"She's all done." Abe smiles, his white teeth stark in comparison to his tanned face. The Jackaboy looms over us, completely repaired. Abe hugs a leg, glaring at me and my companions, "I couldn't believe the state she was in when you came back. She was on death's door!" He stalks around us, going into great detail about the depths of his pain and anguish. "You people need to treat her with care. Like you treat those weapons," He makes a point of looking at me and Zack.

"She is a gift from the heavens, a technological wonder. A-"

Azu cuts him off, "Whatever, Abe. Is it operational? We leave in a few hours."

Abe sulks, whispering to the MULE before turning to us, his wild smile wide, "Of course. Ideally, I would have gotten a few more weeks to tune her up, but such is life." He shrugs and sighs. Azu and Hearon move to inspect it, and Abe throws an arm around me, "How's life treating the branded? Haven't seen ya since ya gave me that report."

I shrug him off, "I was busy. Then, the attack happened."

He clicks his tongue, looking to the floor, "Saw what happened to your home. Real shame."

I glance at Zack, who has completely zoned out, his face blank. "It wasn't much of a home, more like a prison." Abe goes silent. Seems I hit a nerve somehow. He walks off, heading for a nearby bathroom. Around us, the entire hanger buzzes with movement and sound. This hanger holds two hundred MULEs, and each one already has diver teams prepping to leave. I elbow Zack as our expedition lead approaches. His gaze sharpens, looking slightly on edge. Is he going to be okay? He does that regularly now. Maybe it's a coping mechanism?

I don't get much time to ponder as the lead starts our briefing. "We leave in two hours. Hearon, your team will be split into a separate cell with our strongest squads. Hang back from the temple grounds until you get the signal. You will penetrate the gardens, making a beeline for the temple. Do not stop."

"Sir." We all reply in unison. Well, except for Zack. He's zoned out again. The lead exits, and we start prepping to leave. Azu has changed her gear from the body suit to a set of lightweight leather armor. It provides some defense but isn't heavy enough to slow her down. Hearon continues to use his bulky setup. Heavy-plated armor, and a large shield. Too bad his last one couldn't be repaired in time. The new one is way less cool. It's more of a slab of steel than an actual shield. Zack wears a casual pair of jeans and a white shirt. Seems he's forgoing his white and gold armor. Won't tell me why, though.

I adjust my own armor. It's still in the same style as before: a small breastplate across my chest with arm guards and shin guards. The only difference now is that the metal is coresteel, making my armor ten times as strong and ten times as expensive. Engravings of the Glittering City adorn the chest plate, and the wings of the fairy I killed decorate my arm guards. It wasn't my idea, but it looks cool.

Zack whistles at the shiny gray armor, "Quite the set you have there. Must have cost a pretty penny."

"You have no idea. I almost went broke having this made."

Azu laughs from atop the MULE, "Almost? I remember hearing about you selling a few of your properties to finance that. Sir Bell was fuming, complaining that selling such valuable real estate for stuff that breaks is a terrible investment."

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I shrug, "It was givin' to me. Besides, seems like it was the right call. I would have lost it to command anyway." I can't help the bitterness that leaks into my voice. The stuff I had was never really mine. I know that now. That still doesn't stop the spreading frustration, though. At least the sword I got from the ruins is still mine, stashed away in the MULE.

An hour later, the hanger doors open, letting sunlight flood into the massive warehouse. Beyond the empty grass prairie, the forest sways quietly in the wind. An odd silence has overtaken the forest, as if it were holding its breath. It reminds me of the Mossglow woods. The MULEs start leaving one by one. Hundreds of them stomp into the forest, shaking the very ground.

Zack yawns as he leans against one of the legs, our MULE waiting at the edge of the forest. Ten others surround us, our guard. None of them come talk to me, instead staying within their own teams.

"How are we doing this?" I ask Hearon, who is polishing his shield.

He stands, cracking his back. "Our friends here know their orders. To make things short, they will surround us, acting as a wall. The advance group will combat the shells and give us an entrance to the temple grounds, with our protection squad countering any shells inside the grounds. The key thing is that we do not stop, no matter what."

No matter what. Sounds more like a threat than a suggestion. Then again, the only goal of this mission is to get John on our side; anything less is a failure in Bell's eyes. No matter how many lives are lost.

A few hours later, an explosion echoes through the forest. "That's our cue," Zack says, grabbing me by my straps and chucking me onto the MULE. The other three follow, Azu using the retrace mode to speed us towards the explosion. Apparently, retracing works as long as a MULE has visited a place. Makes travel in the forest faster. But that begs the question, why didn't we use it during our trip to the Glittering City? I know that scouts don't use MULEs, but surely a MULE has gone to the metal lake at least once.

After an hour or so, the forest changes from pine forests to a more casual hardwood forest, almost fairytale-like in appearance. Everything glows in warm and eternal sunlight, and the temperature is perfect, like being snuggled up in a warm blanket while it's cold outside. But the fairytale atmosphere quickly dies as the first destroyed MULE comes into view. Its legs are broken, and electricity arcs occasionally across its metal frame. Not too far away, a Turt fights a group of six, two bodies impaled against a nearby tree.

We don't falter as our MULE flies by them, our escorts also remaining by our side. The sights only get more gruesome as we go deeper into the forest. Shells, humans, and MULEs lie broken and dismembered along our path. Shells I have never seen before. Some are shaped like massive dogs with multiple heads and tails. There are some made out of dirt and wood, and there's even one that is similar to the golems we fought in the white city.

The sounds of fighting get closer as we near the entrance to the temple grounds. I once got a glimpse of them in a picture, but they looked like nothing more than a giant hedge maze garden. Our MULEs thunder through battles, not stopping as divers run to avoid our wall of steel, and smaller shells are crushed underfoot. I finally saw what caused that huge explosion. Ahead of us, an intimidatingly large hedge wall prevents entry, it being at least three times the height of our three-story metal monsters. A large hole has been burned into the hedge, one just too small to allow our MULEs through. In the hole, parts of a MULE are scattered about. They must have used one as a bomb.

We depart our metal rides, the forty divers surrounding us. A screech pierces the battleground, even defening the sounds of battle.

"Shit, a Drummer!" One of the team leaders shouts. The entire group tightens around us. I've read about those. Giant eagle-like creatures that attack with sound. The man who shouted pulls his team away from ours, their black armor engraved with gold swords gleaming in the light, "We'll take carne of it. You guys keep going."

We shuffle inside as the sounds of a loud drum beat closer. I only get to see a pair of golden wings before we are burning our way through the hedge maze, the point of the group wielding flamethrowers.