Woefully unprepared. That’s how Mila felt. And she had been seen but luckily dismissed as unimportant. That stung. Not because she wanted to be seen as dangerous but because it made her recall her recent loss.

The group continued to stride with the confidence of a predator. They left broken bodies, properties and spirits in their passing.

No one dared to even look upon these scornful troops. Their voices carried over the city towards the blue, unfeeling sky. There was no caution in how they behaved, believing they owned the place.

And Mila had to admit they did. With the usual top dogs missing, these people had the right to call themselves rulers. Even if just for the duration of the walk.

Furthermore, Mila noticed a few additional people sneaking along the rooftops. She had trouble telling if they were comrades of the group or here to see what they were up to.

Maybe both. Whatever it was, it made Mila even more hesitant to make her move. At least not one with deadly consequences. She still closed the distance between her and the loud bunch.

It wasn’t even hard. Mila and two other people across the street listened in on the boisterous yelling. These people talked too much about their love lives, alcohol and how they planned to spend their money.

But Mila did learn some useful snippets. For one, they were working under someone named ‘Hatchet’. She had a vague recollection of Barcy mentioning someone like that. This ‘Hatchet’ was a more distant Crime Boss who had no dealings in the area. At least he hadn’t before today.

The second thing Mila learned was they were here to force Naran to surrender his escape routes. They were coming in force as the first party had been decimated. She wanted to facepalm when Mila learned by whom.

It wasn’t hard to imagine why Isabel had snapped. Judging by the way these guys behaved, her girl likely found it impossible to leave them alone.

At least Isabel had not suffered. Physical harm, that is. More rumours were spreading of this mysterious Inviolable Paladin. Isabel will be mad about it.

Mila cringer when she heard herself being mentioned as well. These people found her and Isabel amusing. They wanted to face and overcome them. They were seen as engaging challenges.

Which was fine. Mila once more counted her throwing knives. They hadn’t magically increased in amount since the last time she did it.

Six attempts at this group's lives. That’s all Mila had without engaging them directly. And it couldn’t be from the rooftops either. Her unwanted peers snooping around eyed each other and her with suspicion.

From the ground level, then. That was possible but more dangerous, and… Mila would endanger innocent bystanders going with that approach.

It was still an optimal choice. It wouldn’t be hard to attack and then vanish amongst the crowd. If these ruffians spilt their anger and bile upon anyone in the vicinity, it would further delay their arrival.

And yet, Mila hesitated to deploy this plan. It was… It wasn’t something that Isabel would do even if she understood the reasoning. Andrew would hate it, and she…

What did she feel about it? Mila knew what she thought. It wasn’t a bad idea. But what about her conscience?

Too much noise. Mila’s thoughts and opinions screamed at each other, trying to establish dominance. But it didn’t feel good.

After clicking her tongue, Mila ran further ahead, trying to see if there were good spots or possible opportunities to engage these enemies.

A few people down below on the street level ran as well. They shouted about the soon passing of these terrible people. The streets tried to empty, clogging the alleys and the few buildings still capable of accepting more bodies.

Barely, but most people managed to get away. And as Mila closed in on one of the more publicly known Naran’s tunnels, she noticed the population growing scarcer.

It appeared that Naran’s people had noticed the invading force. They had started to warn the people in the surroundings of the impending doom.

And it freed a lot of options for Mila to consider. Ambushing the group was once more an option she was not against. Her eyes fell on a man with a stony face. He was instructing people on where to go. She recalled him as someone who frequented the canteen where she ate.

Mila stepped into a gap between two houses and fell in the alley. She followed the stony-faced man’s shouts and curses to find him again.

When Mila found the man, she “A group of over fifty people from someone named ‘Hatchet’ is closing in. I assume you already knew.”

The man looked at her in surprise before nodding. “Not exactly. But we suspected that would happen after the Inviolable Paladin took care of his people earlier.” He waved to another man who was talking with a worried group of refugees further down the street. “Hurbert, come here! We have news.”

After Hurbert joined them, Mila quickly recounted all the information she had. And at the end, she requested the evacuation to be fastened. The stony-faced man left to pass the intel up the chain while Hurbert returned to hastening their efforts of emptying the place.

Mila studied the surroundings. Some buildings still had people in them. But soon, more Naran’s people flooded the area to empty those as well. In exchange, they offered the safety of the tunnels, which these civilians gladly took.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

There still was noise and noises of people panicking in the distance. Mila slowly paced around, studying the future battlefield. She knew Naran was gathering his people, but he didn’t plan to come out of his tunnels. He knew his strength and direct battle was not it.

Soon, Mila found where Isabel had fought just a short while ago. The bodies were removed, but blood was still there. She worried her girl was kicking herself for killing once again. Her heart was softer than Mila’s.

Speaking of which…

“Not a pleasant sight,” Isabel spoke from behind Mila.

“No. Not it is not.” Mila agreed and faced her girl. “How are you holding?” She walked towards Isabel, who was wearing a cracked mask of Deamon. The cracked line reminded Mila of tears. “Why is your mask damaged.” Her voice dropped. Had they managed to hurt Isabel? If they had…

“I threw it,” Isabel confessed while fidgeting. “I wasn’t hurt. I promise.”

