Edaline POV

Edaline stroked the head of a cowering 1st level girl, the elven girl sobbing as the Neverseen marched closer and closer to the school. They somehow made it into the city, the council was keeping everything very hushed up. Grady and Edaline were helping the poor civilians of Eternalia, along with Grizel and Sandor, who happened to be at Havenfield during the attack. There were innocent children, cowering in the arms of anybody close. Edaline turned her head as the doors to the main hall swung open, and the Vackers walked in, along with the Song twins, Dex, and Fitz.

Biana and Keefe were nowhere to be found.

"Are you guys, okay?!" Grady exclaimed, jumping up and rushing over. They all started to distribute comfort blankets and water, handing other rations to teachers to help give the massive crowd of elves.

"We are fine, I promise," Linh whispered as Grady hugged them all tight. Edaline patted the girl's head, asked if she was okay, and went to talk with them.

"Do you have any news?" Sandor asked, stepping forward.

"The Neverseen made it into the city," Alden breathed, whispering as quietly as possible. Edaline's eyes turned glassy, her hand clenched around Grady's arm.

"But, there seem to be these soldiers. Winged ones, definitely not an elf. They are so fast you can barely see them. But they have been absolutely nailing the Neverseen, slowing them down as fast as possible." Fitz added.

"But?" Edaline asked, knowing there were more.

"The Neverseen are still too strong. We have minutes before they will be at the school." Tam whimpered. The room grew darker with dread and loss of hope.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"We are completely surrounded, we can only ride it out-" A deafening roar shook the school, everyone turning even paler at the sound of it.

"What was that?!" Grizel hissed.

"They are called the Mirthless. Creatures of bloodlust and terror that prey through the Neutral territories. The Neverseen found out a way to control them." Tam muttered. Edaline's mouth turned into a thin line, and she turned to her husband, before turning back to them.

"Is she out there?" Grady stuttered out. Dex looked out the windows, his eyebrows pressed down.

"We don't know. They should be here, but we didn't see any trace of them."

"Well, maybe that is what they want you to think? Isn't that what they are good at? Hiding in plain sight?" Edaline asked, hopefully.

"But why are those winged soldiers fighting on the front lines, not the Assassins?" Grizel whimpered. Another deafening roar, much louder this time, made everyone scramble to the windows. Everyone sobbed when they saw thousands of Neverseen march through the streets, now in view of the school. Monsters of black tar and white bones stalked around them, roaring and pounding their paws or arms. The winged soldiers scrambled to form a line of solid shields around the school, a hasty line of defense, but the Mirthless sprung first, easily breaking through their line.

And rampaging towards the school.

The elves screamed as the creatures galloped or stampeded closer and closer. Edaline's tears were silent, her lips quivering. It felt like everything was in slow motion.

But then she heard a voice.

A voice of power and determination, shuddering across the buildings and sky.

"FIRE!" Sophie's voice cried. All of a sudden, soldiers clad in robes, and armor slid down the sides of the Foxfire pyramid, their bows lit with fire. As they slid down the sides of the glass pyramid, elves watched open-mouthed as hundreds of Assassins fired their wave of arrows. The Winged Warriors took the sky, out of range of the arrows, clearly a plan coordinated by the Assassins and Winged Warriors. The Mirthless screeched as arrows pierced their bodies, skulls, and hearts. Neverseen soldiers scrambled and screamed in terror as they all started to drop one by one. Edaline pressed her face against the glass.

In a clean unbreakable line surrounding the glass pyramid were hooded armor-clad warriors, landing cleanly off the pyramid. Each one looking slightly different from the last. Only one thing looked familiar among them all, an empty arrowhead sewn into their robes or etched onto their armor. They demanded authority and power.

Slightly ahead of all of them, was a group of maybe four. A woman with dark layered hair and dark armor, a man of dark hair and porcelain skin standing next to the dark-haired woman. A man with golden trinkets in his hair, his body built like a rock, but his posture and stance comfortable and ready for combat. And at the head of it all, stood a golden-haired woman. Her silver armor was tucked underneath her pure white robes, her hair tied up loosely behind her head. She had a golden sword on her back, two daggers at her hips, and other weapons scattered among her body.

Sophie, Edaline's own daughter, stood before them. Facing down the now dwindling Neverseen army.

