“Where did the last two days go? I feel as if we just got here.”

Falynn asked the question of herself in the mirror. As expected, her reflection gave no reply. Only Roni, sitting nearby and patching a rip in her tunic with a needle looked up, her brow furrowed in confusion. Taiki was too absorbed in a thick book to take much notice. The three girls had shared the large room above the tavern for the past two days as they prepared for the mission they’d been selected for. Now that they knew what it was, they could only sit and wait, trying to keep themselves occupied, while the final preparations were made.

Falynn turned away from her reflection, knitting her fingers together in worry. “Why do you think Master Breeden has to take on that horrible risk alone?”

“Because he’s the only one that can,” Taiki said solemnly, proving that she’d been paying attention the entire time. “He’s the fastest of us all.”

“But to go into the city alone is a suicide mission,” Falynn insisted. “There must be hundreds of Infernals in there.”

“Thousands, probably,” Roni commented, finishing the last stitch and biting the thread off. She slipped the tunic back over her head, tucking it into the breeches that ended high above her waist. “But if anyone can do it, he can. Besides, if he’s successful and fast enough, he’ll get plenty of support.”

“Not much room in that fabric you’re wearing,” Taiki said casually. “Eventually you’re not going to be able to mend that without making it too small.”

Roni shrugged diffidently. “Loose fabric can get snagged. I don’t care for long flowing clothing.”

Both of them glanced sideways at Falynn, whose dress was exactly that. There wasn’t an exorbitant amount of extra fabric, but her dress, while slim, did have flared sleeves and just enough to ruffle slightly. She self-consciously adjusted her sleeves, feigning not to notice their attention, especially Taiki’s. She pushed on, deciding to return to her original subject.

“But what if he’s not fast enough?”

Taiki let out a long sigh. It wasn’t a sound of frustration or impatience, but it also wasn’t far off. “Have you heard about the warrior that defeated the surprise invasion in the center of Milagre during the war five years ago?”

“The one that led the mercenary unit?” Falynn asked. “Sure. There are stories about it. You don’t mean that’s him, do you?”

“I do,” the warrior confirmed with a nod. “He stood just long enough to stop them from getting any further into the city. And he’s only gotten better over the past five years. I think he’s perfectly capable.”

A quiet knock at the door interrupted their conversation, and the sound of Leonov’s voice reached through the thick wood. “Are you ladies decent?”

“We’re clothed,” Roni said sarcastically. “That will have to be enough.”

Falynn flushed at her comment and looked away, but she caught Taiki smirking at the comment. After a second or two, the door opened, and Leonov entered. He was dressed in his studded leather armor, and his shield was strapped to his back. The war-like appearance caught their attention at once, and Taiki rose to her feet, looking wary. “Is it time?”

He nodded. “The Commander of the attacking force said it’s time to gather everyone in front of the gates. We’re beginning in half an hour.”

Taiki moved to get ready at once, as she had the most preparation to do with her heavy armor. Roni merely glanced toward the corner where her bow and quiver rested against the wall, and gave a short nod of satisfaction. She’d kept her knives on her at all times within the town, even the ones strapped to her calves. She was always ready to encounter an enemy.

Falynn, who had no physical preparations to make, instead closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That didn’t seem to help her racing nerves at all, so she took another one. Still no effect. A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped, her eyes flashing open to reveal Taiki watching her with a scarily calm expression. “W-what?”

“Calm yourself,” The warrior said. “It’s okay to be nervous. That keeps you sharp. But don’t let it go to your head. You’re safe with us. Just do your best.”

It was a sort of confident comfort she hadn’t expected from the stoic warrior that hardly ever spoke. But to her surprise, she felt her heart rate slowing down a bit. She let out the breath she’d been holding, and offered a shaky smile up at the determined face above her. “Thanks, Taiki.”

The tall woman nodded, then returned to the action of putting on her metal plates. Leonov offered her a hand, and in five minutes, they were ready to go. Taiki and Leonov took the lead, with Falynn behind them, and Roni taking up the rear. They maintained the position all throughout town, encountering very little traffic or resistance as the townsfolk stepped respectfully aside to let them pass.

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There were about three hundred people gathered together for the attack. As soon as the party approached to find their position, one of the lieutenants of the force waved them over. “You four over here! You’re part of the recovery group.”

“Recovery group?” Taiki asked. “What exactly are we doing?”

The lieutenant gestured behind him to a line of robed figures, each wearing the symbol of a different god on their clothing and their amulets. “These are all the highest-ranked followers of each god we could find. Part of our mission is to recover the artifacts that belong to the gods. These men and women will do that. Your job is to protect them while they gather everything they can.”

“We’re not retaking the city?” Leonov asked, looking alarmed. “Why do we have so many people if that’s not our purpose?”

“There are many purposes,” The lieutenant replied sharply, looking annoyed. “Just do your job, and trust that the officers know what they’re doing!”

