After a busy week of preparations, Lyn and the team found themselves hiking through a forest in Salisbury, Connecticut. Apparently, the Allies of Order had discovered three tunnels in the area that potentially led to the hideout of the Witches.

Both Dawn Avengers and Disciples of Destiny had each sent a team of ten questers, while Lyn's team was joined by Blue Cross of Clerics to make up the last team. Meanwhile, questers from Arrowheart, a guild that comprised enhancer mages who wielded bows and other long-ranged weapons, scattered all over the forest. The plan was for the three teams to attack the tunnels together, with the Arrowheart questers serving as backups in case the Witches managed to escape.

Millie led the way while holding a navigating compass that the QA had issued for the quest; her curly hair bounced up and down as she skipped over branches and streams of water. Following close behind her was Eric, a psychic from Blue Cross of Clerics. Whenever there were any random boulders or fallen trees blocking the path, he would move them away with telekinesis.

The rest of the team trudged behind them, along with four other questers from Blue Cross of Clerics. Carina and Jose were seasoned healers who were experienced with countering Forbidden Magic. They walked next to Raph, deep in conversation about the injuries that could result from various Forbidden Magic. The other two Blue Cross questers were Jason, a fighter, and Tao, a non-combat enhancer mage tasked to strengthen Jason's armor. The pair had hit it off with Irene, with their chatters as rowdy as the random bursts of flames that Irene shot into the air in excitement.

Lyn stayed next to Cydney. The shy woman tended to drift away from people she did not know, so Lyn made sure to stick close to her while inundating her with stories about her college summer trip to Hawaii.

"It was part of your training to do all that?" Cydney said with a light chuckle. "College sounds so fun."

"It sure is. Where did you go for college?"

"Oh, I didn't get to go." Cydney lowered her eyes. "I wanted to, though."

"Why not—" Lyn cut her sentence short while berating herself. "I mean, I'm sorry, Cinna. If you want to, you could go for it now? I can help you apply and everything. I can put in a good word for you too."

Cydney let out another chuckle. "I'm too old for school now."

"We're here," Millie announced, halting everyone's conversations.

After lumbering through the thick forest for another hour, they had reached a cliff covered in vines and shrubs. Pointing to a part of the cliff that did not seem too different from the rest, Millie stated, "There's a tunnel behind here."

"Where?" Eric asked, feeling around the stone to look for signs of an entrance.

"It's concealed, but trust me, the tunnel is right here." Millie turned to Lyn. "We are ready to go in whenever."

Lyn nodded. She looked down at the ring she was wearing on her index finger. The large, rough-cut gem was shining a soft purple. Twisting the gemstone, the color changed to a bright green. Perfect, the other two teams were also ready.

"Get out of there, Eric," she called, before motioning for Irene to take over.

Irene grinned wildly as she punched her hands together. "Alright, let's go!"

Jumping towards the cliff, she blasted the wall open with a hard punch and a strong blast of fire. The rocks crumbled onto the ground, revealing a large passageway, just as Millie had said.

The fire mage climbed over the pile of rocks excitedly. From the corner of Lyn's eyes, she saw the five Blue Cross questers exchanging incredulous looks while mouthing "Dawn Avengers" dramatically. She snorted in amusement before following Irene.

The tunnel was spacious and surprisingly well-paved. Lyn felt as though she was in a grandiose hallway of a rustic stone castle, instead of a random shaft in the middle of a forest. With the calming sounds of a waterfall in the background, the atmosphere was unexpectedly tranquil and pleasant as well. After about thirty minutes of silent walking, they saw no end to the passage—and no signs of the Witches.

"Are they all at the other tunnels?" Jose asked.

"I don't know, but don't let your guard down," Lyn reminded him. "There's an illusionist among the Witches after all." Turning to Cydney, she added, "Stay close to me, Cinna, if anything weird starts to happen just stick to me."

Cydney nodded. Ever since she had learned about the Witches, the petite woman had seemed unusually worried about this commission. Lyn must have spooked her with the talks of Blood Magic. Sighing, she was about to say something to reassure her, when she noticed the gem on her ring changed color—it was no longer green.

It was now blood red.

Fuck.

"Something happened to the other groups!" she bellowed. "Retreat and find them!"

In the midst of curses and gasps, everyone spun around and started to sprint back outside—until a scream stopped them in their tracks.

"Millie!" Raph shrieked. He was holding up the olive-skinned woman, who was completely knocked out.

"What happened?" Lyn demanded.

"She's asleep." Raph's voice was shaky as he felt Millie's pulse on her neck. "The antidote pill is not strong enough."

Lyn's heart leaped up to her throat as dread filled her entire body. This was Sybil Dalman's trademark magic. Before embarking on this quest, all of them had taken an antidote pill that would supposedly prevent them from being affected by the witch's subjugation magic. But if the pill was not effective, then...

"Is there a stronger one?" She turned to Carina and Jose.

The two healers were already ransacking their knapsack. "There is!" Carina replied. "One moment!"

"Well, get them out right now! Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled for any signs of the Witches! Irene, give me a distraction. Go wild and blow this place up!"

Irene was more than happy to oblige. "Sybil Dalman!" she yelled as she threw fireballs in every direction. The previously serene and beautiful walls were now falling apart and engulfed in smoke. "Show yourself!"

As Irene created the ultimate diversion, Lyn faced her body towards the direction of the entrance, ready to send a strong blast of lightning to the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, this would signal to the Arrowheart backups that the Witches were here and that they were in trouble.

Her body froze when Irene crashed onto the ground right in front of her.

"I- Irene?"

The smoke around her faded, and a sharp gasp left her throat. Raph was laying on top of Millie, unconscious. Carina, Jose, and Tao were also on the ground, while Jason was stumbling around with his eyes rolled over. Everyone was affected. The antidote pill did not work at all, not one bit.

Sybil's magic was just too powerful.

The only two awake were Lyn and Cydney, and there was only one thought in Lyn's mind right now: get Cydney to safety.

"Let's get out of here!" Lyn exclaimed, grabbing Cydney's arms and charging up her legs. They had to escape out of the tunnel as quickly as possible before Sybil's magic also hit her...

The wave of drowsiness slammed into her like a tidal wave. Her grip on Cydney loosened and the charge on her body dissipated. Ah damn it, she was too slow...

As her eyes began to close, the last thing she saw was Cydney staring at her with a pair of large, frightened eyes, crying out in anguish.

"Lyn!"

ϟ☁ϟ☁ϟ

A/N: Oop-

Lyn is now KO. Next chapter: change in POV. We're switching to the better protagonist this time. Whoop whoop! ;)