It was a few minutes after ten by the time she stepped out onto the magically warm sands of the Arena floor. Lilia stopped suddenly - there were two large figures instead of one. Synderius was there, as expected, but he'd brought a friend with him. She was not pleased at his choice.

"Tiger Lily! Synderius has told me so much about you." Agronak gro-Malog, the Grey Prince, Arena Grand Champion, and finest fighter in Tamriel was extending a hand to her, an upstart Myrmidon who was still trying to figure out how she could possibly hope to defeat him. She briefly wondered if she'd finally gone completely mad. Or was this another strange dream?

He shook her offered hand with a very gentle touch, not at all what she'd expected. Yep, it had to be a dream.

"Please, call me Lilia. So good to finally meet you." She answered politely. Perhaps if she stayed calm things would remain pleasant. The last thing she wanted was any more nightmares.

"Agronak's agreed to help me train you tonight." Synderius puffed his chest out proudly as he spoke, and Lilia reconsidered her assessment of the situation. This was too bizarre. Perhaps instead of dreaming she'd gone insane. Had the Dunmer just said that he'd enlisted the aid of the very person she wanted to eventually defeat to help her improve her skills?

"Actually I just wanted to see what he was up to on Tirdas evenings. It upsets Ysabel when we stay up too late. She always says that a lack of sleep makes for poor fighters, and I'm getting tired of hearing her yelling at him about it. I figured I might as well see why he kept causing such a fuss." Agronak was holding out the dull iron shortsword to her and she accepted it without hesitation. Insanity wasn't as bad as she'd expected. Everyone seemed awfully nice. The half-Orc continued. "Come, show me what this Gladiator's been teaching you."

She giggled as she eyed him waving about the steel longsword that Synderius always used. This was absolutely nuts. At least she'd have some good stories to tell the other inmates of the asylum. She lunged forward, stabbing her sword at his armoured chest.

Arkay's fire! As she looked at the stars which were suddenly above her she finally realized that no, she wasn't dreaming, and no, she wasn't mad. With astonishing speed the Gray Prince had swept her legs out from under her with a very powerful blow. Lilia sent healing magic to the back of her aching thighs and scrambled onto her feet. Abandoning the useless shortsword she fled over to the walls and jumped up, grabbing hold of one of the spiked wooden poles that ringed the combatant pit. Twisting her body up she landed with her feet on the pole and her hands glowing with shock magic. She eyed the two Arena combatants warily as they chatted quietly to each other, unaware that she could hear them. She had no idea what they had planned, but she wasn't sure it was anything she'd like.

"You're right, she does move like a bloody Khajiit."

"Told you. She trained with one."

"But she doesn't have a tail, does she?"

"No, and neither did he. But apparently he did have a rather large…ow!"

She'd sent a small jet of shock magicka into Synderius. The Dark Elf was now giving her the most wounded look of innocence that she'd ever seen. Agronak was laughing at his misfortune and she resisted the urge to zap him too. From what she'd heard it wouldn't even tickle him anyway.

"Come on down from there. That's no way to train." The half-Orc waved her back and Lilia hesitated before leaping down to the warm sands. The two of them were serious about this. She now realized that she wasn't the crazy one - they were both insane.

"Synderius, can I have a word with you? In private?" She gave the Dunmer a sweet smile as she led him to the stairs to the Bloodworks. Sure that she was out of range of hearing she dropped the smile and started hissing. "Have. You. Gone. Mad?"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Synderius was trying to dodge her hands. She was poking him with every word and sending a small shock spell into him each time. The deep sound of the Grand Champion's booming laughter made her stop. How in the Nine Hells had he been able to hear them?

"Lilia, get back out here. He's not crazy. At least, not much more than any other Dark Elf who has taken a few blows to the head." Agronak was waving a large grey hand at her as he called out. With a final jolt to Synderius Lilia made her way over to the Grand Champion standing in the middle of the Arena.

"I appreciate your time, but I'm afraid there's been a mistake. I'm here to work with Synderius." Her voice was cool and polite.

"Are you crazy? You're turning down training with the Gray Prince?" The Dunmer was hiding behind a thick stone pillar as he asked. She couldn't shoot him through the solid rock, unfortunately.

