Chapter 3

"Here we are."

"What, this?"

"Were you expecting a castle, princess?"

"Well, yeah, it IS a Sanctum."

"This was made ages ago, and probably in a hurry. It's not going to meet all your requirements."

"Oh Garet, sometimes I could really punch your lights out."

"No you wouldn't, because then the guilt would consume you."

Jenna smiled. Garet knew her far too well to be fooled by any tricks she tried to play. After the scuffle between Garet and Piers, Felix had made Garet lead the party, with Piers bringing up the caboose. Jenna, of course, decided to walk in the front with Garet , and it was them that first saw the top of Sol Sanctum.

As they climbed to the very pinnacle, they noticed they were not alone. Soldiers from Vault, warriors from Kalay, fighters from Bilibin and even archers from Lunpa were all here. Lalivero even had sent a few soldiers, arriving mere hours ago, in thanks for the protection of Sheba. Felix began to lay down their supplies in their section of the roof as the rest of his team examined the top of the monument.

Jenna started pointing out locations to Garet from their birds eye view, in the typical way that most girls do. Felix approached them along with Sheba and Piers and started telling them their assignments. "We cannot, at any time," he stated, "Have too many of a certain adept in one area. The order will go as follows: Fire, Earth, Jupiter, Fire, Mercury. That'll keep the defenses strong, and allow one's psynergy compliment someone else's."

Seeing a look of understanding on each of their faces, he continued. "The same villagers that held the boulder back for an amount of time 4 years ago will be behind the barred doors of the Sanctum, focusing on keeping the doors shut. However, we must not let them get to the doors. The Psynergy of five people is no match for the brute force of hundreds. All will equip bows and fire them onto the enemy as they run to the gate. After that, Isaac's small counterattack force will converge on Vale and the attackers from the south. Coming with him will be more soldiers. In the case that they get through the doors, we will regroup in the Sanctum, at the entrance to the bases of the beacons of the four lighthouses. They must not reach the heart of the beacons, or all is lost. Do you understand?"

The group gave nods of agreements, with murmurs of 'Yeah' and 'Sure thing'. Felix absorbed their acknowledgement. "Now," he continued, "Get to work! We don't know how soon they're coming!" At this command, the adepts set about preparing equipment, sharpening swords, and refilling quivers with arrows.

***

"For Jupiter's sake Ivan, could you please keep up?" Isaac had to keep looking back to make sure Ivan had not fallen too far behind. His fitness had really come into play now, as they tried to make up as much time as possible. Mia kept running to show Isaac she would not be some weakling on his quest, but rather a cornerstone that he could rely on frequently.

"There it is, Isaac! I see it up ahead!" Mia's words of excitement refreshed all their legs, and they ran into Bilibin with relative ease. Stopping at the entrance for a break, Isaac pulled aside a young boy to ask him some details. "Excuse me son, but where is your mayor? We desperately need to talk to him." The

boy nodded and pointed to the one medium sized tree in the northwest part of town. Isaac thanked the boy and gave him a Lucky Medal. The trio walked through the piercing stares and vigorous whispers of the citizens to arrive at the mayor's home.

Isaac burst through the double doors of the mayor's house, marking the end of their pilgrimage. "I need transportation," he said, "And I need it now. Vale and even Weyard are at stake." At this, the mayor simply looked at each of his advisors to either side, then laughed. Clearing his throat, he let out a large echo. "And who do you think you are, young man?!?" The soldiers around the court laughed and mocked the small party.

Isaac felt himself fill with rage. "I am the one who saved your village from the wrath of Tret the tree! I am the one who saved Kolima forest! You owe me your hospitality!" Mia quickly made a grab for Isaac's hand to calm him down, but he would not have it. The mayor looked puzzled, sizing Isaac up. Now the Venus adept realized it: they didn't look like their younger versions when they first passed through Bilibin. Plus, Mia was not with them then.

The mayor asked for silence among the whispering. "Enough! The ones who saved us were three young warriors, all male. They were not as big or as strong as all of you, and they would have, by no means, been able to acquire the equipment you currently possess. I find you guilty of libel! Arrest them for the day!"

Mia, Isaac, and Ivan backed into a circle, surrounded by soldiers of the court. Mia, noticing the many torches giving light around the chamber, cast a large douse spell to conceal them in darkness. "Ivan!" she whispered, getting the attention of the young Wind Adept, "Use the shadows to escape!" Ivan didn't have to be told twice. He used his Cloaking Psynergy, obtained from Babi in Tolbi so long ago, and quickly slid out of the house. In a matter of seconds after he left, he heard the roars of the soldiers and shouts of glee from the mayor and his staffers. They had found the traitors.

The Jupiter Adept felt liquid running down his face, that he immediately wiped off. Crying is not something Isaac would do. Crying would not free Isaac and Mia now. Crying would not get them out of this mess. He let anger flow through him, his fists in tight balls like a condensed hedgehog. Hiding his face with a cloak, Ivan slid across the city walls and to the ladder that lead to the underground entrance of Bilibin.

