop in the middle of her attack but somehow she managed to jump and spin around so that her front pointed up towards the girl. Valerie blocked her attack, but was thrown to the ground by the impact of the two weapons clashing together; the girl was thrown the other way closer to the cave entrance.

Valerie was fast up again. She could feel a slight pain in her back, but wasn’t able to tend to it cause the white haired girl was already in front of her again. Valerie swung the claymore once again but the girl jumped into the air once again with the help of her scythe. ’Oh, no you don’t!’ Valerie let go of her claymore in the middle of the swing making it fly into a tree and stay there. As the white haired girl was about to kick her Valerie grabbed her leg, spin around and threw the girl towards another tree.

Without looking how her throw turned out Valerie ran towards her claymore sitting in another tree the opposite way of where she had thrown the girl. She pulled out the sword and turned towards the girl. The girl was standing, but she had some serious pain in her back it seemed. They had both become slower and weaker in their attacks. But even though they kept on fighting the same way for about twenty minutes without any kind of break.

---

The breathtaking of both fighters had become deep and heavy. Valerie had a hard time keeping herself standing. Her body was shaking all over because of the overloading fight. ”You said something about a person named Nicor… Was it that person’s weapon you are holding right now?” Throughout the fight Valerie’s head had cleared up, and she had no intention of killing her enemy anymore. She was ready to fight her; but had no intention of taking her life anymore. ”Was it the three paladins that came here some time ago that took your friend from you?” Valerie wasn’t sure whether or not it was a wise decision to talk to her opponent this way, but she couldn’t help but feel part guilty in the girl’s pain if it was true what she was asking. Valerie was still standing with her claymore ready to defend herself, but she wouldn’t make more attacks for now; actually she didn’t have much energy left to keep charging the white haired girl anymore.

Liliana was leaning on her scythe, useing it to keep her up. Not that she couldn't stand up on her own, but as long as it was there, right? She swallowed down a gulp of air and looked down, smiling like she hadn't in a long time. Despite her eternal burning hatred for this girl and any being who killed those who didn't deserve it, Liliana was actually having fun! Odd. "Oh. Interested now that you're not sure you can win, are you?" Liliana tried to laugh. It only came out as a breathy half-chuckle.

The white haired girl frowned then, straightening up and not shaking. She narrowed her eyes at the paladin-in-training. "Yes. Nicor was my only friend in the world. And yes. He was a Demon." Liliana said the word distastfully. She never really liked that word. It make him sound bad. She flared her nostrils once before continuing.

He was alone by himself in the forest when he was young, and that's how he lived. He rescued me from the wilderness shortly after, and we were friends ever since. We lived together in that very cave." Liliana pointed at her home. "But your group are so concerned with killing anything unholy you don't look at the person individualy. And the two of us fell under that catagory. Three of them came, and none of them left. But Nicor was gone. Dead, as far as I know."

Liliana lifted up her scythe and brought it down sharply into the ground, piercing through the frozen ground like butter. "And this is his weapon. Frostin tulipalo. It's my only link back to him." She brought the weapon back up and stood it up beside her. A wind blew through the forest, openinng Liliana's now torn black cloak, and chilling any exposed skin to the bone. But Liliana didn't care. She was used to it.

"I don't think myself a bad person. I actually help travelers I come across. I've never hurt anyone who didn't hurt someone else first. Even right now, I'm just defending my life and home. You swung first. Lest it harm none, do what ye will. That's what I live by. That's what he lived by. But not that it mattered to your friends, hmm?"

Liliana sighed, pointing her scythe at Valerie. "Whatever. Not like you care. No one cares for a girl like me. And that's just fine in my book." Liliana crouched, preparing to launch herself at Valerie again. Whatever the outcome, this fight was almost over. Half as long. Twice as bright. Aim for the joints. If I'm going down, she's coming with me!

Liliana was off, burning through her last reserves of energy quickly, but it was worth it. She jumped in the air again, swinging her scythe down at the paladin. Valerie brought her sword up to block it. But the sheer force sank her into the ground another inch. Liliana fell to the ground on her feet, but Valerie was already bringing her sword down for a counter.

Liliana rolled to the right, only barely dodging the devestating blow. Before she could pick it up again, Liliana hooked the blade of her scythe around Valerie's armored leg and pulled, triping her. Valerie fell on her back, and Liliana was up in a second, bringing her scythe down on the poor girl. Valerie brough her sword up and held end end with a hand, the flat of the blade in her left. The blade of the scythe didn't actually hit the sword, but the handle bashed agaiinst it, stopping the swing in it's tracks. The point of the scythe was barely a milimeter from Valerie's nose.

