Critical Condition

Daren snapped out of his daze. He sat down on the ground after looking at the body. That body was definitely Lysander Foryl. The coroner noted this body's identity in another form.

"Thank you for your cooperation. To confirm, these two are Marc Lupton and Lysander Foryl?"

"Yes, they are."

"Lysander Foryl…" The City Lord narrowed her eyes. "He was expelled from Nafriton University last school year, right? Does he have any connection to the True Order?"

"His uncle, Jerome Foryl, is suspected of being a high-ranking True Order operative. Marc Lupton is Jerome Foryl's student."

"That's what our witness told us as well. Apparently, Lysander attacked their victims while Marc led the mission and controlled him. The witness was forced to –"

Daren jumped up and grabbed onto the robes of the City Lord. The commander nearly attacked him, thinking that Daren was trying to harm the City Lord. She stopped him and the team leader before they got violent.

"There's a witness?! Can I see them? Please! I need to know if he's my friend who got separated from us!"

The City Lord carefully patted his head.

"There is a witness. His condition is stable but critical for now. No one aside from the doctors are allowed to see him right now. I'll have my people let you know when he's well enough to chat."

Daren's head drooped. He wanted to confirm that Chris was safe now. The City Lord's lips turned up into a mischievous grin.

"However, a few of the soldiers did manage to potentially identify him as Christopher Vear."

"Really?! That's wonderful!"

Both Daren and Jacki looked extremely relieved. The team leader and Aayla also sighed in relief that Chris was probably going to be fine. After chatting with them personally about what happened, the City Lord dismissed the team.

The witness finally entered stable condition a few days later. The doctors decided to allow him some visitors as long as strict rules were followed. Daren happily agreed with no questions asked. Still, he nearly got kicked out of the hospital.

He burst into the patient's room without following the decontamination procedures when he saw that the witness was indeed Chris. Daren was simply too excited and rushed in without thinking. Aayla had to calm down a very irate doctor.

She managed to get Daren a window view, though he was banned from the room. Chris woke up due to all of the commotion.

"What happened to you after we left? Did you know that Lysander Foryl was here?"

Chris held onto Jacki's hand with a faint smile. "I know. I'm the one who killed him. He attacked me under Marc Lupton's orders after you all fled. Not much happened after that. I just tracked down and permanently ended the threat he posed. The military saved me at the last minute."

Aayla suddenly felt like a third wheel while Jacki and Chris flirted with each other. She exited the room so that Jacki and Chris could chat by themselves. Daren looked like a hurt puppy with his face pressed against the glass.

She dragged him away to give Chris and Jacki a chance to talk more. That, and because the medical staff were giving him strange looks again.

**********

Over the next couple of days, the City Lord cleansed Odala from top to bottom. After Daren's latest attempted kidnapping, the True Order cell in the city seemed to return to its old, cowardly habits. The military made major breakthroughs. The entire city was cleaned up in a matter of days.

With Lysander and Marc confirmed to be True Order agents, their families and others related to them were implicated. The entire Foryl family was placed on a blacklist. Jerome Foryl was officially placed on the most wanted list.

Jerome's location was still a mystery, but newly discovered evidence suggested that he was in Sarrasak. The Halcyon Guards committed his face to memory. They would track him down one of these days. He had better hope that the government found him before the Forolan family did.

Though strongly desiring to travel to Halcyon, the guards refused. Odala was now stable, but the True Order likely knew where Daren was. The scouts sent to check on the situation had yet to return. Naturally they would not place their young master in any more danger.

With the city purged, public order rapidly improved. Even then, the Halcyon Guards rarely let Daren roam outside anymore. At least two guards always accompanied him when he did go outside. Aayla, Chris and Jacki rarely went outside as well.

Cooped up inside the City Lord's manor began to drive the team insane. The only things that they could do were eat, sleep and annoy their guards. As the summer days ticked by, the outside world continued to change.

After Odala and Cuoq were stabilized, the True Order increased the pressure on Halcyon. The scouts finally returned with dire news. Halcyon was under siege, and the surrounding villages were decimated by the magical beast army.

The Fort Kast reinforcements had arrived near Halcyon. The magical beast army had turned its focus towards them for the time being. Still, the scouts couldn't get any closer to the city on their own. The entire team would need to go.

Daren leapt at the chance. He stuck to the team leader like glue and begged to go with. After days of constant pleading, the team leader finally relented. Their young master was the only one among them who could use a fairy ring, and his team did manage to keep themselves safe from a True Order ambush.

The team leader also had no other choice but to bring Daren along. Leaving Daren alone could be dangerous. He could easily use the fairy ring while they were away. The city was stabilized, but the nation wasn't. If something went wrong, then the guards would be too far away to help.

Early one morning, the Halcyon Guards escorted the team to the Odala fairy ring. Located just a couple of miles outside of the city, it was heavily guarded by the military. Even when the city was in chaos, they didn't leave their posts.

The fairy ring would take them close to Halcyon City. Hopefully, they wouldn't arrive right in the middle of the True Order army. Just to be safe, Daren calibrated their destination to be a bit far from Halcyon. A bit of walking was nothing compared to being pursued by a horde of magical beasts.

The City Lord and military commander saw them off. After a bright flash of light, Aayla found herself falling through the air again. Unlike her last trip, this time Aayla was only a couple of feet off of the ground. This landing was rather gentle.

Fortunately, the Fairy Ring placed them a fair distance from Halcyon. The city was in view, yet they were far enough from the True Order Army to avoid detection. From a distance, the city wall looked like it was made up of magical beasts instead of stone.

The Halcyon Guards immediately guided them away from the area. Someone should have detected their arrival. They weaved through the trees until they arrived at the scorched plains surrounding the city. The once lush forests surrounding the city had been reduced to ash and burnt stumps.

The battle was raging when they arrived. This was the first time that Aayla had seen such a large city on Tellus before. Halcyon dwarfed Cuoq and Odala. The once grand architecture had been reduced to rubble while the waterways running out of the city were cloudy and had a strange odor.

The situation was worse than they initially thought. Magical beasts swarmed the walls and explosions erupted inside the city. A smaller barrier protected the inner city, but flags with the True Order emblem flew proudly in the outer city. The middle city had become the center of the current fighting.

The guards began to curse. The True Order had taken over the outer city. This would make their mission incredibly difficult. They should have left the young master back at Odala. Daren's mind raced as he tried to find a way into the city. His uncle, aunt and cousins were inside.

"Aayla, could your ability get us through that magical beast army?"

""NO!!!"" the guards screeched.

"Young master, I know what you're thinking but that won't work. Even if it could, we can't let you run straight into danger. It's one thing if the city is intact, but the outer city has fallen."

The team leader quickly nodded. "Exactly, young master. Either an exceedingly powerful wizard as strong as your grandfather is working for the enemy, or someone has sabotaged the city's defenses. We've already seen several cases of sabotage in other areas. If those traitors see you, they'll sound the alarm."

"But we need to get in there! That's our home. We can't just let those idiots destroy it."

A firm grip clasped Daren's shoulder.

"A noble sentiment, Young Master Daren, but that is not our best tactical option right now. We need to meet up with the reinforcements from Fort Kast. With their resources and our intimate knowledge of the city, we can work out a better plan."

Before Daren could protest, he was dragged away.