Battle Freaks

------- (Liana) "That's a long time."

Lillian nodded. ---------

(Lillian) "It was only around then when I started being in more danger, what with becoming Chief and all."

Liana chuckled as she nodded.

(Liana) "That makes sense."

She thought for a moment.

(Liana) "Do you know how many times it's happened already?"

Lillian contemplated the question for a minute before replying,

(Lillian) "Seven and three quarters."

(Liana) "Seven and three quarters?!"

Lillian chuckled as she said,

(Lillian) "Well because I didn't actually die the last time, but a normal human wouldn't have survived it even if they were healed immediately. Thus, three quarters."

Liana couldn't help herself and burst out laughing, making Lillian laugh as well. As they calmed down, they ended up staring directly into each other's eyes. Lillian raised her hand and caressed Liana's cheek lightly.

(Lillian) "I promise I will come back to you as soon as I can."

Liana's eyes closed slightly as she leaned into Lillian's hand.

(Robyn) "Should we go away again?"

Liana flinched back slightly, while Lillian merely smiled and dropped her hand before turning to face Robyn and Stella.

(Lillian) "You ready to go?"

Stella just nodded her head slightly. Lillian smiled and turned back to Liana. Liana stretched her arms out and Lillian pulled her into a hug.

(Lillian) "I'm not going to be away for that long."

Liana chuckled.

(Liana) "It just occurred to me that the longest we've been apart since we met was less than eighteen hours, not considering the three days you were unconscious. This is going to be so strange."

Lillian simply smiled and held Liana close for a few more moments. When she released her, Liana expected her to simply turn to face Stella again, but Lillian did something completely unexpected.

*

Liana's face flushed completely red as Lillian pulled back then turned to face Stella.

(Liana's thoughts) 'Did she just…'

Her hand rose to touch the place where Lillian had just kissed her. Sure, it was on her cheek, but it was barely more than a fingers' width away from her lips.

(Lillian) "Let's go."

Stella nodded, and walked over to stand beside Lillian. Liana watched with Robyn as Lillian performed a teleportation spell and they disappeared before their eyes.

*

Robyn turned to face Liana, a smirk on her face.

(Robyn) "So..."

She dragged out the o, the smirk more enhanced now. Liana's face flushed red again, as a cute grin came across her face, but it quickly dropped again.

*

Seemingly out of nowhere, Liz appeared with Ruby. Ruby walked over to Liana and wrapped her arms around her, whispering a few words into her ear. Liz stood next to Robyn, who turned to her with a questioning look. Liz simply smiled and said,

(Liz) "She knows what she's doing. I have a guess, but I'm not going to interfere either way."

Robyn nodded in agreement.

*

After a while, Ruby released Liana and looked into her eyes.

(Ruby) "We're all here for you."

Liana smiled gratefully as Liz and Robyn approached the two of them.

(Liana) "You really think…"

They all chuckled and nodded. Robyn was the one who spoke up this time.

(Robyn) "We're not going to help or interfere though. It's up to you to handle it."

Liana nodded.

(Liana) "Thank you."

She grinned as she said,

(Liana) "Lillian told me you guys would train me or with me when she wasn't around."

Robyn and Liz had to resist rolling their eyes, but they couldn't stop the smiles.

(Robyn) "You really are just like her, aren't you?"

(Liz) "Brilliant, a third."

Ruby, on the other hand, glared at Liz who blushed and looked at the ground, getting a chuckle from Robyn, and a confused look from Liana.

(Robyn) "Come on, let's go find Rose."

*

(Rose) "Chief wants me to train Liana?"

Robyn raised an eyebrow and nodded. Rose grinned and said,

(Rose) "Great, let's go."

Robyn raised an eyebrow.

(Rose) "What? I've been wanting to spar with Liana since the day she won against Brian."

She smiled.

(Rose) "Even before, actually, I've just never gotten the opportunity to do so before this."

Robyn sighed but replied,

(Robyn) "You're another one."

She shook her head and gestured towards the others, who were waiting a while away, out of earshot.

