The day was spent planning and preparing for battle. No one knew when the Lucantians would attack again, and they were afraid. There was no telling when the next bomb would be thrown or when Klais's controlled dragons would attack.
It was incredibly slow, moving through the day and expecting someone to attack them. Eventually, Richie and Eddie were pulled away from assisting the group with preparations for a meeting between the leaders. Though neither of them were the leaders of any group, they had all been associated with the various people and their opinions were valued.
They decided to keep the group small to avoid any large form of fighting or controversy. It was Richie, Eddie, Avi, Cassie, and a man by the name of Jonas Ruson.
He was a Tenebrian who Richie admired greatly. He wasn't like the others who had hired Maggie; he had her clean and do other things that were small and gave her a large payment for it, but he never forced her to sleep with him. When Richie had hunted, he always brought back something for Jonas and often undercharged him.
"It's nice to see you, Richie," Jonas said, holding out a hand nodding respectfully to Eddie. "I've heard you've gone all over the world to see what the hell is going on."
"Yeah, not always by choice," Richie responded, shaking his hand. "Thank you for joining."
"If it's a chance to bring down that damn wall, I'll take it," he said, walking to a closet and handing both Richie and Eddie small backpacks. "Should be able to keep you two alive, should you be separated."
Richie looked inside and saw a small first aid kit, two knives, a grenade, and a bag of snacks. He realized Eddie's had the same.
"Why do we get these and not others?" Eddie asked, knowing he wasn't as experienced with the weapons. He also didn't like Jonas's wording in the sentence. "And what do you mean 'should we be separated?'"
"You two are among the smartest we have," Avi said quietly. "And you have a bond with the dragons they've enslaved. If you can manage to get rid of whatever control Luceat has, you'll be able to take the dragons and we have control."
Richie narrowed his eyes. "You're sending us on a mission."
"You don't have to do it, we just thought you'd be the best equipped," Cassie said, clearly not all for the idea of sending two of her friends on a deadly mission. "You seriously don't have to."
Richie and Eddie shared a nervous but confident look. They were the best; they were smart, careful, and had very good reason to go spy on the Lucantians and free the dragons.
"We'll do it," Richie said, grabbing Eddie's had confidently. "Do you have a map."
Cassie laid out her map, showing them where they'd need to go. Then, she handed them a strange looking weapon.
"This is a flare. Use it when you've infiltrated so we can back up. We'll be working to surround, but won't run in without the signal," Cassie said, her voice shaking. "You'll leave right now if you can."
Richie and Eddie grabbed their bags. Before they left, Richie ran back to the ship and grabbed the small box Maggie had given him. If they were about to die, he wanted to use it.
"What is that?" Eddie asked as Richie slipped the box in his pocket.
"Something my mom gave me." He paused and smiled at Eddie. "For luck."
Eddie nodded, slipping his bag over his shoulders. "Who would've thought that in three months I'd be trying to destroy the place I was raised in?" he asked, more to himself, but Richie laughed anyway.
