The interrogation ended shortly after, two Awakeners entered the room and lifted Maelor from the chair.
The Suppression chains were checked again.
One of the Mages placed a new seal on the back of his neck to keep any possible connection to the city’s Network cut off, and when Maelor left the room, Rindo looked at Lian.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Naturally, we’re going to the Forgotten Tree." Lian answered.
"Are you sure you don’t want me to come?" Serafina immediately said.
"It’s dangerous there."
"This isn’t the first dangerous place I’ve gone to."
"I know, but they need your help here." Lian added seriously and pointed at the map of Cinderhold.
"The closest military city is two days away, they might even send their first forces sooner."
"If you, Seris and I leave at the same time, Ashfall will lose its most important defensive forces."
"Rindo, Marcus, Ethan and the others are here." Serafina answered.
"But none of them are you, they need someone here who can hold the defensive line if the enemy army attacks." Then his tone became a little softer.
"And I don’t want you to enter that infected area either."
Serafina had not expected the last part of his sentence, her expression changed for a moment.
Lian usually did not directly talk about his worries for others, most of the time he simply made decisions and expected the others to follow.
"I understand." She sighed at last, then continued unwillingly.
"But if you take too long, I’ll come after you myself."
"We won’t be late." Lian said.
Before leaving, a final meeting was held in the council building, all the main members were present.
Rindo stood at the head of the table and explained the situation of the city.
"All three main bridges are under our control, the Cindari soldiers have been disarmed and moved to three separate prisons."
"Kael, Maelor and Tharos are in separate cells, Maelor has no access to his power."
"The civilians?" Cassian asked.
"They have a curfew, but their food and water will not be cut off, no house will be searched without a reason, if they cooperate, no one will hurt them." Then he looked at the map of the east.
"Several Awakeners have been sent toward Cinderhold, if reinforcements have already started moving, we need to know before they arrive."
"The western bridge is ready, we built several new Barriers and turned the working Ballista toward outside the city." Marcus added.
"Good." Rindo nodded and then looked at Ethan.
"The strike forces only attack when ordered, understood?"
"This is the third time you’ve said that." Ethan, who was sitting in the back, said.
"Because I’m still not sure you heard me the first time."
Marcus laughed quietly and Cassian placed several documents on the table.
"The Archive is currently under our control, we moved some of the documents to the safe room, but we need time to check everything."
"Anything you find about the Forgotten Tree, Cindar Vael or the other cities has priority." Rindo said.
Cassian nodded.
Liana had spoken less than the others since the beginning of the meeting, Shadow Wolf was lying on the ground beside her, but the worry on her face was clear.
"Still no news about Selina?" she finally asked.
Everyone became silent for a moment and she continued.
"If we complete the mission without finding her, what will happen to her?"
"The Main Quest reward is the escape of all Awakeners inside the Special Area, if we complete the mission, she will leave too." Lian answered.
Liana became a little calmer.
"If she’s still alive." But Ethan said without thinking.
The atmosphere in the room became cold at that moment.
Liana stared at him and Marcus hit Ethan hard in the side with his elbow.
"You didn’t need to say that."
"I only meant that—" Ethan’s expression changed.
"Think before you open your mouth next time." Seris, who was standing beside the window, said coldly.
Ethan closed his mouth.
Lian looked at Liana for several seconds, he had no proof and did not know where Selina was or what danger she had faced.
But he would not allow this worry to destroy the group’s focus.
"Selina is alive, trust her."
He said the sentence with such certainty that even Ethan could not find anything to say against it.
Liana looked at him and slowly breathed out, then nodded.
The meeting ended with the responsibilities being divided, Serafina took command of the central defense of Ashfall.
Marcus controlled the western bridge.
Ethan became responsible for the strike force, of course, with direct restrictions from Rindo.
Cassian continued checking the documents and the Archive.
Liana controlled the inner paths together with Shadow Wolf.
And Rindo became responsible for the overall management of the fortress, the prisoners and possible negotiations with the other cities.
Before leaving Vhalaris, Lian, Seris and Aren went toward Beastward.
Beastward was outside the city.
It was a large area between several huge roots, built to keep Mounts, War Beasts and captured creatures.
After the siege began, the Cindari guards moved One to the deepest area and locked him with several chains.
Even from a distance, signs of his restlessness could be seen, one of the walls had cracks and part of the outer gate had been chewed.
