The arrival of Nya was quite a shock to Zack and Jack. They also didn’t expect it. Before they could ask anything, Nya told them that she wants to rest for now and tomorrow she would answer them. They kept quiet and everyone went to sleep. The next morning Nya explained what happened in the night and how she managed to get there, including the foretelling of the new member.
“If that happens, we have to decide who’s going in” Zack declared.
“That’s true; originally it was Jack, but now I’m not sure” Alex recognized.
“Well guys; if you want my opinion, it’s best for us if I’m not taking it” Jack decided.
“Why?” Nya asked.
“Simply put, I move freely and the guilds don’t have to say anything about it, because I’m not part of them”
“So, we’re keeping it that way?” Zack asked.
“Yep”
“Bueno, but that leaves it between Nya and Jaina” Alex said.
They kept quiet for a while, until Jania spoke:
“I think I pass; and the reason is because there is something dangerous in this continent and I still have to determinate it”
“That means you have to wander off again?” Zack asked.
“No, no; it means that I won’t be able to help properly in case I find something”
“So you can study it while you’re traveling with us” Jack said.
“Exactly, I’m not going to leave any of you and I’ll help you with your missions as best as I can, but there will be moments I cannot do it”
“So that leaves Nya” Zack said and everyone looked at her.
“It’s okay if you don’t want it” Alex said.
“No guys; in the past we did a lot of things together to the point people mix our teams as one, you rescued me when I was captured and you found Jaina as you promised; I cannot say no to the possibility, because I want to participate with you as a way to thank you for all of it” Nya decided.
“There’s no such thing as thanks with us, because we’re family and the members of a family always look to each other” Zack said.
“He’s right; whatever the case: order, petition, etc.… we would go to find Jaina without doubt” Jack added.
“I… don’t know what to say” Nya recognized.
“I do; welcome aboard” Alex said and extended his paw.
Nya hugged Alex instead and he began to blush while he did the same. ‘Uh… what is going on with Nya? I never seen her doing that to Alex before and he also acts a little strange’ Zack thought. Jaina just laughed in silence.
“So I guess that’s settles it” Jack said.
“We have to wait and see what happens next; this is going to be just like the old days” Zack said.
“Speaking of that; Nya, you said you were captured; by who?” Jaina asked.
“Well…” Nya started, but Alex interrupted her.
“We can save it for the catching up in the evening; I know you want to know about it, but telling you it will take some time and for now, we have to see if there’s anything to do here”
“Alright; I’ll remind you later, but just to know the identity for now” Jaina clarified.
“The Obsidian Empire”
Jania was petrified of the mere mention of it. “Oh gods, I heard they leave a path of blood and dead in the countries they established their presence”
“Yeah, we rescued Nya while the fortress she was imprisoned was under siege of the resistance of the old government before the Empire”
“Then I’ll wait until the evening; I want to know what happened”
“Entendido, should we get outside and see what we have to do?”
“Yep, let’s go” Zack said and went out from their tent.
Jaina and Nya left their capes, because of the heat. On the way, Vander called and informed them that they’ll be able to recruit a new member. Alex presented Nya to him and explained she’ll be their new addition. Vander took note of that and went back to inform the guilds members. They made a quick pass to the voice stone, the town and the orphanage. In the last place Alex said to Gemma where they would do the catching up.
When the evening came, with Ryan and Zack’s gang, they chose a big hole in the ground near the settlement to act as a forum. They made a big wood fire in the center and talked about irrelevant things while they were waiting; such as the actual state of the kingdom, the new inventions of Hector, rumors and jokes.
Then Gemma, accompanied by Prier, approached to them.
“It’s good to see you again” Alex said.
“We can say the same thing” Gemma said.
“You don’t mind if we join you, too?” Sonya asked.
They all looked at her and saw teams Pathfinders and Electrophilic at the top.
“Let me guess; you heard it, too” Alex said.
“Yep, when you passed to the orphanage; we also want to hear it and if possible, we want to know some things, too” Stephan said.
“I think some of the teams are interested, too; but they’ll stay at the top” Stella explained.
“Okay; sit down then”
The presence of Prier tensed Sonya, but when she looked to Zack and Alex, they made gestures to not say anything about it. Prier and Gemma went to Alex side. Some of the guild members and teams stayed at the top. When everyone was ready, Ryan started talking to Zack.
