There was something he wasn't telling them. Something that made her curious and uneasy at the same time.

- - -

-Meilin-

Meilin stood there with her mouth agape in shock. The mansion was catching on flames, people were rushing out the place and soldiers were going in. Meilin tried to recognize the armor but she couldn't quite get which continent these soldiers come from. The Zhongese soldiers were also rushing in, fighting the new soldiers. Just then, the soldiers summoned Spirit Animals and she gasped when she saw so many.

"I need to get my father out," Meilin exclaimed, glancing at the boy who met her gaze.

There was an emotion battling in his eyes, hesitating before nodding, "I'll come with you."

This surprised Meilin a bit but she didn't dwell on it as she rushed into the building. As she entered, she saw soldiers and Spirit Animals fighting and people trying to rush out. She ran as fast as she could, glancing around to try and find her father. Instead, she had bumped into someone and she looked up to find Abeke. Her eyes were wide with fear and shock.

"Mistress Meilin," she exclaimed, "You need to get out of here."

"What do you mean I need to get out of here," Meilin snapped, "We all do and that means you too."

"I can't," Abeke replied with a worried tone, "I need to find my family."

"I need to find my father," Meilin said.

"And I need to find my bird," she heard the boy muttered to himself mostly. She's confused to what bird he was talking about but she shrugged it off.

Just then, a soldier came running towards them but before any of them could move, a boy came crashing into the soldier, kicking him away. Meilin recognized the pale blonde hair of Shane. Abeke immediately grabbed the bow the soldier had been carrying behind him along with a quiver of arrows. The soldier then got up, summoning a fox and it started running towards Abeke but then, there was a bright flash and a huge leopard appeared, growling at the fox. Abeke knocked back an arrow, let go and it hit straight at the soldier's knee who cried in pain.

"Impressive," Meilin commented making Abeke blush slightly.

"You two need to get out of here," Shane told them urgently until his gaze landed on the boy, his face turning into confusion but he didn't have time to question when another soldier ran at him.

"I can't leave without my father," Meilin said before running once more. She glanced back to find the boy and Abeke running after her, the leopard taking up the rear.

Just then, Meilin halted into a stop, her eyes wide. She watched in horror as her father laid there, bleeding and struggling to get up in the middle of the battle. A man with a black cloak stood above him, his sword raised into the air. The general, her father, met Meilin's gaze and he mouthed something to her, "Run."

And then it happened. She watched, frozen in horror as the man sunk the sword into his father's chest. The general jerked once before he went entirely limp. Everything around her suddenly disappeared, her gaze remaining on the limp, lifeless figure, her father. She didn't notice the man being tackled by a Greencloak but she didn't care right now.

The numbness of the reality came to her. Her father, General Teng, was dead.

She felt being jolted back to reality by a familiar voice, "There you are, Mistress Meilin. Oh wait, the might General Teng is dead so i'm not sure if I should even call you that."

She turned to see Devin with an evil grin, his suit still wet but a sword was at his side. His Spirit Animal, the black cat, stood right beside him.

"Well, what are you waiting for," this time, his gaze turned to the boy beside them, "Take the talisman and let's go."

At first, Meilin was confused but then, the reality slowly dawned on her. No wonder the boy didn't mention his name, he wanted to get closer to get something from her. The same thing Devin had wanted.

"You're working with them," Meilin muttered, a fire slowly burning inside of her. That fire she knew so well when she was trained to fight.

The boy slowly met her gaze, the usual playfulness was now gone, "You were right with one thing. The next two letters were an L...but know that a real thief never kills."

Then quick as a flash, the boy pulled out a dagger and had thrown it right at Devin who cried in pain. Devin fell back, clutching his right arm in pain where the dagger had sunk in.

His gaze turned back to her and she could see the sadness and regret in his eyes, "Run while you still can. They're after your talisman, your necklace."

At the moment, Meilin didn't even know what was happening right now. She then felt Abeke pull her away and together, they ran towards the exit. As they emerged another Greencloak, came rushing towards them.

"Follow me," the Greencloak told them urgently.

"Why should we?" Meilin asked him suspiciously.

His dark brown eyes met hers, "Because I know why they're after you and the only way to save Erdas and your safety is if you follow me."

Abeke seemed to have already trusted the man while Meilin hesitated. Then she reluctantly nodded and followed the man. Leaving the mansion and leaving her father's lifeless figure.

And that's when she remembered the boy's words that she knew who he was. How ironic that she had suspected of that name before.

Roll.

-Rollan-

"Retreat!" Rollan heard one of the Zhongese soldiers exclaim.

This was part of the plan. While the party went on, the Conquerors were quickly conquering the other cities of Zhong before striking here. It was only a matter of time until the whole continent fell to the Conquerors.

When everyone had ran away, he saw Zerif walking towards him, his face cold and unreadable as always. He knew that he messed up big time but he wasn't thinking. He didn't know why he did that but when he saw her, running into the building unafraid of the battle around her, seeing her very own father killed right before her very eyes. The worst part was, he was killed by Zerif, the man he was working for. He came here in order to save her mother's life, only to have someone else's father killed.

"Don't you think I didn't see you throw a dagger at Devin and let them escape now, Roll," Zerif spoke, cold and harsh as he continued walking closer, "You had almost the entire time with the girl and you couldn't even manage to grab the talisman? And they call you the so-called Roll who can get away with everything."

"I couldn't okay?" Rollan snapped back, "I tried to earn her trust and get closer so I could snatch it but you had to burn the whole building down. Everything was just happening too fast!"

"I gave you an exact time when this would happen," Zerif fired, his voice raised with fury, "Not only have you failed me but you failed your mother as well!"

"No, wait," Rollan sighed then said, "Give me another chance. I still have three months. I promise i'll get all the talismans. I'll get them all by the end of three months."

Zerif hesitated before grumbling, "You're lucky i'm not killing your mother yet but your luck ends here for there will be a slight change to your quest."

Rollan tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I recently found out that only the summoners of the Great Beast can take off that certain talisman," Zerif replied and the next words that came next made him want to sigh in frustration, "So not only are you taking the talismans, you're taking the Great Beasts and their partners in three months."

Could this day get any worse?