Valerie lifted her leg up and tried to kick Liliana in the stomach. Liliana tried to move but the blow still caught her shoulder, nearly breaking it. Liliana flew back, and Valerie was on her in a second, bringing her own sword down. Liliana blocked in the same way valerie had done. The positions were reversed now though.
"I have to admit..." Liliana grunted, smiling. "You are the best challenge I've ever got from anyone."

Liliana pushed one side of her scythe up, Valeries blade sliding along the new slope and going into the ground. Liliana tried to roll over and strick, but Valerie simply brought up the handle of her sword and bashed it into Liliana's chest. The girl flew back again, but this time twisting around and manageing to land on her feet. Liliana coughed ans spat onto the ground, then looked up.

Valerie was getting up, sword in hand. Liliana tried to move, but her legs were locked in place. Her body wouldn't respond. Valerie aparently took notice of this, and ran towards her, preparing to swing. Liliana blinked.

Damn. This is gonna hurt. She wasn't refering to Valerie's swing. Liliana picked up her scythe and threw it, blade first, at Valerie. She jumped out of the way easily, dodging and still charging. Liliana grunted, and suddenly and black rope appeared between the scythe's handle and Liliana's wrist, connecting the two. Liliana pulled back sharply, the still flying scythe stopping midair and flying back to her hand. Valerie obviously wasn't expecting this. The handle only barely missed hitting the paladin in the back, but the blade caught her.

Anybody without armor would be cut in half easily. But the blade only stuck into her armor, and continued to fly towards Liliana, bringing Valerie with it. This threw her out of her attack. Valerie couldn't do a thing as she flew towards her opponent. Liliana did the only thing she could. She headbutted Valerie as she flew towards her at twenty miles an hour.

Both of the girls flew back by the force of impact, both of them bleeding from the forehead, and both of them landing on there backs. Liliana groaned due to the pain. I hope she doesn't wake up first... Both girls propmtly fell unconscious.

***

Liliana woke first, oddly enough. She slowly crawled up, even though her entire body screamed otherwise. The sun was just begining to set. There fight had been at night. they had been out for maybe eighteen hours. Liliana could barely pick up her scythe, but she did. She slowly walked over to Valerie, who was still out like a light.

"Shame..." Liliana coughed. "I would have liked... to fight you... again..." Liliana was about to raise her scythe when Valerie's words rang through her head. Not only the words, but the tone too. Was it the three paladins that came here some time ago that took your friend from you? She had sounded sad. Concerned. Liliana only hadn't notice it in the heat of the battle. Spare her. Her conscious yelled at her. She cared. She was concerned. Let her live.

Liliana blinked, her arm trembling. "Oh... hitto.... fine..." Liliana sank to her knees and after several moments, and her eyes went back to their light normal hue. Liliana worked for a little bit and after a few more moments, Valeries armor was off, leaving only a few simple undercloths. Liliana picked up the unconscious girl (Not without much difficulty, mind you.) and slowly stummbled into her cave. She layed Valerie down on her bed, and went to the corner of the cave, picking up and bucket of water and a spare shred of cloth from clothing long outgrown.

Liliana pressed at a few places on Valeries body, bent some joints, checking for broken bones. She had none. She would have quite a few nasty bruises, but nothing serious. After checking that, Liliana dunked the cloth in the water and began to slowly clean the dried blood on her head and hair. Her head was the only place that had bled.

After she had finished, Liliana gave herself the same treatment. Still tired beyond belief, Liliana literaly fell into Nicors old bed, her eyes dulling. But she couldn't fall asleep. That would leave her open to an attack. Thirty minutes passed before Valerie stirred. Probably due to the cold. It was freezing outside, but inside was maybe sixty degrees. Still cold for anyone but Liliana.

The second Valerie's eyes were open, Liliana spoke. "And for the record... I like names... They let me know... people are aware of me... that I'm not quite so alone..." Liliana closed her eys, unable to keep them open now. "Now go back... to sleep... so I don't have... to worry about... you attacking... me..." Liliana dropped consciousness like a bad habit.

"Oh come on guys!" Erion called out to his three sparring partners. "You're part of the city guard! You have to be better than this. If the city ever got attacked for some reason, we'd all be dead at this point."

