"What if they knock me out?"

"They probably will."

"If they do, you owe me something."

-Meilin-

Fire burned around me, lighting up the once peaceful night of Zhong. Every house caught fire, people screaming, running in every direction in their desperate attempt to escape what was once their homes.

I glanced around in panic. How did I end up here?

"Meilin!" My gaze quickly snapped towards the direction of his voice till I met the same brown eyes. He was there. Alive. Standing only meters away.

For a moment, all I could do was gape, trying to hold back the tears of relief that was threatening to pool out of my eyes. "F-Father!"

He was the first to run forward, causing me to move from my frozen position as I stumble towards him. Never have I ever been so shock and relieved in my whole life...for just one moment.

The next moment, he was gone.

A man came running from the side, the general oblivious of his presence as the man unsheathed his saber. I yelled but he turned too late. The man stabbed the saber deep into my father's back.

I saw my father winced but he did not cry. Soldiers never cried.

I quickened my pace, ignoring the man who stood apart as I kneeled beside my father. Blood was pooling out the wound, him choking in his own blood.

"No, no, no," I dropped to my knees, quickly ripping up a piece of my shirt before pressing it to the wound to try and stop the blood. It was soaked in a matter of seconds. "Please, please, not again."

My vision grew blurry before I roughly wiped away the tears. I wasn't going to lose him again.

Not again.

"M-Meilin," he managed to choke out, his eyes unfocused, "You can't..."

She knew what he was going to say.

"Trust...trust her...you ca..." he wasn't able to finish. The light in his eyes began to fade, his breathing irregular. With one last attempt, he let out one last breath, his eyes focused onto the night sky.

He was gone. Again. Yet this time, I didn't burst into tears. I couldn't help but ponder on his last words. But before I could have any more time to think about it, I suddenly glanced up, sensing another person nearby. I saw him, the Jackal, a wicked grin on his face with his saber poised to attack.

Before I could move, he brought it down with a deadly swing.

Instinctively, I raised my hands in defense when I suddenly felt my fist colliding into skin. I heard a yelp, one of surprise and pain and before I knew it, I was sitting up, breathing heavily as I glanced around wildly.

Dream. It was a dream. I'm awake and back in the real world.

"Ow! That was hard," my gaze snapped to the direction of the voice, a boy, looking like the same age as me, rubbing his cheek. Brown tousled hair, brown eyes and tan skin. He looked at me with caution as he leaned back on the wooden stool he had been sitting on, "I'll take mental note on not trying to attack you in your sleep."

"Where are we? And how are we still alive?" I glanced around, seeing that I was on a mattress, inside a small room with wooden walls around me. The place seemed to tilt slightly from side to side. Another ship?

"Good morning to you too," Rollan replied flatly.

"Seriously, where are we?"

"Tarik apparently had a sea otter that I had no knowledge of and swooped some of us up, the red dudes with those weird white masks somehow turned up in time and managed to miraculously save us and their ship is much better than our other one. Even the name is cooler. I think it's called Expiator or som-"

"Where are the others?" I asked, trying to get up when pain suddenly shot up from my left side, causing me to gasp, my hand automatically flying to the side.

Rollan immediately raised his hands up, "Woah, hold on! You're still injured from last night."

"But-"

"You're going to be completely useless if you get up and injure yourself even more," he scolded, "Lay down and i'll answer your questions."

I hesitated but reluctantly laid back down, wincing slightly at my injured side.

Rollan relaxed slightly but still looked cautious, ready to stop me if I attempt to sit up again, "Conor is still unconscious, big bump on his head, Abeke broke an arm but is awake and Tarik's talking to that Shane guy. You've injured your side, as you may or may not know and I managed to come out with a lesser injury by fracturing a toe."

I raised an eyebrow, slightly unconvinced, "Really? Then what's that crutch over there?" I gestured to the wooden crutch that was leaning on the wall.

"For you?"

I quickly slipped out the pillow that my head used to rest on and threw it at the crutch, knocking it over backwards. Rollan was a little too late, attempting to reach for it only to yelp as he fell onto the floor, clutching his wrapped up leg.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Pretty big cast for a broken toe."

"Fine, I fractured my leg," Rollan snapped, slowly reaching over to the crutch and using it to support him so he could stand.

"Fractured?"

"...okay maybe it's broken but-"

I smirked, "That wasn't so hard now, was it? You should practice telling the truth more."

