The Mages - Chapter 3

Five Years

The drive continued until the vehicle was away from the multiple streets and buildings, and it was now outside the city, including the main motorway. On a small road inside a small hector of thick trees filling the scenery, everything was full of shade with the long branches and multiple leaves blocking the sunlight, although there are slight patches of the rays piercing through the tress and landing on the road. The vehicle was moving smoothly with the sound of its tires pressing on the grey layer and the hybrid engine keeping it alive. Inside was all quite, the driver and passenger in the front were silent, mouth closed and both calmly looking at the route. Christine held steadily on the driving wheel with her two hands, she is use to bringing her step-daughter to this road a few times occasionally, mostly it was the her husband who brings the young girl there. Emma changed her view from the road to the pack of flowers she had with plastic wrapping that was covering the green sterns, they have white petals, with yellow filaments and orange stamens. The two went to a flower market to buy these Blossels before going to their destination, Emma wanted to give a gift before saying that she is leaving for the holidays.

Everything that was with trees and shade was gone in an instant after the vehicle passed through them and the land is now just short grass and flat ground. Christine stopped close to a gate featuring a big squared concrete wall surrounding the joyless scene of the cemetery; getting out and closing the doors, Christine pressed the button from her keys to lock the vehicle. They both walked slowly to the black gate which automatically opened for them to enter; entering the cemetery the gate closed itself, Emma hold delicately the Blossel flowers. They walked through hundreds of tombstones with the squared covers concealing the coffins underground, from dying of old age, to the suffer of illness or accidents. Every grave had the name and specie of the deceased person, some had a picture of themselves on what they look like before they died. Flowers of diverse kinds and in different sizes were placed close to the graves by relatives and friends still remembering their lost loved ones. Emma and Christine walked to several names of every tombstone they saw, it wasn't long till reaching the one they're looking for, the words carved on the tombstone was labeled: "Saika Roberts Nakano" and on the bottom of the name was the date of birth and death of this person: "29 June 2094 -15 January 2124".

Christine grabbed the old flowers on the garden pot that was already there on top of the marble lid which covered the coffin inside the hole. "I'm going to throw these away, I will be right back, ok?" she said, Emma answered her with a humming voice of approvable. With the women leaving, Emma looked down to the eternal resting place of her deceased mother.  She slowly bended down until both her knees were resting on the ground, carefully placed the Blossels on top of the marble lid and touched it with her left hand after placing the white flowers. This feeling of loneliness and sadness was always apparent for Emma when coming here often. Her father was enough to carry on her life, but being with her mother during her childhood was not enough since Emma doesn't remember much of her relationship with mother since being just a little kid. She lost her mother at a very young age which struck her deeply in tears and affecting part of her childhood during Emma's life. The cause of death was by a surprise assault from an opposing army on the country of Takoya, Saika Roberts was one of many who unluckily got caught in the artillery explosions that happened in the city of Skynox.

Looking at the tombstone with her mother's name on it and still touching the marble lid with the hand, Emma grasp firmly on the sun amulet her mother used to wear, "Hi mum, how are you doin'? School was really hard work but now it's finally over and its summer now, I'm very happy of course."
Although Emma knew talking to the grave was senseless, doing it helped her to stay relaxed and confident when confronting this moment she does frequently.  She continued to talk to the grave with no hesitation, "Today is a very big day for me, not just that I'm a grown up girl, but I can now pursue my long ambition with my uncle."
She paused for a bit to take a breath. "I hope your still seeing me after all these years; it is… a strange feeling to be seventeen you know. Starting to be independent and I will turn into an adult soon… also not to mention the fact your thirty years old now. But any way, I came to tell you that I will be leaving to Iberia, the city Garçalom. Wish me luck in my summer holiday, I will come back until it's over, I promise you."   
Tears of grief were not needed for this occasion, Emma did this when she was younger, but now it's not necessary. It was time to move on and continue her life, although she wouldn't have had the courage to overcome the great depression if her uncle did not come and help, Emma owes everything to him for this achievement.  
Hearing the footsteps coming close to her, Emma turned back to see Christine back from taking out the old flowers, she still held the small flower pot. "What are you going to do with that I wonder?" asked Emma,
"Who knows, I could use it for the new garden in our house." Christine responded,
Emma got up from the ground and let go of the amulet while continuing to look at the grave bereaved; she always wondered what if her mother was still alive? How would life be? What differences are there if that was possible? Could this change the life she lives right now? What about the people she knows and her surroundings? And finally, "What would of happen to her?
These questions were always in her mind and haven't been answered; this would likely to never be possible. "Hey Christine, do you think she likes who I am and what I look like?"
Christine knew Emma was mentioning about her late mother, she put down the flower pot and gave her a big hug. Gently holding the embrace, she talked to her lighthearted, "Don't worry, darling, you have grown so much from the day I first met you. From making accomplishments and changing yourself, I'm very sure no matter what you are, your mother is very proud of you."