(Robyn) "Shall we?"

*

Liana, however, was frowning to herself as she was able to hear their conversation completely clearly.

(Liana's thoughts) 'This is new. Did I get enhanced hearing or something?'

She looked up and saw a bird standing just on top of where Rose and Robyn were standing. An image flashed before her eyes, and she had to stop herself from gasping out loud.

(Liana's thoughts) 'It seems or something then, but I can do that? That's new.'

(Rose) "Liana, are you alright?"

She had got caught up in her thoughts and Robyn and Rose had reached them without her noticing. She nodded her head lightly and smiled.

(Liana) "Yeah. You're gonna train me?"

Rose smirked.

(Rose) "You're gonna hate me after this."

Liana returned her expression.

(Liana) "I'm not sure about that."

Rose considered it for a moment then said,

(Rose) "Now that I really think about it, you may actually like me more after this."

Liana simply shrugged as Rose gave her a smile.

(Rose) "Let's head to the training hall first."

*

When they got to the training hall, Rose turned to Liana and said,

(Rose) "I will be doing your training differently from Liz's, because what you will be using it for in the future will also be different."

Liana nodded. It made sense, as from what she had seen, Liz's training was definitely more direct assault, while she herself would be more support than anything, although she could be the front as well.

(Rose) "Let's begin. Normally I would spar with a new student, and as much as I want to, I can't, since I've seen you fight as well as some of your training sessions."

She went on to give Liana a list of exercises and drills to do. It was clear that Liana wasn't too happy about it since she felt the same way as Rose, but she proceeded to do it anyway.

Rose watched her with a smile as she said softly,

(Rose) "When I'm satisfied with your progress, we'll have a short spar."

Liana grinned and put more effort into her exercises.

*

Meanwhile…

Lillian and Stella reappeared in front of a huge building, with five people standing at the doors, all armed, but with different weapons. Their arrangement was one female and one male in the front, while there were two female soldiers and another male standing a distance behind them. The female soldier in the front was carrying dual swords, and her partner had an axe strapped to his back. Behind them, one of the women had throwing knives and a short sword, and the guy was carrying a crossbow as well as a small dagger, with the last female carrying a normal bow, as well as a thin, rapier-like sword.

Although they had weapons, anyone who was able to use magic would be able to see a highly concentrated and condensed aura around each of them. Despite the formation appearing loose, it would also be clear to anyone with fighting experience that there were absolutely no weak spots in it.

The moment they saw Lillian and Stella appear, they moved into a tighter formation that would be impenetrable unless one overpowered them through brute force.

Their bodies were loose but ready to move and react the moment someone moved to attack.

(Stella) "At ease."

When they realised it was two of their commanders, they relaxed and bowed, greeting them.

(Guards) "Boss. General Dusk."

Stella was a General in the Blazing Dragons as well as the Silent Shadow Guard, but she went by a different name, choosing to use her middle name in place of her last name. Lillian merely nodded and raised a hand slightly, signalling something with her fingers. The guards bowed and moved to stand to the side, leaving a clear path for them. As they passed by them, the dual sword wielder and the archer turned to follow behind them. They entered the building to see Jasmine and James waiting for them. They both bowed upon seeing Lillian.

(Jasmine) "Boss."

Lillian raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question, and Jasmine responded with a nod. They walked up a few flights of stairs, reaching the fourth floor in a few minutes.

To anyone looking at the building from the outside, it would appear to have only three floors. In reality, however, there were five floors above ground, and three more underground: the rest of the floors being hidden by spells.

They reached a huge double door with two guards standing outside. The moment they saw Lillian, they bowed and said in unison,

(Guards) "Boss."

Lillian simply nodded and they both reached for the handle of the side of the door they were on and opened it, revealing a long table with twenty-seven people sitting around it, along with three empty seats and a few guards standing against the walls. The moment the doors opened revealing Lillian, everyone in the room stood up and bowed, greeting her.

