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"You never fail until you stop trying."
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Cassandra rushed into the infirmary once she heard that Sky is badly injured. Initially, she was helping with the search of the intruder. But once she had overheard recruits saying how Jason and Sky were attacked, she ran to the infirmary.

She went immediately to them, seeing that Quentin, Ian, Mitch, Jerome, and Master Waglington are here. Quentin looked at her, seeing her franticness.

He gives her a small smile, putting his hand up towards her. "It's okay, Sky is going to be fine. He has a sprained wrist, second-degree burns on his chest, and a concussion. The burns should completely heal overnight because of the dragonmere ointment that Ty brought. His wrist and the concussion will take time," he said wanting to set her mind at ease. And while it did, only partially. Looking at Sky, she was worried. He had bandages wrapped around his chest and right wrist, the nurses cleaning dry blood carefully off the left side of his cheek and hair. He looked bad.

But she nodded, knowing that Quentin is taking good care of him. She looked at him. "Jason?" she questioned making them silent and she didn't like the silence. She took a step back. "I-Is he alive?"

Mitch nods but Ian interjected before the archer could respond.  "We are not sure, that is the hope. Jason is missing, Cassandra. No one knows where he is. And with the condition Sky is in...he might be hurt or is the attacker--"

Cassandra shakes her head. "No! No, no way. Jason would never attack Sky. Someone must have attacked them," she said.

Mitch stepped towards the wizardess. "Cassie...Sky was found with all his weapons on him, meaning he never drew them. And Jason's com-link was left in his room," he said.

Cassandra looked at Mitch. "T-That doesn't prove anything!" she said.

Mitch nods. "Yes, it does. It proves that whoever attacked Sky...He willingly didn't fight back meaning that he knows the attacker. We all know that Sky doesn't go down without a fight and with his injuries, he didn't put up a fight at all," he said.

Cassandra looked at Sky, staring at him for a moment. "W-What if he fought hand-to-hand?" she asked before looking at them. "Sky is good in close combat, we all know this--"

Quentin nods, crossing his arms. "Yes, but if that were true, there would be evidence of that on his knuckles. Sky was found at the bottom of the stairs unconscious and bleeding, we found his blood on the stairs as well...not only that...Sky was inflicted with the Wither Curse until Wag here purged the disease from his system. It's highly likely that Jason did attack him--"

"N-No...Jason wouldn't do that," Cassandra said starting to get upset. She looked at Sky. 'I-I knew I should have apologized for yelling at him! I knew it! I pushed him over the edge, this is all my fault!' she thought as her eyes watered.

Quentin's eyes soften, seeing her watery eyes. "This is only just a theory, Cassie. Until Sky wakes up and tells us himself what happened, it will stay like that. Until then...Ian...what do we do? You are third in command, Sky is hospitalized and Jason is missing..." he said looking at Ian.

Ian paused, thinking. He looked at Sky, trying to figure out the best course of action. He didn't want to worry people, after all, they are living in peaceful times. But there is no way that this attack can stay secret, after all...it's Sky. Whenever Adam gets attacked, no matter how hard they have tried to keep it from getting out, it always gets out. And with Jason missing, that will just add extra attention.

"Ty went to check on the Nether portal?" Ian questioned making Quentin nod.

"Okay. Since Jason left his com-link behind, we have no way to track him. So the tracer is out the window," he said.

"What about the trials?" Jerome asked Ian.

Ian shakes his head. "On hold until Sky is healthy again and Jason is back home. For now, it is dangerous for us to leave the base. So, I want the six candidates to be temporarily promoted with Jordan the temporary Colonel--"

"Whoa, wait, are you sure that is wise? Jordan is--"

Ian looked at Mitch and Jerome. "Sky told Jason and me that both Vikk and Jordan were the two people he was looking at to fill the Colonel position. And from how I heard the first trial went, Jordan is great at seeing through the deception and Vikk is great at leading others. We are going to need all the help we can get and the Sky Army cannot survive with only having three captains right now, so all of them are being temporarily promoted with Jordan being promoted two ranks to Colonel. We need people we can trust to be on the outside with it being too dangerous for us to leave the base," Ian explained.

