After Chiyo ended the communication she went deep into thought. The implications of this communication were overwhelming. Taking a few moments to come to terms with it she stepped out of her office and asked one of her assistants to ask the priestesses to meet her in her office. After a handspan of time, the different priestesses started to trickle in. They, of course, started asking questions about why they were being called, however, Chiyo asked everyone to wait so that all the priestesses were there before elaborating.

After everyone had arrived Chiyo activated a small array that sealed her room from others listening in or entering. This caught the priestesses off guard and they weren’t sure how to respond. Before they had a chance to come to a conclusion as to the changes that were going on Chiyo spoke.

“Ladies, there are a few things I need to tell you. First, my sister, Rantak was just attacked by some person and most of the patrol squad with her.” Pausing for effect so that the priestesses knew how serious this was she then continued on. “Not much longer than a handspan of time has passed since I talked with my sister. She is under the impression that the city guard has been compromised. She doesn’t know how bad it is but she did give us a way to determine who is a problem. She told me that the people are being controlled by some type of glyph or mark.”

She paused again to look at each of the priestesses and watch their reactions. All of them had a similar reaction, well for the most part. Esalana looked more excited than worried, but she was a combat freak and hasn’t had a chance to vent properly so of course, she would be more excited than worried. Seeing that everyone responded the same she moved on.

“So first I must as every one of you to strip so that we can verify that there are no glyphs on you,” Chiyo said.

Isalahne the priestess of Azmera, Goddess of strategies, said, “We will have to ask you to do the same. Nothing could be worse than the person giving orders being compromised.”

Nodding her head Chiyo agreed and began taking off her clothes. She was just glad that instead of questioning her the believed her. Following her lead, all of the priestesses disrobed as well. After examining each other and finding no markings they all heaved a collective sigh of relief and got dressed.

Chiyo had already thought about what she felt needed to happen so she spoke up first. “Now that we have confirmed that none of us are working for the enemy, I think we need to understand what this warning means. For me, this means that the prophecy is most likely true and right now is the time. If Endrian is the child of prophecy then we need to make sure he is safe and then get him out of here.”

The others all nodded except for Isalahne. She was looking down with her hand on her chin. After a moment all eyes were on her. Looking up she said, “I agree we need to get Endrian out of here, but that is all we should do. Taking too many actions will cost more lives. We do not know the extent to which they have taken over our people. We don’t know their capabilities or anything all we know is that your sister was attacked, that the guards are compromised and that they mean this world harm. Also, anyone we bring with us needs to be stripped and checked with us present. That way we can subdue them if there is a problem. However, it would be best if we don’t find any until we have time to escape. Finally, it is probably safe to assume that the church leaders are safe as they haven’t sent anyone to attack Endrian yet.”

Chiyo nodded and realized that they needed to get Endrian in here as soon as possible so that they could keep him safe. So she lowered the shield in her office and asked for someone to go fetch Endrian for her. She figured that since Endrian and the priestesses had met multiple times as long as they treat it as a normal meeting there should be no one tipped off. At least that’s what she hoped.

Not long later Endrian came into her office to which she activated the shielding for the room again.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Endrian arrived he passed by the guards and entered the room. As soon as he walked in and the door closed a blue shield was generated. When he saw this he stopped and looked around wondering what he did this time.

Chiyo spoke first and said, “Endrian before we start we need you to strip for us.” She looked dead serious as she said something completely unreasonable in a very reasonable and serious tone of voice.

“Uh… I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that,” he said in a confused and worried way.

Chiyo got a little irritated and said, “Listen, we don’t have time for arguments just do as you’re told so we can move on.”

Seeing Endrian hesitating Esalana said, “You don’t have to worry we know you are young and growing there is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Endrian took a second and realized that this wasn’t some perverted ritual so he stopped and said “Please explain why you need me to strip, please. IF it’s reasonable the no problems.”

Chiyo sighed exasperatedly but Amalee the priestess of Mophina, Goddess of knowledge, held up a hand and said “We have just been informed that the city guard commander, Rantak, was just attacked by the people out with her on patrol and some strange man. They appeared to be working for this stranger and he had to subdue the squad leader by placing a glyph or symbol of some sort on her.”

Hearing this Endrian’s mind started churning. He had read about enslaving people with slave marks or whatnot from his previous world so he didn’t hesitate to start disrobing. While he was taking off his clothes he said, “I need at least one of you to strip to verify that they are okay and then have them vouch for the others that they aren’t enslaved.”

