Julian glanced an her indifferently. "People?" he asked, "Unfortunately I see no people here, so you can sleep soundly," he smirked and sat on his own bed that was on the other side of the room. He heard her thank him, but he doubted she'll remember much about that night. Her last request, however, made him burst into silent laughter.
"Oh, do not worry, I have a great memory," he teased.
"I'll remind you every single detail..." he laughed and flopped back on his bed.

"Ooh, you're words cut me to the quick," she said sarcastically, lying back down and closing her eyes. She bolted up when he said he'd remind her of it, her eyes flaming as she stared him down. "Julian, don't make me drag myself out of bed," she threatened. "I may be insanely drunk, but I swear that if you cross me, I can and will kick your ass." She tried to be serious, but she was biting her lip to keep from smiling, and her eyes twinkled.

Julian's eyes were becoming heavier with each passing moment and he could barely hear what she was saying.
"Try, I dare ya," he smiled, "Try not to trip on your way here..." his voice trailed off as he drifted off to the land of slumber. Even though some might say that demons do not have to sleep or that they had no dreams, it wasn't true. A demon's dream is as real as a human's, just that demonic ones tend to be almost prophecies...

Lilli watched him fall asleep, a soft smile on her face. "Maybe tomorrow," she chuckled, lying down and closing her eyes. Within seconds, she had drifted off to sleep as well, dreams stealing over her mind like a soft, silent cloud.

Everyone slept soundly for the most of the remaining part of the night. Julian slept soundly, his ears twitching from time to time catching random sounds. He had a dream that night; he was walking in the wast red deserts in the middle line between the demon and the spirit worlds. The red sands were viciously blown to random directions, every bit of sand seemed to deeply get stuck in the skin and burn. Suddenly a huge bird-like creature flew high above his head dropping a shadow on the ground which made Julian look up. As soon as he did so, he was almost blinded by the red lights and something that sounded like an ... alarm?

"Captain, captain!" a panicking demon was right beside his bed shaking him, "Wake up!"

Julian teared his eyes open and the sound of a siren struck his ears.

"We're under attack!"

The alarms tore through Lilli's dream, the young woman bolting upright as soon as they started off. She cursed as she swung her legs out of bed, one of the lesser demons already waking Julian up. Lilli reached under her bed for her whip and sword. She attacked the whip to its harness at her hip, then slipped the sword's belt on, yanking the belt and buckling it on tight.

"Let's go, Julian," she called over her shoulder, before pushing her way out of the barracks.

The battle was already in full swing, swords flashing and blood spilling. Lilli pulled her whip free and drew her sword, a deadly light coming into her eyes as she cracked the whip. She was instantly engaged, fighting demons much bigger then her with skill and accuracy.

Julian cursed and squatted on his bed. After quickly looking around he made a huge leap towards Lilli and followed her out to the battlefield. The view that opened before his eyes was fascinating; wild demon blood taking the best of him instantly made his body ready for combat.

"Good luck, Lilli dear," he said before jumping right into the heat, his claws shard and his eyes quick to catch any movement. The alarm went on and on as the warriors from the spirit world marched to the demon barracks with a clear intention to wipe them out completely.
"Oh no you won't!" Julian hissed ans slashed few minions.

Lilli was a blur of motion in the middle of the field, her movements graceful and deadly. She would use her whip to draw her enemies in, and then finish them off with her sword. She plunged the sword into one of the spirit minions, her face emotionless as she placed her boot on his chest to draw the sword out.

She didn't notice the minion approaching her from behind until it was almost too late; he delivered a vicious backhand blow as she spun to face him. This sent her sprawling, blood trickling from a gash on her cheek. She scrambled back as he apprached her, a malicious grin on his face. With a snarl, she windmilled her legs, catching his and throwing him to the ground with a heavy thump. She pounced on him, aiming too high and stabbing her sword through his throat.

She leaned against her sword, breathing heavily, before she got up and yanked it out of the ground, barely in time to block another spirit minion's downward slash. They were coming in thicker and thicker waves, and Lilli was getting dizzy, the consequences of her heavy drinking the night before hitting her full force.