Happiness changed her current emotions; Christine's words made Emma feel better and she was always there for her what ever the problem or situation it was. Emma felt she is really lucky to have a stepmother who cared for her, not to mention the fact she brought a sometimes annoying little brother, but still kind and respectful. She accepted Christine's embraced and hugged her as well, "Thanks so much, I really appreciate it" speaking in a quite tone.
Both of them let go of the hug, while continuing to see the grave of Saika Roberts. "Come on Emma, its time for us to go, you need to get ready" said Christine.  
Emma checked her electronic watch; the time is fifthteen minutes past one in the afternoon, it was soon time for lunch and she had to do her final packing before taking her flight. "Ok, let's go"
Christine was the first to walk back to the main gate and reach for the car, while Emma stayed where she is to look at her mothers resting place one more time. "Goodbye mum, see you later"
With those words of farewell, she walked back to catch up with Christine, leaving the grave of her mother cemetery itself.

              *                            *                         *

After the well deserved filling of the lunch made by Christine, Emma was back in her room packing the last of the items she needed. Putting the hygiene products like a shampoo bottle, toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel, a perfume, including sun cream and so on; with this her red suitcase was finished. Now what was left is her large internal-frame backpack, she almost had everything set: Map, compass, sunglasses, insect repellent, flashlight, some first-aid supplies, metal canteen, rainwear, packcover just in case, wallet, roof-prism binoculars, and a headlamp. She also brought extra stuff including two dose inhalers for her asthma, a brown hood jumper and a photo of her mother. With everything set, Emma pulled out the handle from the suitcase and dragged it with the help of the rollers fitted on the bottom. Grabbing the handle of the backpack with her other hand she headed for the staircase; every step she took soon followed with the wheels of the suitcase landing on each stair making a rhythmic stamping noise. Catherine heard them from the kitchen which this she sees is not appropriate, "Hey Emma, you shouldn't be carrying your luggage like that, you'll break the wheels."

"C'mon now, these things will not break!" shouted Emma to have her voice heard from far.
Close to the opened front door, her father was waiting for his daughter to finish Emma's baggage and take her to the planeport since he was allowed to have long break, "So sweetheart, are you ready?" he asked.
"Yeah dad, I'm all done" she replied,
"Here give me your suitcase" said Richard; he stretched his hand with Emma giving the handle of her suitcase to him.
While Richard was taking it to the car, Emma turned around to see Catherine standing to see her leave. She went forward and gave her a big hug, Catherine hugged her too, "Bye Catherine".
"Goodbye darling, enjoy Iberia and hope you call me soon" she said,
"I will, thanks", they both walked from the front door to the outside, Richard already placed the suitcase into the trunk. Emma opened the right side door to put her large backpack. Both father and daughter reached the left side doors to the front seats, with Richard starting the engine and drove on the small driveway. Emma waved and said goodbye to Catherine once more with the car window opened and closed it when reaching the street road, Catherine did the same.

There was no traffic in on of the main roads that were delaying this drive, they went past the city's centre, and eventually their car drove on the road which led to their destination. After couple of minutes they arrived to the location, the planeport has the shape of a half oval on its sides, with the long length appearing like a cylinder and the height is relatively tall. They stopped to a parking close by, Emma got out to get her backpack from the back seat, and open the trunk and grabbed her suitcase. Closing and locking the car, they both walked to the place. A planeport is a vast and busy public transport hub unlike a traditional airport; it features both flights from the air and other ones that fly off to different planets in the planetary system Sigma. Like a space shuttle, space planes take the role of transporting passengers to different planet destinations; these sorts of planes are faster then the normal ones which means they can reach a planet like Gelena in a couple of hours, which is millions of kilometers away here in Aurelia. On the left was the area for the air flights, and the right side of the planeport is for space flights.          