"No. Way." Sandor breathed. The elves, not fully realizing what just happened, watched silently, some of them whispering in amazement. The Neverseen slowly started to recover, rampaging once again closer to the school. Sophie had her hand up, her men waiting for her signal. Though Edaline couldn't hear her daughter's whispers, she heard Sophie tell her Assassins more and more, to simply wait. Not one of them batted an eye in her judgment. Suddenly, Sophie rolled out of the way, the dark-haired woman stepping forward. Her hair was loose and wild, her armor was a dark brown with golden accents, almost looking like cracked magma. Underneath the plates, a light blue silk fabric draping her arms and legs from underneath her armor, two large sapphire jewels securing the fabric at her chest. A large sword at her side, her armor clearly meant for intense battle.

"Mansi, now!" Sophie screamed. The woman threw her hands out, letting out a roar of power. From her entire body, seething blue fire sprung out in all directions. In amazing control, the woman named Mansi created a wave of fire, spiraling forward and claiming the rampaging Neverseen soldiers. The wave stopped at the end of the courtyard, the still-burning bodies of soldiers and Mirthless alike burning in its wake, and Mansi waved her hands again, the motions large as if she was matching the burning flames of her fire.

The fire roared once again and flew up into the sky, creating a wall of solid fire surrounding Foxfire. Mansi slowly put her hands down, and fell to her knees, panting for breath, but the wall of fire held steady. The brown-haired man rushed to her side, his hands on her shoulders and asking if she was alright. She smiled slightly and got up from her knees, leaning on the man for support. Edaline watched as her daughter turned to the line of Assassins outside, her face stern as she gave them strict orders. She turned to the small group of Assassins by her side, talking to them as well. She finally turned to Foxfire, looking at the building with calculation. And though Edaline knew Sophie was just thinking, it seemed like she was looking straight at Edaline. Sophie blew out a breath, turned to the small group of comrades at her side once more, before striding into the building.

"Here are your affairs, please hurry." Queen Sarai panicked, handing Biana Ricin's giant saddle that Sophie left behind. Sarai didn't even bat an eye when she walked into the Guest chambers and noticed there was another one od them. She got an urgent message from Captain Doreah, updating them of the Battle of Eternalia. And it wasn't good. Biana, Leto, Lilac, and Keefe were summoned back immediately.

"Wait, you two," Sarai added on right as she was passing out the crystals to exit the cavern. She placed to pieces of paper in each of their hands.

"Your friend, Mentore Amalia, insisted that these got into your hands," Sarai whispered. Keefe didn't read his note before Sarai motioned for them to list their crystals to the light. Keefe looked at His friends as the light overcame them, and though they all seemed in a surprising calm, Lilac looked worriedly beyond them. She watched Ruy, who leaned against the door frame, wringing his hands and giving her a small smile.

She didn't want to leave him behind.

It didn't matter though; the light swarmed them, and the next thing they knew...

Only Leto and Lilac appeared in Foxfire.

Keefe glittered into view in the empty streets of Mysterium. Keefe cursed, panicking for a moment before remembering Sophie's desperate note in his pocket. He quickly opened it, read it carefully.

I need your help. It is about your mother. Find Nour, he is in Mysterium, waiting for you,-Soph.

Keefe glanced around, not seeing the intimidating dude anywhere. He was about to search the streets, but a hooded figure slunk out of the shadows. Keefe ripped his small dagger out of its sheath around his waist, ready to cut the Neverseen member up.

But a silver sewn empty arrowhead was sewn onto the back of the black cloak. Keefe breathed in relief as Nour took down his hood, his hands up in peace.

"What does Foster want?" Keefe asked, his voice low as he got closer to Nour. Nour held out his minyama as Keefe read through the information Sophie had sent him. She gave Nour the info since Keefe was hard to message due to being so deep underground.

"My mom... is already in Foxfire?!" Keefe panicked. Nour gave him a glare that told him to keep his voice down.

"We need to find her. Lia and the others are occupied with the war front. She is trusting us to find her and stop her." Nour whispered. Keefe was about to ask more questions, but Nour's steely glare turned even sharper, and Keefe realized he probably should shut up.

"Lia is working on fighting onto the front lines, she simply can't leave to go find her. She is trusting us to find Gisela. And she chose you for a reason, you know." Nour smiled.

"What, why?"

"She said you had a nasty habit of skipping class and sneaking around the school. Not to mention, she says that you know how your mother thinks, how she acts?"

"Yeah, once I found out she was a traitor, I spent a long time trying to figure her out. I learned everything I could about her. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep! We were in this one Black Swan base when I found out. Sophie was worried sick about me," Keefe chuckled, "Pathetic, right?"

