“Move!” Miranda shouted, grabbing Alicia by the hand and pulling her out of the way, just in time for a soldier on horseback to fly past her. He was rapidly swinging his sword in all directions, trying desperately to hit just about anything he could. The city square was covered in soldiers now, nearly all of them setting fire to the various buildings in the square. Before Alicia could react, Sean was already bounding towards them, with Jacques not far behind. The four of them ducked into an alleyway.

“Where’s Sly?” Alicia asked, trying her hardest to look outside of the alley she was stuck in, all while Miranda was trying as hard as she could to keep her there.

“I don’t know,” Miranda admitted, tugging on Alicia’s arm. “We can’t look for him now, Alicia. That’s suicide. You know that.”

“Then I guess I’m suicidal,” Alicia responded, trying to get out of the alleyway.

“Alicia, calm down, you barely know this guy. We just met him a few days ago,” Jacques said, looking at Alicia with a worried expression. “Are you really sure you want to risk your life for him?” Alicia looked down at her feet, before responding.

“I’m sure. He’s still one of us, isn’t he? I don’t care if I’ve known him for three days or thirty years. He doesn’t deserve to die.” Jacques nodded a bit and sighed. He knew in his heart that there was no way to stop her.

“Then I’ll come with you. I won’t let you go alone. Sean and Miranda can stay here and try to keep this alleyway safe,” Jacques stated, standing up straight.

“Hey, Jacques. Are you sure? It’s a battlefield out there,” Sean responded, grabbing his arm. He looked genuinely worried, a look that Alicia had never seen him wear before.

“I’ll be fine, Sean. Now c’mon Alicia, let’s go.” Alicia nodded and slowly left the alleyway with Jacques. Sean seemed to be correct, the entire square was engulfed in a fierce battle. Soldiers from Ulthos continued to torch various people, civilians and soldiers alike, and what little military force Mistwood was able to muster was getting obliterated by the far more prepared force. Alicia paid little mind to it and booked it back to where she last saw Sly; the little grotto where the pumpkin-cutting contest was being held. As she burst through the foliage, she saw the exact same scene she did when she left. She laid her eyes on the pile of gold metals, before rapidly digging through it to find her companion. As she tore through the pile of gold, she eventually was able to find herself an arm of her companion, trying as best as she could to yank him from the debris that was swallowing him. As his world slowly came back into focus, he slowly realized the burning wreckage around him and the screams of those who weren’t as lucky as he was.

“Alicia, what in the world is going on?” He asked, rubbing his head, trying to overcome the haze of being woken up. As he came to his senses, he realized the dire situation that he was thrust into, and leaped to his feet, drawing his sword as he did so. The great hollowed-out plants around him were crumbling from the heat, taking down much of the city’s infrastructure in the process.

“I’ll explain later, for now, we need to get back to the others. They’re probably worried sick about us by now.” Sly nodded in response, keeping his sword drawn for emergencies. Jacques, unequipped for combat as he was, picked up a slightly-smoldering wooden beam and held it in front of him, looking fiercely determined. “Take your time, and-”

“Alicia, look out!” Jacques shouted, pointing at an Ulthos soldier who’d drawn his blade and began to charge at the three. Without thinking, Jacques rushed toward Alicia and Sly, putting an arm around each of them, letting two metal hooks explode from the sides of his belt, each with a metallic thread attached, hooking into the nearest tree. With a quick leap into the air, the metallic thread began to yank the three of them into the treetop, setting them down gently on a branch. “Well, at least I got to test it…” Jacques mumbled, leaning down to tend to Alicia and Sly.

“We’re alright,” Sly quickly said, standing up atop the branch, with Alicia soon following suit. From the treetop, she could see nearly the entire city, though she wasn’t sure it was a good thing. Clearly, the surprise attack had caught the government completely off-guard. The Ulthos soldiers worked like a well-oiled machine, storming through the city in small packs, like wild dogs, slaughtering nearly everyone in their way. In contrast, the Mistwood soldiers were scrambling around, and most were simply fodder for the Ulthos soldiers. The flames of the city still practically burned Alicia’s face as she gazed down upon it.

“They knew,” Alicia muttered, looking down at the city square, dancing with flames. “They knew and they still chose to have their stupid festival anyways.”

“Alicia, what are you talking about?” Jacques asked, turning his attention to her.

“When I was in the cathedral, I walked in on two members of the government talking. They were expecting an attack but still went through with the festival anyways. Something about controlling the workforce.” Alicia finished, sitting down on the branch haphazardly. Jacques and Sly were silent for a moment before Sly drew his blade and looked down at the burning city.