Entering inside, the interior was packed with tourists and personnel; everywhere was bright from the vast windows up on the ceiling and the floor completely covered in grey-white marble.  They first headed for the Iberian Airlines check-in, where a light brown female hare of cinnamon hair color, her head had a big bun behind, including the eyes sapphire blue. Dressed in a white shirt with the buttons hidden, long black skirt, a red – grey scarf around the neck and she wore black high heels. Emma's father greeted the hare, "Good afternoon" he said.
"Good afternoon to you" replied the women.
"I reserved a flight to Garçalom, Iberia, at two – twenty five today. Could you check Emma Roberts please?" Richard gave the hare a paper which showed the reservation of a seat for an Iberian Airlines plane. The women received this paper and checked the code with the flat screen computer or FS computer for short; she used the typewriter keyboard a few times, while mostly pressing the screen.
"Yes, the name is in the list and the flight that is chosen" she said,
"It will be my daughter who will take the flight" Richard showed with his hand Emma that was next to him, she greeted and the female hare did the same.
"All right then can I have her logpass please?" said the women.
Richard as told gave the small rectangular carmine document of Emma. While waiting, the women confirmed the person's identification of being listed with the computer, she then prepared the ticket and registering Emma's luggage and backpack. When it was all done, Richard received the logpass, flight ticket and baggage code recite to find her stuff in baggage claim.

"Thank you goodbye" said Richard, Emma also said the same thing to the women.
"Your welcome and thank your for choosing Iberian Airlines, have a pleasant flight"
Each of them waved in departure, father and daughter headed for the escalators while a furian couple were next to go for their check-in. Emma and Richard arrived close to the security check where the terminals are on the other side, this was the moment where they both had to separate since her father couldn't come. "Well Emma, good luck in Iberia, hope you enjoy it" expressed her father,
"I will dad" she said in happiness,
"You understand that you will be going on your own right?" he asked,
Emma gave a slight chuckle and knew how to convince him, "C'mon dad, I'm now a grown up girl, I can do this as best I can. And you know I'm not alone there."
Richard smirk seeing how brave she is willing to be, "Alright then, have a good time out there."
"Thanks, bye dad" said Emma,
"Bye darling" responded her father; with a big hug, Emma headed for the security check area with Richard watching his daughter leave. Having the ticket and logpass checked, and her body being scanned, with out the need of a baggage scan since she did not have any. After passing through the security check, she turned around and made a hand wave to her father Richard with him doing the same. Emma continued to walk within the terminal to find her gate number.

*                            *                         *

The overall flight took around three hours to finally land in Garçalom; passing through the security booth, Emma reached the baggage claim where after a couple of minutes later, the luggage began to come out. The planeport is covered with smooth granite on the floor and roofs covered in metal and long fluorescent light bulbs. Emma did not need her baggage code recite, since she preferred to simply recognize the type it was; putting the large internal-frame backpack on her back and grabbing the handle of the red suitcase, she headed for the sliding doors where people waiting for the arrivals to meet each other. With the slide doors opened, there were several citizens waiting to see their friends or relatives coming out of those doors. Emma carried on hoping to find her rendezvous, it was then she heard the familiar voice of an Iberian, "¡Oye Emma, estoy aquí!" looking to her right, finding a tall male Alsatian aging around his early twenties.

A furian in his mid-twenties with a long muzzle nose, the dog ears and his tail sticking out of his pants, his muzzle nose and mouth is black fur, including the back, the ears and the top of the tail. He has brown fur in rest of his face, the neck, lateral sides of his back, arms, hands, front side of his legs and feet. With also a third fur colour which is light beige on his whole torso, the back side of his legs and the bottom part of his tail. Has brown eyes and short-strait black hair, a small-wide scare on the right side of his head close to his eye. Having a thin muscular body under the shirt, his abs is slightly visible in his stomach. He is wearing a white A-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, holding a black leather jacket around his left shoulder, the heat didn't bother him even with the sort of trousers being worn. Wearing a pair of black army boots, his jeans is strapped with a black leather belt, chained necklace on his left wrist and a chain wallet on his right-front pocket.