Agronak weighed her words before speaking. "Of course. I won't keep you from your lesson. Do you mind if I watch?"

Lilia couldn't see any reason to object. He'd observed most of her matches already. The half-Orc rarely left the Arena and was always studying the other fighters. She doubted he'd see anything new. If anything, he'd probably have a lower opinion of her skills than he already had. She nodded her assent and watched the tall warrior walk over to stand beside the wall.

"You're not going to shock me anymore, are you?" Synderius asked from behind his protective pillar.

"No. Get out here and let's get started."

As they practiced Lilia tried hard to ignore the watching eyes of the Grey Prince. He was a distraction, just like any other person would be. But no matter how much she told herself to forget about his presence she found her mind wondering about just why he was here. Unable to fully concentrate Lilia was suffering greatly at the hands of Synderius. While she wasn't dodging out of the way of his sword she also wasn't blocking and parrying his attacks very well either. After one particularly ill-timed strike on her part she once more found her back pressed against the gritty floor of the Arena. She closed her eyes and cursed in her mind. Sand felt awful when it got trapped under her raiment.

"Synderius, what are you doing to her?" The voice of the half-Orc floated across the sand. Lilia kept her eyes closed and listened. Agronak apparently thought that she'd been knocked out. At least she hoped he did, because she certainly didn't appreciate being discussed by others when she was right there with them. "She's getting worse, not better."

"It's what she wants to learn!" The Dark Elf was walking over to join Agronak. "What would you have me do?"

"Why isn't she using her staff? And why isn't she dodging away? Those are her two main strengths." The Gray Prince's rumbling voice was clearly curious.

"I don't know why she won't use her staff. But she said she wanted to work on using a shortsword to defend herself, so that's what we've been doing. Normally she's better than this."

"Hmph. She is an odd one, isn't she? Do you remember what she did to Porkchop? The boar glowed for two days."

"Of course I remember. Owyn complained the whole time that the light kept him from sleeping. He was just grumpy that he couldn't get his beauty rest."

"The man lives to complain. Maybe we should check on her. She's been out for a while now."

Not wanting to make it too obvious that she was, in fact, fully conscious Lilia waited until she could hear the footsteps of the two warriors close to her. She opened her eyes and gave them a weak smile. Waving away their offered hands she stood up and sent a wave of restoration magic down her body. While it took away the pain it did nothing for the dull ache that was present in her muscles. Training was tiring business.

"Can I ask you something?" Agronak was studying her. Lilia wasn't sure what the other half of him was, but he had the amber irised dark eyes common to the race of Orcs.

"Sure."

"Why are you bothering with a sword? Its obvious that a staff is a more natural weapon for you." Lilia wasn't sure whether to feel pleased or insulted. She wasn't the best sword fighter in Tamriel, that was true, but she wasn't that bad. At least, she wasn't that bad when the Grey Prince wasn't watching. But he'd implied that she was more skilled with a staff, and she felt a bit flattered that he'd noticed.

"Because a staff doesn't work well when you're fending off goblins in a narrow mine shaft. A staff won't cut through the ghosts that haunt Ayleid ruins or the wolves that roam the mountains. And trying to defeat a zombie with a staff is an exercise in futility."

"Have you really done that? Been to those places and fought those creatures?" He sounded almost wistful as he asked.

"Yes. And with a shortsword, not a staff."

"That makes sense." He nodded at her answer. "But why aren't you evading? Why are you letting this crazy Dark Elf knock you around?"

"Because there isn't always room to get out of the way. If I'm backed into a corner or in a small hallway there's not much space to dodge. If I want to survive I need to defend myself, and it's not a natural impulse for me to block attacks. I always want to avoid them." She gave him a small smile as she spoke.

"Survive? So you're still adventuring?" Agronak was very curious.

Lilia laughed. "I wouldn't call it adventuring. I'm certainly not off questing for treasure or seeking glory. But I do travel very frequently and sometimes find myself in dangerous places." She found herself in dangerous places far too often for her tastes.

"And you're trying to get him to help keep you alive?" The Grey Prince pointed towards Synderius as he asked jokingly.

"Hey!" The Dunmer faked a wounded tone.