Nour only looked at him with an intrigued face, shrugging his shoulders.

"Not really, well..." Nour thought for a moment.

"What?"

"It's nothing. It's just you would make a good Assassin. That's all." Nour commented, scrolling through his minyama, briefing himself with how he wanted to do this mission. Keefe was about to reply, but Nour already had his hood up, setting off towards the end of Mysterium.

"Do you really think I would be able to become an Assassin?" Keefe asked, struggling to keep up with Nour. Nour didn't respond, keeping his eyes on the various storefronts.

"Sure, I mean, elves are going to have to become accustomed to violence to become an Assassin, but it is possible. Hell, Alvar did it, along with so many more. And even if you don't want to be a full-blown Assassin, we have plenty of Elven spies and organizations." Nour grumbled, obviously not happy with being paired up with an elf that doesn't know how to shut up. Nour's eyes set on one store, and he walked to the door, testing the handle. He leaned down onto his knees and pulled his lockpicks out of his pockets.

"Why do you think I would make a good Assassin?" Keefe asked happily, not even bothered that they were breaking and entering.

"You have the determination of one. Learning everything about your mother so you could make sure she couldn't hurt anybody else? That's a move of undying loyalty and sacrifice." Nour grunted as the lockpicks struggled to find the pressure point, "But it is also a reminder that you are not perfect. No one is. Assassins have flaws just like anybody else. Striving to be perfect is unreachable. We are morally grey and complex, just like any other. But striving to be the best person you can be? That is what makes a good Assassin." Nour's eye twitched when his lock picks snapped, and Keefe scrambled back as Nour suddenly stood up and smashed his hand right through the window of the door. Keefe watched open-mouthed as Nour felt around for the doorknob on the other side of the door, sliding open the lock and opening the door. Nour met Keefe's freaked-out stare and looked at the glass with a dull look.

"What? I literally just said some of us are, uh, morally imbalanced. A typical case, the ends justify the means." Nour shrugged, walking into the elven shop. Keefe swallowed carefully, stepping over the broken glass.

"So, what are we doing here?" Keefe muttered. Nour gave Keefe his first real smile, and gestured dramatically to the various outfits in the store, allowing Keefe to walk in.

"Why we are getting our disguises, of course." He smirked.

Biana glittering right into the main hall of the Cyevan Guildhall, blinking with confusion, Ricin's saddle still in her hands. Biana glanced outside, noticing the Guildhall's courtyard was closed off by their massive golden gates. Inalians were all whispering outside the gates, and even from a distance, Biana could tell what they were all muttering about.

"Something serious is happening, I can tell."

"Amalia is gone. She even missed her birthday festival to go on a mission."

"The gates are closed! The gates are never closed!"

"Most of the Assassins are gone!"

"Do you think it has something to do with the Elves? And the Lost Cities?"

Biana dropped the saddle on the nearest surface and ripped open the note Sophie gave her.

Vespera is up to something. Elrond said that maybe she wasn't as chained in our dungeons as we thought she was. Please, for the good of my people, keep an eye on her. Don't let her get close to those homing devices. Dungeons are in the basement. Maria and Filomena should be at the guildhall-Soph.

Biana nervously glanced around, noticing the empty Guildhall. Biana flickered on her invisibility on, swallowing as she took in the massive building. Biana took careful and elegant steps, her elven fashion heels clicking on the polished marble and wooden floors. She passed the training center, filled with weapons of steel and glinting armor. Biana gasped slightly when she passed the bathhouses, large tubs with oils and flowers waiting on the sides. Biana remembered listening to Sophie as she gushed about the exquisite bathrooms, how she could sit there soaking in them all day. Sophie promised Biana and Linh that they could spend as much time as they wanted in the bathtubs when they visit her.

She walked passed the arching hallways, paintings and tapestries decorating the sunlit walls. There was an elegant room, an extravagant piano sitting on a small stage near the back. Biana's eyes lit up, wondering if that was the very piano Allesandro taught Sophie on. But she then realized the dust settled on the beautiful instrument, the slightly musty feeling in the whole room, untouched beauty.

Biana wondered is Sophie could even bring herself to play that piano anymore if it reminded her too much of a father robbed from her.

Ceiling high windows let in the intense rays of the sun, thick velvet curtains tucked to the sides. One painting caught Biana's attention, making her invisible footsteps stop dead.