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Roy shuddered as he listened to the unearthly sounds of the wraith being interrogated. He didn't know what the master was doing but he made note never to cross him.

The last shriek made nearly everyone jump except Senarius. The master and Duo stepped out of the tent.

"You have confounded their plans when you serendipitously got all four orbs that they were bringing to help them find the fifth and final orb." The master addressed the group. "And the fact that one orb had been absorbed by him," Duo jerked his head over at Roy. "Has made them quite angry."

"That wasn't my fault." Roy snorted.

Ignoring him, Duo continued. "They are getting bolder in their attempts to get the orbs. They have already breached the outer gates and are at the castle's doors. They need the four orbs to get the last."

At the mention of the castle, Reselda sat up straight. Her fists were clenched but her face went pale. Senarius took a step closer to her and she unconsciously move closer to him.

"They know we are here but have not attacked us directly." The master said. "I believe it's because they are afraid of the power of the orbs. They have tried to take it through subterfuge."

"Since it hasn't worked, they must be getting desperate." Senarius noted.

"Perhaps. I was unable to discern that part. But clearly, we are no longer able to use the element of surprise." The master said.

"Then let's just go in and attack!" Roy smacked his fist into his hand for emphasis.

"We still need a plan of attack." Senarius stopped him

"And don't forget Siren's group." Bofur piped in.

"We can use that to our advantage." Reselda said.

"Yes, we can." Senarius agreed. "We will need to utilize as many of our advantages as we can."

"If we leave now, it will be near dusk when we reach there. Maybe we can use the dark after all." Nachum said as he checked the position of the sun.

Reselda bit her lip. She was not convinced that darkness would necessarily help. Conrad seemed to understand.

"The darkness is not a necessarily our friend. It might help against the flesh and blood soldiers, but the dark magic users are another story." He reminded them.

"We can take care of that." The master volunteered.

"Especially if we can get our hands on that traitor." Quinque growled.

"I only wanna break some bones." Tribus grinned cracking his knuckles.

"You'll have plenty." Duo promised.

"All right! Let's go!" Roy jumped up to go.

"Not so fast…" Senarius put his hand on his shoulder. "We need to solidify a few more things."

Roy groaned and sat back down. But as he listened, he started to perk up. Roy had to agree that it made sense.

0o0

From the top of a hill, Siren stood in the upper branches of a tall tree peering at the beleaguered castle in the distance. She could see the smoke billowing from behind the castle walls. She couldn't tell if they had gotten through the castle gates yet. She could see Baratrum's forces surrounding the outer walls. She could feel that the army itself had no magic but there was a strange power emanating from within the walls and even the castle itself. She jumped down and made her way back to the troops who were waiting for her not far from the castle.

"What's your order, milady?" One of soldiers stepped forward to meet her.

"We wait for Bofur's return." She told him.

The soldier saluted and returned to his post.

Siren knew her small group would not be able to take on all the soldiers and if they had magic users, she knew she couldn't take them on by herself. Checking the sky, she saw that the sun was starting to lower in the distance. She wondered if they were waiting to attack them under the cover of darkness. As she was thinking to herself, she heard a commotion from the castle.

Rushing to see what was going on, she was surprised to see an army that seemingly materializing out of nowhere to attack Baratrum.

"Siren!" She jumped when she heard her name called.

"Bofur! What's going on? They've started the attack without us?" She frowned.

"Senarius's friends brought us here with their magic." Bofur explained.

"And we have a special job for you to do." Quinque popped up.

"What's that?" Siren asked suspiciously.

Her eyes widened when Quinque explained.

"You want Bofur and I to find the last Orb?" She gasped. "Baratrum will never let us near the castle."

"You leave that to me, luv." Quinque said. She waved her hand as streams of red mist appeared. Siren could feel her body become weightless. From her field of vision, she saw a bandaged figure.

Before Siren could sound a warning, she found herself transported to the castle door. Stunned she looked around to get her bearings when someone yanked her out of the way. A second later she was staring at an arrow lodged in the door where her head had been.

"Be careful!" Bofur hissed as he swung at the soldiers bearing the Baratrum coat of arms.

Siren blasted several enemy soldiers around her. "What happened? Where are we?"

"We were supposed to be on the other side of the castle door." Bofur said.

"Well, we're not!" She blasted a few more soldiers back who were coming at them.