He scowled at me, reaching down to pick up the pillow that had fallen on the floor before tossing it over to me, "Why was I assigned to watching-injured-Meilin duty?"

"So you can't run away?" I mean, his leg is broken so..

"We're in the middle of the ocean!" Rollan exclaimed.

There was a knock on the door but before either of them could say anything, Abeke's head had poked into the room, her voice trying to contain excitement, "We're nearing Nilo. And Conor's awake too."

I gave Rollan another look, "In the middle of the ocean?"

"How was I supposed to know?"

"Isn't that why you're here? To answer my questions?"

"I liked you better when you were unconscious," he grumbled.

"So I've heard that many people admired me-"

"Abeke, we're switching duties!" Rollan interrupted, using the crutch as he limped out the door, passing Abeke.

I smirked. Revenge was sweet.

- - -

"Okay, what's the plan?" Abeke asked.

I was able to have enough strength to pull myself off the bed and somehow reach the decks after a few hours, much to Rollan and Abeke's reluctance. We were all currently gathered beside the railings of the Expiator, staring at the huge, walled fort city in the distance. Rollan was still in crutches, Conor's head was bandaged, Abeke had her arm in a sling beside me while I leaned on the railings. Tarik was with us, a few bruises and scratches visible on him while Shane, the weird Redcloak guy that seems to keep popping in every once in a while, was there too.

This time though, he seemed a little more jumpy as if he were agitated. His tone was more strict and curt than the calm one I was used to.

"You four and some other Redcloaks will sneak in for the whole day, kidnap Cabaro's summoner, and get back on the ship," Shane explained, taking all of us by surprise that he'd already made up his mind, "Assuming we come back in time with Dinesh and his summoner."

"Woah, back up!" Rollan exclaimed, "You're going way too fast with these names!"

Shane sighed before elaborating some more, "You, Meilin, Abeke, and Conor sneak into Faisel's home while Tarik and some of my Redcloaks will stay in the town."

"Who's Faisel?" Conor asked.

"He's this really wealthy merchant who lives there and whose son had summoned the lion that we're after," Shane explained, impatience creeping into his tone, "You four need to find a way to sneak in. You guys can figure that out. Once you're in, you've got to stay for a whole day in there cause i'm taking the rest of my Redcloaks further down south to a small village where Dinesh the elephant had been summoned. Leave early and this ship won't be here. Are we clear so far?"

Everyone nodded except for Rollan who just shrugged it off, "I'm just going to pretend like everyone else that I get that."

Shane clenched his jaw but continued talking, "Find the kid and kidnap him-"

"Wait, kidnap?" Abeke interrupted, "Don't you think that's a little too much?"

"Just leave the kidnapping for last resort then," Shane finally snapped, "Talk to him, persuade him to join. Do whatever! Just get Cabaro and his summoner on this ship by tomorrow."

And on that happy note, the leader of the Redcloaks walked away and left us in confused silence.

"Well he's in a bad mood," I heard Rollan mutter.

"No duh," I rolled my eyes before turning to the walled city, "Now to figure out how to get in there.."

"We could always sneak in," Conor suggested.

Tarik shook his head, "That would be near impossible. Their security is tight. There's no way of getting into Faisel's home from the actual city without being stopped by the guards. You have to leave on another ship that would take you to a direct entrance but only specific ships can past. And we've seen their steep walls. The only way to get in is if you've been personally invited by Faisel himself."

That got me thinking, the gears turning as a plan formed in my mind.

"Well how does Shane expect us to get in there if it's nearly impossible?" Rollan said, sounding irritated, "It's not like this merchant would want anything from a couple of teenagers."

"Unless...we're not just any ordinary teenagers," I spoke up, glancing at Rollan. Everyone turned to me.

"You are not going to show them your talismans or your spirit animals," Tarik said, shaking his head, "That would only make things harder to get you out if they've decided to lock you in there."

"Oh no I didn't mean our spirit animals," I was still looking at Rollan.

He raised an eyebrow, "What are you looking at me for?"

I smirked, "What if Roll, Amaya's infamous thief, kidnaps General Teng's daughter?"

- - -

Woah is this an update? (I feel like most of my author's notes start with something along these lines)

What do you think Meilin's plan is?
Thoughts about her weird dream?
Why was Shane...in a not so good mood?

Will there be a bit more Reilin development in the next chapter? Hmm maybe. Just maybe...