"According to my calculations, the Dollet Communication Tower is due east from here." Lianne said, trying to sound intelligent.
"Wow… how did you know that?" Leali gaped, in awe of her friend's knowledge.
"Gee… do you think the fact that it's over there gave it away?" Skye said, sarcastically, pointing to where the Communication Tower was clearly visible on top of a huge cliff to the east.
Lianne looked at Skye with narrowed eyes.
"Do you think maybe it's too quiet?" Alix said, shifting his gunblade uneasily.
Skye looked at him for a moment, then lifted his gaze up to the tower. "You may be right. Be on your guard."
"Whoa! Look over there!" Leali yelled, bouncing up and down and pointing down a street near them, where a flurry of monsters was heading their way.
"Looks like you spoke too soon, Shuray." Skye said, running towards the swarm of beasts, fists flying.
"Let's play!" Leali smiled as she dropped to her knees where she was and began firing at the creatures with her deadly rifle.
Alix put up his weapon and followed, slashing the air with his blade.
Lianne was frozen with fear, yet again. Why were her friends finding this so easy, yet she couldn't even deal with the concept of battle? It was hard to grasp. Every time she went into a battlefield, it was the same way. In her arguments with Skye, the fear had subsided – it was one way to take her mind off the ensuing task. But now, she found that fear coming back to her, and it felt even worse than before. She was willing to accept the facts: she was terrified of battle, and there was nothing she could do to change that.
She couldn't even bear to watch. There were so many… she had never expected a full-on attack like this. And she was standing there, doing nothing, as Skye, Alix and Leali tackled the wave. Then, she realised – this wasn't the way to pass. This wasn't what her mother would have done…
"Fira!" she cried, letting a fierce blast of flames fly from her hand towards the attacking monsters, straight at a creature that Skye was trying to deal with.
Skye jumped back in surprise as the flames came near him, then turned to look at who had sent the blast his way. He saw Lianne smiling to him sarcastically.
"See? I told you I could fight." She said.
Skye nodded, and his fight continued.
With fatal slashes from Alix's blade, dangerous swipes through the air from Skye's armoured fists, lethal bullets firing from Leali's gun, and powerful bursts of magic from Lianne herself, the monsters were defeated at a fast pace. But still, they kept coming.
"How many of these things are there?" Leali said, reloading her rifle yet again.
Skye jumped back again, out of range of the monsters' attacks. He rubbed the knuckles on his right hand. "We're going to have to find another route if this carries on. It could be endless."
Lianne breathed out with exhaustion. "I don't think I can do much more…"
"Just keep trying, Lianne! Keep going, just for a while!" Alix called, felling yet another monster.
One after another, their enemies fell. But every defeated monster called on five more.
"There's too many…" Skye said, eventually. "Squad, withdraw!"
Wielding their weapons, the four candidates withdrew, monster's jaws snapping at their ankles as they ran.
For a terrifying moment, Leali stumbled, and the monsters caught up with her. Lianne caught her arm, stopping her fall, and they continued to run, tearing through the streets of Dollet, back the way they came.
They seemed to be running forever, until Skye beckoned them into a small alleyway to the side. They all dived inside, waiting with baited breath until the monsters passed.
Once the cloud of dust the creatures were leaving behind them had faded away, Alix said, with panic in his voice, "They're heading for the residential area."
Skye shrugged and began to make his way out of the alley. "Forget about it. The other squads will handle it." Then he disappeared back out into the street.
Lianne gave Alix a reassuring smile; she could tell he was worried about what he had just seen. "Let's go. Or we're gonna lose our fantastic leader." She said with sarcasm.
Back out in the streets of Dollet, everything was quiet once again.
"Okay… so now what?" Leali said, glancing around at the streets, looking for signs of any monsters trailing behind.
"Well, we're not going that way again." Skye said, yet again tightening up his leather gauntlets. "Leonhart! We need a new route!"
"If you say so." Lianne rolled her eyes, looking around at the alternative ways leading off from the street in which they were standing. There weren't many options. They could go up – back the way they came – down – back towards the dock – or straight ahead to a small, rocky path. "Okay, well… we should go this way." She said, heading towards the narrow path ahead.
The rest of the squad followed as Lianne started to climb carefully over the rubble covering the ground.
