Power Play

Chapter 28: Lily/Vanning

Chapter 28: Lily/Vanning

    When Evan told her the location she was supposed to set up, Lily put on the transceiver he gave her and headed off, passing Silver on the way, who didn't flash her his usual smile. 'Must just be nervous', she told herself as she moved, she certainly was. It only took seconds for her to arrive on the roof of the building Evan had directed her to. Immediately she closed her eyes, looking inwards and opening herself to her vision before opening her eyes once again. Taking a deep breath to try to calm her nerves, she did a quick scan of the area immediately around Vanning's building before moving her vision inside the building to locate Vanning himself.

    "Is everybody ready?" she heard Evan ask the others. They must've all signified that they were, because a few seconds later Evan asked, "Lily, how're things looking?"

    Lily just watched Vanning for a second. He was slumped slightly in his throne, his eyes closed. "The area around the building is clear. Vanning is in the throne room, looks like he might be asleep," she told Evan.

    She heard Evan giving the others a last second pep talk, and final instructions on what to do at the start of the fight. She just used the time to continue working on her own nerves. She'd be the last one into the fight, and as a result probably the one with the least risk, but that wasn't saying much. Vanning was still a dangerous enemy, she could still die, so she wouldn't be able to afford a mistake. But she'd been in dangerous fights before. She just had to keep her focus. Finally she heard Evan finish with, "Alright, let's get moving. You know where to go."

   Lily watched the group split up, and offered a nervous smile to Ryan, Kyra, and Vex as they landed next to her on the roof she was on. "Lily, still clear?" Evan's voice came through a second later.

    Lily did one last check of the area around Vanning's building, and then of the throne room itself. Everything was just as it had been before. "Still clear," she confirmed. Vex offered her a quick nod, gestured to the others, and then took off across the rooftops toward the building.

    She held her position, as she was supposed to. Keep watching, and only rush in to join the fight once everyone was inside with no problems, that was her job. Her body was taut with nervous excitement. She held herself in position, ready to take off at just the right instant. Yet that instant never came. Just after both groups entered the building, Lily detected four auras approaching, still outside of the range where those within the buildings would be able to sense them. Her mouth began to open to shout a warning even as her vision tracked to find the sources and identify who they belonged to. The moment she saw who they were, her heart sank, but before she got the first word out, a hand suddenly clamped over her mouth from behind.

    She hadn't sensed anyone coming up behind her, and as she began to try and struggle, she found she couldn't. Her body was paralyzed, except for her eyes and her vision. Immediately she shifted that vision to look at herself, to look behind her, and discovered Lord Talen standing on the rooftop with her, one arm wrapped around her to place his hand over her mouth. He was using some kind of power to keep her from moving.

    "I'm sorry Lily," he whispered into her ear. "Nothing you can do can change the outcome of this. All you can do is get yourself killed too, and I won't let you do that."