Lucien made no mention of their almost kiss or even hinted at it; he was good at pretending, and truthfully, it irritated her. If Felix had noticed any tension between them, he didn't address it. She had noticed, though, that the bearded man who had caught them, smirking in her direction.
"So what's the plan?" Felix asked as they sat for lunch far from the rest
"We ambush when we reach Moon forest, four of the wagons would have departed by then, leaving us with six. We need a way to separate the target."
"We could wreck their wheel," She suggests, stuffing a huge potato in her mouth before her brows furrow as if it was the fault of the vegetable that her cheeks were now too full. It made Lucien smile, a smile that his friend caught but chose to ignore—for now.
"That could make the whole caravan stop...too many witnesses and potential collateral"
"Or accomplices, they might be working with others among the caravan."
Lyla swallowed, placing her food aside, "How long can your illusions last?"
"depends on how big the illusion is, why?"
"Gerald mentioned there were different paths in the forest. What if we use that to our advantage? Our target will only be a wagon ahead of ours once the four leave, so when we're in the forest, we could divert their path. Felix could make it seem like we are still following the rest, but instead lead us on another path, and once we are far enough, we could attack."
"I can manage that, tasking but manageable"
"What of the people ahead of us?" Lucien asked
"I don't see any other way to do this without avoiding any damage; we have to take our chances."
"Let's think on it for the night and see if we can come up with anything else," he concluded.
Lyla tried but failed to think of anything else. Her plan would take a toll on Felix. To be able to make an Illusion like that and keep it going enough to fool them will drain him, which would in turn make it hard for him to fight.
Lucien and she could probably handle the four people, but what if the other wagon also decided to attack, mistaking them for robbers or criminals, or what if they are injured in the crossfire, worse off, what if things don't go as planned, and they have to deal with the whole caravan?
Her life had become danger, loss, hard decisions, and burdens. She could not remember the last time she truly rested without fear or worry. Perhaps that was a luxury she would never have again, not when the fate of a whole world rested on her.
*
Night blended into day, or as far as day was considered on this side. The four wagons had departed an hour earlier, and in the moments the three could gather for themselves, they still had nothing, at least not something that offered less risk, so it was settled they would have to go with her plan.
They checked their arsenal again, and once they were sure nothing was missing, they blended with the rest to keep appearances. Felix was the talker, smoothly inserting himself into conversations and even managing to draw some honest laughs from Gerald, the man who never seemed to have any joy.
Lyla stared at him, sat between Gerald and Theo, the bearded man
Lucien sat beside her was quiet, eyes set on the group. They both sat outside the circle as they always did. Many regarded them as a shy couple, and at their first failed attempts at inviting them closer, they gave up
At around midday, the caravan entered the moon forest. They proceeded with the journey until the moon hung brightly in the sky. Still, they went on; they would only rest when they reached Gerald's safe spot
On and on they went until two large paths presented themselves. The group ventured to the one on the right, and up came Felix's illusion, diverting the three last wagons to the left
The wagons proceeded as normal, oblivious to the deception, and Lyla had to admit, Felix was good, really good; it could fool anyone
Of course, as the caster of the Illusion, he could see past it, so when he spotted somewhere they could halt for the ambush, he alerted them
The two made sure their weapons were sheathed properly before silently exiting through the back of the wagon and blending into the trees
Immediately, the Illusion was down, they burst from the shadows. He swung his sword first, knocking the driver. She came in with daggers glinting as she went for the man next to him, managing to get a deep slash across his chest
A blade came for her, and she narrowly missed the dagger thrown her way as a female advanced on her. The clash was brutal; blades and force meeting each other.
Twisting, Lyla drove a dagger at her opponent, the woman roared and stumbled, only for her boot to crash on the female's jaw.
On the other side, Lucien locked blades with two at once. Sparks sprayed as he caught a blow, then shoved hard, twisting his blade across one of the men's shoulder. The second came low, a blade aimed for his gut, but Lyla had been watching, throwing a dagger which caught the man's wrist. He howled, dropping his weapon.
That moment of distraction cost her; the male she had wounded barreled into her, sending her crashing against the wagon wheel. His blade came for her after, but she caught his wrist, muscles straining as the edge of the blade threatened to dig into her throat.
She kicked, loosening his balance, although the blade still tore her flesh. With a dagger, she pierced his gut. He went down, releasing his sword, and she used it to finish him.
Looking to her companion, she found that he, too, had managed to take down an opponent.
For a heartbeat, victory seemed possible —their breaths ragged, blades dripping, enemies faltering.
A sword came for her. She managed to reduce the damage on her side.
Lyla was surprised to meet the young curly-haired male from the wagon in front of theirs.
On the other side, the male accompanying the young man before her joined the remaining attacker against Lucien.
"wait…Carson, you both need to go back to your wagon. These people are dangerous; we're trying to stop them."
The male paused, looking at her before laughing, "Wait, you think?" a laugh, "Oh, we're with them."
Shit
The female she had knocked down was now up, and both she and Carson moved for her. She fought unrelentingly, sword slashing wildly against the strain of her arm.
A boot to her ribs drove her to the ground, forcing the sword out of her hands. Rough hands caught her, forcing her up before she could recover. She lashed out with the dagger at her side, managing to tear flesh, but the female tore the blade from her, forcing her back to the ground.
"Chain her, you idiot," she barked to Carson, cold shackles bit into her wrist and legs.
Still, she tried to fight even with the odds, but soon she realized she couldn't; her strength was fading away. She tried to rally her magic, but nothing happened.
Carson forced her up, dragging her to the front of the wagon where the horses had been released from their reins.
Seeing this, Lucien summoned his magic, cutting down an opponent, but when he attempted to move, he couldn't. Chains now adorned his wrists, and for some reason, his strength was draining.
Noise sounded in the distance; the rest of the caravan had probably noticed their absence and heard the ruckus. Her captors rushed to throw her over a horse.
Lyla fought against the unconsciousness that threatened to swallow her; she pushed to raise her head only to see Lucien struggling to reach her. His remaining opponent, tired of his fight, raised his blade.
No, she might have screamed or whispered it. She didn't know
"Stop it," Carson shouted as he held her down, but all she could see was the blade coming down on the male, calling for her
The noises grew louder, and in panic, Carson pulled on the reins, but her eyes were still on Lucien, and just as the blade almost met him, the male was impaled right in the chest from the back by a haggard-looking Felix.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as relief swelled in her even as the distance between them widened. The last thing she heard was Lucien scream her name before darkness enveloped her.