The assembly of Elders had given the order to persecute anyone who even tried to name one of the two clans confined in the Land of the Fallen. That was the name H-Region had taken since Luns and Glawogs were also imprisoned there along with the Hebs. It was now a devastated area and completely out of control. With their destructive powers the two clans endangered the defenseless Hebs and, in such a situation, it was impossible to maintain order. This, however, did not matter to the Elders, because, surrounded by the shield raised by the Guard, those clans were no threat to the rest of the Nerys.
Hyram and the others had sometimes managed to reach the edge of the shield, beyond the forest that overlooked the Land of the Fallen. But finding their friends was practically impossible, they didn't even know if they were okay. In there the cameras had no effectiveness, and the powers could not cross the electromagnetic barrier that interfered with them.
To be able to look inside they needed someone to open the barrier. Layton in fact joined the other Trydans of the Guard. Unfortunately, it took months before she was assigned to the border of the Land of the Fallen, and their greatest fear was it was too late, that something might have happened to Neewel, Erleen, and her sister Lyth.
«Hurry.», Layton urged her friends to hurry. She couldn't keep the shield open for too long or the Trydans along the perimeter would sense it.
Alyx teleported them beyond the crack in an instant. Layton closed the hole soon after. While she remained in her place, the Nerys, among dust and rubble, proceeded with the help of Caleigh and Alyah's senses in search of their friends.
The area was really vast and it wasn't easy but they tried with all their might to perceive the voices and the smell. Any clue that would lead them to the three girls would do.
Along the way, they came across some Luns. There was nowhere to hide so Hyram took care of them. He put them into a deep sleep. But, when Alyah finally announced that he had found them, and Caleigh confirmed it shortly after, Hyram lost concentration and Hallam was forced, quickly, to strike the two women. «You're welcome.» he said with a hint of sarcasm.
Hyram apologized mortified.
«Let's not start an argument.» Kihan said. «We're all pretty stressed, but there's no time for that right now.»
«Yes you are right.» Hallam said before turning to Hyram. «I'm sorry, I know it's harder for you than for us.»
«You will have your family back.», Kihan placed a hand on Hyram's shoulder. «Don't worry, we'll find a way.»
«I hope so.»
Alyah started walking again and the others followed him. They had no precise idea of where they were, so they couldn't use Alyx's teleportation, but the voices seemed to be getting closer and closer.
They came to a house in terrible condition. It didn't look very reassuring. For a moment the door seemed to change shape.
«They're in here.» Caleigh said. «It was the Luns who created this house.»
«There are other Luns and other Glawogs, it would be better to announce ourselves and not enter directly.» Alyah said.
Hyram nodded and, without even closing his eyes to concentrate, he worked to show the people inside, him and his friends at the door. It didn't take long before someone opened it and quickly invited them inside. It was really Neewel. She seemed really tired and disheartened but at least she was alive, she was fine. Not asking what they were doing there, she simply told them to hurry in. Then she, in a melancholy voice, told them to follow her. She took them towards the stairs that went down to a lower floor, where other Glawogs and Luns were holed up. On the floor, among Nerys of the most disparate ages, there were also Erleen and her sister Lyth. It would have been impossible to distinguish them if Erleen hadn't still been wearing the Academy trainer's uniform, which she had probably worn since the day they took her and imprisoned her there. It was worn and dirty, but when she saw Hyram and ran to hug him, he held her tight. Nothing mattered since she was fine.
«I'm sorry, we're all unpresentable.», Erleen pushed him away. «The Luns have to keep this building standing, clean clothes are not our priority.»
The Luns, in fact, took turns creating the walls and anything that could be useful in that shelter. But they were still figments of their imagination, and often changed, just as the door had done when they first arrived there. The Glawogs, on the other hand, were responsible for recovering water and edible plants, for the survival of that small underground community.
Hyram shook his head and smiled at Erleen. «It doesn't matter, you have nothing to apologize for.» he told her then he took a look around her. He realized, besides Lyth, there was no one else from Erleen's family. «Your parents?»
The two sisters had to, with all their strength, repress their emotions. They absolutely couldn't destroy that refuge, which they had worked so hard to create.
«They're gone.» Lyth said.
«When we were brought here, Luns and Glawogs immediately started fighting.» Erleen said. «We escaped from the area where they assigned us when things got difficult, but the ground began to collapse under our feet and they– », Erleen couldn't finish the sentence and Hyram hugged her again.
«Surviving to this day has been a struggle.» Neewel said. «People went crazy and we were left to ourselves. The Elders don't care about us at all, as long as there are no external repercussions.»
Alyx advanced towards the center of the room. «I'm sorry, I tried to talk to them, but they won't listen to me.»