Quentin nods, agreeing with him. "I agree. Jordan was the one who saw through the fake rules first, so, he is the wisest choice. If Sky was looking at him to be the Colonel, then I trust his judgment," he said.

Ian looked at Wag. "I'm sorry to drag you into this, but do you mind helping us. If the Wither Curse is going to be used against us, with Seto gone right now, we need someone that can dispel the curse," he said.

Wag sighed and nods. "What the heck, it is getting boring at the Academy and I'm curious to see why Seto has such faith in all of you. I'll fly back to the academy, maybe I can get Phil or Matt on board," he said making Ian smile and nod before the wizard left.

"Seto would be helpful," Cassandra said making Ian look at her.

His eyes soften at her. "I know, hopefully, we can depend on his support for this. But we can't have faith in him right now, Seto is on another continent right now. It will take a long time for news of this attack to reach him. We just need to do the best we can during his absence," he said.

Cassandra smiled a bit, her eyes flickered up to him. "You know, Ian, you aren't doing half bad--"

Ian chuckled lightly. "Giving orders is easy, Cassandra. But I know how hard Sky's job really is," he said.

Mitch put his hand on Ian's shoulder. "Don't worry, we have faith in you, man," he said removing his hand as he looked at Jerome. "We should tell Jordan and the others what is going on and about their temporary promotion." The hybrid nodded before the two left.

Ian looked at Cassandra, seeing her hand lightly touch Sky's arm but pulled away. "Cassie..." he said making her look at him. He gives her a little smile. "Sky will be alright and we will find Jason. Even if he did this, we'll bring him home." And while Ian may look confident, he isn't. He's panicking, knowing that he's gonna be the person everyone looks at for answers while Sky is hospitalized and Jason is missing.

It isn't that Ian doesn't think he can handle it, it is just a lot of responsibility and he knows that Sky makes it look easy. He lets out a soft breath, looking at Sky. 'At least he is getting some much-deserved rest...' he thought.

"General Stapleton!" a voice shouted breaking Ian out of his thoughts. Ian turned halfway to see a recruit from the Nether Portal Outpost surprising Ian.

"W-What are you--"

"The outpost is being attacked b-by General Probst!" they shouted making Ian's eyes widen. Cassandra gasped, staring at the recruit.

Quentin looked at Ian. "Ian, go! I can take care of Sky! You have to stop Jason!" he said.

Ian looked at Quentin. "And what exactly could I do that would stop him? Tell me because I want to know. I'll be honest in that I had no clue on how to stop Jason when he has death magic. Besides, I wouldn't make it there in time to stop him, none of us would. It takes about three hours to make it there by horse at full speed without breaks.  It's pointless!" he threw back at Quentin.

Quentin's eyes narrow at Ian, hating that he knew that Ian was right. "Okay, but recruits, Gizzy, and Ty is there--"

Ian nods taking a step back. "Oh I know, I'm going to go back there to get Ty. He always gets himself into trouble, especially more often now because of his kingship. I was just asking for ideas about Jason," he said before he left.

Cassandra looked at Quentin. "He...You aren't going to hurt Jason...right?" she asked.

Quentin looked at her with soft eyes. "I don't think that is something we can avoid, but...we aren't killing Jason. No way. I don't even want to hurt him, but that may be unavoidable in the face of things. Here, can you help me change Sky's bandage?" he asked her making Cassandra nod.

"Yeah, I can help," she said.

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*Four Hours Later*
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Ty woke up feeling cold and in pain. He groaned at his sore body, picking his head up off the ground. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, seeing Gizzy slumped against the wall a few feet away and the Nether portal is gone.

Ty looked back at where once stood the portal in shock. 'Where did that go?!' he thought. That's when things started to register for him, everything that had happened...and everything that was said.