“Okay Zack, the first time you were here, you stole an artifact from Kapon to sell it in your country; I want to know how much did you earn”
“You wouldn’t believe it if I say it”
“Is it much?”
He nodded.
“Zack, why don’t you show your memories, so they can see it and hear it for themselves” Nya suggested.
“I think it’s a good option”
Then Nya stood up and, taking her special twig, she casted a spell to the fire and it automatically started to show some images.
“What did you do?” Gemma asked.
“It’s a spell that can allow visualizing the memories of a Pokémon; if it wants to show specific parts of its life and it doesn’t find the words to do it, it can show them, as long as it allows it” Nya explained.
“This is witchcraft?” Prier asked.
“No, sorcery”
When the images became clear, they showed Zack as a murkrow, flying to an abandoned compound with a bag on his back. He landed near a door and opened with Psychic. Inside there were people sealing strange items, weapons and food to their customers. He headed right to a Kecleon at the end of the stores. Once inside, he saw him and Jack.
“Welcome back Zack; I guess you made it” The Kecleon greeted.
“Hi Harold; yes, it took me a while to get it” Zack said and showed the artifact he stole.
“Mmm, let me see”
Harold inspected every part of it. The artifact was in essence a gold sphere with three silver rings surrounding it at equal angles and incrusted with sapphires, rubies and emeralds on them.
“For the looks of it; I guess it is authentic and well preserved; where did you get it?” He asked.
“From a criminal boss in another continent; the one you spoke of” Zack answered.
“I don’t think he liked it”
“No, but I made a mess when he crossed with me; he sent two assassins against me in response; poor choice; I just needed to make them follow the wrong trail and now they’ll live the rest of their lives in the prison”
“Something expected from you Zack; as for the artifact; the buyer will come in the next hour; you know the prize he offered is ten thousand gold coins, right?”
“I still remember it, but if he doesn’t pay that quantity, I’ll want him to pay at least one thousand”
“Sounds fair enough”
The image disappeared from the fire.
“Just for you to know, our monetary system consist in copper, iron and gold coins; one iron coin corresponds to one hundred of the copper ones; and the gold ones, ten of the iron coins; with one thousand of the gold coins you can live a relaxed life for at least one year” Zack explained.
“And did he pay you that amount?” Sasha asked.
“We’re getting into that part now”
The fire started to show images again and showed a Haxorus with a cape covering him to Zack, Jack and Harold. He took out the cover from the head and presented himself.
“Greetings gentlemen; I come for the artifact I asked” The Haxorus said.
Zack showed it to him “This is the one?”
“This is it”
The Haxorus took the artifact and examined it for a while. There was bright in his eyes.
“You accomplished your part; you brought me an authentic one and very well preserved for its antiquity; I hope you didn’t steal it from a castle”
“Not to worry; it was in a criminal’s possession in another land and I screw him so he won’t be an issue if he tries to recover it, something I doubt” Zack explained.
“Much better than I expected; you did a great job”
“Well, I heard you will pay ten thousand for the artifact; you still keeping the price or you want to acquire it lower? One thousand it’s the lowest price I can offer”
The Haxorus made a signal to follow him to the backyard and showed them two wagons full of bags. He took one of them and showed to Zack. There were gold coins inside.
“For bringing this to me in one piece, in a well conserved state and without any kind of law breaking, I’ll give you one hundred thousand coins”
Everyone; except for Alex, Jack and Nya; opened their muzzles for the number. The images of Zack, Jack and Harold did the same.
“A-a-a…; are you joking, right?” Zack asked without believing it.
“No; the ten thousand were offered in case something happens, but you did it as a professional and beyond my highest expectations; you deserve it; besides I’m one of the richest in the continent; for me, this is just a normal acquisition”
“T-t-thanks”
The Haxorus went back to whatever he came from with the artifact. Harold placed in front of Zack.
“I can assure you this is not a dream; BY THE GODS! You’re now rich; you can live two lives without worrying of anything!”
“Imagine what face will make that criminal boss when he discovers that the artifact he was keeping made you a fortune” Jack said.
