"And me?" asked Lis. 

Radek shook his head. "Just Andre. 

Andre followed Radek out of the airship and returned to the Nocswehr headquarters. Gottfryd was awaiting him in the mine. He nodded at Andre before saying "ah, good to see you again Andre. I have a task just for you." 

"Is this a test of my loyalty?" asked Andre as he twitched his left foot nervously. 

"Well, aren't you a clever lad. But what will you choose when you must fight against your people's forces?" 

"The nobles are here?" exclaimed Andre. 

"No, merely a division from their armed forces. However, I will tell you that this division has come straight from Krakor. The Council has personally asked these men to come wrench Pyrdyke from our control." 

"I see. What am I to do sir?" 

"Follow me," said Gottfryd. "But first, take those with you." 

It was then that Andre noticed that Gottfryd was surrounded by dozens of discs, each the width of his head, resembling strands of grass woven together. He held a burlap bag towards Andre, who stuffed as many discs as he could into the bag. When he could fill it no more, he followed Gottfryd out of the mine and into the light of the chilly dawn. The ground was carpeted with a thin blanket of snow, just enough to obscure the discs. Gottfryd dashed through the snow with Andre just behind. They traversed the stone maze that was Pyrdyke until they had reached the northern end of the city. 

The walls that surrounded the north of the city loomed before them. The wall stretched only 500 metres in length. Gottfryd though, led Andre to a small 20 metre segment of the wall. He then pointed at the ground just before the steel double doors of the gate. Andre nodded and leapt over the wall. He landed in the snow without a sound, dragging the bag behind him. He brushed aside from snow and placed one disc on the ground. Then, he covered the disc with snow. He repeated the process for the remaining discs before returning to the mine. 

Once at the mine, he quickly greeted Lis and Radek, who had returned from the airship. And then, Andre stuffed the remaining discs into the burlap bag. he returned to the gate and placed the remaining discs beneath the snow. Gottfryd nodded in approval once he had finished. "What now?" asked Andre. 

"Now, we wait." 

Andre fell silent and he could hear the thumping of footsteps. They were faint but unmistakable. There appeared to be dozens upon dozens of feet striking the ground alongside the skidding of wheels against stones beneath the snow. It wouldn't be long before the military reached Pyrdyke. What would happen then? 

Minutes ticked by and Andre held his breath. From his vantage point atop the wall, he could see a glint that was the sun shimmering off the helmets of the soldiers. Andre braced himself. The time had almost come. He glanced at Gottfryd, who was also tense beside him. Gottfryd nodded to him, then whispered "once they appear, I want you to implant the attribute of animation into the grass plates."

"What will happen then?" asked Andre.

"You shall see. However, this is a task that you must do."

Andre nodded. Nervous, he clenched his fists together and slowly unclenched. His fingers twitched before his fists clenched again. The soldiers were now roughly 3.5 kilometres away. He could just make out the shapes of the individual soldiers. They had pale skin and were dressed in dark trousers, boots, and coats. They all wore helmets and held rifles in their hands. He could also make out the shapes of horses. The horses towed cannons behind them.

As the horses drew closer, he examined the cannons. They were wicked things that could fire 70 millimetre shells for distances of up to 1 kilometre. Their shells were packed with explosives and could light fire to any habitation that held even the slightest bits of flammable material. He glanced back at the houses behind him. Their roofs were wooden, certain to catch fire from the shells. He knew he had to stop them before they came into the city.

And yet, he felt his stomach turn. Cold sweat ran down his forehead and his fingertips could not stand still. As the minutes passed, the soldiers grew closer and closer until he could count each individual hair on their heads. It was then that Gottfryd whispered "now Andre!" 

Andre still did not respond. It was only when Gottfryd edged closer to him that Andre finally moved. He exhaled and spread the souls on his breath in all directions to the front of himself. The swirls of pink and purple, blue and green, red and pink, all swirled before him before dispersing into the snow. The soldiers were just to the front of the walls and they raised their rifles towards him. Andre flinched.

It was then that the snow erupted all around the soldiers' feet. Strands of grass flared out from beneath the snow and twisted in the sky. The soldiers hesitated for a split second. That was all it took for the grass to envelop their bodies. They struggled against the strings that held them. Some tore at the grass holding their companions. Others tore at their own restraints. Some had begun to break free.

It was then that Gottfryd shouted "now!"

Behind him, Andre could hear the rustling of cloaks. He glanced back to see a two dozen figures, each clad in snowy white cloaks, leaping into the air. As they soared, Andre caught a glimpse of their faces. They were obscured behind masks of plant matter. They landed atop the wall and inhaled. Swirls of light emerged from the soldiers' bodies. They howled and twisted their heads back with such ferocity, their necks almost snapped. Their maws were bent open in soundless screams as the life escaped their bodies. Then, they collapsed, utterly still.

Andre shuddered. The sheer brutality of what he had witnessed shook him to his very core. He glanced unsteadily at Gottfryd. He said nothing but nodded to Andre. Andre reluctantly nodded back. The very motions of his head sent chills down his spine. He halted his head, suppressing the urge to vomit. By chance, he glanced towards the corpses. It was then that sheer revulsion filled him. The corpses belonged to emaciated men, whose eyes seemed to bulge out of their skull-head heads. Their skin was coated with rashes and caked with dirt and their hair masses of tangled, sickly strands. They weren't noble soldiers. They were gadzina. 

He stepped back, his head whirling. Perhaps Lis was right Andre thought. Perhaps the nobles, his people, had committed crimes to which he had given no notice. But then, another thought struck him. Why were the nobles using gadzina as soldiers? They were a sickly bunch, scarcely capable of fighting. His heart sank as a masked figure approached Gottfryd. He heard the man exclaim "sir! These soldiers were a mere distraction! More are approaching from the cliffs at the city's rear!"