"Something must have happened." Bofur said.

"No really!" She responded sarcastically.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of a sword. Turning to stop it, another sword blocked it before it reached her head. A knight bearing a different coat of arms fought off the knight.

When the enemy was defeated, he turned to them. "Are you friend or foe?"

"Depends who's asking." Bofus said gruffly.

"We're not soldiers of Baratrum. We have come with Princess Reselda and Senarius." Siren realized she wasn't sure how to address the latter.

"Then you are friends. Come with me. I'm Sir Calahan, Knight Commander." He introduced himself as he cut swath through his opponents. Siren and Bofur followed covering his back. He led them to the side of the gate where a smaller door stood. Fighting was fierce but the soldiers were keeping their adversaries away.

"Sir, they are getting closer!" A soldier reported.

"Have heart. Princess Reselda has brought help." He told the panicked soldier.

"Those two?" He eyed the girl and chimp skeptically.

"Do not question the princess." He growled.

"Forgive me, sir." The man apologized.

"Go hold the line!" Sir Calahan ordered.

The soldier gave a slight bow and returned to the fray.

Calahan pounded out a signal and the door slightly opened. He pushed the two in before slamming it shut.

Siren and Bofur looked around to see themselves surrounded by haggard looking men. She noticed the injured and sick in the courtyard of the castle.

An older man with a crown dressed in white armor came up to them. "Who are you?" He scowled.

Siren guessed he was the king. "Your majesty, Princess Reselda sent us here to help you."

"Princess Reselda? Is she well?" The king looked concerned.

"Yes, but we have to find the orbs before the Principality of Baratrum does." Siren said.

"Orbs?" The king looked confused.

"The Spirit Orbs." She said getting impatient.

"But those are only a legend!" He exclaimed.

"Oh no, they are very real. We have four and now we need the last." Bofur interrupted.

"What is this sorcery?" He gaped at the talking chimp.

"We are fay. We have found four of the orbs and must get the last one before the enemy does." Siren explained.

She could see the king's eyes harden. She realized that the good king perhaps had a hostility towards magical beings.

"How do I know that you are who you say you are?" The king demanded.

Siren resisted the urge to face palm. She tried to explain again when a cry from the gates drew their attention away. Part of the door started giving way.

The king's attention was drawn away from Siren and Bofur. Siren grabbed Bofur's arm and pulled him toward the castle.

"Quick this is our chance to go look for the orb before it's too late." Bofur understood. They both hurried.

0o0

Using their powers, the master and his group managed to pick up Senarius's entire army and move them to the battlefield quickly.

They completely took the army of Baratrum by surprised. Roy, Reselda and Conrad stayed back as Senarius took led his soldiers against the enemy. Roy was unhappy but Senarius wanted to keep the orbs including the one in Roy far away.

Quinque was sent with Bofur to find Siren and to send them to the castle magically to find the final orb.

It seems everything was going according to plan. But Roy was not happy. He paced back and forth while Conrad and Reselda practiced their magic.

Quinque appeared near their camp.

"Quinque, did Siren and Bofur get to the castle well?" Roy started walking over to her before stopping. Something wasn't right.

A shield sprouted from his hand as he blocked a blast.

"Quinque?" Roy asked shocked but then he gasped as her body slumped to the ground. Roy's eyes went from shocked to angry. "Quattuor!"

"Miss me?" The bandaged wizard snarled.

He attacked Roy again.

"Run!" He yelled at his brother and Reselda.

Conrad grabbed Reselda's hand and pulled her away. Reselda tried to protest but Conrad knew they had to keep the orbs safe no matter what the cost. He ushered her away from the fight.

Roy formed his Warhammer and charged Quattuor who in turn charged at him. When they clashed, an explosion resulted.

Sorry, I haven't been writing this month. I've shared that things have been a little rough right now. I'm having good days and bad days although most days are neutral to be honest.

But as I've always promised, if I'm still alive, I'll finish my stories. I can't however vouch for the quality. I caught some inconsistencies and went back to correct it but I'm willing to bet that I've left it for so long you probably forgot what's happened too. Again, I'm very sorry. I wish life is not kicking me in the head right now. I have so many ideas. Hopefully, the pressures will lift soon, and I can find time to write more/better stories.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I appreciate all of you. Take care of yourselves. The world seems to be getting scarier out there.