"Hey there Zanial", they both greeted each other with a hand slap and later a knuckle punch.
"So how is it out there in Anglandy?" he asked,
"Nothing special really, it's just great to be free from school" replied Emma,
Zanial Fuentes laughed a bit from hearing those words, "Guess that's the only thing you can think of",
Emma sighed after she mentioned about school, "Yeah I guess so, but I'm very glad to finally be here."
"Anyway, let me help with that."
"Thank you", Emma gave him the red luggage while she dealt with her large backpack; they walked to the outside where the thirty degree heat welcomed Emma in the start of her summer in Iberia. They got a white – blue taxi and headed for their destination to the house of Emma's uncle, the drive on the motorway took them away from the city where the taxi was taking them close to the coast. It has taken a while until they reached a small town; the centre was a couple of buildings that were around two or three stories high, houses around the area for both citizens and tourists to rent, restaurants near the beaches, a couple shops for all sorts like groceries, furniture, magazines, books, clothes, accessories and more. They past the town as well while driving close to the shore; they reach a two – way point with the main road continues to the right and the left side is going down hill where the path has a couple of cracks due to no renovation on it. The taxi goes to the left and slowly goes down the small road.

Stopping to a black gate, the two passengers got out of the car, the trunk was automatically opened in which Emma took out her baggage while Zanial paid the brown avian taxi driver. Taking a few maneuvers, the vehicle took a hundred and eighty degree turn and drove away from the gate. Zanial headed for the gate where on its side, he pressed the doorbell which made a buzzer noise. It featured both security camera and speaker on it, he waited until the voice of another Iberian is heard; "¿Hola?" the voice was speaking Iberian
"Hola Enrique, soy yo" Zanial said in Iberian also,
"Ay Zan, un momento…" in an instant the gate operators automatically opened the gates; both Zanial and Emma went through and began to walk.
"Wow! It has been a long time since I came back, but this time on my own…" spoke Emma cheerfully, she remembered the old days where she would come here with her parents and half-brother during vacation, this time Emma is here going solo, feeling the start of independence.
"Yeah, I see what you mean…" the Alsatian understood on what she was saying to him. "Since your coming today everyone out there has been waiting for you"
"Sweet, so Zan, how is things here?" Emma asked,
"Nothing really happened, we just went on a few hikes and had fun on the beach" answered Zanial, saying what he was supposed to, secretly there was something he's hiding in his mind.

Coming out from the trees covering the small path, they were greeted in front of them an atomic tangerine luxury house; it is two stories high with Iberian coastal features, the front side had a few windows and on the dark brown roof can see the home chimney on the far left. Front steps of smooth cement lead to the double front door entrance made out of wood, the right door opened by a young adult male Iberian lynx. Enrique Rubio supposed to have a ruff of fur beneath his chin since it is cut. Also in his mid-twenties, he has short dark brown hair, hazel color eyes and is slim. He is wearing a brown t-shirt and white shorts including a black cloth belt and white socks.
"Saludo ¿Que tal jovencita?" He asked to Emma,
"Estoy bien Enrique" she learned Iberian so was able to answer the question,
The human and Alsatian walked up the steps to the opened door, Emma and Enrique made a fist pound, hand slap and a hug. They walked in the foyer entrance with the walls inside white; both furrians talked to each other at the same time,
"Vale Enrique, llevare Emma a su cuarto, nos vemos después" said Zanial,
"De acuerdo" responded Enrique.
Both separated while Emma followed Zanial to the right for the short squared-spiral staircase to the second floor, they soon stopped to a bedroom. It is empty except the bed was set and a wooden cabinet with a blue lamp; a wardrobe is placed next to the bed and a rectangular window with handle behind the bed. Zanial spoke to Emma this time in Anglian, "Alright then, you can start to unpack and meet up the rest of the guys when you're done",
"Ok, thanks Zan", with that Zanial left the room and headed down stairs, while Emma started the unpacking.

