‎An eerie silence enveloped the entire city.

‎" Something doesn't add up," Cassius murmured, sniffing the air in a very beast-like way despite being in human form.

The Talented boy towered slightly over the rest of the group. His eyes glowed faintly with an ethereal orange glow.

‎Despite seeing Cassius' abilities first-hand a few times now, the Talented's eye for detail didn't cease to amaze Morgan.

‎Morgan grinned, quietly unsheathing his blades.

‎"I'm almost surprised you noticed..."

Morgan himself had only noticed because he'd been observing the creatures for quite a while now. The eerie quiet in the city had only confirmed his suspicions, but seeing Cassius notice the same thing showed him that he was right.

‎Samantha stared at him with wide eyes, while the red-haired Talented girl threw him a wary glance.

‎An understandable reaction.

‎Lucian and Talia quickly followed suit, the former swiftly unsheathing his twin blades and the latter, unholstering her Hawk and Echo. Lucian, because he trusted Morgan's instincts, and Tali, because she was wary of any unpleasant surprises.

‎A cold, icy blade blossomed in Emily's outstretched hand, gleaming beautifully in the pale light.

‎"Can you explain what the hell is going on?" Samantha hissed, her gaze shifting between the other members of the group.

‎" Silent forest syndrome," Cassius muttered, spinning warily in place.

‎His irises ignited, glowing brighter with a vivid russet brilliance, hands instantly transformed into claws. Fur rapidly crept up his forearms, his teeth elongating slightly.

‎Samantha frowned slightly, her brows wrinkling in confusion.

‎" What is that supposed to mean?"

‎"It's a phenomenon that happens in a forest," Emily explained calmly, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding buildings.

‎" When prey sense a more dangerous predator, everything goes still, there's an eerie quiet, a silence of sorts."

Talia smiled at her, nodding silently. During the past weeks, the Varas girl had quietly acknowledged Emily's extensive knowledge in various fields.

‎Samantha nodded, unstrapping the long package strapped to her back.

‎Within a few moments, the dark leather gave way to an elegant dark spear with runic etchings engraved into its surface.

‎During the course of the training, Lucian Morgan and Talia had discovered something, somewhat appalling, about Samantha's combat ability.

‎The Talented was exceedingly bad at close-quarters combat. The brunette was easily flustered when it came to exchanging physical blows at close range. At least compared to the scions and the average talented

‎After a few sparring sessions, the three had unanimously come to a decision.

‎Lucian was the first to deliver his brutal assessment.

‎"You clearly have no talent for hand-to-hand combat, and I say that in all honesty. I mean, I'm not that good and even I can beat you."

‎Talia scoffed at the last bit, and Cassius simply rolled his eyes.

‎Lucian turned to them with an innocent expression on his face.

‎" What's the matter? I'm being serious here!"

‎Morgan chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

‎"I'll have to agree with Lucian on this. Hand-to-handd combat or even close combat weaponry for that matter, clearly isn't your forte."

‎Talia nodded in agreement.

‎Samantha stared at her hands glumly, her glare accusingly.

‎" I can't even fight..." she whispered.

‎Morgan got off the stone and was sitting in, shaking his head slightly.

‎"No, it's not that you can't fight. I think it's the method of fighting, the weapon choice."

‎Lucian's eyes widened slightly in surprise, his eyes gleaming in understanding.

‎"If you had something longer, then perhaps you would be able to fight better."

‎" I saw a few spears down at the armoury. Perhaps she should give them a try."

‎A few moments later, they were back with the elegant spear.

‎Initially, training with it had been cumbersome since none of the people present specialised in spears. But surprisingly, Samantha was quite good at it, moving the dark spear like a second limb and masterfully weaving and dancing with it.

‎"Well, that was certainly unexpected," Amanda murmured, watching Samantha's still clumsy movements and occasional moments of brilliance.

‎Turning to Emily, the redhead paused momentarily, seemingly battling with indecision. After a while, she bit out.

‎"Did you know she was this good?"

‎Emily smiled faintly, shaking her head slightly.

‎" No, I didn't know, but Sammie was always full of surprises."

‎Amanda's eyes narrowed slightly at the comment.

‎"Evidently, from the looks of things. " Of course, Samantha had mostly learnt while practising her technique on the three of them. But still, the Talented girl's natural affinity to wielding the long-reaching weapon was nothing to scoff at.

‎

‎

‎In the quiet, deserted alleyway, the small group stood cautiously, warily observing their surroundings with renewed vigilance.

‎"Well, nothing's moving," Samantha muttered.