“He’ll be rolling in the desert in rage and crying like a baby” Zack said.
“Too bad for him; what will you do with the money?” Harold asked.
“For now, keep it safe; I’m not going to quit because I earned a fortune; being a bandit is what I do and I’m not the best because I slack off” Zack answered.
“I see; you have your standards”
Zack picked some of the coins and offered to Harold. “Take them, they’re yours”
“I appreciate the offer, but I have to deny it; this is your victory, I’m just passed the contact to you”
“Maybe, but I think it as an inversion; just in case we need you in the future”
Harold smiled. “Well, I can’t say no to that” And he picked the coins.
“Jack, time to bring the money to a place we can hide it”
“Roger that” Jack said.
When they were ready and about to leave, Harold spoke one more time to them:
“If you need info or more products, you know you can come with me; the black market is always a good place to find what you require”
“We’re counting with that” Zack said.
The images faded again.
“I still try to rationalize it; WHAT THE HECK ZACK!? One hundred thousand coins!? No one would ever dream to have that amount of money; you really did a number on Kapon two times in a very short time” Charles said.
“Ironically, the same artifact let us meet Alex one year later and gave us a headache trying to destroy it” Zack said.
“And what about the money?” Darius asked.
“Part of it I used to compensate for the problems I caused, the reconstruction of abandoned buildings which later became the base of our team and the Lightsisters, the acquisition of materials and items and other expenses; by now we have approximately forty thousands of the original amount without any kind of income”
“So you’re been doing work for free?” Anibal asked.
“Yep; besides we already have food and a place to live, so I’m not thinking about what we have left”
“Okay, I guess that answered my question; I have to say it, I’m impressed” Ryan recognized.
“I have a question for you guys; it’s actually a question from Nox, but that caught my attention; don’t take it wrong, but are you three witches?” Sonya asked, catching Prier’s attention.
Alex, Zack and Jack looked to each other and grinned.
“What it’s so funny?”
“I can answer you that” Jaina said. “They’re not; there are special features, independent of the mental state and if it could be hide it from others; that can tell you if someone is a witch; they don’t have such features”
“If that is the case, how you guys know so much about them? Jaina told us you’re being trained by a witch named Farius, but I cannot understand it yet, because your knowledge about it is bigger than the average people” Stephan said.
“Then you’ll have to see it by yourselves” Alex said.
“To give you the context, we had an incident three months later of the destruction of the artifact” Zack said.
The fire showed images once again. It showed Alex as a Riolu, Zack and Jack. Alex was carrying a bag, without his katanas, the gloves and the vest; only the bandana around his left arm. They were crossing a forest.
“How much we have left?” Jack asked.
“I guess two kilometers; remember, the base is in a place apart” Alex said.
“Then we better get these items ASAP; Nya said there are necessary for the last settings” Zack said.
After some meters ahead, they stopped. They looked to each other, nodded and took battle stances. They looked in all directions and heard. Alex said in whispers:
“I sense four Pokémon hiding above use”
“Jack, get ready to repel them” Zack whispered.
“Just give the signal” Jack whispered.
Bottles started to fall to them. Zack used Psychic to take them and threw them back. The attackers were forced to leave their hidings and land at front of the team.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen” One of them said. It was an Abra.
“Mmm, bottles with potions; I didn’t expect to see bandit witches in these places” Zack said.
“You’re not going to stop us; we’re four against you three; you don’t stand a chance” Other of them said. It was a Grandbull.
“You know that se fueron al carajo; you’ll lose your magic when the witches and anti-witch squads catch you” Alex said.
“A-Alex, w-what did you say?” Yang asked.
“I said they screwed themselves in hiniolish, my native language” Alex explained.
“You have another language?” Stephan asked.
“Sep, but I didn’t used it for a while, until now”
“Then we better take your loot before that happens” A Delcatty said.
“I want to see you try, poor excuses of bandits” Jack provoked them.
“You asked for it; attack!” A Snivy said.
The battle was hard fought. Having next to none training in combat against witches was one big disadvantage for the team, but it was compensated by their abilities and tactics, at least at some point. The witches on the other hand, underestimated the capabilities of the team, even if they outnumber and outmatch them. Eventually, after two minutes, the team was forced to fold in a circle. They were tired and injured, but they weren’t given up. The bandit witches surrounded them and prepared for another assault, but the Snivy were knocked out instantaneously, making everyone looked in that direction.