His hands clenched into fists as he sat upon his knees. 'I...I don't always hide behind Adam...I don't! Do I?' he thought to himself. He looked over at Gizzy. "G-Gizzy," he mumbled. He forced himself up, fighting all the pain that shockwaves through him as he rushed over to the fallen captain. Gizzy's slumped up against the wall with blood on his shirt. Ty went on his knees beside him, as soon as Ty touched his arm, Gizzy picked his head up.

"O-Oh, you're awake...g-good..." he mumbled.

"Are you alright?" he asked before he moved Gizzy's arm that's wrapped around his stomach.

Gizzy nods. "Y-Yeah, nothing serious," he said. But Ty could tell that he was in a lot of pain. The captain had cuts and bruises all over him. Ty gritted his teeth, putting together what the captain went through. He's seen wounds like this before...he sees them when Jason loses his temper and decides to taunt and play with people.

"Jason did this...he beat you up, didn't he?" Ty asked.

Gizzy nods. "Y-Yeah, he's...fast," he mumbled.

"No kidding," Ty mumbled quietly to himself. He checked over Gizzy's wounds, seeing if any of them are serious. The only serious one is the one on his side and luckily the bleeding stopped long ago. "You seem relatively okay, just banged up." Ty saw Gizzy's expression drop even more like he is ashamed. Ty grabbed Gizzy's arm. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over this. You're forgetting that Jason is the third strongest warrior in the Sky Army, just under Sky and Seto. And Adam himself has lost against Jason multiple times in the past."

"He didn't u-use magic on me..." Gizzy mumbled.

Ty nods a bit. "Yeah well, Jason doesn't exactly need magic or weapons to beat someone up. His unnatural speed and honed close combat skills are enough to kill someone should he please. He's strong, Gizzy, stronger than most...and that's without the use of his magic. So...don't beat yourself up over this. Jason is a lot stronger than he looks, a lot of people don't understand that," he said. Gizzy nodded a bit, acknowledging his words. But they weren't new information to him. Gizzy knows how strong Jason is, and yet he still can't help but feel ashamed. He knows the generals are ridiculously strong, after all, they are the generals for a reason.

Ty ripped off a part of his shirt, pressing the cloth against Gizzy's wounded side making the captain hiss in pain. He grabbed Ty's arm. "I'm sorry, you're bleeding," he said.

"D-Don't you have...healing magic?" Gizzy asked the king.

Ty shakes his head. "No, my thing is farseeing as well as fire and transformations spells. My little sister is the one who has an affinity with the healing arts," he said. They sit in silence as Ty is tending to Gizzy's wound. Meanwhile, Gizzy is stuck in his mind. He was reliving the events that took place, making him stiffen up.

"T-The recru--"

Ty gripped Gizzy's arm. "Don't...Don't do that to yourself. From what I saw coming in here, a lot of them are still alive but just injured like you are. Some though...some are dead or are cursed and won't make it," he said. Gizzy gritted his teeth.

He knows that fighting against Jason is hard, especially when he uses his magic and this attack just came out of nowhere. But he is frustrated, mostly with himself. 'We were cut down like flies. We didn't even stand a chance. The only person who did was Ty and he couldn't stop him,' Gizzy thought.

Ty purposely pushed against the wound, earning a pained groan out of him relaxing the king. "Try to stay conscious and talk to me, okay? You're getting pale," he said. Truth be told, Ty's chest still hurt from the direct hit he took, but Gizzy is worst off in his condition.

"Your Majesty!" he heard a voice call out making him look towards the exit, knowing the voice.

"O-Over here!" Ty called out before pain sprouted in his chest making him clutch it.

Gizzy looked at Ty, seeing his pained expression. "Y-You okay?" he mumbled.

Ty nods. "I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about," he replied. The rushed footsteps come closer and Ty mentally prepares himself for a scolding from the dragonmere captain. After all, the king excels at getting Captain Derek mad at him for doing stuff like this. It's hard for Ty to just ignore his Sky Army instincts, he's not completely used to being a leader yet. He forgets that he needs to act more as Adam does in thinking before he acts and always brings protection. But Adam himself doesn't always follow these rules but does follow the protection rule at the relentless request and pleads of his friends since a lot of people want Adam dead.

