Leah spent the next day trying to make sense over the damned symbol strings.

They were complicated--far more complicated than anything she'd seen before. They went past simple descriptions of the pictures, things she could figure out from context alone, but she'd be damned if they were going to beat her. Even if it meant putting the underground temple's murals aside to decode the simpler, straightforward symbols inside the borders from the expedition team's ruins, she was making progress.

Slow, painful progress.

It was paying off, though. Already she'd got the general idea of one of the murals that'd caught her eye. It seemed to be some kind of ritual. Something to do with the Life from Light that appeared everywhere on the walls of the temple. Whether it was how to summon it, wield it, or invite it to tea, Leah had no clue.

But no matter what, she was going to figure it out.

*+*+*+*

Leah was starting to seriously regret signing up for Kieran's training sessions.

"Again!" he called as she clumsily deflected his strike.

They had an audience, now. Word had got around of their first session, of a mixed blood training a pure, and now there were several sets of eyes watching every single one of her screw ups. She couldn't stop herself glancing at them, hoping that they'd disappeared somehow.

Her eyes on them, she completely failed to see Kieran's slowed attack and subsequently missed her block, Kieran jabbed the tip of his stick into her chest.

"Hey!" she said, jumping back. "What was--"

"I don't want you to worry about them," said Kieran, waving his stick at the people gathered around the edges. "I want you to worry about you. You get distracted too easily, and that'll get you killed."

"I wouldn't--"

"Then damn well prove that to me," said Kieran. "Again!"

And so it went for the next hour. Leah would try to keep her concentration as Kieran made demands and pushed her body further than he had last time. He had her run while performing the drills, chased down and motivated by the stick in his hands. When her legs wobbled so much she could barely stand upright he would allow a small break in the form of crossbow lessons. It was the only time she ever got to actually use her Hilt in training, and even that felt useless as the targets moved and her Light-formed bolts far too flew wide.

When they were done, Kieran called her over.

"Leah," he said, and she braced herself. "You're going to have people watching things you do from time to time, and you're going to have to learn to deal with it. Ignore them, and focus on yourself and what that head of yours is telling you. Don't let a few idiots who draw joy out of the torment of others ruin anything for you, do you understand?"

"I understand." Even if she didn't think she could ever do it. She was far too conscious of the eyes that followed her, judging. Staring. Waiting for her next mistake, of which there were plenty.

"Good," said Kieran, clapping her on the shoulder. His touch was comforting, a small gesture that meant far more to her than a simple commendation. It was proof that maybe she wasn't entirely a screw up. That someone believed in her. Sort of. "Group training is the day after tomorrow, so we'll be doing that instead of the one-on-one. I expect nothing but your best."

"I wouldn't give you anything else, Kieran."

He nodded. "I know. You're not the kind of person who I'd worry about half-assing their pushups when I had my back turned, unlike a few others in the team. I'll see you then."

After a shower, Leah returned to her room, going back to the symbols she was slowly starting to hate. They taunted her waking moments and invaded her dreams, always just beyond her comprehension, never quite close enough for her to grasp.

It was somewhere after she stepped away from her room lest she throw her book at the wall that she saw the note under the door.

I'm around tonight if you need help decoding. Same place as last time. -S

How or when it'd got there Leah had no idea, but anything was a welcome break. Maybe venting and just talking to someone about this frustration in her chest at her own lack of ability would be enough to get her past it.

In five minutes, her books were packed and she headed off down the corridor.

She was about halfway there when Illiya almost crashed into her.

"Leah!" she called before realising where they were. "Um, where are you going? Only the basements are this way. And the storage rooms, I guess."

Leah made her eyes go wide and took a gamble. "Oh sunlight, please tell me those storage rooms have old expedition papers in them or Kieran's going to kill me for being late again."

