"I can't believe you didn't take me with you!"
Erin fumed at Seris while glaring at Amelia. Seris gave a nervous smile in response to his anger.
"In my defense, I had completely forgotten to tell you."
"Forgot to tell me? So you grab this young lady and teleport to Sapphire City, save her family, kill a bunch of demons, then pop back in time for cinnamon rolls?"
"Pretty much yeah. If it makes you feel better, my rolls were a little overcooked."
Erin facepalmed himself in frustration.
"Why would that make me feel better about missing out on the action?"
Orion chuckled softly to himself from the other side of the table they were all sitting at.
Orion had been similarly frustrated with Seris and Amelia but he had gotten over it fairly quickly. He hadn't actually expected Seris to notify him of her activities. Given their brief interactions, he was surprised she was letting him sit inside of her apartment at this point.
"Mr. Densetsu, please, we didn't mean to offend you," Amelia offered with sad, puppy dog-like eyes. Seris felt proud of this manipulation, her training was paying off.
Erin sighed at the emerald eyes gazing softly at him. His anger floated out of him in a rush.
"I guess I can't be too mad. It was a split second decision after all. Just promise I can go with you on the next raid? I can't write about your story if I'm not there to witness anything firsthand."
"I promise," Seris told him in earnest.
"The other matter is that I'm supposed to accompany you," Orion interjected calmly.
"Yeah, sorry, same excuse. You would have been bored though, not a lot of killing to do after I was done."
Orion chuckled at her blunt honesty.
"Its been a few days since the attacks in Sapphire City, how are you holding up Amelia?" Orion asked with a concerned expression.
Despite the tense relationship he had with Seris, he genuinely cared about Amelia's wellbeing. Not only was she a child still but her gifts were limited. He feared for her safety more than anything else. Too many sorcerers had already lost their lives in recent years, he didn't want to see another one die.
"I'm doing okay. It was rough the first couple of days emotionally but I'm moving past that. My family is right here, so what's the point in looking back?"
Seris practically floated out of her seat in pride.
"That's my girl!"
Amelia blushed as she shyly looked away from her mentor.
"Tough kid, I wish I had that strength," Erin remarked with a smirk.
Orion's cellphone rang unexpectedly.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end was muffled but it sounded urgent. Orion wore an expression of surprise followed by a grim look that made everyone at the table uneasy.
"I understand. I'll be there right away."
He hung up, placing the phone back into his pocket before addressing everyone.
"I'm needed at the temple. One of our strike teams is trapped by demons."
Amelia gasped softly while Erin hung his head. They all knew what the most likely outcome was going to be.
"Where at?" Seris asked softly.
She may not have respect for the current leaders of the global order but she did care about the ones on the ground. They weren't to blame for poor education and leadership.
"Harborton, about five hours from here."
Seris stood up quickly, "let's go then."
"You're going to rescue them?" Erin asked while also standing up eagerly.
Seris looked straight into Orion's eyes before saying, "I'm a sorcerer and those are my people too. I'm not going to just sit here while more people lose their lives."
Orion gave her a nod of respect before heading out. They all followed him, dread settling into their hearts. Amelia wondered what carnage they would find.
"First stop, the temple for a mission briefing then we depart."
No one argued with Orion as his commands made perfect sense. Better to know what danger you were possibly walking into.
***
The temple was abuzz with sorcerers running all over the place. Many of them were working hard to gather intel on the trapped strike team.
Orion led the group to a modern meeting room that looked similar to a command center in military movies. Groups of sorcerers sat around various divination tools, trying to use their magic to spy on the area where their comrades were being held hostage.
"Any luck?"
"No, whatever demon is there is blocking our ability to see things."
"All we have is static."
Seris was impressed by the complicated set up they had going on. In her day they had something similar but it was a lot smaller than this current operation.
"First time I've been impressed by the modern temple," she muttered to herself.
Amelia grinned next to her while Erin was busy poking a crystal ball with a tentative finger.
"Orion and Seris, I'm glad you are here."