Julian held the attackers at bay as much as he could, but there was simply no end to them. He grunted as he suddenly got his arm cut by some low ranked soldier that he finished off instantly. The invasion seemed to win, they couldn't hold their ground anymore. Realizing that, he signaled everyone who were left in the battlefield to retreat.

Holding the enemy off as long as he could, Julian slowly retreated as well.
"Lilli!" he called to her seeing that she was barely standing.
"Don't you dare to fall here," he yelled, "I still have to tell how drunk you were last night!"
He spun around like a whirlwind fighting off anyone who dared to approach him, however he was getting tired by the minute. Seeing things might end up worse than they were, he made a dash towards Lilli grabbing her by the arm and dragging along.
"You can complain later! Now run!" he exclaimed.

Lilli gritted her teeth and pushed the pain in her head away, dodging and fighting as best as she could. There were too many to handle; a knife whizzed by her face, slicing a thin, shallow line into her cheek below the first gash, and another caught her in the arm.

She was in the middle of an attack when Julian grabbed her and began dragging her away. It hurt her ego, but she had to admit that they just couldn't fight them all off. She turned and ran with him, keeping up easily.

"This isn't good," she said as they ran, a dark light in her eyes. "Master won't be happy when he hears that we got pushed back."

Julian just frowned. he couldn't reply anything to her words. He knew all too well that it was a disaster, however maybe not the end of everything.
"We will plead him," he said between gasps as they ran, "We will regain those barracks."
The demon stopped near the castle. Few guards instantly approached them and lead to the soldier rooms. The rooms themselves weren't in the castle, they were in a nearby building and stretched deep undergruond. The place was dark and damp at some places while others were relatively well illuminated and dry.

Lilli raised one delicate eyebrow, jerking her arm away from one of the guards as he tried to take her arm. "I can walk myself, thanks," she said, before giving Julian her attention again.

"You know how he gets. It would probably be better for us to go and try to take the barracks back and die trying, then to go in there immediately after failure." It wasn't going to say that their leader wasn't reasonable, or as reasonable as a demon could be anyways; but he did have this oh-so-delicate temper that went off in epic, catastrophic proportions.

Julian turned around and took a huge step towards her. Being just an inch away from her he looked down being rather annoyed. "And how do you imagine that?" he scowled, "We barely escaped with our lives, we can't possibly just march right in with no reinforcements," he continues while trying not to burst right at her. "No one is going to follow us without the Master's order..." he clenched his fists ans spun around.
"I know you are not at fault, but we have to think about our plan of action..."

Lilli looked up at him with a blank expression, before rolling her eyes and sighing. "I wasn't suggesting we actually do that, knucklehaed," she said, following after him. "I'm just saying, we should wait. Let his temper cool, you know?" She lightly touched his shoulder, to try and get him to chill out too.

"Calm down, alright," she said, as she went ahead towards the Master's quarters. "If we do have to face the dragon, I'd rather there not be too much testosterone in the air."

Julian took a minute to gather his thoughts. She was right, it would only be worse if he stays as annoyed as he is now. "Let's just get through with this..." he said as they approached the Master's work quarters. He threw a quick good luck glance at Lilli before knocking at the door. They soon were let in by the guards .

"Your Highness..." Julian knelt before a tall man with a huge metallic horn on the right side of his forehead.

"Ah! Julian and Lilli, I assume you came to explain yourselves, am I correct?" he said in an unconcerned voice. "You can save your breath, I already got the full report on the situation, first thing in the morning you're leading an appropriate legion to drive out the enemy. Did I make myself clear?"

Lilli bowed as well, keeping her head down until she was adressed.

"Yes, your majesty, we will do whatever it takes," she said, raising her eyes to look at his face. "Those spirit rats won't live to celebrate their victory."

"Very good," he rumbled. "You are dismissed." Lilli rose, taking Julian's arm and leading him out.

"Well, that went better then expected," she said, exhaling and leaning against a wall. She let go of Julian's arm, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She stood up again and nudged him playfully with her hip. "You think we'll be able to do it?" She knew they could, but she wanted to see what he would say.