Lillian walked over to the end of the room and sat at the end of the table. On her right was a woman with light-green hair and purple eyes, and next to her was a man with sandy-brown hair, paired with hazel eyes. Next to him, was Stella. On Lillian's left side was Jasmine, with James on her other side. The other two simply took a place standing behind Lillian's chair. With a nod from Lillian, everyone else sat down.

Jasmine stood up and started speaking at a gesture from Lillian.

(Jasmine) "Now although this is a normal meeting, we have something different to discuss today. I'll be giving the debrief now so please pay careful attention. Two days ago, the Azure Blood Squad sent assassins into the Loyal Eagle Clan, to scout and if possible, to terminate the chief. This Chief, as far as we are concerned, is our Boss. Our aim today is to determine whether it was an attack on her as the Boss of the Blazing Dragons or as the Chief of the Loyal Eagle Clan."

Jasmine paused for a moment and all, save Lillian, nod their heads in agreement.

(Jasmine) "If we determine it to be an attack on the Chief of the Loyal Eagle Clan, we will let the Clan deal with it in their own way. However, if it should be that we determine it to be on our Boss, we will stop at nothing to make sure it never happens again."

Again, everyone nodded, though this time Lillian raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

She sat back down, allowing the others to discuss for about ten minutes before tapping the table lightly with her finger, which resulted in almost immediate silence. She asked for suggestions, after which the twenty-nine of them began discussing things.

Meanwhile, Lillian was sitting at the end of the table wondering to herself,

(Lillian's thoughts) 'Why do I let them do this again?'

There was actually no need for them to go through all this trouble, as Lillian could and did just read the minds of the assassins to find out why they were there. However, she let them do this because she needed to be sure they were able to operate without her there and doing everything for them.

*

After about an hour of sitting there listening to them talk and getting incredibly bored, Lillian raised her right hand slightly off the table, and the whole room instantly went silent.

(Lillian) "Have you come to a conclusion?"

They all glanced at each other, communicating silently while Lillian simply raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

(Lillian) "Erin?"

The girl with light-green hair on Lillian's right stood up and spoke.

(Erin) "I'm certain I don't speak for everyone here, but the majority have agreed on the idea that the Azure Blood Squad was trying to bait the Phoenix out into the open so that they can launch a full-force attack. This is based on other information we already have on the Azure Blood Squad. However, it seems they do not know who or where the Phoenix is, thus the failed attack on the Chief of the biggest and strongest Tribe."

Lillian nodded.

(Lillian's thoughts) 'They're improving.'

(Lillian) "And your final conclusion?"

(Erin) "They sent a team of assassins to attempt to take the life of the Chief of the Loyal Eagle Clan, but were also certain it was going to fail, as their real aim was the Phoenix."

Lillian allowed the corners of her lips to tilt upwards at Erin, but quickly schooled her features again, facing the whole table.

(Lillian) "You may sit down now, Erin."

Erin sat down, her brain still processing what she had just seen.

(Erin's thoughts) 'Boss smiled. Boss smiled. Boss smiled at me.'

If Liana were around, she would have immediately gotten a strong dislike for Erin right about now.

(Lillian) "What Erin said is correct. And I am also aware that although you were all discussing this, Erin was the one who came to this conclusion on her own. She is the one who deserves the credit for this. I take it there are no objections?"

All the heads in the room shook their heads, accepting it. They knew their boss was always fair and never favoured another unless there was a real reason for it.

Erin, on the other hand couldn't comprehend what had just happened and froze up slightly. She quickly gathered her thoughts, pushing her personal feelings aside for now. There would be plenty of time for it later.

(Erin) "Thank you, Boss, it is my honour."

After Lillian had taken over the Blazing Dragons, she implemented a system where the men were able to earn credits by either doing something for her or doing something exemplary, and they were able to use these credits to 'redeem' something, so to speak. They were allowed to request something from Lillian personally, as long as it wasn't overboard, and on par with the credits they had earned. Of course, it was ultimately up to Lillian to decide what they could and couldn't request for.