The women all looked at each other not sure what to do. Seeing this Endrian said “Okay, I am going to strip and you guys are going to verify that I’m not enslaved but I need to make sure I’m not going with the enemy so as long as at least one of you can prove that you aren’t enslaved and can vouch for the others then we are good.”

All of them looked uncomfortable it was one thing for a child to disrobe or the women to check each other out but for a little boy to do it made them uncomfortable. As they were squirming Isalahne said. “Well there are seven of us here and all of us stronger than you so we wouldn’t need to go through all of this if we were enemies.”

Endrian paused as the last article of clothing dropped to the floor he then held his arms out and turned around slowly for the women to verify. He wasn’t really shy as he understood this was a safety precaution and not some old women ogling a child. After he heard what Isalahne said he nodded his head saying “Ah, that makes sense. Sorry, I hadn’t thought that far.”

As they were inspecting him even though he was only 8 years old his body had matured more than most. Over the 6 months, or lunar conjunctions, the mana had helped his body develop at an incredible rate. He looked like he was about 12 or 13 from his old world. His muscles were toned and defined and he now stood at roughly 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall. He had midnight blue hair with purple highlights that he kept cut a little longer than shoulder length and pulled back in a simple ponytail. This kept his hair out of his eyes on off of his neck and ears when he was doing combat practice. His eyes had a light purple or violet sclera with a platinum iris.

While the women were unintentionally checking him out and looking for any glyph or symbol the realized that even at such a young age he was an attractive boy. It was at this time that he moved his junk to the side so they could verify that there were no marks hidden in that sensitive area. This made a few of them blush including Chiyo to which Endrian said “You know it was fine up until you guys got embarrassed, but now…” he left it hanging in the air as a blush tinted his skin and he reached for his clothes.

With a cough and a slightly deeper blush, Chiyo said, “Yes I think everyone is satisfied that he is fine, right?” To which everyone nodded.

While Endrian was getting dressed he asked, “So what do we know, and what’s the plan?”

Chiyo spoke up. “We know very little at the moment. Here’s what we do know. Rantak was attacked by a strange man and four of the five people from the patrol she was with. The squad leader wasn’t one of them but was subdued by the strange man after he drew something on her. Rantak escaped from him and contacted the city guard communication to alert them but received a suspicious response which is why she contacted me. After that, I contacted the priestesses and we verified that none of us are controlled. After which we brought you here. You know the rest any questions?”

“Yes, lots.” Endrian paused to organize his thoughts and then asked, “So first question, can we contact Rantak for more information and verify that she isn’t controlled?”

“No we can’t contact her she had to throw away her communication crystal, and why would we need to verify that she wasn’t controlled?” Chiyo asked.

Isalahne and Amalee both started to respond to which Amalee bowed out and Isalahne said “Well with the limited information we have it would be nice to know more about the strange man, more about patrol she was with and why the response was suspicious. Also, we need to verify that she wasn’t controlled because if she’s telling us this to create a situation that the enemy can take advantage of we wouldn’t want to do that.”

Amalee spoke up and said, “It would also be nice to know how long she was out on patrol.”

“She has been out for almost three months,” Chiyo responded. “But why would you need to know that.”

Endrian spoke up distractedly while his brain was working on the problems “We need to know because she said she was attacked by people on the patrol. If she was living and working with them for 3 months then that means that there are probably not any indicators that the person is controlled which makes things more difficult. Also are the squads fixed or do they get rotated?”

“Squads are fixed for the most part but they swap out people every now and then for births or time off or when one retires for whatever reason,” Chiyo said. She had the most knowledge of the city guard here because of her sister.

Isalahne asked, “Do we know the squad rotations and if there is anyone who hasn’t gone out on patrol?”

“No, the only people that would know that are Rantak and her vice commander. There might be a few others in the city watch that would know but I don’t think it would be a good idea to start asking around about that.” Chiyo said.

Gisvae the priestess of Joslena, Goddess of life and healing, said, “We are pretty sure that the heads and the higher-ups in the church are not compromised. Otherwise, they would have probably tried to kill you already.”

“That seems a bit of a stretch but it’s not unrealistic,” Endrian said. “I’m assuming that you are bringing this up because you want me to go to wherever the churches wanted me to go when I first came here. In the meantime you guys can gather information on our enemy, right?”

“That’s basically what we want, yes,” Chiyo said.

Endrian nodded while he was thinking to himself. ‘If this is really a part of the prophecy then this would be the second time for me having to run from the enemy. I know that I am only 8 years old on this planet, but it’s still frustrating.’