«And they will never listen.» Lyth said, getting up from the floor. «It's a disaster here. It's confirmation they were right, we are a danger.»
«I guess you're not here to save us.» Neewel said. The faces of Hyram and the others darkened. «We're not blaming you.» Neewel sighed. «There's not much you can do, after all.»
«At least we know you're okay.» Caleigh said. «That's what matters.»
«For now... » Lyth whispered. «We don't know yet how long we'll hold out.»
«We'll find a way, that's a promise.» Alyx said.
«Now we have to go. Or we'll miss the chance to get out.» Hallam pointed out. If they were late in reaching the point of the barrier controlled by Layton, there would be a changing of the guard and they would be trapped there.
Alyx nodded, then looked at the three girls, and the other refugees. «We'll be back.» he said.
Hyram said goodbye to Erleen and reluctantly let Alyx lead them back to the edge of the barrier. Layton let them out. «So? Did you find them, are they okay?»
Kihan nodded, then Alyx hurriedly took them away from there, before anyone saw them.
After that time, they went to the shelter several times. They also tried to bring them food and clean clothes, everything that could be useful to them. It was much easier to reach them now that Alyx knew where they were. Unfortunately, they couldn't take them away from there anyway.
Every time Layton opened the shield for them, it felt like it was less and less powerful. And when the time came to relieve the Trydans at the border, and Layton approached the shield, she finally understood why. Just during the switch, the shield loosened, and, from behind what remained of a wall, a Heb leapt out and stabbed the Trydan in the back, before Layton could take her place. Alyx and the others watched the scene hidden among the trees of the forest. When they noticed that another Heb was about to attack Layton as well, Hallam ran there and struck him, knocking him back against a point of the barrier, which had not yet lost its effectiveness. He also did the same to the one who had stabbed the now dying Guard member.
Alyx took them all there. «Are you okay?» he asked Layton.
She nodded. «Something's wrong.» she said, as the shield beginning to dissolve.
«The Hebs… are attacking members of the Guard.» Caleigh stated with wide eyes.
«When Luns and Glawogs find out, it will be crazy.» Layton said as she watched the shield disappear little by little. «We have to help Neewel and the twins. They could be in danger too.»
Hyram nodded. «No one is safe now.»
Alyx immediately teleported them to the shelter. When Neewel and the others also saw Layton, they knew something had gone wrong.
«Did they caught you?» Lyth asked.
Hallam and Kihan helped everyone get their things. «We have to leave.» said Seiber. «The Hebs attacked the Guard, the barrier is no longer there.»
Erleen and her sister began to collect only the bare minimum, with the help of their friends and their cousin Neewel.
«Where are we going to go?» Erleen asked Hyram next to her. «The Glawogs and Luns will be furious, they will destroy everything now that they have the chance. We won't be safe in the city either.»
Hyram took her hands. «The Guard will take care of them, we will help you and our families. We can't do more than that.»
«Hyram's right.» Hallam said as he helped a Glawog child shoulder a small backpack. «We can't save everyone.»
«Are you ready?» Alyx asked.
Neewel nodded but Alyah stopped the Hedfan before he took them away. «There are little Luns in danger.»
Caleigh confirmed it. «They're not able to defend themselves, we must help them.», their powers had not yet manifested themselves.
Alyx sighed but finally led everyone out of the house, which disappeared shortly after. The two girls were running away from three Hebs armed with blades. Erleen pushed them back with a gust of wind and Hallam hurried to get the girls.
«No! Leave us!» one of them shouted and the Cryf was forced to put them down because they started wriggling and scratching his face. As soon as he released them, they ran away.
«Where are you going?! It's dangerous!» Neewel shouted to her little similars, but they kept running.
Before the three Hebs rose from the ground, Hyram put them to sleep, rendering them harmless again.
Those who, until that day, had taken refuge with Neewel and the two sisters, decided to do like the two little girls and began to run away in any direction. «We are free, I'm not staying here!» a Glawog shouted before abandoning them. The Nerys tried to tell him not to do it, but there was nothing they could do.
«Forget them.» Alyx said. «It's their choice.»
The earth began to shake slightly and the sky to darken. A terrible storm was coming. «Let's now.» Kihan said. «The safest place at the moment is the hill.», he looked through the network of cameras – scattered everywhere on the planet – to find a place enough far away, where Glawogs and Luns had not yet set foot.
Caleigh wasn't listening, his eyes were wide. «What the– », on the horizon he saw some Hebs piercing and killing a Lun. When her lifeless body transformed into small luminous crystals, one of the two Hebs collected them in what looked like a glass cube. «I think the powerless are up to something.»