‎" And that's why we're sticking to the shadows from here on out. There's not even a Bretnar in sight. Staying exposed would be a foolhardy move."

‎" The Bretnar," Cassius muttered, sniffing the air," I can smell them. They're all around us, just extremely well hidden. Cnning bastards."

‎"Well, forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but we're not exactly trained to skulk around in the shadows like you assassins,s, "Amanda said quietly, staring at Morgan.

‎Morgan silently turned to her, staring at her for a while. A slight but palpable tension mounted in the air from the small comment.

‎Eventually, Morgan spoke, smiling darkly.

‎" Any suggestions?"

‎Amanda stared at him silently. After a short while, she spoke.

‎" Well, only one, but Cassius and Emily probably aren't going to like it."

‎The two turned to her in surprise.

‎Lucian grinned, nonchalantly flicking his blades.

‎"Let's hear this idea of yours," he said, his brown eyes turning slightly darker.

‎

‎A few moments later, the stage was set.

‎A brilliant bolt of lightning erupted into the sky.

‎Amanda's plan and suggestion were quite simple.

‎The Bretnar were most probably hiding, lying in ambush, which meant the element of surprise was nullified.

‎It also displayed an uncanny intelligence and adaptability from the brutish creatures.

‎" But that doesn't make sense, see you know... I don't think these things are that intelligent," Lucian argued.

‎" And yet you can't deny what we're seeing here..." Morgan mused.

‎" The Bretnar king must have noticed our probing attacks to pinpoint its location. So it's trying this again."

‎Talia, whodbeen quiet, joined in.

‎" I'm inclined to agree with the intelligence aspect of this entire thing. When we first arrived here, those weird creatures showed a frightening sense of cognition. That stack was anything but mindless."

‎Amanda nodded.

‎" So first we'll draw them out, force them to break down."

‎Which was why Amanda was firing several volleys of flashy lightning into the sky.

‎In the shadow of an unsuspecting Bretnar, a pair of russet eyes glowed, coming to life, grabbing the unsuspecting creature by the throat.

‎The large creature struggled violently, unable to screech to alert its allies to the immense pressure around its throat.

‎" I've got to hand it to Amanda. This is pretty diabolical. "

‎After a few more moments of futile struggling, the creature went limp, unconscious but still alive.

‎"Now, to move on to the next step of the plan."

‎Cassius hauled the unconscious Bretnar back to the alleyway, unceremoniously dumping him to the ground.

‎" Your turn, Emily..."

‎Emily quietly stepped forward, her eyes coming to life with a brilliant glow.

‎Within seconds, a giant icy pedestal rose from the ground with the unconscious Bretnar's limbs entrapped within it.

‎Cassius frowned, watching their unconscious Bretnar hanging limply from the pedestal.

‎" Now what?"

‎Amanda smiled mischievously.

‎" Now we wake up our unwilling guest. Morgan Lucian and Talia get into position."

‎The three scions silently melted into the shadows,s, disappearing.

‎"How do you plan on waking it up?" Samantha asked with a frown.

‎Amanda grinned gleefully, softly carressing the block of ice holding up the Bretnar.

‎"Have you ever heard of the phrase, Ride the Lightning?"

‎Without waiting for Samantha's response, Amanda's eyes ignited with an ethereal glow. Dark streaks of red lightning flowed from the tips of her fingers, coursing through the giant block of ice.

‎The Bretnar revived with a startled shriek. A split second later, an agonised screech rang out through the entirety of the city.

‎" Any moment now."

‎With a silent roar, Cassius grabbed Samantha and Emily, bounding up to the roof of one of the buildings in one leap.

‎For a while, the Bretnar screeched, its wails carrying over the city, then they felt it. The pebbles on the ground began to tremble slightly.

‎Cassius' eyes darkened.

‎"They're coming..."

‎With a jump, he leapt off the roof, returning a heartbeat later with Amanda.

‎" We're going to have to hold up until the Bretnar king arrives and those three can deal with it."

‎This was the crux of Amanda's brilliant plan. I a distance, several dark figures swiftly converged on their location, the ground trembling under the sheer number of approaching Bretnar.

‎"They aren't flying," Cassius noted.

‎"Ok, starting to think this wasn't such a good idea."

‎Smantba laughed nervously, slyly brandishing her spear.

‎"You're getting cold feet now?"

‎Cassius sighed, bracing himself.

‎" Only a fool or an extremely brave idiot wouldn't baulk at this number."

‎Emily chuckled, her eyes glowing with an ominous emerald light.

‎"Then I guess that makes us all fools."

‎

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