Chiyo started giving out instructions saying, “Okay I am going to get a ship ready for us. Isalahne, if you could contact the churches and let them know that we are coming in. Don’t say anything about the people being converted. Esalana and Gisvae if you two could stay with Endrian and protect him If there is anything else that you ladies think we need to do then let me know.”

Aubrin the priestess of Emjir, god of the forge, said, “I have some stuff that I need to pick up that I have been working on. Where are we meeting?”

“The ship will be docked at the top of this building. It should be here and ready to go in 4 handspans of time or so,” Chiyo replied. To which Aubrin nodded.

Edrian spoke up and said, “I’m not leaving without my family. I understand the need for discretion but I won’t sacrifice my family for this world. Also if possible I would like to save my array instructor Lailah.” He said the last part a little embarrassedly.

The priestesses and Chiyo, hearing this, had expressions ranging from confused, knowing, and amused. Chiyo spoke up and said, “Esalana, Gisvae, do you mind watching over Endrian as he goes and gets his family? Amalee can you go and verify that Lailah isn’t converted and if she isn’t then bring her to the ship. If she is converted then knock her out and bring her with us and we might be able to use her as a test subject to get information from. If that’s it then let’s meet back at the top of this building at the designated time.” After saying that she dropped the shield and they left the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Rantak was flying on the ship she had stolen. She had put the fire out on the ship and was moving as quickly as she could towards Ampleforth. As soon as the communication had ended she had thrown the communication crystal over the side of the ship. She had been flying towards the south side of Ampleforth and after she had dumped the crystal she headed for the east side of the city to keep from being detected by any patrols that might be coming towards her. She might be paranoid but she felt it was better to be overly paranoid than get captured or killed.

At first, all she was hoping for was for Chiyo to get out of the city. Now that she had more time to think about it she realized there were more things she should have said. Like they should probably try to capture one of the converted people so that they could prove their statements. She hoped that they wouldn’t contact any other cities for help.

Who knows how long they have had control of the communications. She couldn’t tell if any of the reports that she had received were valid. It was terrifying how much control they had already lost.

She pulled out a pill that she rarely used that was designed for quickly restoring her mana and opening up her pores so that she could absorb as much natural mana as possible. It was very useful for helping sustain someone but the mana that wasn’t specific to them could only be used and not stored so it was just a temporary boost and allowed them to sustain their body. After the use, anyone would have to spend about a week rebalancing their mana. After she took the pill she pushed harder and moved the ship outside the safe limits to hopefully get back quicker. It should only take a day to get back at her current speed without any rest.

All she could do now was hurry and worry.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Not long after everyone had gone their separate ways Endrian was walking with Esalana and Gisvae. They had just left the school and were moving at a comfortable pace trying not to draw attention. It was when they were almost to Endrian’s home that they heard an announcement throughout the city.

“People of Ampleforth, we have received an alert that an attack is imminent on the city. We ask that all people move to designated flying ships and then make your way towards the capital. There will be rescue ships on their way to help protect you. Please cooperate with any city guards to make the evacuation easier. Thank you.”

Endrian looked at the Priestesses and asked, “Who has the power to make city-wide announcements?”

Esalana and Gisvae looked at each other with worried looks and Gisvae said, “There are 4 people that have that power. Chiyo is one of them, Rantak is another, the city guard vice-commander, and the city governor. So either the vice-commander or the city governor has been converted.”

Picking up speed Endrian started to jog and then broke into a run with the priestesses following close behind him. They quickly arrived at the home and everyone had already started packing.

Allyce saw them come in and said gratefully, “Oh I’m so glad you’re here Ender. We must hurry if we are going to get on an escape ship.”

“Mom, that’s not the main issue right now. We-” Endrian was cut off by Esalana who said, “First Endrian's mother I need you to come with me and do everything I say please.”

Endrian only took a second to catch up and nodded his head realizing that he was worried and wasn’t thinking straight. “Mom please do what she asks no matter how silly it sounds I am going to find dad.”

After some awkward questions and some even more awkward moments they had checked everyone and verified that no one had a symbol or glyph on them. Unfortunately, it had taken an annoying amount of time and they were halfway to their deadline already.

“So to sum this up quickly there are people that are doing things against their will and they are trying to hurt everyone in this city. These people are city guards for the most part that we know of but there may be others.” Esalana said.

Vanya asked with a confused tone, “Why would they alert the city about an attack then?”

“I’m not sure,” Esalana said.