"Of course," said Gottfryd. "You needn't worry. I have already placed countermeasures against them."

Surprised, Andre followed Gottfryd as he dashed away. Along the way, Andre saw Lis, who had emerged from the mouth of the mine. She dashed to his side as they hurtled from rooftop to rooftop to the back of the city. "What now?" she asked.

"There are more enemies to the back," stuttered Andre, the word enemy clinging at his throat.

"And what are we to do against them?"

"I haven't received any orders."

Lis turned her focus ahead and Andre did the same. His mind whirled in a maelstrom of anticipation and fear in regards to what he would find. When the cliffs at the back of the city loomed overhead, he slackened his pace and halted on the top of the tallest building nearby. From his perch six storeys in the air, he could see the glint from the helmets of soldiers. They were at the top of the cliffs alongside what seemed like hundreds of chimeras. Andre cursed under his breath. The assault at the walls was merely a diversion for their true assault at the cliffs.

He tensed as the chimeras leapt into the air, diving towards him and Lis. Lis likewise tensed as the chimeras came closer towards her. She thought about her next action. Should she attempt to extract the souls of the chimeras or retreat to a better position? She observed the swarms of chimeras diving towards them, gauging their numbers and thinking of the best means of countering their vicious offense. 

One chimera howled and lashed out with its claws. Lis darted to the side and inhaled, extracting the souls from within the chimera. The beast thrashed and screamed but to no avail. Its life drained away and it collapsed onto the ground. Lis leap away as another chimera dove towards her. Two more hurtled in her direction. She tried to extract their souls too but the beasts were too fast. She evaded the thrashing claws aimed at her face, her chest, and her other vitals. There was nothing she could do but keep on evading. 

And then, a third chimera leapt towards her. Lis did not see the third chimera and it pounced towards her back. She braced herself for impact, but the impact did not come. Andre had stepped before the chimera and he gripped its neck in his hands. His fingers strained from the effort and he slung the beast onto the ground. The creature screamed before it leapt back into the air. 

Relieved, Lis waited for one chimera to leap at her again before she lashed out with a powerful kick. Her foot struck the bottom of its neck. Its head wrenched back and it coughed up blood. It collapsed onto the ground just as its companion pounced on her. She rolled onto her back and caught the chimera's paws in her hands. And she, she kicked its belly, sending it flying away. It careened into a building. It struck the stone wall. Cracks formed on the wall and the beast lay still. 

Lis glanced at Andre. "Thank you," she muttered. 

Andre nodded back before examining the cliffs yet again. Why wasn't Gottfryd doing anything? he wondered. By now, all of the soldiers were in the midst of descending the cliffs and the chimeras were close behind them. It was then that he saw the answer. The rocky walls of the cliff trembled and cracked until tunnels emerged from the stone. Thirty tunnels appeared on the cliffs, through which karzeletoads poked their heads. The beasts were surrounded on both sides by Nocswehr soldiers. 

The Nocswehr soldiers held strange wooden barrels in their hands. They raised the barrels above their heads and hurled them down the cliffs. The barrels reached the nearest soldiers, who raised their arms to knock the barrels away. But then, the carrels cracked and yellowish green gas leapt out. The soldiers coughed and sputtered as the toxic fumes filled the air. They tried to escape but there was nowhere to go to. They were stuck on the cliffs with no means to leave. 

One by one, they collapsed from the cliffs, their still-breathing bodies striking the ground with enormous thuds. At the bottom, two Nocswehr members extracted the souls of the broken soldiers, one by one until they have all been slain. All that were left were the chimeras, who were still hurtling around in frenzies. However, the Nocswehr slowly won the day. One by one, their members leapt out of windows, firing crossbow bolts at the chimeras. The creatures screamed as the bolts pierced their hides and scarlet blood fell towards the ground. 

One by one, the creatures feel from the skies, the arrows still protruding from their hides and their maws frozen in a scream of fear. On the streets below, more Nocswehr members swarmed about, extracting the souls from the chimeras. As their souls were extracted, the chimeras reverted back into the animals that once made them. Andre saw hundreds of dogs, cats, and bats. Their corpses were merely distorted mush caked with layers of blood. He shuddered. The Nocswehr had won. 

Gottfryd leapt onto the nearest rooftop and bellowed "victory!" 

The streets were alive with the cheering Nocswehr as their members celebrated their success. Lis joined them in the celebrations and Radek soon joined as well. Radek smiled to Andre and whispered "don't look so solemn Andre! We won and that's all that matters!" 

"Yeah," mumbled Andre. 

Gottfryd then, in a bellowing voice, declared "ladies and gentlemen and all allies of our dear organization, today we have won a great victory! The fiends of Krakor thought they could vanquish us, but they couldn't have made a bigger mistake. We've defended our territory. We've won the day. And soon, we will have greater victories as well. Tomorrow, we will begin the infiltration of the cursed capital itself!" 

Andre widened his eyes in shock. Had he heard the man correctly? They were to infiltrate Krakor itself? And to do what? Assassinate the council that led the country? Stir up a rebellion there and take the land for themselves? What were the objects there? 

He was jolted back into reality by the appearance of Gottfryd before him. "An excellent job today Andre," the man said. 

"Yes sir," Andre replied. 

"You've proven yourself quite a capable member despite your hesitations." 

"Thank you sir." 

"But you can do better still, wouldn't you say?" 

"What do you mean by that?" 

"I mean that you are to partake in the infiltration of Krakor with us."