They locked Dylan in one of the rooms, Fannel turned the key, 'That's one room less,'

'But one information more. And this group- this group seems a big one. I think we should check the tower out,'

'Yes... Kane's gone to check the Crossroads, but mostly- there'll be nothing there. He'll be back soon. Let's go,'

'Now?!'

'Of course. Come,' He said, grabbing her arm and half-pulling Alexandra with him.

'Yes yes, don't pull me- Fannel!'

* * *

'These steps... they will be difficult to descend, in speed. If we are being followed...' Said Fannel, frowning at the hundreds of steps that sprawled in front of them. They had to ascend them, and after walking for four more kilometers, they'd get the tower's back end exposed.

'How many would be there?' Alexandra asked, looking at the stone steps,

'Five hundred? Five hundred fifty? Not more than that...' Said Fannel.

'Let's go! We'll see whatever happens!' Said Alexandra. Fannel looked at her for a second, then he smiled,

'Recklessness, yes. You do have a lot of it. Unfortunately, I agree with you- let's see. Whatever it is,'

'That's a good brother there!'

The steps weren't so good, however. Alexandra almost fell right back down- she was so tired. There WERE five hundred steps at the very least. And now, she began seeing some wisdom in her brother's words... if they were being pursued- running down those steps would NOT be easy at all.

'Come on,'

'Wait!' Alexandra panted, 'I'm dying here!'

'Do you mind telling me when you are not dying? You were dying when Master George introduced weaponless combat. You were dying when you got trapped in that Mouse Trap- you were again dying when Kane tested you- and once again when you were sentenced- or rather, sent to Akwanda. Then again you were dying in Watson's shor-'

'Fine, let's go, I got over my death.' Said Alexandra, getting up. Fannel rolled his eyes, but they walked on.

The sun had set... or at least it appeared so, in the cloudy day- the sky was a sleepy shade of dark blue and things were hardly visible. They had followed Dylan's direction, after the steps, it included passing through a narrow street with rows of huts on each side, the street stank of sewage and ... after the downpour, of wet earth (which was a good scent unless the earth itself was not fragrant). Then they had to crawl among bushes - emerging from which, they could see the tower well now - just ahead of them. Dylan hadn't lied.

The light from the ground floor window of the tower was quite visible. Fannel grabbed her arm again, put a finger to his lips, motioning her to keep quiet.

They tiptoed across the length of moist grass, the wetness not allowing the usual crunching of feet on grass to be heard. Fannel knelt down silently, by the tower's ground floor, where - some conversation was going on. Alexandra followed.

'This seems intentional!' Alexandra said, right into her brother's ear. He looked at her- then back at the tower. Then he nodded,

'Could be - but couldn't be as well,'

Alexandra bit her lips and nodded. She had a bad feeling this was a planned trap... Dylan, the directions, everything- it was one big, huge planned game of the Losianish.

But it was too much to imagine that. They couldn't have corresponded so well and come up with a plan within one day. Or even a month, for that matter. Everybody knew there were spies everywhere, and it was mutual acceptance that they couldn't be prevented.

She lay down on the ground. Whatever it was, Alexandra knew it was important. They were talking in hushed tones..

'No.' She heard a gruff, male voice say, '851 is not appointed. He is drunk. We will undertake that mission in the sequel.'

The sequel? And here was the worst part of it, code words. She racked her brain, what was this the sequel? Were they planning two missions? This one following the first? That seemed too straightforward to be true, and she was thinking so hard, she almost lost the man's next sentence.

'-No! No one else is fit for the Hero.' Alexandra's eyes travelled to Fannel's face by the window - his eyes were narrowed and he was not even blinking.

Hero? Another silly code word. If they dwelt upon the usage of such childish terms for their conversations, how could they possibly appoint somebody better than Dylan for a spy? And then, something struck her - if they did not leave Dylan to come back, it would raise a mighty suspicion. She was just turning to inform Fannel of the complication when a different voice she heard, made her stop to listen. 

Another person, a high pitched voice, said something. It was not audible, but it was definitely warning the man of something.

'I know!' The same gruff voice snarled, this man certainly needed to work on his volume, 'But that family has been troubling me for long! And that boy- he is especially annoying. We should teach them a lesson, Celyn!' he said, forgetting all code words.