Illiya sucked on her lip. "Uh... they might, but there's more chance of them being in the library--"

Leah shook her head. "I'm sure Kieran said they were too old for the library." Please, please let her have guesses have some kind of accuracy to them. Her inexperience would only get this lie so far. "Something about human war documents?"

"Oh!" said Illiya. "He's after those!"

Leah nodded enthusiastically, throwing in a shrug for good measure. "I guess so, I don't really know..."

"I'd heard that he was working you hard and forcing you into personal training," said Illiya. "I didn't really believe it since you looked so happy, but now--"

"I'm fine," said Leah quickly. "Unless I don't get these documents in time."

"Did you want me to come with you?"

"No, no," said Leah. "It's fine. They can't be too hard to find, right?"

"I went through a copy of them a few weeks back," said Illiya. "They're in the back section in the three races war area. Let me know if you need someone to deal with Kieran, okay?"

Leah waved and hurried on. "Okay!"

She ran into the room and meandered around for a few minutes, constantly checking the door to see if anyone had followed her. Her heart was in her mouth as she expected someone to block door and ask what she was doing here, but it never came. Grabbing something just in case she needed an excuse, Leah left the storage room and continued onto the room where Shade waited.

"Was wondering if you were going to show up," said Shade as she closed the door.

Leah didn't see Shade in the corner until he moved, despite the fact that he was in plain sight. She ignored his comment and dumped her book-filled bag on the ground. "I'm going insane trying to figure this out. I need help before I throw these things at the wall."

"The great decoder Leah, asking for help?" said Shade, walking over to her. "What's wrong?"

"There's symbols I've never seen before in the temple murals, and they're too complex to work out from context," said Leah. "They're arranged in ways I've never seen before and the notes I have from the ruins back home and the ones the expedition teams searched aren't enough, and they're the most reliable way to learn new symbols, but they just aren't there."

"So you don't have enough reference material?"

Leah huffed. "Something like that. I can guess, but that's all it is. Guessing. And considering what happened the last time we guessed, I'd rather avoid that at all costs."

"So let's go get more reference material," said Shade.

"Going back to the temple isn't going to help," said Leah. "They're too complicated."

"There's other ruins not too far from here," said Shade. "They're outside the League though, so we're going to have to take my way out."

"Your way out?"

Shade walked over to the wall. "There's a reason I ask you to meet me here, and it's not just because the ceiling isn't see-through." He re-arranged several trinkets on the shelves and slid part of the back-board aside, revealing a concealed hole in the wall. "The documents I found call them 'sun tunnels', and they were built to allow sunlight into the League's lower levels. There's one for every lower level, but most of them are sealed up."

Leah's eyes were wide as Shade hoisted himself up onto the shelf and crawled into the space. "Does anyone else know about these?"

"Other people I work with, yes," said Shade, his voice echoing back to her ears. "But I think the rest of the League is more or less oblivious. I'm not sure why they were put out of commission, but I'm perfectly okay with it."

Leah tentatively followed his movements, awkwardly climbing up onto the shelf and sticking her head inside the hole. The crystalite was warm under her touch, the air from outside breathing on her face, but it was dark. She fought the urge to Light her crystals and crawled after Shade.

It wasn't a flat climb. The tunnel was sloped, she presumed, to meet the surface. To accomodate, someone had carved shallow ruts into the crystalite that were barely big enough to fit her fingers, and the entire way up, Leah was terrified she was going to slide all the way back down. After her first slip, she hardened a thin strip of Light attached to the toe of her boots that fit into the gaps and give her a better grip.

They reached the top a few minutes later. The tunnel came out on the side of the League's wall into an open garden courtyard Leah didn't know existed. She glanced down at where Shade was waiting on the ground, realising she wasn't going to be able to copy his twist-body-midair maneuvre, and there wasn't enough room to bring her legs around.

Leah grimaced, resigning herself to the faceplant.

"Jump down," said Shade. "I'll catch you."

He held his arms out, and Leah didn't really have a choice. She wasn't going back down. Placing her trust in him, she pushed her body out of the tunnel, biting back her squeal as she fell the few metres to where the ground was located.