With everything done, she stopped wearing her hat and left it in her room, going downstairs, Emma went through the large pocket sliding-glass doors from the living room to the pool area. The sizeable covered lanai has an outdoor kitchen area to the left and a sitting area on the right with large sliding-glass doors to view the sea or the pool. The pool area features a rectangular swimming pool, and a circular Jacuzzi placed on the top right corner of the rectangular pool. Emma looked around and was able to find Yun Chen close to the swimming pool, where she was resting on a beach chair enjoying sun tan, the sun cream and a long glass of a purple soda drink with ice cubes and a straw was close to her.
Yun is in her early twenties, has white fur on her whole nose, mouth, chin, neck, Adam's apple, shoulders, and the entire front of her torso, the limbs and feet. Brown on the rest of her face, ears, back of the neck, upper limb, the whole back, buttocks, her tail and the back of the limbs. Including black stripes which cover the brown fur of her body; Yun's head has medium length black hair that goes to the middle of the neck and has two ox horns on top of her hair. She has digitigrade legs and feet, a pink nose, and olive green eyes that were being covered from the pair of sun glasses. She is wearing a red string bikini and has a clear cleavage where any man would desire to stare at; Yun is overall a beautiful female cat.  

Emma walked close to greet to her, "Hi Yun how you're doing?"
Yun turned her head to see Emma standing in fron of her, "Hey, Nǐ hǎo, I'm fine how bout you?"
"The same, glad to be back" she took a deep breath smelling the air of the beach.
"So tell me, did you remember to practice the new moves and all the basics?" Yun asked, she lifted her sun glasses to look clearly,
"Of course, even did meditations and such, I did it as much as I could" Emma responded,
"Good, then I hope I can see what you've achieved alright?" asked Yun again,
"Sure!" said Emma.
Then Enrique came out of the opened sliding-glass doors, he spoke in Anglian, "Hey Emma, your uncle is waiting for you in his study" he called,
"Alright I'll be there" she shouted in response,
"Ok gotta go, see you soon" speaking to Yun
"Zàijiàn" said Yun in Jiangshanese,
While Emma walked away, the cat grabbed the ice cold drink and took a sip from the straw, and Enrique watched the human girl walk passed him inside to the house.

Reaching to the study room, she knocked the door and waited for an answer,
"Come in" Said the voice of middle aged man, Emma opened the door to see an avian male around his early thirties. Carten Roberts, also known as Carten Diamond is a harpy eagle with blue-grey eyes and a dark grey beak, his neck is black featuring the change in colour to his white head. His white straight hair has gel to have the upper part of the hair go backwards; he's wearing a white buttoned shirt and light brown shorts.  His legs are also white, but with multiple small black lines. His has a few feathers that are longer then a tail on the top of his bottom sticking out of his sorts, with sandals on his bare feet.
Sitting down on the chair, he was reading some documents and pictures of an ancient wall from the tablet computer on his desk. The desk also features an FS computer, a desk lamp and a small book shelf next to Carten. Emma took a seat on a chair while Carten closed his tablet; he was the first to speak to his nephew.
"So Emma, how was school back home?" he asked,
This time she spoke normally and calm, "It was tough at first, but I managed to work hard enough that I'm sure I will pass for my next term."
"Glad to hear that" Carten's hands were crossed during their conversation,
"Also, it's just been so long since then… and I really glad to be back here again. Can't believe how much it has been for me to have come this far, I still wonder what my life could be if you were not there for me."
Carten gave a short smile knowing what she said, "My brother wanted anything that could have helped you when you were young, that's why he asked me. He believed my adventurous ways would cheer you up and I knew of course what to do" By brother he meant Emma's father.

"Knowing your mother died at a young age is heart breaking, but there is moments when you need to face the fate that comes to you and move on. I remember you were so silent and scared to express yourself the first times I was with you, now you're completely different and have to be always proud of it."
Emma began to speak sarcastically, "You sometimes act like a psychologist uncle"
"I know, but I don't see my self as one" Carten made a short laugh when he spoke,
"And most importantly now I'm here again, and ready to go around places with you"
"So any way, I got some questions to ask, are you really sure you want to follow me where ever I go? Even any situation it is?"
Emma got up from her chair and placed both hands on the desk, looked straight at Carten to answer the questions in a clear speech,
"I have waited for exactly five years for this, after what I learned I want to experience more. And what ever I will encounter, your nephew will go forward as mush as possible!"
Carten saw it in her face; she was serious and is not thinking of turning back, with a deep smirk he knew that Emma was ready.
"Ok Emma, you may sit down, be certain you remember every word you just said when we begin got it?" Carten was ready to test her bravery if she was willing to follow him.
"Of course, and I will not regret it"
"As you say girl… speaking of your father, how is your family?"
Both uncle and nephew continued there conversation throughout the late afternoon, having not been together for almost a year.

