The sun dipped low as they finally entered Raksar Town. Unlike the lively chatter of Muriad, here the streets were suffocated with silence. Broken carts lay abandoned, market stalls stood empty, and the few people wandering the dusty lanes carried eyes sunken with despair. No children laughed, no merchants called out. Raksar breathed sorrow.
Kael shifted uneasily on his feet. "This place feels like a graveyard."
Tieu's gaze swept the lifeless square. "Something weighs on them. It's not just poverty—it's fear."
Junia lowered her hood, her lips tightening. "Fear can hollow out a town quicker than famine."
As they pressed forward, Lior's eyes caught something nailed to a cracked wall. A weathered poster fluttered in the desert wind. He stepped closer, frowning, before tearing it free. "Look at this."
He held it up, and all of them froze.
It was a wanted poster—bold ink strokes drawn with hateful precision. The image bore Michi's face, but most damning was the unmistakable forehead mark, starkly inked as a symbol of crime. Below, the words: Wanted—Dead or Alive.
Kael hissed. "Damn it… they're hunting you."
Tieu's eyes narrowed. "This explains their fear. Anyone seen helping you would be condemned."
Michi clenched his fists, his jaw tight. "So this is what Raksar has become…"
Junia tore a strip of cloth from her sleeve and stepped forward. "No more exposing yourself. We can't afford to be recognized." She tied the cloth firmly across Michi's forehead, hiding the mark. Her eyes softened for a fleeting second. "Now, at least, you look ordinary."
They ducked into a narrow alley, shadows cloaking them from wandering eyes. The walls closed in tight, echoing every step. The stench of stagnant water lingered.
Suddenly—
"HELP ME!"
A shrill voice cut through the alley. They looked up just as a small figure leapt from a rooftop, arms flailing. Tieu instantly raised her grimoire, chanting under her breath. A shimmering barrier of magic slowed the fall, while Kael lunged forward, catching the boy in his arms with a grunt.
The child panted, eyes wide, then gave a sheepish smile. "Thanks… I—I am a frog boy, but I can't jump properly. My name is Kaeru."
Kael arched a brow, setting him down. "A frog boy that can't jump? That's ironic."
Lior crouched, steady hands gripping Kaeru's shoulders. "Listen, Kaeru. Tell us what's going on here. Why is this town drowning in sorrow?"
Kaeru's expression hardened for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, I can tell you… but not here. Follow me. There is someone from the resistance. He can explain everything properly."
Suspicion flickered across Tieu's face, but Michi nodded. "Then let's go. We've wasted enough time."
They followed Kaeru deeper into twisting backstreets. The buildings leaned inward, blocking out much of the fading light. Suddenly, a thick smoke burst around them, seeping from hidden cracks and vents. It burned their eyes, clung to their throats.
"An ambush!" Lior barked, pulling free his dagger and sword.
Kael coughed, raising both claymore and sword. "Show yourselves, cowards!"
Junia reached for her bow, string taut, while Tieu's grimoire flared with silver light.
Through the choking fog, Kaeru's voice rang out—mocking now. "You trusted too easily."
Michi's eyes widened, but before he could react, Kaeru lunged forward with unnatural speed. His small hand jabbed into Michi's stomach, a sharp sting of poison coursing into his veins.
"Ghh—!" Michi gasped, staggering. His vision blurred as fire spread through his body, then darkness swallowed him whole.
Kaeru smirked, whispering, "Sleep tight, marked one." He slung Michi over his shoulder with surprising strength as armored soldiers poured into the alley.
Lior roared, blades flashing. "You bastard! Bring him back!" He lunged, carving into the first soldier's neck with his dagger while slashing his sword across another's chest. Blood sprayed against the walls.
Kael charged like a beast unleashed. His claymore smashed into a shield wall, shattering iron and bone alike. He followed with his sword in a reverse strike, driving it clean through a soldier's gut. "Come on! Who's next?!"
Junia leapt back, arrows loosing one after another. Each shot found a mark—one pierced a throat, another split a skull. She snarled, "None of you will leave alive!"
Tieu's voice rang like a hymn, her grimoire glowing. Dark chains of magic erupted from the ground, wrapping around three soldiers, crushing their bones with sickening cracks. She whispered coldly, "Suffer in silence."
But the soldiers were endless, waves of steel crashing into them. Blood slicked the sand-strewn stones. Lior fought with precision, spinning between strikes, his dagger opening arteries while his sword severed limbs. He was fast, lethal, his fury focused.
Kael, wild and unrelenting, carved a bloody path, each swing of his claymore snapping spears like twigs. His laughter turned savage. "More! Come at me!"
Junia's quiver emptied quickly, arrows sprouting from corpses like grotesque feathers. She grabbed a fallen blade, slashing across a soldier's eyes before kicking him into Tieu's chains.
Tieu's spells tore through the smoke—explosions of shadow and lightning. She growled, "For every strike you deal, I'll return it tenfold."
Yet they were being forced back, numbers overwhelming. Kaeru, clutching Michi, disappeared into the chaos with a squad of soldiers escorting him.
"NO!" Lior shouted, his rage breaking through exhaustion. He cut down another, blood soaking his arms, but Michi was already gone.
As despair edged in, lightning split the alley. A red-haired boy dropped from the rooftops, landing with a thunderous crash. Sparks crackled across his body as his fists ignited with raw thunder.
"Thundershock!" he roared, slamming the ground. Bolts of lightning surged outward, frying every soldier in an instant. Screams turned to silence as charred bodies collapsed into the smoke.
The boy turned, his eyes fierce but urgent. "No time to spend here. Follow me now!" His voice cut sharp as lightning. "Don't worry—your friend will be okay."
Junia lowered her bloody blade, panting. "Who… are you?"
The boy shook his head, flames of red hair flickering in the stormlight. "No questions. Move, before more come."
They hesitated only a second, bloodied and breathless, before rallying behind him. Though Michi was gone, a flicker of hope burned anew.