“Those in positions of power will do anything to stay in power, often to the detriment of their people,” He said, continuing to hold his massive sword in his hands. They were still, obviously having seen combat numerous times before. Alicia was silent as he said this. He was entirely correct, especially relating to Mistwood. “This is a city of control, at the end of the day. That’s why they work the children in the fields, that’s why they’ll do anything possible to keep things like the Harvest Festival spinning. It lets them control the workers at a distance, and if the workers are controlled, those in control will use that to get votes in the next election. It’s a cycle, you see.” Alicia was silent as he finished, before standing up and looking at him.

“Well, what are we supposed to do about that? We’re five people, Sly, there’s nothing we can do that the workers can’t.” Jacques said, looking down at the city as it continued to burn.

“I’ll tell you what we do. We rally the workers here and now. We break the cycle. There are more people working in this damn city than people that run it. If we can inspire them to fight, we can actually make a difference.” Sly looked out once again over the burning city, before taking a deep breath. “Are you coming or not?”

“I’m going,” Alicia almost immediately said. She couldn’t really see for sure, due to his face mostly being covered, but she thought Sly formed a smile when she said it.

“Good. We’ll need all the help we can get,” Sly responded. “What about you then?” He said, gesturing to Jacques.

“Laius was the liberator, and I will be too,” Jacques responded, straightening himself up.

“Alright, then let’s move,” Alicia said. Sly nodded, before leaping from the tree. Remarkably, despite it being such a sheer drop, he seemed completely fine as he landed on the ground, almost immediately taking off running.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Sly!!!” Jacques shouted, watching him storm into the fire. “I’ll go after him. Rendezvous with us back at the alleyway.” Alicia nodded, before watching Jacques rocket off the tree using his belt. She admired his courage, to say the least, but now she had to muster some of her own. She carefully lept between tree branches, slowly but surely making her way downwards, feeling the anxiety that had been building up in her chest the past hour or so reach its breaking point. It was fighting for control, but the adrenaline that was coursing through her blood refused to let it take it.

As she reached the bottom of the tree and felt the heat of the flames once again, she was almost immediately hit with how bad of an idea this whole thing was. Sly’s revolution was noble, for sure, but there’s always the chance of it completely failing. Alicia quickly pushed the thoughts out of her mind and tried to remember where the alleyway was, sprinting as fast as she could through various streets and smaller alleys, occasionally wiping her brow of sweat. As she continued to bound ahead, occasionally seeing various soldiers clashing blades, she stopped herself, hearing an unfamiliar sound. It took her a few seconds too long to realize the sound of the repetitive drumming of horse hooves on the cobbled stone road. She rapidly turned her head and saw a wall of Ulthos soldiers– at least twenty– storming towards her, swords drawn and torches being flung onto the buildings around her. She barely thought as she dove into a nearby building. Regardless of its stability, it was absolutely safer than standing around and waiting to be trampled or skewered by Ulthos soldiers.

Once she got into the building, she felt her body give out under her, collapsing to her knees and viciously coughing. The smoke was really starting to get to her, it seemed. She slowly stood up on wobbly legs, leaning against a wall and closing her eyes. A million thoughts began to run through her head as she rested. She was throwing herself into danger again, which was extremely ill-advised, given that she was apparently the only person in Eternity that had the ability to liberate the human race from Sihn. She had no clue why she kept doing this stuff, honestly. Ever since she got Laius’ soul, she’d been in nothing but trouble. A part of her was beginning to believe it was cursed. Such thoughts would have her whipped back home.

“Ok,” Alicia mumbled. “I’m ready.” As she slowly moved away from the wall, her eyes drifted to a dead soldier on the floor. The armor was covered in blood and soot, though it still shone brightly under it. It was relatively new, it seemed. She approached the body, mostly out of a twisted curiosity. As she got closer, she realized the body was rather small, especially for a soldier. As she turned the body over, she felt herself recoil in horror, hands covering her mouth. Under the helmet was a boy, no older than ten. Now that she was closer and he was flipped around, she could see the sword wound in his stomach. Despite the fact that he was dead, she grabbed leaves from around the building and began to mop up the blood as best she could. He at least deserved that. As she did, her mind began to wander. She wanted to look on the bright side, to think that the child had put on their older sibling’s armor and stormed off in the confusion of the battle. The church had stories of that happening in ancient times. Though the more she tended to him, the more she realized this likely wasn’t the case. The armor fit them too well, for a start. It was very obviously designed for a child. This, on top of the fact that Mistwood employed children for field work, didn’t put a good taste in Alicia’s mouth. As she worked, she looked at her hands, the scars from the candle wax sticking out to her. At the time, she didn’t see it as a big deal. It was something that happened to everyone who worked in the church at one point or another. Everyone got injured, and everyone took time away from school and friends to heal. She remembered the month she spent cooped up at home, her hands too covered in bandages to do anything. Was it the same for these children? What parts of their childhood were they missing out on? Suddenly, she realized that Sly was right to be angry when they’d walked into Mistwood. She was too blind to see it, but she knew his reaction was justified. As she looked down at the child’s glassy eyes, his body covered in bloodstained leaves, she made a vow then and there to change this.