True to his promise, Shade caught her. With a mumbled thank you, Leah's feet were back on the ground, and Shade was leading her into the bushes that hedged the crystalite wall. Inside was a concealed ladder made from wood, a strange enough sight in the League when everything else was crystalite, but it blended well with the bushes.

Over they went, Shade once more catching her on the other side as they dropped from the wall, because as he put it, 'knowing you, you'll break an ankle'. Leah didn't complain as his arms caught her for the second time, and she didn't think she was ever going to.

Shade put her down and jerked his head towards the forest. "This way. It's not far in."

Wow. There was a forest outside the League? Leah wandered after him, careful where she put her feet in the twilight's dim glow. After the third time of almost tripping over a stone, she asked, "Can I Light my crystals?"

"Probably better you don't," said Shade. He held out a hand. "Here. I think I've got the rocks out here memorised."

Leah took it. He steading her, pointing out various rocks and other obstacles that probably would have otherwise taken out an eyeball. The forest grew thicker, but they were following an obvious path--obvious being in the sense that it was the only way they could have gone without hacking aside the vegetation and Leah was only able to find it because Shade pushed aside the right branches.

At the point where Leah was sure the forest was going to get too thick for them to advance, they passed a line of bushes and came into a clearing with external influences. The setup of the plants was too different to their previous trekking environment to be natural.

Sure enough, Shade crouched by the base of a tree and pushed aside a layer of vines, revealing a doorway.

He glanced back at Leah. "There's probably more dangerous things in here for you than Shattered, so if I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions. Understand?"

"More dangerous than a Shattered?"

"Like I said," said Shade. "For you. Stick close."

Leah clutched her bag tighter and followed him into the tunnel, wondering what exactly could be down here that would be so choosy in its victims, though he could have just been making fun of her lacking combat ability. 

These ruins were... different from the other three, and Leah couldn't put her finger on why. It wasn't just the chunks of crystalite that had been pushed off the main path and into the corners. There was something strange about the murals on the walls, but without enough Light to see them, she couldn't make out what it was. When she ran her fingers over the walls, they came away with a thick layer of dirt.

A few minutes into the ruins, Leah heard footsteps.

Shade whirled around, his eyes scanning the shadows behind her. "They aren't supposed to be down here."

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. Explain later, move now."

Leah ran after him to catch up, but that didn't quell her questions. "Should we leave?"

Shade just shook his head. "That's the only entrance. We're going to have to wait it out. Keep quiet."

Shade's usual confident strides turned urgent as he led them deeper, and Leah found herself continuing to trail her fingers on the wall. Something was off, and she wanted to know where she was going if she was separated from Shade. The clink of his back-strapped sword with every step wasn't enough to comfort her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up more than she cared to acknowledge.

"Shade," she whispered, stepping closer. "I don't like this."

He took her hand. "We're almost there. You'll be okay. I promise."

Leah's nerves squeezed his fingers. Why didn't he sound sure?

They came to a door--a wooden door, inside Radiant ruins?--and slipped inside the room. Shade seemed to relax once they were inside, and that only made Leah's stomach clench around her insides even more.

"What's wrong?" she said, voice low. "Shade--"

"These ruins serve as the base for the people I work with," said Shade, crouching by the door like he was trying to peer through the planks. "It's usually empty, and the fact that it's not means something big happened and an emergency meeting was called. Apparently I missed the memo."

Leah could barely find her voice. "Who do you work for?"

He glanced back at her, something like guilt in his eyes. "I can't tell you, Leah. Not without putting you in danger. I shouldn't have brought you here. It would have been fine if they hadn't shown up."

"How is information going to put me in danger?" said Leah. "If anything, not knowing is going to--"

She cut off as the footsteps--a group, at least five people--grew louder outside the door. She didn't dare to breathe as they stopped.