Talos called out to them from across the room. He had been hunched over a large table with a traditional map laid out across it.
Stress lined his face and he looked older than he normally appeared.
"What's the situation sir?"
"A strike team from the Temple of the Green Dragon was dispatched to Harberton. A larger than usual incursion had broken out there. Far bigger than anything we have seen so far."
The room was deathly silent. No one wanted to voice their greatest fear, that an army had arrived.
"How many?"
"Seven, six of them are recent graduates and one is a higher ranking member and veteran of demonic raids."
Orion nodded before peering at the map, examining the notes that had been made with the limited amount of data that had been accumulated so far.
"Whats the game plan?" Seris asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"Right now, our plan is to send two strike teams. We want to drop one on each side of the city. Both teams will work their way inwards, hopefully finding the missing team and eliminating any demonic threat that still remains."
Erin peered around Seris's shoulder while Amelia looked uneasy.
"How are we getting there, sir?" Amelia wondered if Talos had a way to teleport them like Seris had.
"Helicopters. We have two standing by that will transport each team. They'll also pick the teams up with survivors."
Orion nodded. He was as ready as he would ever be.
"I'll lead a team, sir."
Talos gave him a wry smile that didn't match his eyes. Something Seris noted. Perhaps Talos was already feeling like that mission was hopeless, Seris reasoned to herself.
"I think that's a wise idea. You're one of our better combat oriented sorcerers and we may need your experience and firepower. Seris will you accompany Orion?"
Talos looked at her as if he was testing her. Interesting.
"Of course. Just point the way."
"Thank you Miss Ardentis. Also, I owe you an apology."
Erin looked at Talos sharply, "does this mean you have finally come to your senses and realized who she really is?"
Talos laughed but given the circumstances there wasn't a strong feeling of merriment behind it.
"After everything she has done so far, I'm left with no other logical explanation. So yes, I believe her."
Orion still appeared to be skeptical but at least Talos was now convinced that Seris had been telling him the truth all along.
Erin slapped the table in excitement, "I knew you would come around!"
"What about me?" Amelia asked timidly.
"You're coming with me."
Seris wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a sort of hug.
"I don't know if that's a wise decision," Orion argued with a firm tone of voice. He had no doubt at all that Seris could take care of herself but he sincerely doubted that Amelia would be of any use. Besides, with her there he would need to provide extra protection to keep her safe.
"She's getting stronger and this will be a good test of her abilities. She'll be supporting us as a healer only. If we come across the survivors she can tend to their wounds until we can get them back to their respective temple."
Talos pondered Seris's suggestion while Orion still looked determined to leave her behind.
"I suppose I can't argue with that. All I ask is that you bring her back safely. She may have chosen to leave our temple but she is still a sorcerer and I feel a sense of responsibility for her safety."
"Of course," Seris told Talos.
Amelia was nervous and her heart was already racing. It was true that her visualization was getting stronger. She could now clearly recall every detail on the orange in her mind's eye. She had moved to more complex images like mandalas and was making good progress there too.
Still, she hadn't tried to use any of the healing spells she had learned since starting her training with Seris. Amelia wondered privately if she could even summon healing energy while under pressure.
"Look what the cat dragged in, the charlatan."
Darius Valeno's cocky voice greeted them from across the command center. He stood there with his slick backed black hair staring at them all while wearing a cruel smile.
"I'm supposed to work with the rogue agent and the soldier?"
"Well, we do need someone to carry our bags. How's your upper body strength? Better than your spellcasting?"
Seris taunted Darius who glared daggers at her in response.
"That was a fluke."
Seris simply shrugged in response.
"Darius will lead the second strike team. He and Orion both share the same level of destructive power which may come in handy."
Talos stated this in a tone of voice that clearly said he wasn't interested in debating this decision. Seris thought it would be pointless to argue with him and Orion simply nodded in acceptance.
Darius was sure of it, this time would be different. He would unleash hell on the demons, save the trapped sorcerers, and if he was lucky kill Seris. The last thought brought a wide grin to his face that made him look creepy rather than confident.