Indirect Contact

A soldier slowly peaked past the corner. He peered left, then right. The roofs looked clear. However, they had a gentle slope, so he couldn't get a good view. The man carefully stepped out into the road. He stood still for several seconds.

When nothing attacked the soldier, he crept through the street and motioned for others to follow him. A group of hooded wizards followed behind him. Aayla was among them, along with Daren, Chris and Jacki. She internally cried. How did she get wrapped up in something crazy again?

Right now, their team was setting up magical formations that would interfere with the magical beasts' control collars. There were simply too many beasts and too many places for them to hide for any artifacts too handle. A small group of wizards could apply a magic formation to cover a much wider area.

However, the magic formation was extremely complicated for an average wizard. All of the experienced wizards were divided up into groups, but there still weren't enough elite wizards to go around. Daren was forced to leave his uncle and grandfather's sides to help.

Technically, he volunteered after he finished adjusting the flow of battle. Chris, Jacki and Aayla were naturally dragged along with him. The group snuck behind the front lines with the New Moon Bracelet. Several magic formations were set up behind the True Order forces to ambush them.

Now, the team headed to the location for their fifth magic formation. With no more materials for a sixth formation, the team decided to take a small risk and approach the middle wall. Sarrasak had three city walls to protect the outer, middle and inner-city rings respectively.

All of the fighting was focused in the outer city for now. The middle city was quiet, but it was still teeming with magical beasts. They would need to run for their lives if something went wrong. Daren began to work immediately after they found a good spot for their magic formation.

Speed was key to get out safely. The soldiers stood watch while the wizards helped Daren set up the formation. Aayla just stood around with the soldiers to keep watch. This formation was way beyond her capabilities. She could only use the New Moon Bracelet to hide their mana signatures.

The road was eerily silent. No one shuffled around in the houses. No one peaked out of windows. No one whispered to each other from a distance. Even the wind didn't blow. Aayla was deeply unnerved by the silence. A battle was raging in the city and the civilians had disappeared.

The faint flapping of wings quickly caught the guards' attention. Aayla could see a small black dot flying close to the ground. It flew towards them at an incredible speed.

"Incoming on the western road. Something small, possibly a bird."

"Everyone, fall back and prepare your shields! We just need to keep Sir Forolan from being distracted."

With grim faces, the guards stepped back to form a more solid circle. The black dot grew bigger and bigger, then suddenly stopped a few meters from the defensive line. Aayla could finally see that the black dot was actually a crow.

The guards raised their shields. Before they could do anything else, the crow fell to the ground and liquefied into a blobby mass. The mass grew as tall as a human in an instant then solidified into a human. Two of the guards attacked just as color returned to the person.

"Wait! Wait! I'm an ally!"

Fireballs continued to fly through the air as the person frantically dodged. Ignoring their cries, the soldiers continued to attack. They wouldn't take any chances.

"Miss Glowery, increase the range of your artifact."

Aayla extended her hand, and the mana blocking barrier increased in size. With the new battlefield covered, a few soldiers rushed to quickly finish the battle.

"I'm a professor at Nafriton! I have a message from the headmaster for his student!"

He desperately took out a pendant from his pocket. The soldiers seemed to recognize it, but continued their attack. They wouldn't simply trust any random person that showed up behind enemy lines. They would kill first and ask questions later.

A gust of wind blew passed Aayla as Chris entered the fray. He easily got behind the stranger and threw them to the ground. In less than a blink of an eye, the stranger was completely restrained.

"I'll ask this one some questions. You two, come with me. Let's move somewhere else. Miss Glowery, you can return the barrier to its normal size now."

Chris and the soldiers dragged the stranger off down another street. Several minutes later, Aayla heard more screams from the stranger. They soon ceased and Chris returned with the soldiers and a bruised stranger.

"Good news! This gentleman was telling the truth. These two and I have finished verifying his identity. He should be a professor from Nafriton."

The professor appeared very bitter about his experience with the 'verification' process. Daren and the other wizards hurriedly completed the rest of the formation. The rushed work made it a bit shoddy, but it was more than enough to give the True Order some trouble.

With the extra person in tow, the team quickly returned to their base camp. The professor had some good news, some bad news and a private message that would completely change the military's plans.

The professor brought information about the city's condition and the defenses. There was a large prison break weeks ago. Headmaster Marin orchestrated the breakout, and most of the high-ranking wizards held captive managed to escape.

Ramona Heston was one of them. The private message was from her and intended for Aayla. The content was simple.

"Your countryman is here."

Who was this 'countryman' exactly? The generals and officers didn't know, but since they had more important problems, no one pried. Many had loved ones that were someone in the city. Aayla wasn't a unique case. Ramona was probably trying to give her some hope.

They hid out since then gathering information. The inner-city was inaccessible, but they could gather some information in the outer and middle rings of the city. The True Order tried to conceal their weaknesses, but over time the escaped prisoners managed to cause a bit of chaos for them.

Overall, crime rates were low but unease was high as people were trapped in their homes. Civilians had been captured and graded after the city was taken. Much of the outer city had managed to flee, but over two-thirds of the population was still trapped inside.

That was the good news. The bad news was that the Prophets were preparing something big in the inner ring. Security was too tight to figure out exactly what was going on. The biggest indicator was the disappearance of thousands of normal civilians.

The True Order held forced recruitments for the magically talented up until the time that Halcyon defeated the invaders. Now, the magically talentless had been forcibly taken from their homes and into the inner city. None ever came out.

The headmaster sent the professor to inform the military of some signals and plans. When those inside received the signals, then they would begin their plans to destabilize the middle and inner rings. This should give the military a better chance of breaching the middle and inner walls.

Tens of thousands of people were now missing. Whatever plan the True Order was concocting, it wouldn't be good. The generals of the attacking armies had to make a decision which could change the fate of their nation forever.

**********

Aayla flopped down onto her cot. She was exhausted from running around all day. The battle was ongoing, but proper rest could not be forgotten. Her thoughts drifted back to the report of the Nafriton professor. If his words were true, then Ramona should still be alright.

"Who is the 'countryman'? Urgh. This doesn't make any sense. No one is from Australia here."

Unless Ramona was referring to her 'home planet' and not her 'home country'. Aayla bolted up on her cot. There was one person who travelled with her. He was supposed to be dead! In theory. If he even landed on this planet.

"Where's Australia? Is that where you grew up?"

Light streamed in as the flap of her tent opened. Daren, Chris and Jacki entered just as Aayla realized that she was thinking out loud.

"Oh! You're all here! It's down south. Way down south. My parents moved around a lot, but I was born there. More importantly, what brings you here? Did you get any more news about Deputy Heston?"

"That… not exactly."

Jacki peaked out of the tent then shut the flap. Daren waved his hand, and the tent suddenly lit up with patterns like it was underwater. It had been a long time since Aayla saw a privacy spell that prevented others from listening in.

"My uncle, grandfather and the other leaders have decided to change the plan again. With so many people missing, the True Order might have enough mana to fulfill their plan now. The military doesn't want to risk anything.

"They've decided to launch a raid into the heart of the city, and bring everything to an end."