***

He saw a mounted horse riding towards him from the direction of Bilibin. As the animal got closer, the yells of the man atop it became hearable. "Lord Saturos!" the man said, rushing to get his words out, "The spy at Bilibin has said that Kiey has suceeded in drawing them out of position. The road to Vale is open."

At this, Saturos' lips formed a smile. He looked over to Menardi. "Menardi, have every team double-timing it towards Vale. There is no obstacles left to hinder out progress. The road to pure power is clear." The female Mars Adept nodded, and went to the western sector to round up her cavalry.

She soon returned, as men behind her ran to rendezvous with their leaders. "Saturos, there may be a slight miscalculation that could cause a problem." Saturos, hearing these words, jerked his head to the side to stare at her. "What do you mean?" he interrogated, probing her for loyalty.

She showed no sign of emotion. "I'm just afraid the main force is following too soon behind the vanguard. If it's a trap or an ambush, we're finished."

Saturos' lips now moved open from the smile, and from the bowels of his mouth echoed a deep laugh. "Menardi, my dear," he said, "If anyone is to be springing a trap, it is us." He rode forward to join the army, which had already advanced far more than they anticipated.

***

Ivan watched the guard walk by, not budging from his vigil in the shadows. As soon as the sentry had his back completely turned to him, Ivan crept up behind the man and, grabbing his head, held him as a human shield, with a hand clasped over his mouth to muffle the shouts. Ivan focused, concentrating his mind to probe the contents of the guard's. . Ivan then tightened his grip on the guys neck, cutting out oxygen for just the right amount of time to knock him out. He then constructed a Spark Plasma attack to knock out all the lights in the facility. Being totally immersed in darkness, he continued, cloaked as usual.

There was only a few more options left in this cavern. A door to his left, presumably the one with the cell keys, and the cells where he could see Isaac and Mia being held. He saw their weapons laying on a bench which the guard was watching, cautious to any noise. His eyes then picked up a crimson trail on Mia's robe - blood. Apparently, they had to use force to subdue the two adepts.

The Jupiter Adept, weighing his options, slithered like a serpent to the docking bay of the weapons. Soundlessly, he picked up the Venus Blade out of its holster, struggling to lift it with all his strength. The guard, noticing the sudden possession of the blade, but unable to notice the cloaked Ivan, ran to the hallway to get help. Ivan, intent on not facing backup, flung the sword at the escaping soldier, pinning his hand to the wall. Deafening screams were heard, but soon muffled by part of Ivan's cloak. He slipped inside the storage room, obtained the keys, and unlock the door to Isaac and Mia's cells, finally revealing himself.

"Gee Ivan, didn't think you had it in you." Isaac said, smiling at it. He pulled the Gaia Blade from the man's hand, allowing Mia to heal the large hole in the sentry's hand. "Oh, and guard?" Isaac questioned, turning back to face the guard as they left. "This is for touching my girl." The bloodied knuckles of Isaac's right fist were escorted with force into the guard's jaw, knocking him back to the ground. The adepts then proceeded to tie the guard up and gag him, so they could escape without detection.

"Hey Isaac, I've got an idea," Ivan said. "Dunno if you want to, but I can probably steal some horses for us to get back to Vale quicker." Isaac nodded. "Then do it." He said, "We'll meet you at the entrance to the town." Ivan ran off to the stable, cloaking himself again.

Isaac stared into Mia's eyes. "You ok since that-incident?" The blood over her clothes was still highly noticeable.

She nodded, and smiled at him. "I'll be fine. On the brighter side, Ivan and me are starting to build our own body counts."

Even Isaac now smiled. "Yeah, I'd never thought I'd see the day when Mia was beheading people. I always thought I'd be the first one." No laughter followed this, but silence. They both looked at the ground awkwardly, moving around some dirt, until Ivan broke up the conversation (or lack of). "Got the horses, guys." Ivan pushed one to Isaac and another to Mia. "Let's get going, we're two days off schedule."

The wind rushed through Mia's hair as she rode. She often stayed close to Isaac, although he was unsure of how well the horse would handle also. Ivan was the only one who seemed comfortable on top of the beasts - perhaps a side effect of living in Kalay. They soon entered the plateau that led back to Vale, and as they rushed through the grass, they only hoped it was not too late.

***

Felix grabbed the binoculars from Jenna and looked out onto the horizon. According to her, everything was clear now in the ending moments of the sunset. However, she had just complained about getting so many bugs on her during her guard duty and was now proceeding to slice them up for revenge, so he did not know how reliable she was. He triple checked each position, making sure no activity was found. As he slowly swept from left to right, seeing no sign of - wait. That was definitely something. He strained his eyes to look closer. It was a large dog running from the southern edge of Vault. But dogs don't run that fast..Felix then realized the truth and threw down the binoculars. "They are coming! Everybody, in position, they are coming!" The messenger boy waiting on the path ran back to Vale to inform them to lock the city walls. He scattered the bows all over the roof, giving everyone easy access to them. He picked up his binoculars again, now seeing more shapes in view, and much clearer also. However, as he prepared to cast the looking glass aside again, he noticed a man with blue hair. Double-checking the view, he could make out the color of his eyes and the landscape of his face. Realizing the identity, he went to find Jenna and Sheba.

Saturos was coming.