Piero peered over the low rise, watching the compound as Lydalia outlined her plan.  It was a good one, he knew.  Create a diversion, so the guards wouldn't notice the raiders hitting their supplies and setting them on fire.  A pound of the enemy's provisions were worth three pounds of your own, and fire was such an important part of strategy that it literally had a chapter in the<i>Art of War</i>.  But that didn't mean he had to like the plan.  And he<i>especially</i>didn't have to like being one of the diversion.  Because that sounded like a way to get hurt.  "Yes, Squire Lydalia," he finally said.  "I understand."<br/><br/>"Oh, hell yeah!" Sera laughed, smacking her fist into her palm.  "I'm<i>all over</i>this one!  C'mon, guys!"  With that she slipped off, moving at an easy ground-eating stride as she circled around to towards the back wall.<br/><br/>Piero watched her go, then sighed.  "Hang on," he murmured, gesturing everyone close.  "Let me do something."  Closing his eyes and concentrating, he raised two fingers before his face.  "<b>Precious light,</b>" he intoned, the words eerie and echoing, "<b>be our armor to protect us!</b>"  A diamond shield flickered before him.  "<b>Protect!</b>"  The last word was repeated four more times as he touched each of their foreheads in turn, enveloping them in invisible armor forged of mana.  Wiping his brow, feeling slightly dizzy at the demands of casting the spell so many times, he nodded.  "Let's go."<br/><br/>They moved forward, creeping out of sight as best they could.  Aware that his blind knife would be of limited use until the enemy drew close, he remained behind cover as Lydalia hurled a rock with enough force to stagger her target monk.  Arrows thudded into the tree he used for shelter, and he began to wish that his Mistress had trained him in Black Magic<i>first</i>.<br/><br/><hr class="bbc-hr bbc-hr--3"/><br/>Serafina scrambled up the log palisade without slowing, a lifetime of running the rigging on various ships making the wall an easy climb.  At the top, she came face to face with a startled sentry.  An Archer who had remained at his post when the diversion began.  Kudos to him for not abandoning his post, she thought, but... "<i>Shit!</i>"<br/><br/>He went for his bow and Sera vaulted over the pointed logs, flipping over him and twirling her spear into position as she landed.  The enemy Archer spun, knocking an arrow, and she lunged forward.  The steel point drove into his chest with a spurt of blood, and he had time for a single shriek as the impact knocked him over the top of the wall and to the ground beneath.  "We're rumbled!" she called to her comrades.  "Hurry up, and hope everyone else is distracted!"