The thick cornfields gave way to somewhat recognizable, cultivated greenery as Iliana was directed along the dirt path leading away from Nokos. The air held a rich, earthy scent, a clear sign of the help the farmers received from nymphs.

Anger simmered beneath Iliana's skin, as she resisted the urge to make another break for it. The neatly trimmed crops offered no cover from the unrelenting sun, which unfortunately meant no cover from Semele's heavy gaze. Running would be pointless. Callias had been recovered as easily by Semele as she had been. And, following their little escape attempt, the harpy had declared her decision to accompany them to the border, at the very least.

"Won't Alake be concerned when you don't show up?" Lykos had asked.

Semele'd waved a dismissive hand. "I'll send word with the wind when we settle for camp tonight."

"You'll... what?" Iliana'd demanded.

"Word with the wind," she'd said. "I'll write a letter, and let the wind carry it to him."

Wind manipulation wasn't a skill she'd known harpies possessed. But, then again, she didn't know all that much about harpies beyond their lethality and inclination towards hunting murderers. A trait which should've put Semele and Lykos at odds. But, instead, they appeared as thick as thieves as the group trudged through the farm roads. Maybe getting paid to kill someone kept you from being called a killer, she mused, then dismissed the idea. It was more likely that Semele was just a harpy who didn't care.

Perhaps an hour, or two, into their walk they finally cleared the farmlands surrounding Nokos. Further along the path, two horse-drawn carts rested on the side of the road. The missing members of Lykos' seemed to be the owners. When their groups met, there was a short conversation that Iliana couldn't overhear, before they were divided into three groups. Eumelia, Abiel, Ira, Abarron, and Heron would be in the first cart. Riding in the second were Callias, Sophos, Nuri, and, on occasion, Semele. She declared an intention to switch between the cart and the sky, wanting to keep an eye on their surroundings.

"There's only a bit of a chance that we'd run into Spiders all the way out here," she explained. "But I'd rather not be caught off guard a second time."

That left Lykos and Iliana alone in the third grouping. As the others loaded their things alongside the supplies within the carts, she turned a questioning scowl towards the mercenary.

"Don't tell me this is because I tried to run," she scoffed.

"It's not," he replied, dropping his pack from his shoulder and tossing it to Nuri. "This was my intention even before you pulled that stunt."

"Then why are we the only ones walking?" she asked, irritation flooding her tone.

"Oh, I'm not walking," Lykos said, chuckling. "I just haven't decided which cart will be taking the rear."

"Of course."

She crossed her arms, eyeing first him, then the carts. Of the rest of their group, only Eumelia and Callias were watching the confrontation with any interest. The crew were too busy organizing everything, and Semele had long since taken to the skies. Abiel was already settled in the cart, some knitted doll in his hands.

"Why just me?" she questioned again. "Why not Callias, too?"

Lykos grinned. "And give you two more time to scheme another run? No. He'll stay on the cart. Besides, telling one of the merfolk to exert themselves at the beginning of a journey away from the sea seems like a poor choice, yes?"

"Alright. Whatever. Why can't I ride in the other one?"

"Because you, my lovely siren, need stamina."

Iliana just stared. "What?"

"I said I was going to train you on fighting while we traveled. This is the start of it. I doubt someone who's been living a comfortable life on an island has been doing much exercising, yeah? So this seems the best way to fix the issue. You'll be walking, or running, as the terrain allows."

"... I exercised," Iliana argued.

Once again, Iliana had questions. What did it matter to Lykos that she probably didn't have much stamina? Sure, she'd worked long, hard hours on a ship... but it was just that, a ship. Running around an enclosed space for months at a time didn't really count towards this sort of thing, as she'd proven to herself when trying to climb the cliffside back at Inna's Cove. He wasn't wrong in his assumption, even if the reasoning was missing some key details.

But, what did it matter? She wasn't here by choice. It was only force that kept her among their number. What point was there in ensuring your captive was fit? He had no reason to want that, that she could see, nor was there a purpose to teaching her how to fight.

"Yeah, well, if that's true, then I'll let you on the cart later. Until then, you walk."

Eumelia walked over to join them, laying a hand on Iliana's shoulder. Something about the action rubbed her wrong, and she jerked away. It wasn't until Eumelia stepped away again, that she saw the faint, golden glow fading from the witch's fingers.

"Wh--"

"We can't have you running away," Eumelia explained with an apologetic smile. "This was just... a bit of insurance."

With that, the others loaded up, and true to Lykos' word, Iliana was made to walk, or run, as the situation suited. Callias made the argument at one point to join her, but it was shot down without a second's consideration. Despite what he'd said, however, there were times when Iliana was told to join Eumelia's group in the cart. The best she could guess, Lykos didn't want to exhaust her beyond reason. She was reminded of when she'd watch Artemios guide Kain's moonlit training aboard the Airlea.

'Training is important,' he'd say. 'But overworking yourself gets you nowhere. You're as likely to hurt yourself, as you are to improve.'

Perhaps an hour before the sun would dip beneath the horizon, Lykos called for a stop. The group slowly piled out of the carts, and began setting up to sleep beneath the stars. Iliana was somewhat thrown off to discover in addition to the two bedrolls for her and Callias, an extra had been stuffed in the cart for Semele as well.

"I had a feeling," was all Eumelia would say on the matter.

Given the comfortable weather, there was no attempt to set up tents. Instead, they were spread around a skillfully constructed fire pit. The real surprise came when Nuri pulled a few items from the cart and began cooking a late meal. Perhaps it was a misguided expectation based on the motherly way Eumelia acted, but she'd have thought that the witch doctor would be the one to feed them.