The day turned to evening in the Iberian sky, the group was having their dinner on the outdoor kitchen having a small barbeque. Emma, Yun and Zaniel were seated on chairs with long legs, the table was made of marble and was so thin it looked like a counter; Carten and Enrique took care of the fish and meat from the grill. They also served salad and slices of bread, with water and fruit soda drinks. The meal was a long and filling one, which stuffed everybody's stomach. Soon Emma got really tired; the travel from Lucifer to Garçalom really worked her up, including for not doing anything when being on an airplane and a car. Going to bed early, she called goodnight to everyone and they said the same to her. Heading inside the house, she went upstairs to her room; having a refreshing shower, brushed her teeth and dressed in plain blue short length pajamas, Emma tucked herself in bed. With the slim blanket covering her body, she closed her eyes waiting patiently for the next day, to start her mourning in the start of the summer holidays.

Around one or two hours later, it was already a clear night with the stars twinkling and the big moon in sight with a waxing gibbous appearance. All the anthros around the outdoor kitchen were in silence and expressionless, they are grateful to have the human girl with them again, but now every one of them is feeling bitter guilt toward her since they were hiding something from Emma for a very long time. Enrique was the one who broke the quietness, "Hey Carten, I think we have been secretive for too much now"
"I know that, but I still unsure how to explain this to my own nephew" he said in disappointment,
For Yun, she felt it doesn't have to be that difficult to tell something like this to a young girl, she sighed before speaking, "Seriously boys, why can't we just speak it out to her? I'm sure she will see this as something cool".
"Yun, I don't think that's right, and besides, do you think she believes in those things?" asked Zanial, he didn't take lightly to what the feline said.
"Even if it looks like pure fiction, we actually make this real, it's not alright to simply hide this forever" replied Yun to Zanial.
"Explaining to one person your close with is enough, but what if other people suddenly knows about our "secret"?" he thought of the worse that could happen if they were "discovered", everyone would see them as monsters or machines and be targeted until they are taken down or even dead, Zanial didn't like this at all. Enrique heard their argument and had to agree with his old friend, they never expressed to anyone except themselves and will be tough to explain this to someone new.
"Then what do you think we should then huh?" said Yun in a serious tone,
"Hey don't even look at me to answer that!"

Carten felt their argument had to stop; this was getting them no where,
"Alright you two that's enough, I understand we can't be sitting ducks anymore. But we should know this the main reason we are together all this time; and if she does learns about us, Emma will have no choice but to simply get dragged into this."
The rest knew he had a point, what will happen to her if she gets involved into this?
It was until Yun remembered how Emma was showing her the kung fu moves after talking with Carten, amazed on how well this girl remembered every technique from begin to end on what she learned so far. Including when they practiced fighting against each other, Emma will always try to fight strong as possible, and especially her strengths were defense and dodge attacks. But the problem she had was when defending and dodging, Emma can only concentrate on her current position and had difficulties to counterattack when having the chance.
"I seen how Emma progressed Carten, and she actually improved quite a lot for the few years I was teaching her. Being able to remember precisely from the very basics to the new moves I gave her" explained Yun, seeing how much this girl has achieved.
Enrique intervene Yun's explanation on telling them a problem, "That sounds like a great accomplishment from her, but aren't we forgetting how her parents would say if they find out she's involved in what we do?"
Everyone understood that what he said was true; Emma's parents are more reactive if something happens to her. Zanial was more aware of that, "You know you actually have a point there…"
Now they were all wondering what to do, just stay silent or tell it to her?
It was then Carten thought of something after small brief of no speaking, "Ok guys here's what I'll do, I will be the one who'll decide to tell her or not, since she's my nephew I think it's better for a family relative to chose. And if I decide she should be told, anyone of you can explain it to her."
The three furians looked at each other and saw that it was their only option, they believed it was better for the avian to take priority of this decision he will make. Enrique asked him if he was actually sure about this, "Are you really going to do this Carten"?
"What ever the answer will be, I will not have second thoughts. Alright all of you let's clean up here."  
That concluded their discussion and they began to clear out the plates, cups, knifes, forks and left over food from the outdoor diner. When finished, they will all go to rest for the night.