He had spent the last ten minutes basically making Tamryn and the other two men look like fools. He knew that this wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do, especially considering that Tamryn already hated his guts, but he needed to prove a point to them as well as himself: He had been asked to take this job because he was the best at what he did, not because of his relationship with Amatiel. He need to gain the respect of all the men, especially the ones who didn't much care for him.

Tamryn, near enraged by the embarrassment, attempted to rush him with a huge overhead chop.

"No, no, no!" Erion yelled, easily sidestepping the attack and delivering a sweep to the large man's legs with his bokken, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground.

"You," He said, pointing to a random guardsman in the crowd. "What was Tamryn's mistake?"

"Um..." The young man replied, looking dumbfounded.

"Come on, man... think" Erion said smacking right hand against his forehead. "How do you think I dodged that attack so easily?"

"Uh... because you're faster than he is?" The man said, more of a question than an answer.

"I'll take it..." Erion said with a sigh.

"When you are fighting someone who is faster or more agile than you,who's more skilled than you... you never make a frontal assault, unless it's a diversionary tactic. Otherwise, you end up like Tamryn here... on your ass. Or worse."

By this time, Tamryn had managed to get back to his feet and retrieve his sword. He shot Erion a glance that could have cracked stone.

"You two." Erion continued, ignoring the man, and turning his attention to the two men who were supposed to be Tamryn's backup, but were instead hanging out in the background. "You're supposed to be a team. Back him up!"

Grudgingly, they took their places next to Tamryn, readying their weapons with an obvious lack of self assurance.

"Now... " Erion started, twisting his sword around into a backhanded defensive form. "When facing a superior opponent, it's best to have numbers on your side, which you obviously already have. So what do you do next? Anyone?"

"You cut off his escape and attack from all sides!" Said one of the older guardsmen somewhere in the crowd.

"Good man!" Erion said bowing his head slightly in the man's direction. "Attacking from all sides limits the chance of escape as well as distracting your opponent and possibly causing panic."

"Well?" He went on, turning his attention to the three men one again. "What are you waiting for?!"

Within a few moments, the three began to circle around him, presumably trying to find the best point to attack from.

"Good...." Erion said, with a smirk, though not breaking his concentration. "That's perfect. Throw me off guard.. attack from different sides at different intervals. Tamryn, your size and strength are you best attributes. Use the other two as decoys to try and get in close when the time is right. That's how a team is supposed to work. Everyone uses their unique skills in concert. That's the path to victory."

"I don't need you to tell me how to fight!" Tamryn yelled, and with a growl, rushed in to attack once again.


"Idiot!" Erion yelled at the man, parrying his attack and throwing him off balance once again. He was intending to knock him to the ground again, but noticed the other two men coming at him from his left and right.

He blocked the attack from the left, but without the benefit of a second sword, which he was so used to, he wouldn't have been able to block or dodge the attack from the man on the right. He came in low, swinging his sword in a diagonal arc.

Then, for just a moment, something strange happened. It was as if Erion's brain had gone into overdrive. Everything seemed to slow down, and he could see everything so clearly - from the speed of the strike, to it's angle and everything in between - everything just made perfect sense. Before he knew it, his body was in motion, and he was flipping out of the way at just the right moment for him to not only dodge the incoming strike, but for the two men to collide in the process, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Whoa...." He heard one of his men say, followed by cheers and whistles from the rest.

But all he could thing was : What the hell just happened?

.............................................................................................................

"Soooo..." Vereor said quietly, emerging from the shadows. "These two are Light and Water. I can't say I'm particularly impressed."

He walked over to the unconscious Valerie and stood over her with a mischievous smirk on his face, almost a mirror image of Erion's.

"Especially with you, Light." He continued, leaning over her, with his face so close to her's, he could feel her breath on his skin. "You have thoroughly disappointed me today. I expected much more from you, my rival. I do hope you that you become something more than just a pretty face..."

He closed his eyes for just a moment, and lightly kissed her forehead. There was a slight hum in the air for only a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, most of her injuries were fading away.

"I'm very much looking forward to corrupting that purity of yours." He whispered in her ear. "Now.. awaken and make your way home. Take Water with you. The fun will begin soon."

With that, he quickly faded into a nearby shadow, off to bring Fire into the game.