They saw a Mienshao without his fur whips; with a moustache, green shirt, a band for the cover of a saber and ropes; and a belt with pockets and vials. The bandits regrouped, but they didn’t attempt to attack. They showed expressions of nervousness.
“You’re not too hard to find when you’re making a mess” The Mienshao said.
“S-stand back! We’re three against you” The Grundball said.
“Sorry to break your bubble, but you already know what will happen next; I suggest you to surrender now and come peacefully”
The Abra teleported behind him to attack with a blade, but the Mienshao took out his saber and blocked using Detect. He disarmed the Abra and with Acrobatics channeled through the saber, he knocked out. The remaining two started to run, but the Mienshao used Stone edge to prevent their escape. Before they could respond, he put back his saber, made appear two aura spears, grabbed them and threw them to the bandits. The spears were so fast that they didn’t see them coming. With that, all witches are been defeated.
Alex and his team let themselves fall to the ground. The Mienshao approached to them.
“Are you guys alright?” He asked.
“Barely, but we’ll make it” Zack answered.
“Drink this” And the Mienshao grabbed one of his vials and offered to them.
“That’s a potion?” Jack asked.
“A recovering potion, made it with the juice of some of the berries and seeds; and with some enchantments to increase its proprieties”
Alex, Zack and Jack took some sips. Their wounds healed and they recovered their energy. They stood up and approach to the Mienshao, who was dragging the bandits to a tree and tying their paws and feet.
“Where are you going to take them?” Jack asked.
“To the nearest town to bring them to the watchers, but we’re far away from it”
“What about using portals?” Zack asked.
“I need a sorceress to do it and there’s no one here, unless you have one near”
“There’s one in our base; her name is Nya” Alex said.
The Mienshao looked in confusion. “Come again? You said Nya is there?”
“Uh, yeah; what about it?” Alex asked.
The Mienshao smiled. “Because I know that flaming fox; I trained her a few times to fight against witches when her mentor asked me to cover some aspects she couldn’t teach”
“Really? She never said anything about you”
The Mienshao lowered his head and raised a fist. “I told you to give me some recognition of my work Nya; now I have to make you remember it again” He joked.
“Well, we have at least one kilometer and half to make it to the base; we can help you with these bumps and Nya will send them to the watchers” Zack proposed.
“I accept your offer; by the way; my name is Farius and you already saw I’m a witch”
“No doubt about it, my name is Alex and my teammates are Zack and Jack” Alex presented.
About two hours later, they reached the base in a clear inside the forest. They got inside in the main building and found Nya and her teammates, Helen and Tania, waiting in the main hall.
“Farius?” Nya said.
Farius went to her, grabbed her and rubbed his fist in her head.
“Ay, ay, ay! What was that for?” Nya asked.
“Maybe because you forgot to mention me when you talked about your past” Farius answered.
“Heh; again with that? I told you it only happen if they ask me about it”
“Doesn’t matter; you still need to do it”
Nya smirked and Farius did the same. Then they hugged each other.
“It’s good to see you again girl” Farius said.
“Me too” Nya replied.
When they got back to their places, Zack asked:
“Nya, excuse me for my ignorance, but Farius is someone important?”
“Yes; he was the leader of the witches, chosen by them and accepted by the magic council” Nya explained.
“But I quitted a few months later, because my work is on the field, instead in a room without anything to do” Farius added.
“Even so, he did a great service as a commander of an important anti-witch squad and as the ambassador of our kingdom” Helen continued.
The images passed to the other part of the conversation, because as Zack explained, there are secrets that cannot be told.
“Alright guys; you brought the items?” Tania asked.
“We have them right here” Alex said and opened the bag.
“One other thing, could you help Farius in sending some bandit witches to the watchers?” Zack asked.
“What witches?” Nya asked.
The group went outside and saw the witches tied up and unconscious. Alex explained what happened. After that, she opened a portal and sent the bandits through it. Once it was closed, Farius spoke first.
“Nya, you don’t mind if I live here with you?”
“Why will you do it?” Nya asked.
