Once again she is in the dungeon, it’s damp walls glittering in the glow cast out by a multitude of spells. She hefts her shield, filling it with a strengthening enchantment. At the other end of the corridor the mages from Lightire raise their wands once again, blue flame coalescing in the air before the group.

“Brace!” Lilia screams to the warriors standing to either side of her.

She leans forward, interlocking her shield with her allies to form a wall between the attackers and their own line of mages. A moment later the barrage hits. Lilia grits her teeth, feeding every last bit of magic into holding the barrier against the opposing spells. Intense washes of heat burn against her face as the fireballs splash against her shield.

To her side a man falters for a moment. Instantly the spells punch through his defences, burning a fist sized hole through his torso. He lets out a gurgling scream for a second before a second fireball takes him in the face, silencing him forever.

With the man gone the barrier fades, exposing the backline to attack. A chorus of panic-filled shouts echo from behind as Lilia attempts to reform the defence, gritting her teeth under the strain of maintaining twice as much of the spell.

Out of the corner of her eye she spots someone running up from behind to crouch by the fallen warrior. An angry shout dies on her lips as she sees who it is, replaced instead by a small smile. Reud crouches over the body, his tussled brown hair covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. He touches his hand to the corpse and it rises, standing up with an unnatural jerkiness.

“I can have him charge on your signal!” He shouts at her.

Lilia looks to either side at the other four remaining warriors. They look back at her and nod, determination shining in their eyes. Reud signals something to the mages standing at the back, and a moment later a wash of strength floods her body.

“On my mark.” Lilia calls out. “Three. Two. One. Go!”

The corpse bursts into a run. As it bolts past the shield wall Lilia and the other warriors begin a light jog with their shields held out in front, maintaining the moving barrier just as they had trained. The opposing Lightire warriors raise their shields as the undead barrels towards them, their swords rimmed in a white glow.

A few steps before the shield wall the corpse throws itself forward into a jump. The Lightire warriors strike out at the undead, their blades digging deep into its flesh.

It is not enough.

The undead skids over the top of the defensive wall and tumbles into the unprotected mages behind, its limbs flailing about as the warriors desperately try to hack it apart.

“Now!” Screams Lilia, dropping her shield and breaking into a sprint.

She grabs her sword in both hands, redirecting all the magic that was creating the barrier into enhancing herself. Like a bolt from a crossbow she shoots forward, taking advantage of the momentary distraction the undead caused. Her first blow cleaves deep into the shoulder of an enemy, sending the young man reeling to the ground. Beside her the rest of her warriors slam into the shield wall.

Shouts and screams fill the air, mixed with the clashing of metal on metal. Lilia brings her blade down on one raised shield, knocking the man back, before having to block the attacks of someone from the side. Kicking out at the foe she drops, swinging her blade at the legs of another. The person falls hard, head cracking against the ground with a wet crunch.

A body falls into her, sending her sprawling. Adrenaline pumping in her veins, she rolls to the side, the clang of steel on rock attesting to her narrow escape from death. She tries to stand but quickly brings her blade around to block an attack that would have removed her head. A helmed Lightire warrior stands over her, blade held high. Desperately, she raises her sword to defend as the opponent swings their blade down. Lilia barely blocks the strike, the force smashing her elbows into the stone floor, sending a tingling numbness up her wrists that makes her blade tumble from her grip.

The warrior raises their sword once again, towering over her. Just as they are about to swing once more a blade sprouts from their chest, followed by a fountain of blood. The warrior collapses, revealing one of her allies, Barron, his face bearing a long gash and his arm hanging limp. Smiling, he reaches his good hand down to her and pulls her to her feet. Lilia takes the chance to look around to find the pair of them the only survivors of the warrior-on-warrior battle.

“Get down!” Comes a shout from behind her. She looks around to see Reud, running towards her whilst pointing back up the corridor.

Lilia spins to look in the direction he indicated. Further up the corridor kneels a Lightire mage, hands placed on something on the ground. That something is blazing with the iridescent light that denotes grand magic, illuminating him and sending vast shadows dancing over the walls. A second later the light winks out.

“Cover!” Lilia screams, but it is too late. A sea of shimmering darts fills the air, shooting towards them. She turns to Barron, her thoughts racing but her responses sluggish. The man who moments ago saved her life slowly tilts, revealing thousands of holes punched through his body. She tries to reach a hand out to him but finds herself falling instead. She attempts to brace her fall but can’t seem to manage it, hitting the ground hard, her head bouncing off the rock floor. Strangely, she doesn’t feel it, everything having gone numb, the edges of her vision swim and fade.

Reud appears in her remaining view, his face above her, distorted with fear. His mouth moves, but she can’t seem to make out what he is saying. She attempts to open her mouth to say something, to tell him that it’ll be fine, to not to worry, to say that she loves him. But nothing seems to come out. An immense weariness settles over her, and everything fades to blackness.

***

Lilia wakes with a start, attempting to jerk upright. Strong arms encircle her, holding her in place.

“Shush, it’s okay. You were having a nightmare.” A familiar voice says. Reud. The war is over. I’m alive. Get a grip on yourself Lilia.