- “Now go back… To sleep. So I don’t have… To worry about… You attacking… Me…”

With those words spoken Valerie’s eyes closed once again, she wasn’t able to answer at the time, ‘Why did I go down?... Oh yeah… She used that cheap attack at the end…’

---

Valerie’s eyes opened again. She was lying in a green field filled with flowers. She sat up ”So it wasn’t a dream… Huh?” the horse of light was standing before her once again ”So how are you doing?... Erm… Messenger?”

“I must say I am a bit disappointed in you Hope.” A very familiar voice said behind her “But even I would have attacked a person holding something I had learned to be evil through my entire life.” Valerie felt a hand on each of her shoulders. “You must learn to listen to yourself instead of others. Wasn’t it you who said ”I believe in the good in everyone”?”

Valerie rose from the ground and turned around towards the heavy plated man, she had met in something she had thought to be a dream. ”Well I... You know… I…” Valerie didn’t know what to answer. The man was right; she had attacked a person without having a good reason. Her sight turned towards her feet, making her look very miserable.

“You don’t have to try to explain, as I said I understand your actions yet, I hope you have learned a lesson from what you’ve done. It was a good idea to lock the powers I gave you last time though. I had a feeling that it would end up as it did, but I do still believe that you are the only that can bring out my wish.” He put his hand on Valerie’s forehead “Now I unlock the powers I hid in your soul Valerie. I want you to learn to master these powers…” His hand started shaking. “The powers of Light… I Sol the god of light, give you my blessing!”

A bolt of light exploded between Sol and Valerie “Rise and do my biding!” He shouted “Rise and follow my dream!” Valerie was blinded by all the light occurring everywhere around them “Rise and free your kind!” as the last word was spoken Valerie fell unconsciousness.

---

- “Now… Awaken and make your way home. Take Water with you. The fun will begin soon.”

---

Valerie woke up very confused and believing she would have a headache that would make most people cry out in pain. But she couldn’t feel any pain, not even the slightest bit of exhaustion. She sat up and saw that she was lying in a bed, inside the cave she had fought in front of. She couldn’t see what the time was, the only thing she could think of was how thirsty she was. ’Where did I put that water?’ She put her hand where she was supposed to have a belt, but couldn’t feel it. She looked down herself and observed her body without her armor. ’Okaaaay… What happened exactly?’

She rose from the bed putting on a blanket that she had been sleeping with. She looked around to see if she could find her armor, instead she saw Liliana, still sleeping, in a bed not far from her. “Sorry” She walked over to her and put her hand on the girls forehead ”I shouldn’t have attacked you.”

Valerie turned around and walked outside to see if she could find her armor as well as her weapon. And luckily as she was she spotted it just as she went outside. She started looking for the two bottles of holy water she had in her belt. Truly the so-called holy water wasn’t holy at all; it was just distilled water that had been given a blessing by the head priest of the church. Meaning it was normal clean water. She found the bottles in her belt took one and drank it. ”Ah… There is nothing as good as clean water.”

Valerie put on her armor and shed her sword before she returned into the cave seeing that Liliana had opened her eyes. Valerie walked to the bed sat on the edge and handed her the other bottle of water. ”You asked of my name right? I believe I owe you that after you tended my wounds. The name is Valerie.”

Liliana blinked once, a blank look on her face. Honestly, she had no idea how to react. Half of her wanted to fight again, the other half wanted to stay meek and tender. Even her actions showed her mental turmoil. She had slowly reached for the water, trembling, only to snatch it away forcefully a second later.

Liliana examined the bottle closely, never having seen one before. She had no idea how to act. Blinking again, she knocked on the plastic like it was wood a few times. But after another moment, she set the bottle down, not knowing how a screw on lid worked. Instead the shy girl looked back up at her new company. "... Valerie..." She repeated the name once. Lilana said nothing else, unsure of which persona to take out of her two.

All of her instincts told her to strike now, run a knife through her throat and be done with it. But her other reminded her that she wasn't being attacked right now, and fighting was unsafe due to the fact that she had only just woken up and was tired. So Liliana only scooted away to the otehr side of the bed, bringing her knees up to hug them tightly, as if they could provide some sort of protection.

"... Liliana..." She said her name to Valerie, still wary. She was completely on edge, ready to lunge if Valerie even hinted at hostility. Even her eyes send a clear message. Don't come any closer. "... Why are you here... paladin..." Liliana semi spat the last word. Her hands clenched, but then came undone again.