“Yes, sir!” Leonov replied. In an instant, his entire personality had changed. The free, indifferent exterior had been washed away, and the perfect soldier was revealed. His shield came up to the present position, and he put one hand on the hilt of his sword. The Lieutenant regarded him in silence for a moment, then nodded, sparing only half a glance for the others, to make sure they understood as well.

Another figure, a mage, rose into the air above them and spoke, their voice booming loud enough for even the city to hear. “We will not move until Master Breeden has successfully created an opening! Stay on guard! The instant we can, a mage will teleport you to your assigned areas. Move swiftly, fight hard, and bring honor to Tyrman!”

A ragged but proud chorus of yelling rose to affirm their words, and more than a hundred arms raised a weapon to show their intent. Then the noise died down until the only sound was the faint breeze coming south from the plains. All attention seemed to be focused to the front, where they could just barely make out Master Breeden, talking to another white-robed figure. Then, to their great surprise, the white-robed stranger began to attack Breeden.

None of the attacks landed, and after a moment, a massive white wolf appeared, running in a wide circle, narrowly avoiding contact with the front lines. It returned to Master Breeden at incredible speeds, slamming into him. Faster than they could blink, both were gone. The figure who’d been fighting with him for those few seconds sheathed his swords and looked towards the small army.

“Mages,” he called, “Be ready to move! I want you checking every ten seconds! No delays!”

A shout of agreement came from a dozen different positions in the force. The mages closest to the party approached them, nodding respectfully in the direction of the religious figures. “Be ready. You’ll be the first group across. Please refrain from moving too much, as I need to memorize your position.”

Once he was sure they understood, he turned away from them and sank to his knees, palms pressed to the rough surface of the beaten path. All around, the other travel mages were mimicking his actions. Every ten seconds, they released a burst of mana as they attempted a spell, presumably the teleportation spell, but each attempt failed. This stretched on for nearly two minutes, and with each failure, their expressions became more and more grim.

“Come on,” Falynn muttered under her breath. She didn’t say it out of impatience, but out of worry for Master Breeden. The longer it took for the mages to accomplish their task, the more it seemed that Master Breeden wouldn’t succeed in his task. And the only other option was failure, and ultimately death.

“How long will we wait?” Someone in the largest section of the force asked. He sounded both bored and anxious.

“As long as is necessary!” The lieutenant snapped. “Remain silent!”

The warrior that had spoken did as he was told, bowing his head sheepishly. Nobody else dared to raise a complaint or offer another question, preferring to wait silently. Two minutes stretched into three, three into four, four into five. Falynn counted the time in her head, feeling her heart beginning to race again with each passing second. After six minutes, her feet were starting to go numb. At eight minutes, she feared that Eric had been killed after all.

Then, suddenly, a giant flash of light ahead of them appeared, nearly blinding them with its brilliance. A cry of shock rang out around the gathered men, and many of them raised their hands to shield their eyes. When the light faded, more than four dozen men were missing from the largest group. There was a second or two of surprised silence, then a yell of triumph. All around them, more figures were vanishing in bursts of light as each mage teleported them away.

“Go!” The mage assigned to their group shouted, casting his spell. “Protect the priests!”

Falynn squinted against the sudden light that filled her field of vision, and when she blinked, she found herself standing in the middle of Milagre, at the crossroads between the Residential, Market, and Temple Districts. Apart from their party and the religious figures, there were twenty common soldiers, who swiftly broke apart to form two parallel ranks around them.

“Let’s go!” One of the robed figures, a follower of Shigeru said, moving forward at once. Except that he stopped at once, his face going pale. “Crap!”

They followed his gaze quickly, seeing three figures in the road before them, looking just as surprised to see them as they were to see Infernals so quickly. The surprise worked in the attackers’ favor, stalling the scene just long enough for the attackers to draw their weapons. The soldiers charged forward, leaving half their number behind to guard, and Leonov and Taiki followed them without hesitation, rushing towards the closest of the three Infernals, a broad-shouldered man with a broadsword.

Roni and Falynn were a few seconds late in moving as well, but they ran as fast as they could to catch up, making sure to stay just close enough to aid their allies. Roni whipped her bow off of her shoulder and drew the string back, releasing three arrows in less than five seconds. Falynn sent a string of magic at Taiki that connected just in time, traveling up to her arm, and making her weapon glow with a faint green light.

“Haa!” With devastating power, Taiki brought her weapon down at the broad Infernal. It glanced off the edge of his raised sword, and he moved to counterattack, but Leonov didn’t offer him the chance. His shield raised but his sword still in its scabbard, he chose to ram the metal barrier into the Infernal’s chest, staggering him back. His sword dropped, just a few inches, giving Taiki an opening to strike again, which she did. Pivoting in place to add momentum, she gripped the kanabo with two hands and brought it down on the Infernal’s head with a resounding force.