Celyn? A female terrorist...

Alexandra was a first - the first female spy... here, there seemed to be another first - a first female terrorist.

Doesn't make any difference. She said to herself, and then again, why were they still listening? It wasn't a plot against Idgard- they weren't related. This was these terrorists' matter with some family... Alexandra and Fannel needn't care.

She nudged her brother gently, 'Come on- this isn't our issue!'

'Why not?! They plan on another ambush- tearing apart another family. You go- Mabel, I'm going to find out what this is about.' Fannel told her.

Alexandra sat back down. Her chest felt cold... no, she was NOT leaving him alone.

What use is all that training? All that ability? When you are only willing to use them for the job you get paid for? Shame on you. Learn something from this man!

Alexandra was ashamed enough without her mind saying so too. She kept her ear to the wall and heard on,

'I hate your caution!' The gruff man was saying, 'But- fine,' He said, in a tone of defeat, 'I shall trust your counsel.'

The female spoke something else. She was a lot wiser, and seemed the composed type of person who thought more than they spoke. It reminded Alexandra of Liam, and she was as exasperated with his sudden appearances, that she resolved to do something serious upon it once they were away from the tower. 

'Not that much of precaution,' the man continued. And Alexandra felt Fannel's hand close upon her shoulder.

'Fannel - yes, I'm staying.' She said, pushing the hand aside, not ungently.

It closed upon her shoulder once again, this time pulling her up into a sitting position. Alexandra's eyes fell on Fannel - both of his hands were on the ground.

Then whose hand was on her shoulder?

Alexandra didn't even stop to think, she pulled out Moira and twirled - she pulled it back, and stabbed. Right into the stomach of the man behind her. She closed her eyes as she did it and trembled more than the man did. He didn't even have time to shout ... Alexandra got lucky, she had hit some vital organ, and deep enough. He fell down.

That was when Alexandra opened her eyes. In front of her was a huge manv- his face was covered and he was spreadeagled on the ground- his eyes, the only visible part of his face, were open and unblinking. They would never blink again.

Fannel jumped up, one look at the scene- one shake of head and he pulled out the dagger from the man's wound with brute force- by this time, other men had started gathering around them. He grabbed Alexandra by the arm-

'Run!' He didn't even need to say that word, it was the only open door in this scenario.

Alexandra heard the surrounding men's voices, their footsteps. Stepping over the dead man, the two spies ran for their life.

Alexandra had always been a fast runner, but now, it was tough- the region of her diaphragm felt hollow and ached. Fannel was running faster, pulling her along. Behind them could be a hundred men. Good, they were physically compromised. Good, they were outnumbered. Good, bloodstained Moira was leaving a trail.

'Moira - the blood!' She managed panting, and snatched the knife out of her brother's grip, though it made her shiver harder, she wiped the knife on her clothes. That was when she registered how much blood was on her clothes and hands already. It was the second time she had murdered. But it was so much worse. If someone exiled her for this murder, she would feel the punishment was too light on her.

'Faster!' Fannel said, they plunged into the bushes, this time, not crawling - rather, they simply ran. It made no difference. Alexandra picked up pace, once again the merciless shrubs grazed her legs - every minute or so, one thorn imbibed deeper than the rest- the spies winced and sighed - but kept running. And so did the men behind them.

However, those Losianish were out of practice. First real good thing. Still, they couldn't outrun them. Sweat dripped into her eyes as they pulled out of the bushes and took the steep turn into the stinking street. Alexandra's throat felt constricted as the rows of huts blurred around her- she wanted to have a good cry. But this was certainly not the time. And she didn't know why, in the first place, maybe for herself, maybe for the murder she had just done.

The men behind seemed to be closing upon them. Fannel turned behind - his eyes widened, perhaps at the sheer number of them- Alexandra didn't want to turn, she didn't want to see. Even the smell.. either it had gone, or Alexandra had lost her sense of smell.

