The Battle Begins

A few days later, the commander's tent was crowded with officers. The day of battle had arrived. The scouts brought in the last reports before the mission began. Days of planning had come to an end. Now was the time for action.

The last scout pushed through the crowded entry way with an artifact in his hand. Within seconds it was snatched out of his hands and placed on the table. He didn't even have time to salute before the officers began to eagerly look over the artifact's records.

"Start your report."

"Yes, commander!" The scout hastily saluted. "The outer city is still tightly under True Order control. Enemy wizards are constantly working on the city's defenses, but it looks like the City Lord locked the ones on the outer wall from the inner city.

"It looks like the enemy is becoming anxious. Magical beasts haven't stopped attacking the inner walls for over a day now. The enemy keeps pushing for the City Lord's surrender and threatening the citizens in the outer city."

A heavy fist slammed onto the table. Images flashed by on the artifact. From magic beasts attacking the inner city to the True Order harming civilians, the scout gathered as much information as he could from a distance. The latest pictures showed the True Order executing several citizens in public squares.

"Those b***ards!" The commander took several deep breaths to calm himself down. "How is the inner city holding up?"

"The exact situation inside is unclear, but the City Lord's forces have deeply entrenched themselves in the inner city. The City Lord has clearly refused to surrender despite the True Order's threats. He has retaliated by executing captured True Order members and destroying magical materials."

"So, both sides are now in a deadlock?"

"Yes, sir. The True Order hasn't dared to publicly execute anyone else, but they've still been rounding up the civilians."

"Any signs of Landrienne backed forces?"

"None, sir. Nor those from Sarrasak."

"Very well. You are dismissed."

The scout saluted before he was pushed out of the tent. Shouts and arguments erupted before he was completely out of the door. The officers all disagreed on their next steps.

"Commander, we need to attack immediately before the True Order starts a massacre! Their dislike towards normal people borders on hatred."

"Are you crazy?! We're only strong enough to distract the True Order's magical beast army. We'll need reinforcements from Port Altalon to take them head on."

"We have over ten thousand soldiers, including elite wizards, and materials for several high-grade magic formations. An ambush could inflict serious damage on the enemy. Working with the inner-city, we could easily keep them occupied until the main reinforcements arrive."

"That's like smashing a rock with an egg! All that will do is cause catastrophic loses. The magical beast army has at least tens of thousands of enslaved magical beasts. We can't fight against that number without special fortifications."

"Well, we can't just sit here either. The True Order is on the verge of taking over Halcyon. If they reach the heart of the city's defenses, then it's over. They'll have absolute control over the entire city."

The arguments heated up the more the officers argued. No one could agree on anything. A heavy pressure descended onto the arguing officers.

"SILENCE! If you babies can't stop squabbling, then just sit down and shut your mouths."

Silence quickly enveloped the tent as none dared to further enrage their commander.

"I have received news from headquarters, Port Altalon and Port Vilskameau. They have discovered ways to interfere with the collars used to control the magical beasts. We can temporarily disrupt them for a limited amount of time. The logistics teams have been secretly building the artifacts capable of this.

"For phase one, we will scatter these artifacts and large-scale magic formations around the magical beast army. For phase two, we will activate the artifacts to disrupt communications then launch the large-scale formations to decimate the enemy."

The commander took a silver metallic sphere from the hands of an aide. He put the ball on the center of the table for the officers to view.

"In phase three, we will take the outer walls then restart those defenses. Most of the magical beasts are still outside the city while most of the enemy wizards are in the outer city. After dividing the enemy, we will work with the inner city to capture the enemy wizards in phase four."

After the command signaled, several hooded figures emerged from the back of the room. Many gasped in surprise as they took off their hoods.

"Special helpers have appeared to make this possible," The commander glared at the officers in the room. "None of this information leaves this tent."

"The Forolan heir, Daren Forolan, arrived a few days ago. He has the necessary authority and expertise to restart the city's defenses. Several Halcyon Guards accompanied him. They provided critical intelligence on the layout of the city for this operation.

"For phase three to work, we will need to sneak in these helpers into the city. I'll be keeping the 'how' part confidential for now. All you idiots need to know is that the young master has his ways. Just focus on the outer walls."

After that, the commander and the officers finished deciding the final details of the plan. The military began its plot to retake the city as soon as the meeting ended. Scouts began scattering the disruption artifacts throughout the magical beast army.

The stealthiest snuck into the horde directly, while others silently dug small tunnels to push the artifacts through. Phase one secretly completed without a hitch. The more powerful magical beasts sensed that something was wrong, but the enemy wizards did not and forced them to calm down.

Phase two started with a bang. Just before the large-scale magic formations activated, the artifacts emitted a violent pulse that caused the collars to fizzle and spark. Dazed and confused, the army's formation collapsed as the magical beasts panicked.

The magical beasts soon turned on each other, ran away or wandered around aimlessly. The enemy wizards immediately noticed that something was wrong, and rushed to the outer walls. The soldiers casted the large-scale destruction magic just as the enemy arrived.

The True Order was forced to split its forces between the inner and outer walls. The inner city had ramped up its own efforts once they realized someone was attacking the outer walls. Every available wizard and beast cleared out of the outer city.

While the city walls were the focus of the battle, a small team quietly lurked outside of Halcyon. Composed of Daren, the Halcyon Guards and a small group of elite soldiers, this team had been formed to infiltrate the city.

Aayla joined the mission due to her stealth skill, while Chris joined to keep his young master safe. Jacki officially joined to keep Aayla safe, but really her goal was to protect Daren. Once again, Aayla had been dragged into something ridiculous but had no idea how.

Daren led them all to a rock formation outside of the city. After checking that they weren't followed, Daren placed his hand on a hidden part of the formation. A strange, glowing formation appeared on the rock. Then a dark doorway rumbled open.

The group quickly entered, but the soldiers stayed behind to guard the entrance. Just in case something went wrong, that would be their escape route. The doorway led to an underground tunnel that twisted and wound deep under the earth.

The tunnel had several branches and turns. Daren guided the team through the tunnels without hesitation. His uncle had been teaching him about these tunnels since he was a child. Unfortunately, they only led into the outer city.

The team finally arrived in the outer city a half an hour later. They emerged from behind a nondescript statue in an out of the way spot in the city. Even the locals who lived nearby didn't know that this statue was here.

Screams echoed throughout the alleyway as civilians rushed to find a safe place to wait for the battle to end. They paid no attention to the strangers who appeared in their city. The team successfully blended into the crowd.

They weaved their way through the streets to find the defense network substations that controlled the outer city's defenses. Now mostly unguarded, the Halcyon Guards pounced on the remaining enemy guards like tigers into a flock of sheep.

Substation after substation was quickly retaken. Daren, Chris and Jacki hurriedly worked to bring them back online, but not all of them could be restored. Someone had clearly sabotaged most of them. Either critical components were damaged, or they had secretly given the True Order control over them.

Galvanized by seeing someone fight back, the braver civilians started to group up to guard the recovered substations. The True Order was too busy to care at first. However, as more substations came back online their magical beasts were attacked by the city's own defenses.

The True Order forces were split even more to deal with the latest problem. Enraged, the enemy commander decided to end the meaningless resistance once and for all. Most of the population was talentless anyways. They were born to be expendable tools. Missing a city's worth shouldn't matter in the long run.