“Because I think these guys need some training to fight against witches”
“But that doesn’t mean we have to register ourselves as a new anti-witch squad?” Zack asked.
“Not necessarily, because it’s my decision and I don’t pick anybody if they don’t have the capabilities”
“Well, I can understand it’s because you were part of an anti-witch squad, but why us?” Alex asked.
“Because few teams could stand that kind of ambush from witches for two minutes without any training and in complete disadvantage; normally they resist less than ten seconds”
“You saw our fight?” Jack asked.
“I was originally going to intervene; but you fought back, even if the odds were against you, so I decided to hold for a moment and watch your battle; you have a lot of skill and strength to resist that long; that's why I believe you could defeat witches at your own terms or using their terms and turn them against the witches”
“That sounds interesting, what do you think guys?” Alex asked.
“I don’t see why not; with what happened a while back, we definitely need to get ready in case we have to fight more of them” Zack answered.
“Claytren kingdom has a few witches from time to time who cause problems; at some point we’ll run into them” Jack added.
“There are a lot of topics to cover; if you agree, we can start the next week, because I need to get my stuff here” Farius proposed.
“That’s okay for us, but how we’re going to train?” Alex asked.
“Starting with the boring part: Theory; then the practice; in the first part you have to learn the different languages they could write the books, fundamental concepts, potions, philosophies involved, a bit of history and a part of science”
“Science?” Zack asked.
“Yes; the use of ‘rare and primitive’ ingredients started to decay with the introduction of it, but the information about it has already been analyzed; that means you need some knowledge in basic math, chemistry and biology; because the effects of the potions and magic are now being quantified, approximately”
“I guess being a witch now is more complicated with every century passing” Jack said.
“For the Savitaran continent, yes; it’s like they’re becoming scholars; but in other places, they still keeping their primitive habits and sometimes they come to this continent to make a mess”
“That’s when the anti-witch squads come in” Alex said.
“Exactly, we have to deal with our witches and those who come from other places”
“This question is deviating from the topic, but what about the other two classes?” Zack asked.
“They have their squads; but in the case of the witches, they have the most complete preparation and also the most hardest; that’s why sometimes they can deal with the other magic classes” Nya explained.
“She’s right; sorceress and wizards have the same magic principles, it only changes how they act and they don’t depend on potions; in fact, some witches are trying to avoid them” Farius added.
“If that’s all, we have to prepare the big castle tower on the back” Alex said.
“Then let’s get going” Zack said and the images faded again.
Alex spoke: “Our training took about ten months, with eight months in theory and two months in practice; normally it takes a year, with ten hours every day nonstop to the normal teams; two if they have difficulties; and half a year if they’re fast learners; we learned every aspect of the witches, even categorize them depending of their capabilities”
“But I have a question; where are the witch hunters? Because I only heard the anti-witch squad every single time, but none of the others” Ryan asked.
“There’s a story about it called ‘The witch hunters uprising’ and it’s kind of tragic”
The story Alex told was this: ‘When the witches were included in their society three hundred years ago, it ignited a spark in the witch hunters. At first they were keep hunting witches without too much problems; but as the time passes, the system was more robust and the witches gradually decreased their actions against the population, leaving the witch hunters useless. Few of them accepted the change, but the rest didn’t want to stop and kept attacking the witches. The continent responded by trying to reason with them at first, but they simply didn’t want to hear.
Eventually, the witch hunters started to attack the other magic users and later, people who was not related with magic of any kind as a response of their decision. All the nations in the continent responded in force and waged a war against the witch hunters about two hundred years ago and kept it for months. In the middle of the conflict, a witch hunter who was known as a Gallade named Albert saw that they were holding to failed traditions and couldn’t bear that their kind were so evil and blinded to the changes. He started helping the kingdom, by giving information of the locations of weak points in their defenses; then, he rallied a small group of renegade witch hunters who had the same conviction and made sabotages and surprise attacks with the help of some of the magic users, keeping their treason in secret.