Julian walked out with her after bowing to the master. They were lucky he was in a good mood.
"Indeed," he greed, "I guess we'll have to try and not mess up this time..." he responded trailing hi voice.
"Don't forget to practice, I wouldn't want to loose one of our generals," he teased.
"Who would I bug otherwise?" he added crossing his arms behind his head and making an innocent look on his face.

Lilli rolled her eyes at him, fighting back a smile. "We'll see who you want to bother after I run you through with my sword," she threatened playfully. "Anyways, I'd be more worried about yourself," she said, allowing herself to grin at him.

Julian laughed and swung his tail about. "I'll be looking forward to that," he said with a smirk and walked away. They needed a battle plan, they had to prepare for the morning and look over their troops. He knew better than to doubt his Majesty's decision. If he said they should do it, they do it and the faster the better.

Julian soon reached his room for the time being and sat on the chair crossing his legs and resting his head on his arm which was placed on the elbow-rest. They would definitely bring victory.

Lilli laughed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "One of these days," she murmured, before turning and heading to the training area. She unwound her whip, and then drew her sword, centering herself before going into a practice routine. She gracefully spun and danced through the training grounds, hacking through the dummies set up as if they were butter.

The next morning Julian got up early, quickly finished his preparations and went outside the castle. The troops were just starting to assemble. Eying each and every one of them, he tried to calculate their chance of wining and so far so good. However he couldn't shake off the idea that something was wrong. Why would the enemy attack such a small outpost as theirs? However he couldn't find an answer just yet which started to drive him nuts. Absent-mindedly, he ruffled his hair and sighed.

Lilli, on the other hand, was slow to rise. By the time she was outside, the troops had already begun to make neat lines, telling her she was very late. "Hey, Julian," she said through a yawn, stretching her slim, lithe body. The woman seemed rather disgruntled; her hair was slightly disheveled, and there was a slight shadowing under her eyes that indicated a lack of sleep. She watched the troops almost moodily, a small pout on her lips and her arms crossed over her chest.

Truth be told, she was worried. Things hadn't added up for her last night, as she tried to figure out why they had attacked their small outpost when a more important one was only a mile west, and she'd woken up numerous times during the night with a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Morning..." he replied quickly glancing at her lean body, she made all of her curves very clear with that stretch. Julian coughed a bit. "Had a rough night? A penny for your thoughts?" he asked as he looked through the army one more time.
"We should get ready as soon as possible, if we're lucky, we might even surprise them," the element of surprise, however wasn't that much needed, they would crush the enemy anyway, the only thing he hoped for, was that his hunch about a diversion was just a hunch. He quickly calculated how many soldiers there still were in the castle. There were enough to hold out for a while if they were under a siege, but a full out attack...

((I'll be away for almost a week starting Monday (26th). See you when I get back =] ))

"Rough night? You know it," she said a bit sarcastically, tossing her head to get her hair out of her face. The innuendo was obvious, even though they both knew Lilli spent her nights alone. "They'll probably end up seeing us coming, Julian, we'd need the cover of night to sneak up on them," she said, putting one hand on her hip. Conveniently, she had placed her hand on the same hip where her whip sat, coiled and ready for use- just in case the troops got rowdy. They were usually very good, but Lilli took every chance she could with her precious weapon.

"Anyways, sneaking up on our enemies is cowardly," she said. "It says that we don't think we can defeat them when they're ready for it. I have confidence in us." She sent him a playful look, a mischievous sparkle in her dark ruby eyes. "Or are you afraid, Julian," she asked innocently.

((Haha okay :] Have fun wherever you go, and be safe! I'll await your return :]))

((Back ^^))

Julian hissed, he wouldn't stand being called a coward, "Fine!"- he retorted. "Let's do it your way," he walked around for a little. "Full front attack?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

The soldiers were all ready for the battle, the only thing left was for the commanders to give the sign to move out.

((Hmm what if we do is so the Lord actually wants to get rid of them? The two strongest generals who could oppose him or cause a threat? ))