She lies still in his embrace, feeling her breathing slowly return to normal. Reud strokes her hair, the familiar action releasing the tension from her body.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, burrowing into Reud’s chest. “I’m not a little girl any more, I shouldn’t be having nightmares.”

“Lilia, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. The things we’ve seen…” Reud responds. “Well, they would give anyone nightmares. I had nightmares for years after I lost you.”

Lilia looks up at him. “How did you stop them?”

“I stopped sleeping.” Reud responds, his eyes sad.

He really has changed. Lilia studies Reud, taking in his bone-white hair and sickly pale skin. He doesn’t look much older than what she remembered, but worn, like a painting that has faded in the sun. His eyes, however, have changed the most. They still hold the inquisitive spark that drew her to him originally, but have lost something more. The way he looked at some of the villagers, it’s like he was looking through them, into them, instead of seeing the person as a whole. Behind that is something else, a haunted look, a lost look.

Noticing her staring, Reud smiles at her, the man she fell in love with all those years ago shining through once again. I'll help him regain what he's lost. He isn’t alone any more.

A growl from Lilia's stomach breaks the silence, an embarrassed flush colouring Lilia’s cheeks.

“Looks like some of us still need to eat.” Reud teases.

Lilia laughs and gives him a quick kiss. “Well we can’t all survive on mana alone.”

***

A short while later they find themselves sat at one of the tables in the main room of the inn. To one side of the room sits the remains of the carnage from last night, burnt streaks surrounding a dark stain. A young woman is kneeled beside it, scrubbing away at it with a soiled rag, supervised by the innkeeper. Lilia waves at the man until he spots them. Glowering, he storms over.

“Finally emerged, have you? Look at my inn! The damage! And when word gets back to the Duke...” He shudders. “Why if it wasn’t for the Mayor’s decision, and my holy duty to Idia, you would have been out on your behinds, nobles or not! Why I ought to-”

His tirade is cut short as Lilia pulls a coin from the purse at her hip, and places it on the table. With obvious effort he tears his eyes away from the money, the equivalent of a month's income in a remote village like this.

“You think I can be so easily-”

The clink of a second coin joining the first stops him dead.

Lilia pushes the pair of coins towards him. “I’ll have some porridge, milk, and bacon if you have it. Fast as you can.” She smiles sweetly at him.

After a moment he snatches up the coins, bows his head to them, and bustles off muttering to himself.

Leaning back in her chair, she looks to Reud. “So what are your plans for the day?”

“We were going to train the girl weren’t we?”

“I am going to train with the girl. Me, alone.” She emphasizes.

“What a minute-”

“I don’t need you looking after me. You need to go out, interact with people again. Get to know your people again.” She says, not letting Reud get a word in. “You’ve spent too long hidden away. Besides, we need to find some work, surely a place like this will have some for a pair of adventurers?”

“At least take Bo with you.”

Lilia shakes her head. “You need him more than me. You saw I can take care of myself.” Leaning forward she takes his hand from across the table and gives it a squeeze. “I will be fine.”

A woman comes out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl and a mug, putting them down in front of Lilia. With delight Lilia tucks into the food. “Real food really is amazing. I can’t believe we spent so long eating only that processed sludge war rations! You should really try...” Looking up at Reud she trails off. Of course, he doesn’t eat. This is going to take some getting used too.

***

A short while later they emerge into the mid-morning sun, Bo trailing along behind them. Rachel is nervously pacing up and down the cobble path, dressed in tight riding leathers and with her blonde hair tied into a bun. As soon as she spots Lilia she runs over eager excitement lighting up her face.

Lilia turns to Reud, pulling him into a deep kiss. “We are going that way, you go and mingle in the village, find us some work. I’ll see you back at the inn this evening.”

“Be careful.” Reud responds, stroking her hair. “I wouldn’t be able to take anything happening to you again.”

Lilia pushes his hand away smiling. “Enough. Go.” With a playful push she sends him on his way, turning to face Rachel. The young woman is waiting expectantly to their side.

Lilia settles her face into the stern mask of an instructor, one she donned so many times during the war. "Before we begin, I want to give you a chance to back out. This isn't going to be easy, and you aren't going to suddenly be an amazing fighter. It's going to be hard, it's going to hurt, and at the end you may not even be that much stronger. Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?"

Rachel nods determinedly. "Yes, I want to do this. I have had enough of being the damsel in distress. Even if it's only a slim chance, I want to try to get the strength to never have to go through anything like that again."

Lilia studies the woman for a bit longer. The glint in her eyes, the set of her jaw. A flash of a memory darts through her mind, a younger Lilia demanding to be trained by the woman adventurer who saved her from a mana-drunk boar. I never gave up back then either, maybe she does have what it takes.

"Fine, then you obey me, no arguing, no complaining." Lilia says, Rachel nodding furiously. "And when you are being trained by me, you call me Master or Master Lilia."

"Yes Master Lilia!" Rachel shouts, her mouth pulling into a wide grin.

"Right there are a few things we need…"