Successfully Captured

The cell door slammed shut after the final escapee was pushed inside. Their captors cursed and glared as they walked away. Aayla carefully brushed the dirt off of her skirt as she stood up in her cell. The door had a robust magical lock. Strange patterns covered the cell bars.

Magical beasts guarded each cell. They began to growl when Aayla stuck her hands out of the bars to access the lock. She peered through the bars to see other cages filled with people. Aayla constantly heard hysteric sobs and angry shouts coming from the other cages.

One by one the cages were being opened and the captives were forced out. All of the captives were very young. No one seemed like a professor. Maybe they were being held in a different place? Aayla asked a few of her new cellmates, but no one else knew either.

Just a few minutes ago she and Chris had switched with two of the escapees. Those two should have made it to the military's blockade by now. Meanwhile, she and Chris had been successfully captured by the True Order agents tracking them down.

Unfortunately, Chris was taken to a completely different area. Their captors must not want them colluding to escape again. The guards overseeing this area kept a particularly strong eye on Aayla. So, she just sat in the back of the cell and tried to look as dispirited as possible.

The gloom of the others trapped with her filled the air. Some desperately tried but failed to use magic. Others angrily argued with each other. The guards wouldn't step inside the cage at all. They would only press a button to shock everyone in the cage to resolve the issue.

After keeping her head down for several minutes, the guards seemed to become less wary of her. Afterall, what could a talentless little girl like her do? They probably assumed that she was one of those rich young ladies whose parents schemed her way in.

Chris said that he would handle their breakout, but Aayla decided to find her own way out. The guard dogs and other captives would definitely notice if she escaped. With stealth the priority on this mission, that would not be good. She would have to wait until they were moved to slip away.

A few minutes later, explosions rang out within the walls of the enemy camp. The Halcyon Guards must have found their target. Several guards led by an important looking one came running down the hallway. They began opening cages in pairs and forcefully shoving the captives forward.

"Go! Go! Go! Hurry up you idiots! There's not much time left!"

"I said move it! If anyone refuses to leave, feel free to just kill them! We have more than enough recruits already."

The important looking guard screamed at everyone in his sight, whether they were captives or guards. The center of the hallway became crowded as the guard dogs herded the students towards the other end of the compound.

Aayla kept her head down and looked for an opportunity. A cool breeze brushed past her hair as the crowd exited the building. The guards were too busy that they might not notice one person missing. The guard dogs on the other hand could be a problem.

A stream of captives and stolen goods were being funneled into the main building at the center of the camp. Part of the camp was already in flames. The outer wall had several patch marks on it. A hole that was blown wide open was slowly being closed by an enemy wizard.

They weren't fast enough as the military seized the chance to rush in. With another bombardment that section of the wall collapsed. Soldiers poured in from outside, and the many captives decided to escape. Aayla calmly went with the crowd then turned into an alleyway.

She crouched down and activated the New Moon bracelet. A guard instantly appeared at the front of the alley. Aayla held her breath. Her beating heart sounded like a drum. Seconds later the guard was called away, and reluctantly left.

He did not return several minutes later. Aayla finally got up and followed the alley away from the main road. Even the side roads were packed with guards and magic beasts. So, she decided to get a bird's eye view of the situation.

The buildings were short and crudely built, so she found plenty of handholds. The view from above was stunning. The fire had spread much farther than she initially thought. Spells and explosions lit up the night where the military had set up a foothold in the enemy camp.

A hand grasped her shoulder. Aayla instinctively elbowed the person behind her and flipped them over her shoulder.

"STOP! STOP! IT'S ME!"

A blond-haired young man crashed into the roof in front of her. Aayla stopped trying to push him over the edge when she realized it was Chris. None of the guards noticed the scuffle due to the chaos below. Chris rubbed his head as he climbed back to his feet.

"Well, I have good news and bad news, Miss Glowery. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Let's get the bad news over with."

"The True Order has set up a portal, and it's still active. I have no idea if Daren's gone through yet or not."

"… That is bad news. What about the other team? Didn't they do their job yet? The other side of camp is a raging inferno."

"They did, and the portal won't be open for much longer. There must be a backup source somewhere. The True Order is trying to take what they can before they close it. The military also stepped up their attacks to stop this, which should take more attention away from us."

"What's the good news?"

"That was the good news?"

Apparently, Chris and Aayla must have different definitions of the phrase 'good news' because none of that sounded like good news to her.

"What next? Can we find out if Daren went through the portal?"

"That's where you come in. There's a more secure prison area that's still under heavy guard. Daren will be there if he's still in the camp. I need your help to get passed security though."

Aayla had the sneaking suspicion that Chris would have left her behind if he didn't need her. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. Just wondering if you would have left me behind if you didn't need me. Even after you people forcefully dragged me into this mess."

Chris stuttered for a second before awkwardly smiling. "That accusation really hurts, Miss Glowery! You really don't trust me that much, do you? Let's focus on the matter at hand first and come back to this later."

She clicked her tongue. That loser actually considered leaving her behind. Chris guided Aayla through the chaos to the inner sanctum of the main camp. They snuck onto a wagon carrying some heavy machinery as it entered the suspected prison.

No magical alarms sounded when they passed through security. Chris's invisibility spell was flawless, and with the New Moon Bracelet their mana signatures couldn't be detected. Once inside, they discovered a frantic scene.

These cages were much stronger and smaller than the ones for students. These cages seemed specifically designed to each hold a small amount of much more powerful wizards. Still, several had been deformed and dead bodies littered the floor. A few of them were Nafriton professors while the rest were guards.

In the center of the room was a single cage holding one person. The symbols engraved on it glowed with a brilliant light, and a sheet of light shimmered between the bars. The lock was seriously deformed. Desperately working guards tried to get into the cage.

Some tried to bend the bars or pierce the sheet of light. Others tried to remove the door or lock. Nothing worked. The True Order commander that led the Nafriton raid paced back and forth in front of the cage.

"Well?! Can we open it or not?!"

"No – No, s- sir. It's too strong. We made it to withstand the might of the headmaster. With the lock destroyed the only way is to drain its mana supply then force the door open. Otherwise, we could kill the prisoner. That could take days."

The worker flew into a wall with a horrible smacking sound. Her body twitched as it hit the floor. The commander grabbed another trembling worker.

"YOU! REMOVE THE MANA SOURCE IMMEDIATELY!"

"Sir, we – we made it exactly to your specifications! The materials of the cage itself stores the mana. We even included super rare metals that can generate a tiny amount of their own mana!"

SLAM! Another worker fell lifelessly to the floor. The commander raged as a messenger quickly entered the prison.

"Commander! We can't hold back Stallesso Forolan much longer without you!"

"Fine. Guards, you all come with me to help buy time," he growled. "The rest of you keep trying to break open the cage without killing him. If you can't do that, then get ready to pick it up so we can stuff the entire cage through the portal.

"Remember, the Prophet requested for him personally! Failure is not an option."