Dawn came crisp and black, unaware of the ensuing hardship ahead. Lucan and Nikka woke early. It is time to take back their home.
"Do we have everything?" Nikka said over her shoulder.
"Sword, katanas, bow and arrows, yeah." Lucan counted off his list.
"What about the Star?" Nikka fretted, "And your map of the tunnels?"
"Relax, the Star is in my…oh, here it is." Lucan grabbed the Star from under his pillow. "Also, we won't need the map."
They went through the underground labyrinth and came up just outside the city center. The beacon stood in the square, lifeless and guarded by a ring of Wither skeletons.
"I'm going in." Nikka stood up atop a house next to the square. "Give me the Star."
"Hold on." Lucan pulled her back. "Are you going to kill the skeletons?"
"Why not? They seem like easy prey."
"Just put the beacon in and wait for the Knights to beam in. You are outnumbered."
"Like I haven't been there before." Nikka flexed her wrists. "Besides, it would make it easier for the later battle."
"This ain't normal zombies. It's Wither skeletons." Lucan said. "I can't… can't lose you."
"Alright." Nikka put her blades away and leapt into the plaza center. Landing softly on her feet, she snuck next to the beacon, behind all the skeletons who were on guard only for people approaching on foot, and slid the Star in.
"Felora has activated their beacon!" Ria shouted. "Let's go!" Senn stepped onto the platform and a whirlwind later, they appeared in Felora. The Wither skeletons snapped around to find an army charging straight at them. Eleven were killed. The twelfth ran next to a giant bell and rang it with all its might.
Black skeletons swarmed to the city center. But just like how they first took over the town, they were quickly decimated, their black bones littering the streets between the trees.
"Fan out!" Called the Tidesinger. "Secure the city! Clear it of skeletons!"
"How is the battle coming?" Abbigail asked as she descended Luna. They had just finished a perimeter sweep.
"We have taken control of most of the capital." Ria informed her. "We are still rooting out skeletons, and the Nether have not responded. There might be an incoming reinforcement." The sun was only rising above the treetops.
"Any signs of Withers?" Denny asked, dismounting from Thunderdome. "None on the outskirts."
"Surprisingly, we have not met any aerial enemies so far." Ria observed.
"Then we must prepare ourselves." Trevor said. "I…uh… do you have lapis lazuli?"
"Yeah, Trev, I don't think that's gonna work." Saxon chimed in. "It took you last night about ten minutes to enchant your sword."
"Wait, we haven't yet met our Felden supporters." Ria interrupted. "Where's Lucan and Nikka?"
"Right here, er, captain." Lucan emerged from the crowd, holding Nikka's hand. He introduced themselves, casually stating that he was merely "legally obligated" to work in the Basalt mines. How they fought the Necromancers, and how they were at the battle when Felora fell first to the Necromancers, then the Nether.
"That reminds all of us." The Tidesinger cut into Lucan's story. "We should hold a funeral for Captain Kiyoshi. He died with honor for his country."
"We must." Agreed Ria. "He shall be remembered."
"But won't the Nether attempt to sabotage the event?" worried Denny.
"That shouldn't be a problem." Abbigail said. "Netherans and black skeletons are easy to spot in the crowd, and I doubt any Feldon would betray us to the Nether. We should hold it as soon as we have full control of Felora"