It is also because Ty asked Captain Derek to drop formalities and treat him like he would a friend...of course sometimes he regrets asking that of the captain.

"Sire! There you are! Are you harmed?!" a panicked voice of a dragonmere soldier asked him. Ty looked at them, losing his smile once his eyes briefly saw Derek's disapproving scowl.

The king nods. "I'm fine, but we need to get everyone medical attention--"

"Even the ones cursed?" Derek asked.

Ty hesitated, not entirely knowing how to answer that. It's the challenge of transportation of the cursed victims. They've learned the hard way that Jason's wither curse magic can affect certain inanimate objects when directly exposed to it. Ty nods. "Yes, but we are transporting them since apparently, the Wither Curse doesn't work on Dragonmeres," Ty said to them making the soldiers and captain curious and fearful for how Ty found this information out.

Derek nods, giving Ty's orders to the others. Meanwhile, Ty pulled out his com-link, pressing Ian's light and hooking it on his ear. He presses on Gizzy's wound, making the Sky Army captain groan in discomfort as he waits for Ian to pick up. When he did, Ty didn't bother with greetings. "So I have good news, I have bad news, and then I have really bad news. Which do you want first?"

He heard Ian sigh through the device. "Good news I guess," Ian's voice spoke.

"Well, very few are dead. It seems like Jason wasn't bothering to kill them or something but some have the curse. But--"

"How is that good news?!" Ian shouted.

Ty closed his eyes, slightly irritated making Gizzy smile a bit since he hears Ian's voice and what he said. "Let me finish speaking before you yell at me. Gizzy is alive by the way, just badly wounded. Ian, this could have been a lot worse. Luckily, killing doesn't seem to have been on Jason's mind. He just wounded people, some are dead though. I plan to transport the injured recruits to you and my kingdom for treatment. Don't bother coming here--"

"Mitch, Jerome, and Vikk, as well as some recruits are already headed towards you. We still have to protect the portal," Ian said making Ty's eyes look at the destroyed Nether Portal.

He clicked his tongue once before responding. "Yeah, kinda hard to protect something that doesn't exist anymore," he said making Ian silent.

"Are you f*cking with me right now, Ty? You couldn't stop Jason? You are supposed to be stronger--"

"Hey now! I tried! But no one told me that he was such an experi--"

"Can we not argue at a time like this?" Mitch's voice suddenly spoke making Ty flinch in shock at the archer's voice.

"Wow, pot kettle anyone? You always pick fights, Mitch," Ian retorted.

"No, that would be Jerome who picks senseless fights. Sky as well on occasion, but those are usually premeditated. You--"

Ty pulled off the device, looking at it to see just how many people are in this call. Mitch's and Ian's lights are the only ones blinking right now meaning they are in the call while the others stay solid and Seto's nonexistent. Seto's light is always off it seems making Ty doubt if the sorcerer's device is even working anymore.

The king pulled out of his thoughts when Gizzy swayed, Ty was quick to grab the dizzy captain, holding him against the wall so he wouldn't fall to the ground.

"Hang on, Gizzy, I'll fly you back to base for treatment," Ty said before he put his com-link back on his ear and hearing the arguing that is taking place. He frowned, realizing how annoying it is since it never bothered him in the first place. The needless arguments didn't start bothering him until he found himself in a leadership position, it sort of made him feel guilty for what he put Adam through during his Sky Army days. "Can you two shut up and stop arguing?! Ian, I'm bringing Gizzy to base right now for treatment."

Ty helped Gizzy to his feet as Ian acknowledged Ty's order. Gizzy grabbed the front of Ty's shirt for balance as his dizziness grew worse. Ty gripped Gizzy's arms as his eyes soften. The captain did not look well. "Do you want me to knock you out? Flying is only going to make you sicker, but with your wounds, flying is the only option for you," Ty asked him.

Gizzy nodded. "K-Knock me out," he said on the verge of vomiting.

Ty nods. "Alright, I'm sorry for the headache you are about to have," he said before he knocked Gizzy unconscious.