Several surface chains were bent, the disarmed Beastward guards were standing in front of the entrance.
"That creature hasn’t calmed down since you were taken." One of them said when he saw Lian.
"Did anyone hurt him?" Lian asked coldly.
"No one is brave enough to do that." The guard pointed at the broken wall.
"If the chains were not stronger, he probably would have destroyed half of Beastward."
They opened the seals on the gate, before the last door opened, the sound of heavy impacts could be heard from inside.
Something large hit the wall several times.
"The creature you mentioned is inside?" Aren asked with concern.
Lian nodded.
"One."
"His name is One?"
"Yes."
At that moment, the impacts stopped, a sudden silence formed inside the area.
Lian felt One’s presence through the Hive Link, first disbelief, then a strong wave of recognition.
Anger.
Worry.
Longing.
And a pure happiness that entered his mind without words.
A loud sound came from inside the area, a sound that was more like a mix of warning and excitement.
The last gate opened.
One came out of the darkness at high speed, the huge ant’s body covered almost the entire width of the path.
His jaws were open, his antennae were moving quickly, several broken chains were still hanging from his legs and body armor.
Aren thought the creature was going to attack, despite his weakness, he tried to move back.
Seris did not put her hand on her sword, she only watched.
One stopped right in front of Lian, his front legs dragged across the ground, and he lowered his large head.
Then he strongly pushed his chest against Lian, the force almost made him take one step back.
One’s antennae moved around his shoulder, neck and arm, through the Hive Link, the creature’s emotions entered Lian’s mind more strongly.
One was angry.
Not at Lian, but at those who had taken him, at the walls that had stopped him from reaching him.
Because he had been separated from Lian again for a long time, deep inside, there was a childish fear.
The fear that he had been abandoned, Lian placed his hand on One’s hard head armor.
"Calm down."
One made a protesting sound and pushed his head against his chest again.
This time Lian held his position more firmly.
"I think he missed you more than your family." Seris said from beside them.
Lian looked at One, the huge ant was still moving his antennae around his arm to make sure he was really standing in front of him.
"I missed you too."
The sentence was short, but its honesty reached One through the Hive Link.
The creature’s anger became weaker, his antennae moved more slowly and the young Vorhelm gently hit his head armor.
"It’s time to go."
One lowered his body so they could get on.
"We’re going to ride that?" Aren looked at the creature’s wide and armored back with doubt.
One turned his head toward him, his large jaws opened for a moment.
Seris sat on One’s back without saying anything and Lian helped Aren get on.
The eastern gate of Vhalaris was opened by Rindo’s order, Awakeners were standing on the walls, towers and bridges around it.
Some had come to see them off, others were there to protect the exit path.
Serafina was standing on one of the high platforms, the warm wind of the city moved her hair.
Liana was standing beside Shadow Wolf, Marcus was near the gate and Rindo was a few steps behind him.
"The direct path to Rootcrown is probably being watched by the Cindari, be careful." Rindo also shouted at the last moment.
Lian nodded from a distance and One started moving.
At first, he slowly passed through the gate, his feet made regular impacts on the bridge.
After completely passing the last defensive roots of Vhalaris, his speed increased.
The city behind them became smaller, the towers and golden bridges remained between the roots of Emberroot.
Lian looked back for a moment, Ashfall was now under human control, but there was no guarantee it would still remain that way when they returned, so they had to finish the mission sooner.
One entered the forest path, the sound of his footsteps spread between the trees.
At that moment, the System reacted and a blue panel appeared in front of Lian’s eyes.
[Emergency Quest Completed.]
[Quest: Escape Vhalaris.]
Lian looked at the notification for a moment.
He had not only escaped the prison, but had defeated the city’s army and captured an important part of Vhalaris.
However, according to the System, the Quest had only been completed now.
Until he had left the city’s actual boundary, the Escape Quest had not ended yet.
The next notifications appeared.
[Reward Granted: +1 Level.]
[Reward Granted: 10 Fragments.]
[Reward Granted: 100 Free Stat Points.]
[Level Increased.]
[You Have Reached Level 20.]
Lian felt something deep inside his body and his Class react.
The notifications stopped for several seconds, then a different panel appeared in front of him.
Its border was not blue like the normal Quests, it was dark and golden.
[Evolution Threshold Reached.]
[Evolution Quest Is Now Available.]