Somewhere on one of the numerous high mountains, a group of eight members were standing on a ridge in a fair height. Everybody was focusing on a building that was below them around hundreds of meters separating the group and the location. A long-tailed purple female cat and grey wingless male dragon were using some special electronic binoculars to inspect the building down below. These binoculars feature fine quality zooming, night vision and thermal imaging. The place is completely covered with full security, cameras placed on parts of the walls, a few alarm sensors and motion detectors in the inside and outside of the place. Small number of guards was patrolling the area, including a huge garden behind and hedges surrounding the place, although it is expected to have more of them tomorrow night. The eight members were covered in the darkness, and with the help of the height, it will be very difficult to spot them. Being spotted can only be the result of shear luck or speculation they're here.

The purple cat was the first to speak,
("It seems the area is fairly surveyed, but we could have more guards doing patrol the next night.")
The grey dragon also spoke to add the results of their inspection,
("We also need to be prudent if they are watching above as well")
A female wolf has been looking around the landscape that was there and what they can see as helpful for their mission. It was built close to the mountain range of Mount Serran, where a sort of half circle formation here had enough space for a huge building to be constructed. The highest parts of the mountains were completely of rock with peaks so steep it can be dangerous for rock climbers to go up, while vegetation becomes visible when descending, until the bottom was full of pine trees, and finally tall grass covered the flat ground surrounding the location.
("As seen from the geographical maps, we can make use of these trees; including the shadows that are made from them.")
The front range of those pine trees created shadows close to the grass due to the moonlight, although there were the yellow rays of light coming from the windows. It only spread a very few metres and was very far away to reach the shadows made by those trees.  

A green female winged dragon looks down in annoyance; she feels it will be tough to do the "operation" tomorrow night.
("There's going to be a lot of people there, it will be difficult to find our target with a whole crowd inside") she said,
The wingless dragon turned his sight to his team mate and friend hearing on what she was saying,
("Just remember the person's face when you're out there, then you can find him. Besides, you are not the one whose has to infiltrate the place")
("Yeah I know. I guess we experience missions similar to these occasionally") she responded to him.
The dragoness recalled where they've been taking on missions that involved infiltrations, spying and a few times being called for assassinations, which was one of their leaders' strengths in these situations. One of them in the group was standing on the centre; a light beige wolf was also looking and listening to what his friends were saying. Right now everyone had a task to do on this mission and needed to have precautions if anything can happen within it, but like always he reminded to everyone in the group.
Like always he spoke telepathically to them,
("We always do, but remember, anything can happen during these operations. So you all need to prepare for the unexpected and any possible change of our situation")
He then looked down at their youngest member, who was right next to him; the young tigress was unlike many girls of her age, she is always involved with any task the group faced, someone with braveness and courage to keep staying with them anywhere they go.  

("Listen Mikuru, you'll be with me when we begin alright? We will need you if anything happens.")
Mikuru responded in a calm and happy tone, also telepathically
("Sure, no problem")
Giving out a smirk, he always trusted Mikuru ever since raising her as a small child; it was quite a risk to bring her in these sorts of things. But couldn't simply leave this girl alone back home when they are out.  
Putting that aside, he asked a few others for a check list to make sure preparations were ready,
("Do you have all the necessary information Megumi?")
("Yes, everything from blueprints and information about the guests") she responded,
("Are all equipment set Minami?")
("From ammo to gadgets") the female dark wolf replied,
("All right then everyone, we may leave")

All eight of them turned to the right to walk down from the slope; the leader and a light purple female wolf were from the far back. It was then the light beige wolf stopped to speak telepathically to the one in front of him, ("Hey, Mitsuki?")
She also stopped to look at him,
("Yes?") She asked,
("If I miss the target, you'll be the one to take aim. Just remember, you're on your own inside ok?")  
Mitsuki knew the risk she was taking, but was something she's willing to take and is ready for it when the time comes.
("I know Faiz, I will be careful down there.")
(Good, let's go…")
With that, they continued down the mountain to rest for the night, Faiz knows about their target and has heard about this man before. He was one of the people who helped the invasion of Skynox to happen during the Intergalactic War and is a wanted person who is very difficult to arrest, now the only option to take him down is assassination.