"He's good. He's the best warrior I've met in Cyrodiil who has offered to instruct me. And while he may be a bit rough sometimes I do trust that he won't suddenly try to kill me. So yes, he's helping me stay alive." She gave the Dark Elf a smile as she spoke. The mer had been very generous in his offer to work with her in exchange for some acrobatics training.

"Hmm." Agronak was giving her a calculating look. She wasn't sure what it meant. "Are you sure you don't want to practice with me? Just for fun?"

She considered the offer. Lilia might do better fighting with the Grand Champion - at least she would be able to focus on him instead of trying to ignore him. And she had to admit she was very curious about how well she would do against him.

"Thank you. I'd like that."

Agronak received the longsword from Synderius, who moved quickly away from the combatants, and readied himself. Lilia eyed him carefully, waiting for him to attack first. She was still better at being on the defensive rather than the offensive. He lunged forward suddenly, stabbing towards her heart. She was able to react quickly enough to knock her sword against his, and instead of striking her in the chest the dull point poked her hard in the thigh. She sent a quick healing spell to soothe the pain and began circling him. His next move was a sudden slash towards her right shoulder. Lilia managed to bring up her sword to block but the strength of his blow caused her own blade to press back against her neck. That would have been a fatal mistake if they'd been using sharp weapons.

With a speed that surprised her he spun around and aimed a powerful blow at her left side. Unable to resist her impulse she dived in a roll away from the attack. Standing back up to face him, braced for another assault, she was surprised to find him just standing there, staring openly at her.

"You move about as fast as I do. I've never really seen that before." Lilia didn't doubt that he hadn't. Few vampires fought in the Arena.

"Thanks."

"Did a Khajiiti acrobat really teach you how to dodge like that?" He seemed so very curious about her. His interest in her skills was a surprise, because she was obviously no threat to him.

"No. He taught me how to roll, jump, and flip. Staying out of the reach of weapons is something I learnt how to do when I was very small. But training with him helped. All training helps." Lilia meant it. She'd never have survived this far without having spent all of those years studying when and where the Gods had wished.

"Very small? What do you mean?"

"My father was a diplomat and we traveled all the time. I've always been fascinated by warriors and I used to watch them practice. Occasionally one of them, perhaps out of friendliness or boredom, would teach me a trick or two. It only takes one hit with a warhammer that's as heavy as you are before you learn that you want it not to connect in the first place, regardless of how gently its wielded." She still remembered the incident. She'd been in Dune, in Valenwood. A very nice young Nord soldier had tried to teach her how to use a shield, and his gentle blow had caused the shield to bruise the right side of her body. Much to her embarrassment she'd burst into tears, kicked him in the shin, and run from the courtyard. She'd only been a child at the time, but Lilia could still remember the poor man's distraught face. He'd thought he'd broken something. "After that you do your best to get out of the way. It's become a habit now."

"Sorry to interrupt, but are we going to train or chat? It's getting late and I'd like to work on my own rolls, jumps, and flips." Synderius called out to them from the wall.

"You should probably work with him. He's liable to kill himself practicing if you don't. You should have seen the bruise he had from a failed back spring." Agronak said softly to her. Lilia chuckled at his words.

"You're right. And thanks for the practice."

"It wasn't much, but I enjoyed it just the same. Would you mind if I join you and Synderius again some evening?" He was again giving her that curious stare. Her own curiosity as to what it meant was just as intense.

"Not at all. Anytime you want." Even that short session had made her realize that he could teach her a lot if he wished. She'd never bothered to watch any of the Arena matches when she was in town and had never seen the Grand Champion fight before. His skill was remarkable.

"Thanks. And next time, if you can, bring your staff." Agronak gave her a friendly wink before he headed over to the wall, passing the Dark Elf who was now making his way into the centre of the Arena. Synderius stood next to Lilia and waited until the half-Orc was leaning against the wall. The Dunmer leant in to speak.

"Nice, isn't he? I saw that wink he gave you. You know, they say he has a rather large…ow!" Much to Lilia's displeasure the booming laugh of the Gray Prince rang out from the side of the Arena. He'd heard Synderius' comments. Unable to resist she sent out a small stream of shock magicka at him too. He did want to practice with them, after all, so he might as well get used to her methods. She was even less pleased when she heard his response to her magical attack.

"Hey! That tickles!"