In the last month the witch hunters were cornered in their bastion. Albert led a small strike team through abandoned dungeons that were considered very unstable, giving the idea of security to the witch hunters that the enemy troops won’t attack from below. They managed to open the gates of the outer, middle and inner walls; and after that he confronted his brother, who was the last leader and killed him. The close friend who accompanied in the assault, a witch known as a Blaiziken named Zeres, was worried about what will happen to him. For her relief, he didn’t show any signs of alteration or madness. The captured witch hunters who survived were sent to prison.
Two years later, the magic council, the kingdoms, free cities and the new concept of government called Republic, decided that since the witch hunters are practically obsolete, they need another type of force that could replace them. Zeres suggested that everyone who wants it, forms anti-witch squads. She explained these squads will learn some of the secrets of the witches for those who aren’t and use them to have equal ground against the witches. All agreed of the initiative and the first volunteer was Albert. He, with other witch hunters and some other Pokémon made the firsts squads.
“So your continent almost eradicated the witch hunters” Stephan said.
“In a way, yes; there still a few of them who live normally” Zack said.
“…but, but, your people still hates them?” Sonya asked.
“They never hated the witch hunters, the problem was that they kept attacking when they were saying no; because if that was the case, they would never accepted Albert in the first place; he knew that what’re their people was doing was wrong and choose to take the other side” Nya explained.
“Our people don’t live in the past; they learn from it and use it to build the future; it’s taught to us the concept of enemy is relative, because we’re all Pokemon, independent of with what we born” Jaina added.
“You make it sound easy” Gemma commented.
“But it takes a lot of time; changes like that take decades to settle down, even centuries”
“You’re right”
They went quiet for a while. Then Jaina spoke:
“I guess it’s time for you to tell me what happened when Nya was captured by the Obsidian Empire”
That sentence put everyone nervous.
“Okay; it happened a year later from your travel to this continent; we were sent with Farius, Max and a few of our comrades from our kingdom and a militarized nation to train a resistance group known as ‘Phantom nation’; they escaped from their continent some years ago, when they were unable to hold the remaining free towns against the imperial forces” Alex started.
“They told us the Empire was building a fortress in secret in our continent to act as a forward base for their operations, but they warned us if we try to reason with them to send them back or launch a strike against them; they’ll respond, brutally; so king Rexxar decided to send help, unofficially; and the General Astrid, a powerful Aggron, was coming with us as well. In that time, we taught them how to fight properly and in return, they taught us about their concept of guerrilla warfare” Zack added.
“I was sent with my team to help the refugees, but on the way, they ambushed us and managed to capture me; Helen and Tania were forced to retreat, badly wounded and I was dragged to their fortress…” Nya told, but she stopped.
“When Helen and Tania came to us; they told us what happened; the resistance explained to us the Empire won’t keep prisoner for too long; it was a race against time” Jack continued.
“The plan of the resistance was to storm the fortress by them to wipe out the imperial presence and with that give the idea of that there were no nations involved; but the problem was that Nya will be caught in the middle; we argued with their leaders, until a young Lopunny called Gilbert decided to help us with the infiltration, because he knows a way to get inside and the layout of the fortress” Alex said.
“We trained that boy in private and we learned a few things from him; his father was a deserter who died when he and his forces cover the escape of the resistance, his town burned to ashes and one of the commanders promised to his father that he will protect him; he nearly lost everything; that’s why he doesn’t want the same thing happens to us” Zack explained.
“Eventually the leaders agreed, but with the condition that we protect him and we disable some of their defenses to help with the siege” Jack said.
The fire started to show images again. Max, Faiurs, the team Shadow foxes and Gilbert were in a circle on the ground. Then Max used a spell to take the memories of Gilbert and, by taking and drop the dirt, recreate the fortress in a small scale. The illusion showed three concentric walls with their watch towers, a citadel at the top of a big rock formation and three buildings and small ones surrounding it.
“You said you have a way to get in” Max started.
“Correct, I made a tunnel that can pass below the walls into one of their buildings when they were constructing it” Gilbert explained.
“Do you know where the prison is?” Farius asked.
“It’s in this place” He pointed one of the buildings.
“How many soldiers they have?” Zack asked.
“About five thousand; there are brigades of twenty patrolling some of the dungeons they constructed below the big buildings”
“Against eight thousand resistance soldiers with siege weapons and area attack moves; this is going to be hard” Jack recognized.
