It did not take much to make the guard talk. There was, apparently, little love for their commander. They served out of fear. And now the man was more afraid of the enemy.

They learned from him where the guards had their base, and they were now going toward the building where the enemy had made camp by seldom-used backways to stay out of sight.

There were four guards standing in pairs of two on either side of the main entrance. Every other entrance they could find had at least one. It would be difficult. He did not know if it was a fight they could win.

He was beginning to consider calling off the attack when he saw something strange. A small party of cautious scholars bearing arms snuck into his enemy's camp. Theirs was not the only attack. The People of the Bastion Cities would fight back.

As they watched, the small group surprised and slew the one guard on a side entrance and went in. It was nicely done. Gerald and his group went to the same place, hurrying to get in before the body was found.

They went in the same way the others had, being careful that no one saw. Baji joined them a short time after they were in, having gone on ahead to scout for them. The small creature went to Rinoa, and made a sharp yelping sound, beckoning the others to follow him to the armory. From there they could secure arms and figure a way to contact the other group inside.

Baji walked ahead of the group to lead them and kept a sharp eye out for any guards that might see them. It did not take long to get there, and they met no guards. Gerald had the sneaking suspicion the other group was acting as a distraction for them. He wished them good fortune, and hoped that he was wrong.

The armory was filled with racks of swords, halberds, knives and other weapons lining the walls. Gerald found a sword he felt would work, and strapped it to his hip. The largest of the monsters found a massive double-headed ax, the one who stayed by Rinoa while she slept found a halberd and Rinoa herself found a dagger, though Gerald hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

Properly armed, it was time to rescue the councilors being held prisoner. But as they drew near, there was a buzzing sound that filled the air, slowly growing louder and louder. It was a massive swarm of bees, swarming around the door of one of the classrooms. Gerald, Rinoa, and her friends hurried over to that classroom and looking inside from what Gerald figured was a safe distance from the swarm, he could see Daedalus standing unharmed by the bees swarming around him, holding a notebook and pen.

His friend had summoned this swarm to fight the soldiers guarding the prisoners. He saw Masona fighting a regular two armed soldier, and winning quite easily, but he also saw others advancing on her. Gedra, Ayave's spellforged student, wielding four swords of her own, came to her aid from behind the unsuspecting soldiers.

Suddenly Rinoa saw something inside that made her gasp and run into the classroom. Gerald and the others followed close behind, the monsters roaring and waving their weapons.

Rinoa did not engage the guards, but ran directly toward and then past Daedalus to where Zahria was standing, and at first her sister did not recognize her. Suddenly this strange little girl had run up and hugged her. Then she studied the girl’s face, and in a rush of emotion, she realized who she was, and she cried out hugging her back fiercely.

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When at last they separated Rinoa put her back to her sister and drew her dagger, ready to defend her if she needed to. Zahria went to her sister, and gently took the blade from her hands. “That’s enough Rinny. Your big sister is here now. I’ll protect you.”

Gerald pried his eyes away from the touching scene and looked to the far side of the classroom, where enemy soldiers with a varying number of eyes and arms had formed a line, and were ready to fight. Behind the line of enemies he saw several men and women with hands shackled behind backs. That would be the captured councilors.

Masona and Anedi assaulted the line, Anedi with a long leaf-headed spear and Masona with shield and short sword. Alden And Brendan, both with swords, were close behind. The prisoners shouted encouragement to their rescuers and they fought. Gerald advanced with the others, notebook in hand.

Everything was going smoothly, and the soldiers were falling back, when a monsterous crashing sound came from the roof above, and the whole building shook like it had been struck by a massive hammer. With another cacophonous sound a great chunk of the roof was ripped asunder by the jaws of a great fire Drake.

The Commander jumped from the beast's back to the ground, sword drawn and wrapped in flames, the blade red hot as if fresh from the forge. He faced his enemies with a withering glare, and looked at each in turn.

Masona huffed and shot a withering glare at the man. There was an old enmity there Darius could feel radiating off both of them. “Adrius,” she said, her tone harsh and biting. “How nice to see you again.”

“Surrender now and you will be imprisoned and later have a chance to be released as a citizen of Saborati. Resistance is death.” The man spoke with a deep and menacing voice that sent a shiver down Gerald's spine. The man was terrifying.

Daedalus returned the glare in kind. “No.” Immediately Daedalus lifted his pen to his notebook, and prepared to write. And just like that the fighting began. The spellforged guards rushed forward, howling for blood.

The flaming blade was a massive slab of red hot metal, but the man handled it easily. The heat of the blade was so intense, the wasps buzzing nearest it burst into flames. With a simple movement of that blade, the man quickly killed all the wasps within his range.

As the fight raged, Zahria stood in a corner, shaking in fear but ready to defend her sister should she need to. Baji stayed with them as well, being too small to fight. The other creatures fought beside the scholars, doing as Rinoa bid them do.

Daedalus wrote while his friends fought. He wrote to give them blades that cleaved through armor, wrote to make them stronger, tireless. The enemies were strong and persistent, and he could only do so much. And to make matters worse, he had to do it while evading enemies who’d disengaged the scholars to attack him.

He saw now that Gedra, Masona, and Anedi were all attacking the enemy commander in unison. Sparks flew as he deflected blow after blow from them. He was in armor as well, and it must have been enchanted itself to offer protection even facing the enchanted weaponslike those the scholars used.

Before long their weapons were chipped and almost too hot to hold. The three scholars took turns pressing the attack two at a time so the third could rest, which worked well, at first. Gedra stepped back and Anedi stepped in to take her place, attacking with the spear for all he was worth.

It was not enough. The man skillfully parried, and delivered a punishing counterstrike. Anedi tried to block with the shaft of his spear, but his opponent's blade sheared through this and bit deep into his shoulder. Anedi Screamed like a dying animal. A moment later the man kicked him off the blade, yanking it free and causing Anedi to scream all the more.

As Anedi fell, Masona let out a furious scream and pressed her attack, and Gedra dropped two of her swords and went to pull the screaming man away from the fighting. His wound looked terrible, but at least the heat of the blade had cauterized it, and it was not bleeding badly.

The others were faring better, but not by much. Sophia, Brendan Alden, and the monsters fought on bravely, though now they were growing tired. Alden and Brendan had both taken wounds, though neither were serious. Slowly but surely the soldiers fell, one by one.

Daedalus stuck to his support role, not rushing into the fight himself. As the fight intensified, he turned to check on Zahria behind him. To his shock, neither was there. Where had they gone? He looked for them, feeling the beginnings of panic building in him.