Or perhaps, neither. The stench was still there, but the bigger problem closing upon her had not allowed her brain to register it. Yes, the men were actually closing upon them - no seeming. The smaller spaces and uneven land had slowed the spies down - whereas the Losianish had full practice to run in these places. Idgardian roads ... well, Alexandra was pretty sure there were no slums in Idgard. It was huge city - and population was not all together that high. Economic activity was well divided in all the cities...

Why the hell do I care for Vedessa's economic activity right now?! Alexandra scolded herself, running faster.

Her brother, meanwhile, thrust his hand inside his cloak and pulled out a flask. It shone in the dark, and she realized it was Oil. Slippery, smooth oil. And they were on a smooth stone platform, that already skidded away beneath her hurrying feet.

'Goodness, you are brilliant!' Alexandra exclaimed, and Fannel didn't reply, he uncapped the vial and stopped momentarily to lay the trap behind their backs. Added to the advantageous location of a narrow path, the oil served its maximum purpose. Alexandra heard bodies fall, men grunt and groan. But that was only temporary, it did slow them down. As confusion reigned in their pursuers - Alexandra and Fannel picked up pace.

'It'll be fine,' Fannel assured, gripping her hand tighter, as the stairs appeared ahead of them. 'Just a bit more!' But there was more than a bit. They had to run down five hundred steps. And the men were closing up again.

They arrived at the descending staircase. Fannel looked at for a split second and shook his head, 'No.' He muttered, 'We can't take the steps!'

'Why?!' Alexandra asked, hysterical.

'We'll be caught! - the only way...' he said, and looked towards the wall at their feet, beyond which, they would be safe. Alexandra understood.

They had to jump.

'No! We can't do that!' She protested, it was almost three hundred feet down. They would break their necks.

'Mabel!' Fannel said - holding her at the arms as she shook her head, tears finally pouring down from all the pores her eyes could have possessed, and shivering. 'Do you trust me?'

'Y-yes - but here - no!'

'You do - just jump!' He ordered, and flung himself sideways, pulling Alexandra with him. They were away from the terrorists' grip - but what was ahead of them? A three hundred feet fall?

Even as they fell, at a frightening speed, Alexandra shook her head, 'We shouldn't have jumped! Now what?!' She said, her voice breaking.

Fannel peered down - he had his arms around Alexandra, under normal circumstances, being in her brother's grip would have been enough for Alexandra - but now, they faced certain death down.

'Shh,' He said, 'I'll do something. Don't argue,' Alexandra hated it when he said don't argue. Because it meant he was going to do something arguably stupid. Fannel didn't disappoint, for he did the stupid, heroic thing. As they fell, he shifted and pulled Alexandra on top of himself - now, if they fell, the whole weight: both of the fall as well as of Alexandra - would fall on him.

'No!' Alexandra cried as soon as she realized that, 'Don't you dare think of doing tha-'

'I told you- don't argue.' He warned.

And just as he did, making Alexandra swear that she would kill him, the ground came into her view. She shut her eyes and turned her face away.

BLA-AAM!

The moment they touched the ground, Alexandra rolled to the side. She stopped two feet away from Fannel. And she was not hurt at all. Alexandra got up hurriedly, almost falling back down in the process - and rushed to her brother's side. She knelt down by him - he was definitely alive. He was blinking away tears, of brutal, physical pain - his lips were pursed together and he only took ragged - shallow breaths, shaking harder with each.

'No-w you c-an ... k-ill-h me!' He managed,

'SHUT UP!' Alexandra shrieked, 'Just shut up and lie there!' She got up and ran back - a few meters- to their house and hammered at the door, the lamps were lit - somebody was definitely back.

Kane opened up, his eyes widened, ' Mabel - where had y-'

'I'll tell - first help me - Fannel's seriously hurt. He can't walk up to he-' She didn't need to complete, Kane stepped out,

'Where's he?'

Alexandra took him - together, they lifted the heroic Secret Agent and took him back inside - Alexandra kicked the door shut behind her.

'How?' Asked Kane, 'Or rather - I don't want to know. Mabel, I need to nurse him,' He said, tearing out the injured's shirt, 'this is going to be men's matter - so you better go to the hall till then.'

'Fine,' Alexandra said, even more grateful that she wasn't the one hurt - there was no woman here to nurse her back in a woman's matter...

She had to deal with Dylan as well.