"We know someone's in there!" growled a voice outside. "We saw the trail you left in the dirt, and we all know better to do that!"

Leah's dirt-stained fingers burned.

Shade closed his eyes for the briefest moments before opening the door. The cocky exterior he'd had their first meeting was back in full force as he blocked the doorway, Leah cowering in the corner. "Eh? Dirt trail? Have you lost your mind, Ash?"

"Oh, it's you, Shade," said the man Leah presumed to be Ash. "Look for yourself. Trail in the dirt--we have an outsider in our midst."

As Shade was pulled away to investigate, two others from the group dressed in the same coverings as Shade wore entered the room where Leah crouched in the corner.

It didn't take them long to spot her.

Their dark metal swords were pointed at her in a heartbeat. "Intruder! Radiant!"

Leah vaguely fumbled for her Hilt, but it was in the depths of her bag and she couldn't pull it out in time. Cornered, she was an easy target as they lunged forward and twisted her arms behind her, forcing her to her knees with a blade at her throat.

"I--I'm not--"

"Silence, intruder," hissed the one with the sword at her neck. "We don't take kindly to your kind after what you've done to us. Maybe the parasite's finally got to our brains, but we've had enough."

Parasit--oh, sunlight.

These were the Lightless.

Rushed footsteps approached the door, but Leah couldn't raise her head. Fingers were tangled painfully in her hair, keeping her chin low as the rest of her trembled from the chills of the cold metal against her skin. She didn't dare swallow, didn't dare to breathe. Every movement added another graze to her throat.

"Ash, we found her hiding in the corner. Not particularly well, mind you."

"Good wo--" began Ash.

He was cut off by Shade, whose footsteps strode towards her. "Let her go. She isn't the enemy."

"Not the enemy?" said the one with a sword at her throat. "She's a Radiant!"

"She's a scholar!" said Shade. "She isn't hurting anyone, and she's been helping me decode the ancient's ruins--"

"It's the scholars that are the reason they're rounding us up like cattle!" roared Ash from the doorway. "Or have you forgotten so soon what they did to eleven's group?"

"I've forgotten nothing, Ash," said Shade, a deadly edge to his voice that chilled Leah's spine. She strained her eyes, desperate to get a glimpse of him, but managed nothing more than a blurred outline. "But you're going to let her go, because I still need her, and I know you all don't want to fight me. You know who's going to win that fight."

"You think Dusk is going to protect you? We're the ones with a sword to your little Radiant pet's throat, Shade."

Leah choked back a sob as the sword pressed a little harder.

"You kill her, and I'll make sure the Radiants are the last thing you need to worry about."

"Traitor."

"You were always close-minded, Ash."

"I'm not--"

The sound of Shade's sword sliding from its scabbard shut Ash up. "I won't ask you again. Release her. Let me take her back, and then we'll go to Dusk and sort this out the proper way." 

"How do I know you won't just run back to your Radiant buddies as soon as we let you out?"

Shade's sword clattered to the ground, followed by the sound of a pouch hitting the floor. "Take those to Dusk. I'll be back for them as soon as I'm finished with the Radiant."

"Fine," said Ash as he picked up the sword and pouch. "Release the intruder, but keep her books incase she has intel on us. You'd better come back, Shade, or you'll be the next one we hunt down."

The sword dropped from Leah's throat, the fingers in her hair shoving her head forward before releasing. Leah sprawled across the ground, shoulder colliding painfully into the floor.

"Don't tempt me," said Shade as he crouched down, gentle hands looping under her arms as he picked her up. She was shaking too much to stand up on her own, something he found out when he released her the first time.

In the end, he simply scooped her up and carried her out of the ruins.

*+*+*+*

A/N - I had a break from writing yesterday and rearranged my room instead. BUT NOW WE'RE BACK WITH THINGS THAT WEREN'T IN THE PLOT OUTLINE SO LET'S GOOO. 

Wordcount: 46,032