"What do you think happened to the town?" Gath asked. "I mean, it's really odd that no one has heard from this place for days."

For the majority of the way, they had flown on their dragons, but they chose to walk as they drew closer to their destination and sent their dragons above the clouds. Special orders had arrived from the Council, urgently requesting that someone investigate a rural, mountain town at the border of Froshrinra. More specifically, they requested their squadron, as they had the highest success rate and the Council insisted it wasn't important enough to "waste" a real unit. All units were to stay at the front, as they were quickly losing ground in Hecatite. However, it was still urgent enough since this town provided a large supply of alchemical materials.

"We need to be careful, then," Carth said, a frown prominent on his face. "We don't know what happened, and we don't know what will happen."

"Well, as long as Az has enough bandages this time," Gath joked, trying to keep the atmosphere light. "Remember that time we almost had to start tearing clothes?"

Aitor shook his leg, bound with vines to keep it stable. "St-t-t-till w-works, th—though."

Az patted the medic's bag at his side. "I think we have enough. Thank goodness for General Meixong making sure of that, and I even have the onyx. But I wish they could give us more than a tiny bottle of coagulant. That would've been nice for Aitor's leg, and I don't need a repeat of that."

"But they need that for the front," Carth sighed. "We have such a limit on so many things."

"Wait, guys, is that it?" Milora pointed ahead above the trees. For a moment, it looked like an ordinary cliff, but that was when they noticed there was something carved into it.

"Woah, it like Carvolier Town!" Gath exclaimed. "It's literally carved into the cliffs!"

Nagan held up his hand. "Wait, guys, if we're getting close enough to see it, we should discuss what we want to do. As Carth said, we don't know what happened. There could be bandits around for all we know."

Az, "Do we know if there are any alternate entrances?"

"From what General Meixong could tell me about the town, not really. Unless we want to enter from the aqueducts, all there is is the main gate." Carth looked up at the cliffside town, chewing on the inside of this lip in contemplation. "Az, how much magic is left in that onyx?"

"If we all have been loading magic into it while preparing for this mission, there should be more than enough if something happens."

"Good. Give it to Nagan. And Nagan, I'm going to rely on you to get us in—"

"Nothing unusual," Nagan commented as he took the onyx from Az.

"—Gath and Milora, cast an invisibility and silencing barrier as soon as we get in—"

Gath looked at Milora. "You get invisibility, I do silencing?"

Milora nodded in agreement.

"—Aitor, keep in close contact with Gossamer and ask her to keep an eye out from above." He then turned to Az. "You and I are going to help if any of them begin struggling—minus Nagan, he's kinda on his own ("Hey.")—and generally keeping an eye out. Anyone have any objections?"

"So same old, same old," Gath grinned, looping his bow from around his shoulders and keeping it in a light grip.

They pushed forward in a defensive formation, Nagan leading the charge. Eyes and ears were peeled as they walked, carefully listening for any stray footsteps that didn't belong to them; Az keeping an eye on the left while Carth faced the right. Soon enough, there was a break in the trees, giving them a clear shot of the main gate. They stop and stare. No movement was seen.

Nagan glanced back at Carth, silently asking if he had the ok to continue forward.

"Where are the aqueducts?" Carth asked lowly.

"I think I see a couple further up, but if there are any ground ones, I don't see them," Az replied. "There...no water flowing from any of them."

Carth huffed out a breath. "That's definitely not a good sign."

"M-May—be-be w-we should...sh-sh-shouldn't g-g-go."

Carth looked back at Nagan. "What do you think?"

"I think we should at least check it out." Nagan raised the onyx in his hand. "I can get you to the gate easily, and there we can sit and wait, and if we don't like what we see, I can get you out."

"So we're going to the main gate?"

"I think that's our best shot."

"Alright. Lead on when you're ready."

With a nod, Nagan faced ahead, his grip momentarily clutching around the onyx as he began pulling magic from it.

"Sor!"

A chime, and they began running. It was a shorter distance from when they ran across Carvolier's field, and in only a few seconds they were within the gate. Immediately, Gath and Milora got to work, muttering strings of incantations as they built the barriers up and around them.

After that, everything was silent. The teens pressed themselves against the wall, catching their breaths.

"Nagan, release your spell and stop wasting magic!" Carth hissed when everything continued to remain still.

"I did!" Nagan snapped back. "There's nothing here!"

True to what Nagan said, there was nothing around them. No person, no animal, not even a bird was seen. A stray breeze blew, causing a nearby shop sign to creak on its hinges and a few shrubs to rustle, proving that Nagan's time spell had ended. The teens remained tense against the wall, some unknowingly holding their breath at the stillness.

Carth was the first to step forward, keeping within the boundaries of the barrier. "Milora, do you think you can modify your sparrows to detect if anyone is around?"