“We have to rescue your friend before they breach the inner wall; from their estimations, I say we have at least one hour”
“We need to move before the strike if we want to have any chance; then we have to take out some the catapults from the towers” Alex said.
“And remember, me and your team cannot kill anybody so we can keep our neutrality, with the exception of Gilbert” Farius said.
“He’s right; only knock them down” Max said.
“We can do it; we never killed anyone” Zack assured.
“But this is different; it’s your first military mission and the enemies won’t stop until you’re dead; this is a battle for survival” Max said.
“I agree with him; you cannot lose focus, not even when you see your life in danger” Farius said.
“Then we better move more swiftly than them” Alex said.
“There’s one thing I have to tell you; there are some traps in the prison we have to pass or circle and the tunnel connects to…” Gilbert said and stopped.
“If you stopped it means it’s not a good place” Jack said.
“Yeah, there are torture chambers and some rooms with the bodies”
“Okay, you can stop; I don’t want to know the rest” Farius said.
“If that’s settled, I’ll stay with the leaders to coordinate the advance; if you accomplished your objectives, you have to send me a signal” Max explained.
“Something tells me we’re going to the citadel, one way or another” Farius said.
“If that happens I’ll send our people to sneak with you while the Empire is occupied dealing with the resistance”
“I guess you know a hidden way to the citadel, too” Zack said to Gilbert.
“There’s a way, but in both the frontal and the sneaking approach, we need the help of Auroruses to climb up”
“Really? How they can scale that rock formation?” Alex asked.
“They use Ice beam to create a path; then, with the wood frames with iron bars to act as a hook in their feet, they can move through it and with wood platforms attached on their backs, they can carry us”
“Well, that’s something I have to see” Zack said.
“Then we better prepare ourselves” Farius declared.
“There’s a part I don’t understand, why you decided not to kill? Because I don’t think there is a way to find you were involved if there’re no witnesses” Charles commented.
“They have their methods we don’t understand very well; one of them is recreate the scenario to observe the techniques used, other is the essence left in the blows from any weapon; and the other is following the traces of magic, because in their case, they have a few magic users, all of them identified” Zack explained.
“That means if we use our techniques, weapons and magic; we would be discovered, so we had to rely of what the resistance gave us” Alex added.
The next morning, one hour before the strike; Alex and the group, with armors, weapons and equipment provided by the resistance to not raise suspect of their nation’s involvement, headed to the tunnel. Gilbert took out the rock that covers the entrance and got inside.
The images passed the part of the torture chamber to avoid any kind of traumatism they could generate.
They exited the building, disguised as imperial troops to avoid detection. Eventually they got to the prison, only to see there were in more dungeons to cross, but no soldiers. On the way, they stumbled against a lot of traps. Giant blades which appeared from nowhere, moving walls, spikes that can pierce a Stellix, a pit with a corrosive liquid at the bottom were some of the many traps they had to pass. There were a few close calls, but they managed to get to Nya’s cell with a few scratches. When they opened the door, they found her wounded and weakened. Farius gave her the recovering potion. When she was back on her feet, she said they have some kind of laboratory inside the citadel that it must be destroyed. Giving her the resistance gear and the imperial disguise, they made it back to the surface and proceeded to the top of the inner wall, where they could destroy some of the catapults and trebuchets which weren’t occupied at the moment. They had to knock down some of the troops on the way. Gilbert was the only one allowed to kill.
Once they reached one of the towers near the gate, they started to hear battle sounds from the outer wall and saw boulders flying in their direction and the impact of Hyper beams, Fire blasts and other attacks. Wasting no time; everyone armed a strange model of a crossbow.
“What kind of weapon is that?” Prier asked.
“A Donan crossbow model; as you can see, it has a longer support with a more sturdier rope than the standard, reaching much longer distances; the only difficulties are that you can only use it when you’re lying on the ground, you have to arm it when you reached your destination and takes more time to reload it” Alex explained.
“That means you can only use it to hit specific targets, without revealing your presence; it’s more commonly seen in high priority sneaking missions” Zack added.
They charged a different type of arbalest, picked their targets and launched at the catapults. When the arbalests hit them, they exploded, destroying the catapults and trebuchets before the imperial forces could use them.
“What just happened?” Darius asked.