“Good.” Mila’s shoulders relaxed.

“I was just… You know what, it’s stupid.” Isabel sighed. “All of this is stupid. And I am fine.” She continued. “Not like we can examine our hangups now, can we?”

Mila paused before hugging Isabel. The blue cloak was splashed in blood. “I disagree. There is always time for your problems.”

“But not yours?” Isabel returned the hug.

“That is-”

“Not that different.” Isabel pulled back. “Are you planning on fighting?” It wasn’t a question.

“I was planning on thinning their ranks. Yes,” Mila admitted.

“Then I will, too,” Isabel stated.

Of course, Isabel did. Mila wanted to argue back. She wished to tell her girl it was too dangerous, but…

It was an argument that they already had between them before. If anything, Isabel’s position had improved, as had her strength.

“You saw them, right?” Isabel pressed on. “Can you stop them?”

The answer, of course, was no. So, Mila shook her head.

“And with me helping?” Isabel puffed out her chest. “I am strong. Can they hurt me?”

“Possibly. There are too many enemies.” Mila tried to simulate how the fight would go. “They can pin you down. Especially their leader. She is strong.”

“Ugh.” Isabel wasn’t happy. But then, she turned thoughtful. “But she wouldn’t be able to injure me.”

It was a reasonable conclusion. But Mila would not have it. “I am not going to let you become a punching bag.”

“No, no. I wasn’t planning on becoming one.” Isabel hurried to deny the accusation. “I can harass them from a distance. And when they chase, you pick them off. I know I don’t have a long-range arsenal at my disposal, but…” She kicked a rock. “I can throw stuff at them.”

“The area isn’t that large. We would bump into unevacuated areas soon.” Mila pondered. It wasn’t a bad idea. It could definitely work.

“But we can do it, right?” Isabel was not letting go. “And-” She leaned closer. “The escape routes are flooded. Naran needs every available hand. He is trying to dig another one and to clear the current ones from the water.”

“Ah, that’s not good.” Mila frowned. She took Isabel’s hand and led her into the closest abandoned home. “They will arrive soon. Are you sure about this?”

“Sure am.” Isabel nodded. “And hey, isn’t it a little bit romantic? To be fighting side by side.”

“No.” Mila disagreed. “No, it isn’t. Not like this. That’s how tragedies end.”

“Take that back. That’s terrible luck to talk like that!” Isabel punched Mila’s shoulder.

“I don’t believe in luck. It’s all about-”

“Yes, yes.” Isabel stopped Mila from lecturing. “So, do you agree with my plan?”

“It is best we can do for now. If we want to fight, that is.” Mila gave Isabel a way out.

“No. I think we should. I… I don’t like it, but…” Isabel hung her head. It was hard to tell what kind of expression she was wearing beneath the mask. But then the sombre moment was over. “Where is Andrew, by the way?”

“Ugh…” Mila let out an uncharacteristic groan. “That’s a whole other problem. He made a deal with Helly. He should be here in an hour if we are lucky.”

“That sucks,” Isabel noted. “He, well… More like Mr Crow would be very helpful.” She dusted off her dirty cloak.

Mila noticed Isabel didn’t have her weapon. “Not using a sword?” She wondered.

To which Isabel nodded. “Yeah. But I am going to use my…” She hesitated. “Well… You know.”

“Your shield with the beautiful ornament?” Mila smiled.

Isabel raised her mask and gave Mila a quick peck on the tip of her nose. “Sure, sure. Praise yourself some more.”

“I think I might.” Mila gave a kiss on the lips back. Only then did Isabel hide herself back under the mask. “After all, you might even like me reminding you of how pretty my eyes are.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” Isabel sounded very unconvincing. “You just want to tease me… Well, it does help with nerves.” She manifested her silver shield. “That’s better. It is so stifling to fight without it.”

“Hmm, that will tie this identity to the shield. It will be harder to use it in the future.” Mila reminded.

“It’s fine. I can always don this cape when the need to fight arises.” Isabel flourished her cloak and raised the shield in the air.

It was clear Isabel was waiting for a reaction. Mila just wasn’t sure what kind. So, to not disappoint, she gave a thumbs up. “Very cute.” At least she was sure of that. Her girl was very cute.

“Not that.” Isabel huffed. “Did you ever watch any movies? Read comics? Anything like that?”

“I… did. Sometimes.” Mila tried to recall. “Not very often. Those occasions have mostly faded from my memory.”

“Oh… I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine. I have you now.” Mila took a step closer to Isabel and leaned on her. “And that I can’t forget. It is a memory that will forever stay with me. As will you.”

“I guess this works.” Isabel tried to give another kiss but was stopped by the mask. “Stupid thing.” She freed her face and planted a wet kiss on Mila’s lips. “That might have been a mistake. I now want more.”

“Hush now,” Mila pushed Isabel away. “It’s almost time. We still have to work out details on how to do this.”

“I never thought a time would come when you would refuse more kissing.” Isabel sadly noted.

“No, that is still on the table.” Mila realised her mistake a little too late. “Come here. We have about a minute more.” She took Isabel in her arms. Some kissing would surely do wonders for her girl’s confidence.