Endrian spoke up as his mind had been working on this ever since the announcement. “There are a few possibilities. This is from best case to worst case that I can think of. One, they don’t want civilians to be hurt during the conflict so they are sending them out. Two, they are gathering them in specific locations away from others so they can kill them easier and in smaller groups with better control of the situation. Three, they are sending everyone to the ships so they can be enslaved. Four, they have control of the “rescue fleet” and have set trap for everyone that will give them a false sense of hope before killing them all, or killing most and enslaving others. Unfortunately, we don’t know but almost everything that I can think of is bad and only gets worse the more I think about it. Either way, we can’t stay here any longer.”

Everyone’s face had gone pale by the end of Endrian’s guesses and they nodded their heads. To which Esalana said, “Let’s go, we have a ship that should be ready shortly.” All of Endrian’s family sighed a collective sigh of relief hearing this and followed the priestesses and Endrian to the door.

As they opened the door they saw a squad of guards approaching the house in their transformed state with weapons ready.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Esalana opened the door and saw the squad of guards coming she immediately closed the door again and shifted to her combat form which looked like a wolf. She pulled her shield and sword and then looked back at the others saying “We are going to have to fight prepare yourselves.”

Gisvae nodded her head and transformed as well. Her combat form was similar to a gazelle. She also pulled out two maces that looked like knobkerries. Everyone else in the house transformed as well and Esalana could hear the mothers instructing their children but didn’t pay much attention.

Esalana verified that everyone was ready and said, “Alright let’s go!” It had only been a second or two so the squad should still be a bit of distance away and closing fast. While thinking this she burst through the door and extended her perception.

She could feel Gisvae follow right behind her followed by Endrian’s family with the mothers enclosing the children and the father. She also noted the guards had spread out and were moving forward in a crescent formation. It was a typical 5 person squad most likely the person in the middle was a mid-level core formation combatant similar to Esalana. The rest should be low-level core formation or high-level earth level combatants.

The guard squad didn’t even put on a show and just launched their attacks. The first person to make a move was the person to the right of the squad leader. She was a large woman that looked like her combat form was a wolverine and she was carrying a spear. She came at Esalana from her left side where her shield was.

Darkness surrounded the spear obscuring where it was coming from but Esalana had enough experience to know how to sense the different elements and she specifically focused on metal sensing so that she would never be caught blind in a fight. She shifted her shield to deflect the incoming spear thrust and with her mana control lightened the gravity around her shield to affect the rebound and throw her off. She smiled at the thought of when she used this occasionally when sparring against Endrian and he still hadn’t caught her at it. While she shifted her shield she also charged towards her opponent and into the darkness. This had the added effect of hiding her from the others temporarily. She lowered her center of gravity so that one knee was dragging on the ground and as soon as the spear made contact with her angled shield she used that as a counterforce to shift her form and use that force in her attack while planting her forward foot.

She could feel the other guards moving making their own attacks towards her and the others but she only noted them as none of them were a danger to her. She lunged her sword forward into her opponent's groin. She could feel it connect and hear the scream of pain. Her front foot planted in a proper stance and she stood up to slam the front of her shield into her opponent at the same time freeing her sword and moving it back to a ready position for the next attack sequence.

The squad leader had arrived right after Esalana had knocked her first opponent out and attacked hoping to catch her before she had reset. The guard leader had even circulated a movement technique to increase her speed as she launched her two-handed battle ax at Esalana. The angle of the attack was set to make it difficult to get her shield in position to block and the ferocity of the attack was designed to prevent her one-handed sword from deflecting it properly.

Esalana ducked under the swing and moved towards her opponent attacking the squad leader’s knee with the side of her shield. She circulated her mana to increase the power behind her strike and heated the edge of her shield for even more damage. The knee buckled with a sickening crunch and the fur on her leg burned away as the edge dug in and seared the bones and tendons with a pop and a scream the squad leader collapsed with her leg laying at an angle where it was obvious that it was not attached properly. Before the squad leader could do anything other than scream, Esalana reversed direction and brought her sword in a sweeping motion that took the squad leaders head from her shoulders.

Looking around, Esalana saw that the two guards that were on her right had obviously been dispatch by Gisvae since at least one appendage was shattered and their heads had been pulped. Looking over towards the remaining squad member Eslana was just in time to see Vanya set up a block that created a small opening and with a twang, an arrow shot perfectly into this gap and actually shot with so much power that it penetrated the armor and passed right through. The surprised look was etched on her face as Endrian’s mom with speed and grace landing three hits on the guard while at the same time Vanya cleared the position. The teamwork was smooth and flawless. The guard was slashed through her stomach her wrist holding the weapon which severed the tendons and finally a slash through the throat.

Smiling she said “Let’s keep moving we have little time and if they are sending guards for us they may be sending guards for the others or even at the ship. So let’s hurry.”