The Lady of Shadows

The plan in action

    The week passed pretty uneventfully. We trained more than ever, but the biggest change was Celine, who now took completely active stances on all the matters that crossed my desk. She was solidifying the role I had already decided to give her if Lilith were to travel with me. She was fully committed to making life better for everyone.  

    Finally the day came that Lilith had gotten news from her friend. She was so excited to hear back that when she rushed to tell me it was a rush of words that made no sense. I cleared my throat and waited for her to calm down.

    "Now try again." I told her once she relaxed some. 

    "Okay, Rosaline just got word to me. She found the black market, says its mostly a bunch of rag-tag rookies that have no idea what they are doing. But there are a few of the founders that are, if nothing else, not stupid." Lilith tried to calmly explain, "Of them she knows of one mage, one thief, and one person who seems to just be there for the money." 

    "Okay, That's good news. I'm betting the girl I saw is the mage then?" I asked. Lilith shook her head.

    "The one there for money is the only girl. So unless she's keeping a really good lock on her strength, which I doubt with that kind of power, the girl you saw might just be someone that was there to buy or sell." 

    "Great... that's bothersome. Anyways, did you get a basic build up?" I asked moving on to the next topic. 

    "Yeah, from what she could gather there are 4 rooms like the one you found. Each specializing in different areas. The one you found was mostly slaves, and slave items, like chaining items and servitude curses and anything else related to trafficking of living beings, like the forbidden food market. The second room is more of the random style with mostly illegal items like enchanted swords that are cursed to take the wielder's life slowly. The third room is drugs. The forth is the one that is the most terrifying. It's specifically for dark magic items, tomes, and books." Lilith rattled off. 

    "Okay, good intel." I nodded. Lilith dropped the documents she was holding in front of me.

    "This is more or less the layout. With three doors in different areas of the city. They don't have much of a guard system as they are sure the magic doors keep them pretty well hidden. That being said the Thief has a small army to attack if they are threatened." She pointed out where everything was on the lay out maps. I nodded as I filled in the finer details in my head, where the army was held and the likely minor guards... any minor details that could be an issue if left out. My brain worked on filling in the blanks and building a full image in my head. 

    "Okay. This is amazing. Let me review it and I'll have a plan within the hour. We can end this black market tomorrow." I said.

    "Should I tell Rosaline what we know?" Lilith asked. I shook my head. 

    "Wait and let's see how this plays out. If you want, you can tell her that I am dealing with it, but just me." I said. 

    "Okay.... why just you?" She asked.

    "Well, if someone overhears, then they'll think it's not a big deal, but if word gets out that I am bringing both, you and Dominic, then it's more real. Plus something in my gut just says to keep it quiet." I said. 

    "Alright. As long as I get to tell her everything later."

    "Of course. I would never ask you to lie or hide information from someone you trust explicitly." I smiled at her. She bounced out the office as happy as could be to go let Dominic know. I looked over everything and began working to make my plan.

****

    "Okay, so does everyone know what they're doing?" I asked. Lilith and Dominic nodded.   

    "And when this is over, I get to take you out on the first date!" Dominic said happily. Lilith rolled her eyes.

    "No, that right will be mine!" She argued. I sighed. They smiled and nudged each other before leaving me shaking my head. 

    "Morons." I said. I turned to go to my own area. We each had a door to enter. I went to the Dark magic door, less people that need protected. Lilith went to the door connecting the drugs and illegal items rooms. Dominic got the slaves room. Lilith could burn anyone alive, and burn up the drugs and items at the same time so it would be easy for her to handle. Dominic would be strong arming anyone. I upped his training to make sure that he could keep even myself from fighting back in a one on one fight, so I was very confident he could handle anyone and everyone that would be in the market.

    I focused on the door and entered. I made my way through the hall, just as easily as before. I listened closely but the sound I heard set off every alarm in my body. Armor clinging, marching, easily 300 hearts beating in a large group. 

    "Alright men! We know the attack is going to start here. Who ever comes in does not leave alive! We are the barbarians who strike fear into all who meet our wrath, and we will not fail!" A voice boomed calling the men to cheer. They were ready for war. I cloaked myself as much as possible and peaked into the room. 

    300 men faced the entry, lined up and ready to attack. Someone had tipped them off that I was coming. Luckily I had Lilith only say it was me and that I was starting here. I sighed heavily. 300 was a lot, even for me. Sure I could kill them all with a big enough attack, but I wasn't exactly wanting to end this that way. Then I saw the girl. She had her eyes trained on me with fury burning in them. For her this was personal.... but I had no idea who she was... With her looking right at me I knew my cover was blown. A big spell was my chance. So That's exactly what I did. I focused on the large group of fighters and imagined a massive explosion, a nuclear take down. I sent my magic out in a large burst to make that image a reality. It did not disappoint. 

    With them out of the way  I had a clear view of the remaining threat, mages getting attacks ready and the girl who was still standing still. I wanted to save as much of my power for the girl as possible, but I knew that would be hard with the magic users. I took a breath and began to move quickly. In seconds I was in the face of a very old looking mage that seemed shocked that any living thing could move that fast. I knocked him out and moved on, quickly dispatching the remaining small fry.

    With the girl being my only remaining enemy I turned to face her. She looked livid. I smiled and held out my arms as an invitation to join me on the front lines. Suddenly the wall behind me busted open and both my friends were there as back up. Lilith and Dominic rushed to my side with huge dumb grins on their faces. I looked up at the unknown girl, or at least I thought she was unknown....

    "Rosaline?! What the hell are you doing here?" Lilith yelled at the top of her lungs.