Before she could question the cranky mercenary on the matter, however, Lykos pulled her away from the group. She easily kept heat from her cheeks upon the realization that he'd shed his shirt, and planned to hold their upcoming encounter clad in trousers alone.

"We'll start with the basics," he told her. "Hand-to-hand, and knives. I'd give you a moment to change, but it might be better that you learn to do this in a dress."

That statement raised as many questions as it answered.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, you're a girl," he said. "Unfortunately, you'll probably have to face bad situations in impractical clothing more often than not. Better to get used to it from the beginning."

"No, I mean, why are we doing this?"

The question had swirled in her thoughts the entire day, every time she'd been told to jump off the cart, then return to it. And she was no closer to figuring out how this benefited him. An unskilled brawler, which was all Iliana truly was at this moment, would be easier to control than she would be after whatever training he was offering.

Lykos shrugged. And, that was that.

Despite her reluctance, she followed his instructions as he guided her through a series of exercises he intended for her to perform both when they stopped at night, and before they departed in the morning. Apparently, full-body fitness was important no matter what form of combat she learned. When they'd finished, he, much to her surprise and reluctant pleasure, declared her rather fit beyond endurance, and some flexibility. She had the muscular advantage of working as a laborer for years on her side, but the motion for lifting a box, and the motion for throwing a punch were different.

Once they were finished with the exercises, to her further shock, he invited Callias to join them.

"You object?" Lykos questioned when Iliana opened her mouth.

She crossed her arms, and paused to think before replying. It wasn't that she objected. There were benefits to both of them learning skills from an obviously experienced fighter. It was more... that faint, nagging feeling, that bothered her. Something about this was off. His teaching her could possibly be excused as the bias of a man, if she dug deep for reasons. Perhaps he believed that no matter what he taught her, a girl like her wouldn't be a danger to him. That excuse became even flimsier, though, when Callias was added to the mix. Neither of them looked particularly intimidating, but there was an advantage in numbers. Why teach them both?

Of course, it wasn't as if Lykos was alone. Maybe that was it. He was confident enough in his crew, and Semele, to the point that he saw no danger in gifting them this training. It made sense.

Well, as much sense as anything about this situation.

"No."

"Good," he replied, clapping his hands. "Let's get to it, then."

That said, he stepped in front of Iliana, and told her to hit him. She didn't need to think twice, curling her thumb against her fist and surging forward. Despite the speed behind the lunge, Lykos had no trouble catching her wrist, and in a very familiar series of steps, twisted it behind her, shoving her fist against the small of her back as his body pressed against her back.

"You're too focused," he decided, letting her pull away as he spoke. "You don't think about how the other person will react. You just attack. That'd be alright, if you had the experience to match your impulse. But, you don't. Instead, you've fallen for the same reaction twice now."

There... wasn't really anything for her to argue in that. The evidence that he wasn't wrong laid in the faint stinging ache in her shoulder, and the tingle of her wrist.

"On the bright side, you do know how to throw a punch and not break your thumb. Guess I should take that as a sign you're not hopeless, just impulsive."

"Bastard," she grumbled, the insult lacking any real strength given the... everything, about this situation.

His eyes flicked to Callias, who stood only a foot away, watching their exchange without a word. Faint amusement twisted the edge of Lykos's lips up, an eager edge to his studious gaze.

"Now, you, I have the feeling wouldn't be so easy to stop."

Callias raised a brow. "I won't be asked to throw a punch?"

His words were even as ever, his expression near blank, but Iliana had the faint impression he was amused. Why, she couldn't quite place. But, the feeling was there.

"No," Lykos replied, voice cheerful. "I trust you know how."

That little display taken care of, he turned to leading Iliana through the steps of the counter and how to avoid being caught so easily. After, he led into other attacks, and further defensive actions.

Callias rarely spoke as Lykos taught them, but the faint skill in his copied motions told her that it was highly unlikely that he actually needed this. Unlike Iliana, who had to be corrected on her stances a half-dozen times before she caught on.

It was... notable, though that there was something different about it all.

Before, when she'd occasionally try to join Artemios and Kain at night, there was nothing but clumsiness in her motions. Nothing stuck. And again, on the island, she found herself struggling.

But, now...

It felt natural.

Instinctive.

In the two hours before they ate dinner, she learned more than she'd have picked up within a month aboard the Airlea. And, she doubted it had anything to do with Artemios' abilities as a teacher versus Lykos. Kain's seemingly lethal skills--at least, lethal to her amateur eyes--testified to the fact that Art had known what he was doing.

Once again, something was different.

An uncomfortable knot formed in her gut as she thought about it, and Iliana found herself swirling her spoon through the stew Nuri served them. It was hard to be hungry when your stomach felt like the sea itself, feelings swishing and swirling with an unidentifiable uneasiness.

Was this another change she should've known was coming?

Her thoughts flicked back to the simple training sessions she'd participated in on the island. First, with Dalphie, and then again with Rhode. That is, if her failure with the bow could really be called a training session. Either way, neither siren mentioned this benefit. Wouldn't they have, when they were trying to convince her to join them in the first place?

It struck her as something that would've been brought up, which was troubling. Because, if her newfound instincts in combat weren't a direct result of her change into a siren...

Where had they come from? 

A/N: Hey guys. I meant to be posting weekly/biweekly, depending on how work-heavy said week is, and I missed the date I was aiming for, so here you go. An extra update to make up for it. Now, let's see if I can get another one out by tomorrow.... since I was wanting to try for regular, Friday updates.