After a moment of collecting herself, she stood up from her position and dried her eyes of tears, looking down at the boy one more time. She hoped his soul would find peace in the Far Beyond, at least. As she left the building, she looked to her side, realizing that the soldiers had long since stormed off. She walked through the city, slowly this time, making sure she didn’t get too overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. She was still struggling to process it. She made her way to the alley at last, before collapsing in Miranda’s arms, letting her friend gently rub her back.

“Allie… what happened?” She asked, her usual snarky tone completely missing from her voice. All Alicia could do was shake her head in a desperate plea to tell her that she didn’t want to talk about it– that she couldn’t talk about it. The boy in the armor was her burden to bear, for now. She had more important matters to attend to, now.

“Well, what’s the plan then?” Sean asked, resting against the nearby building.

“We need to figure out how exactly they plan to attack,” Sly briskly responded. “When you’re hunting beasts, you figure out their plans and cut them off in the optimal time for you to do so.”

“So, we need to figure out what they’re planning, then?” Jacques interjected. “That’s impossible. It’s not like we can just waltz in and ask their leaders.”

“Don’t count out the ability to theorize,” Sly said. Alicia was realizing that, while he was exceptionally odd, he was smarter than he let on. Maybe it was an old habit from bounty hunting. She wasn’t entirely sure.

“If I were to guess…” Miranda said, continuing to rub small circles on Alicia’s back. “This isn’t a proper attack. They’re not trying to destroy Mistwood, not yet.”

“Why do you think that?” Jacques asked, an eyebrow raised.

“This is Ulthos we’re talking about, they’re more technologically advanced than nearly any other place on the island. Their whole culture is war-based, isn’t it? If they wanted to obliterate Mistwood, they absolutely have the power to do so in seconds. But they’re not. This is a warm-up for the real battle.” As she finished, everyone was dead silent. Nobody could argue with her logic, and therefore, they didn’t try.

“You’d make an excellent tactician, Miranda,” Jacques stated, finally breaking the silence.

“Thanks.” Miranda quietly responded, continuing to hold Alicia. “Well then, that’s the first step done. Now what?”

“First things first,” Sly said, gazing out of the alleyway for a second. “We need to control this fire. If we leave it burning, not only will it take out the town, but the excess smoke will hinder our ability to fight. We don’t have horses like they do, we’re already at a disadvantage. We need every chance we have.”

“I’ll take care of the fire,” Sean said, causing everyone to react in surprise.

“Sean, you can’t do it alone. It’s dangerous.” Jacques responded, before sighing. “And I know that’s not going to stop you. So at least take me along. It’s probably safer with my belt, anyways.”

“Oh Jacques, you know I’d go anywhere with you, even into a burning forest deathtrap.” Sean sarcastically responded, placing a hand on his heart.

“Oh… hush,” Jacques responded, though Alicia could absolutely notice the blush on his face through the fire.

“Alright then, that’s settled,” Miranda said. “What’s next?”

“We need people to rally the troops, then we all need to take out the leading force. Without someone to give them orders, the soldiers are forced to retreat. That’s how we win.” Sly responded, adjusting his hat. “I’ll be on that force for sure, I’ve got experience hunting wild dogs, anyways. Military dogs are no different.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Miranda said. “You’ll need backup, no? And I’m pretty good with a knife if I do say so myself.”

“Alright, perfect,” Sly responded.

“I’m helping too.” Alicia broke away from Miranda as she said this, looking up at Sly’s imposing figure. “I’m not that good in a fight, but I can help you rally the troops.”

“Alright,” Sly said with what Alicia thought was a smile on his face. “Well then, if that’s all good and covered, we’ve got a war to fight.”

“That we do,” Sean responded a dumb smile on his face and a hand on his necklace. “Alright, squad! Let’s get going! For Mistwood!” Everyone smiled when they saw Sean’s smile, before giving a hearty; “For Mistwood!” as they began to charge out from the alleyway to their intended destinations.

The Raid on Mistwood had truly begun.