“Those arbalests were built with a specific type of blast seed inside of them, very useful in taking down siege weapons” Jack explained.
“But how they cannot spot you? There should be at least a few guards in those walls and in the siege weapons” Anibal said.
“The surprise attack distracted long enough and they thought no one knows about the location of the fortress; that’s why there were nobody in the towers when the attack started” Zack said.
When all the catapults and trebuchets were down, they headed to the gate. All the troops were moving, preparing to defend the fortress, making it easier to bypass them with their disguises. They went to the gate’s mechanism and beaten the soldiers inside. For their luck, all the gates were connected to the mechanism, meaning all the gates could be opened at the same time.
When the doors were opened, the resistance army stormed the area surrounding the citadel. Farius told to Nya to make contact with his brother and ask for reinforcements. They came with the Auroruses and that was a surprise for them. There were much bigger than the normal ones, with five meters tall. Gilbert told them there were a variant from their continent, who for some reasons they didn’t understand, they acquired that size.
Two of them joined Shadow foxes’s group and they prepared the Auroruses to climb the rock formation. The ones of the resistance started to create the ice paths while the troops kept launching attacks to the citadel. With the distraction, they moved to the sector that was less defended, because it was more dangerous to climb. Then, the two Auroruses used Ice beam to create the road. The group positioned on the platforms, grabbing the handles and started the scaling.
They reached the citadel without encountering any enemy and divided into two squads: one of them leaded by Astrid began to knock out the defenders with the Auroruses using Hyper beams; while the Shadow foxes, with Farius, Nya, Gilbert and magic users infiltrated the citadel to destroy the laboratory and if possible, capture the commander.
“For your mental sanity, we’re not going to show you what kind of experiments they were doing in the laboratory, because it was a nightmare what we found there; but we destroyed it” Alex explained.
“It’s… really that bad?” Prier asked, a little nervous.
“Let’s just say: there are some experiments that should never been done”
On the way, Alex and Gilbert got separated from their comrades due a collapse in a hallway. Both of them reached a briefing room. They walked slowly, with their swords unleashed. As fast as they could, they avoided an incoming Dragon claw from above. When they regrouped they saw a Druddigon with a black armor in some parts of the body. Gilbert told Alex to let him fight by himself. He didn’t want to, but he promised to him that he’ll be the one who can defeat him. Holding to the promise, he stood back.
One word to describe the battle: stressful. Gilbert took powerful blows, but with his sword, shield and armor; part of it was weakened and his attacks weren’t affected when he hit in the rough skin with the sword. With the last of his strength, he positioned in front of a window and waited the Druddigon to charge. When it was about to clash with him, he threw himself and rolled. The Druddigon broke the window and fell about four floors.
When the group reunited, they headed to the commander. They checked it was alive, but some of the bones were broken and Farius suggested that it was left paralytic. Whatever the case, they waited for the resistance soldiers to help them. The losses of the resistance were about two thousand soldiers, including four Aurorus who perished in the assault of the citadel.
Max, Farius and some of the magic users scanned the mind of the commander to find any useful information. With that done, the leaders announced they’ll leave the Savitaran continent to bring the fight to other countries. They agreed with Max, Farius and Astrid that if the Obsidian Empire starts to launch massive invasions, they’ll be ready to help the Phantom nation and protect the other countries; but for now, keep the neutrality is their shield.
When the images faded, all of them went quiet.
“I don’t know if I speak for the others, but you left me speechless” Ryan recognized.
“We lived the best and the worst in those five years and there’s still a lot of stories, but we’ll tell them in another time” Alex said.
“One last question; is that Empire doing the same thing here?” Gemma asked worried.
“For now, no; the countries they invaded were the ones who possess a strategic value or a potential threat; this continent doesn’t have those and it’s far away from them” Jaina explained.
“And we hope they keep it that way for a long time” Zack said.
“But if they decide to attack, for example us, will you help us?”
“Rest assured that we will do it, whatever the problems we could face” Alex said.
“Now I’m more relieved; you really are involved in a lot of things”
“If you guys want to hear more, we can do this thing again in other occasion”
“Yeah, I still need to know about your one hundred mission rush in that problematic city” Staphan said.
“Don’t worry, we will get to that part in time”