Milora drew in a shaky breath. "I can have them send a message to the nearest person in the area, excluding you guys. If they don't come back within a minute, that means they found someone."

"Perfect. Do that."

Milora murmured a few short words, causing three light sparrows to materialize. She said a simple hello, and in an instant, they zoomed off in different directions.

"Are you sure we should be here?" Az asked. "Something isn't right here. This—This is probably something too much for us. Maybe we should go back and report to General Meixong and request that a larger, more prepared team checks out this area."

"But the report said everyone else was busy," Gath said. "Hecatite is under severe attack, and they've already lost the shoreline. There isn't anyone able to do this besides us."

At that moment, all three of Milora's sparrows returned.

"No one was detected."

"I can scout ahead just to be sure," Nagan offered.

Carth rolled his eyes. "I'm coming with you. I don't need your hero complex getting yourself killed."

Nagan was about to snark something back when Gath stepped forward.

"I think we should all go. Splitting up is one of the worst things we can do right now, even if we keep a messenger in each group. Not to mention, didn't Professor Fai say we were the most balanced group out of all the ones made?" Gath paused, giving the sergeants a chance to say something. He continued when they didn't. "If no one's here, then all we need to do is gather information and evidence to figure out where they've gone or what happened to them. And we have our dragons out here watching from above. As long as we keep our guard up, I think we'll be fine."

The rest of them nodded in agreement while the sergeants glanced at each other. Nagan shrugged, seeming to win the silent debate, and Carth sighed.

"Alright, then. I want Nagan in front, Milora behind him, Az and Gath at the sides with Aitor in the middle, and I will be in the back."

"I think it would be better if I stay in the back," Gath said. "I won't be able to use my bow further in, assuming that the cavern narrows like in Carvolier Town, but if anything comes up from behind, I can put up a barrier faster than you can."

Carth gave him an unsure look, shifting slightly from side to side. "Are you sure?"

With a grin, Gath laid a hand on his shoulder, giving him an assuring squeeze. "Of course! As a dwarn, I'm here to protect you guys. Milora protects Nagan at the front, I protect the rest of you from the back. That's how this works."

"...If you say so." Carth sighed for the nth time that day. "Let's get moving, then. Just a quick survey, and then we leave. If anything even mildly dangerous happens, we leave. Got it? Good."

It was as if the people disappeared. Carts were left abandoned on the road, produce from market stalls had begun rotting, and all the lamps had burnt out. If it weren't for the teens casting a few orbs of light to illuminate their path, they would've been caught in pitch black. Gath even risked a quick glance in a house, only to find a kitchen frozen in time. A pot still sat over cold coals, and plates were set on the table.

Nagan paused to look back at his group. "Let's check the reservoir. The report said there was one here, right? What if they were attacked and have been hiding there?"

"And never asked anyone to rescue them?" Carth said incredulously.

"Their messenger could've never made it."

Carth huffed. "Well, I said we'd give this place a look, didn't I? Keep moving. The quicker we comb the area, the faster we get out of here."

With Carth's "blessing," Nagan continued forward. They kept following the street, soon reaching the part of it as it inclined and circled in a wide arch, presumably to let carts reach the higher levels. No houses surrounded them anymore. The teens fidgeted slightly at the confined space, but when it opened up again, they let out a sigh of relief.

The upper levels were of a different layout than the town below. If anything, it reminded Nagan of a temple. An open courtyard stretched out before them, pillars surrounding it as it supported an upper walkway. One side opened to windows carved into the rock while the other was lined with more burnt-out torches. A fountain sat in the middle, but no water flowed. Doorways dotted the walls, but a large archway was set on the other side of where they stood. They weren't here to check every room and easily chose the easiest path forward. Most, if not all, of them, have been inside a temple before, after all.

They kept to the larger walkways, passing by worshiping rooms and other paths that branched off. Sometimes they climbed stairs, other times they circled in an incline. However, it was when they reached a straight incline that something appeared...off.

Nagan had been keeping a mental map of the area—that was just something he'd always done on instinct. Perhaps the changing of levels and all the turns have warped his perspective, but they shouldn't have been there. They should've crossed another path by now. Or perhaps not? Or—

Nagan stopped. "Az—"

The teens jumped as screeching filled the air. They were familiar with a dragon's cry, but never wailing such as this. One of their dragons was screaming. It was furious, harrowing, anguished—

Suddenly the flash of the brightest blue lit behind him.

By the time they all turned around, Gath's raised hand was already falling. Light flashed again as another layer of the barrier was added, blinding them at the strength of the spell.

When their vision cleared, Gath had collapsed on the ground. Blood pooled around his head.

•___________________________•

What have I done—
What have I done?