The Siege of Sarrasak

The rest of the family, their guests and the head servants were summoned to the dining room. When Aayla arrived, she noticed that Rebecca had obviously been crying. Innello gently held her as she patted her face with a handkerchief.

The unneeded servants were swiftly kicked out of the room. Innello wasn't proud of what he was about to do, but he needed as many people by his nephew's side to keep him safe.

"I have an announcement to make. Due to certain factors, the military has decided to launch an emergency raid on Sarrasak. Halcyon will be sending all of the support that it can. Father and I will be leading the mission."

Not even a whisper of shock escaped the lips of the head servants. Their faces only slightly hardened. They were truly the best of the house.

"A draft has been issued for all available people. Daren, you will be joining the mission. Prepare all that you'll need within the next three days. Chris will accompany you as always."

Daren sat up straighter in his chair. "I understand, uncle."

"So will our guests, vassals and the servants who maintain the estate. We need all the help we can get, and the nobility need a push to send their own heirs and servants."

This time the expressions of the head servants cracked. Even the normal servants of the mansion wouldn't be spared?! The military must be truly desperate.

"Though it is a draft by the military, as the City Lord I will be offering extra compensation to those drafted and their families. Miss Glowery, your compensation will be held at the estate until you can claim it. I apologize for not better protecting you, who is under my family's protection, but this can't be helped."

Aayla barely nodded her head. First, she was thrown into a new world. Then she spent months avoiding death and hiding her secret. Now she's being thrust into the middle of a war. The years 2021 and 2022 didn't treat her too kindly. Hopefully her family on Terra were treated much better.

"Ramona is in Sarrasak, right?"

"Your godmother, Ramona Heston? As far as we know she's still there. Whether that's as a corpse or a living person is something that we don't know."

Daren slowly grasped Aayla's hand, though the young lady herself was too distracted to notice. Tregario clicked his tongue at his stupid cousin. Why flirt now? Especially with a commoner. His sister Edwina had other concerns.

"Father, does that mean that Tregario and I will be drafted as well?"

Worry wrinkled her pale face. Tregario jumped out of his chair when he heard his sister's words.

"What?! No! How could we be drafted?! I don't want to go! I won't! I absolutely won't. It's too dangerous! I could die!"

Rebecca's face twitched. How could she have raised such a cowardly son? At least her daughter remained calm in this situation. Innello frowned at his son's outburst. He should have paid more attention to him sooner. Fortunately, he had taken the chance to purge the city of those bad influences.

The servants were equally as disappointed with Tregario as his parents were. Normally, he was a proud, slightly foolish and ill-tempered young man who was constantly trying to outdo his cousin. They expected him to jump at the chance to earn achievements to beat his cousin.

"Both of you are technically not of age yet, and are not considered wizards. You will stay here and help your mother."

Tregario sat down with a silly look on his face and seemed to misunderstand something.

"Hahaha! Good, good. That's very good. Don't worry about the city, cousin. I'll be running it in no time. You don't need to worry about the city after you die like the rat you are on the battlefield."

Edwina quickly whacked her brother with her fan. Sure, she wanted Tregario to become the next City Lord instead of that gloomy cousin of hers. As the eldest son of Innello, Tregario should inherit that position. However, that doesn't mean that the current heir should be insulted or cursed to die.

Sure enough, her parents and the servants became incredibly angry. Their glares pierced Tregario like knives.

"ENOUGH Tregario! I've told you to never utter such words before. Until your cousin returns, you are banned from stepping foot outside this house or having your friends over. You can only leave while with your mother and see who she approves of. Apologize to your cousin!"

"Why? I didn't say anything wrong. His parents were monsters, so he's a monster, too. The soldiers will probably mistake him for an enemy and strike him dead. Hahaha –"

SMACK!

Tregario's face jerked to the left as something hit his right cheek. Stunned, he lifted his hand to feel his swelling face. A dark shadow loomed over him. Rebecca firmly clutched her fan in her hand as she gazed emotionlessly down at her son.

"Did you not hear your father? Apologize. Such words are never to be spoken to family."

"But it's true!"

SMACK!

The young man jumped as Rebecca smacked the fan into the palm of her other hand.

"Children don't always take after their parents. After all, you are a prime example. Your father and grandfather are both courageous and wise men yet you are such a cowardly disappointment. Daren has worked hard to develop his magic and knowledge for years.

"What have you been doing aside from playing around?"

Tregario couldn't meet his mother's furious gaze.

"Daren isn't responsible for that couple's insanity. If he wasn't so mild mannered, he would have beaten you up for your continued insults over the years a very long time ago. Daren has treated you and your sister well ever since you were a child. You have no right to insult him so horribly. Leave."

The young man ran out of the room with his face red in embarrassment. Rebecca returned to her seat. Edwina hid her sigh behind her fan. That stupid brother of hers has gotten much worse. She would expect that behavior from the son of that couple, not the true heir of the family.

Daren and Tregario weren't secretly switched as children, right? Edwina prayed that her brother would grow out of his foolishness soon.

"Edwina, you will be shadowing me while I fill in for your father."

"But Mother, I won't inherit the City Lord position. Shouldn't Trey assist you?"

"First, Daren is still the heir. Second, your brother will need to cool off in his room for the next couple of weeks. Isn't that right, darling?"

"Do as you wish, Becca. I will support whatever you deem best."

With heavy hearts, the Forolan family and guests prepared for the upcoming mission.

**********

Two weeks later, the first wave of the Halcyon team had arrived at Sarrasak. Fortifications were hurriedly built as magical beasts attacked them day and night. Stallesso Forolan led the first team. With his power, their foothold to attack Sarrasak was secured.

Other armies had formed their own outposts near the city. Many of them had joined together to form supermassive camps that surrounded the city. Yet, the True Order didn't fight back nearly as hard as expected.

The magical beasts stayed on the defensive and rarely attacked after the camps were constructed. Rumors that something was wrong inside the city were just as rampant as the rumors that this was all an act to deceive and destroy the military once and for all.

Innello arrived with the main force just a few days after Stallesso and the first team. With the arrival of the main Halcyon forces, all of the players had finally arrived. The battle to take Sarrasak started almost immediately.

Humans fought beasts every second of the day. The military successfully pushed back the hordes of magical beasts. Each day the front lines crept closer and closer to the city. Though slow, the attackers were making progress.

The condition inside the walls remained a mystery. Magical and non-magical reconnaissance were blocked by the city's tight defenses. The walls would have to be breached to gather more information. The only certain fact was that there were hundreds of thousands of magical beasts waiting inside.

Daren began to make a name for himself. Though most of the time his uncle or grandfather kept him close, Daren began to work on the magic formations set up by the military. He wasn't a game changer, but his efforts were obvious.

When the military finally breached the walls of the city, Aayla had spent almost an entire year in this other world. Only a few days remained until that one-year mark. She had been so busy the past few months that she didn't even think about how long she had been on Tellus.

The fighting reached a new stalemate as Sarrasak's defenses skyrocketed when the armies reached the first outer walls. No progress was made after two days, then all at once the situation changed. The new variable came into play.

Explosions ripped through the city where the True Order housed their supplies and soldiers. Internal fighting broke out in the outer most ring of the city. Seizing the chance, the military broke down the walls and swarmed into the city to begin a brutal round of urban combat.