Michellin

Wanderers

In a way, Kire was relieved at her answer. It was a selfish reason, but with the overwhelming events of the day, the emotions she was barely keeping in check as she needed to keep herself stoic and steady in front of her people, plus the many questions she still had, she needed a friend nearby. Is Ruli alright? Did Elva and Gavin figure out the cure? She wished she could find out for herself, but there was so, so much yet to be done. “Alright.” She gave a small smile.

Still, when Ed approached, the look on his face telling Kire that he must be feeling the same things she was, Kire almost broke her façade. The cousins approached and embraced each other, silent for a few moments. “We’re home,” she murmured, and Ed nodded, releasing her just enough to hold her at arm’s length by the shoulders.
“Home,” he said, before turning to Ysaryn, smiling. “We thank you, you, Ruli, and Gavin,” he said in Elvish. Kire nodded. “Will he be alright, though?” he asked Kire.
“I don’t know.” Guilt rippled through Kire then. “Ysaryn, I know you’ve Shadow-Walked too much today already, but after you help here could—could you bring us to Elva’s?”

Kire gave the order for everyone to make one more sweep of the Palace grounds, to root out any more Geminis or hostages that might have been kept prisoner. The rest of the army did the same for the Capital, as well as putting out stray fires. Others were assigned to gather the dead. “We will not stay within the Capital just yet. We’ll keep to the camps until we’ve sure there aren’t anymore blood magic remnants inside,” she said. “I’ll ask for Daryll and Gavin’s help tomorrow regarding the runes and the—figures outside the Tower.” Birds were sent back to Lord Ulrich’s castle, bearing messages for Jan about the situation and their victory.

As Kire had no energy for portals left for today, she decided to leave the matter of the portal for the next day. When asked about celebrations, Kire declared, “Tonight, and for the next six nights, we would ready the Capital and the Palace, as well as mourn the dead today, and the ones we had lost this past year.” She went around camp, speaking to the officers, talking to Narda, Myka, and the Wenches, conferring with Lord Ulrich. She next visited the hostages to see how they were being looked after, if those who had kin among the nobles in the army had been reunited, and if they still had traces of blood magic on them. The hostages had told her that the Gemini had planned to take control of them, to use against the army or to kill when they were left out of options if something hadn't prevented their magic from doing so. The wards, Kire thought. Thank the gods. Though she wanted to just curl up in a bed and sleep for days, she went on to visit the wounded being tended to, and inspected the makeshift prisons for those who had surrendered from the enemy army earlier. Gael she did not honor with her presence.

Come nighttime, after being assured by Ed and Narda that they would handle things here, Kire sought out Ysaryn and asked if she could bring the both of them to Elva’s. She had her own sword by her hip now, Ruli's saber in her other hand.

--

Even as Gavin himself was being treated for wounds—some cuts and minor burns from the explosion he helped orchestrate, and the self-inflicted ones he had done in a rush to get blood—he set to work, obeying Elva’s instructions, helping her put the antidote together. Gods, the way Ruli looked…this was the worst state he had ever seen his mentor and friend, and it pained him to see the man this way. He couldn’t even tell where he was, calling Envy’s name. Elva had told him he had bitten and clawed at the healers.

Gavin muttered out loud the names of plants Ruli had taught him, as well as his lessons from Envy, scouring Elva’s stores until he found the two ingredients he needed. An oil extracted from a certain nut—netri oil, if he remembered the lesson correctly-- and another medicinal herb, to counter the pain from withdrawal. It wouldn’t completely remove the agony, but it would dull it enough to be close to manageable, then sent the victim to sleep it off, according to the elf. Gavin had always wondered how Envy came to know about this, if the Kartaians had used this on their victims. Wonder later, lad. Focus. He prepared the two ingredients as fast as his bandaged wrist would allow him to, handing it quickly to Elva, who finished the process. “We’ll be home soon, and Envy can scold us both,” he assured as Elva administered the antidote, even though he was certain Ruli couldn’t really see or hear him. “Let yourself rest, Ruli.”

Now, all they needed to do was wait, and observe closely. Gavin collapsed onto a nearby chair, letting his body go limp as he leaned back. It occurred to him then that this was the first time in this long day that he truly rested and sat down. “How long?” he asked after a long pause, sitting up straighter so he could watch Ruli.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Elva replied, sighing. “I have an idea, but seeing as this is a more potent version, we might be looking at a longer recovery time.” Her attendants pulled curtains around Ruli’s bed to help dim his surroundings. “Now, tell me what happened. Did we…did Kire..?” She didn’t know why it was so hard to finish the sentence, but Gavin understood it plainly enough. He nodded.
“We won.” As an attendant brought him some calming tea and a pitcher of water, he told her what happened: the battle outside the Capital, the wards they set around the Palace, the chaos of the illusions and dolls, the hostages, and the final skirmish inside the Palace.

There was a long silence after Gavin had finished, and by the end of it he was thirsty, hungry, and totally spent, his body fully feeling the tiredness of the past two days now. “I left him,” he murmured, breaking the silence. “I left him behind, and this happened.”
“It was the Gemini who poisoned him, lad. Not you,” the healer replied firmly. “People get injured and incapacitated in a war. You can’t blame yourself for this.”
Elva, too, was taking the time to process everything. They won the war. At great cost. And there was still so, so much work to be done by her family to fix everything. She wondered how Kire and Ed were feeling. “You should get rest, too. You can stay here, or at Daryll’s.”
He pondered it for a moment. “I’ll stay here, if that’s alright. I need to watch over him.”
Elva snorted. “You’re asleep on your feet, my boy. Your eyes are half-closed already. But if you must insist, you can take one of the beds here. Go on,” she added gently, reassuring him. With a nod, Gavin rose, found the nearest empty cot, and sank onto it, asleep within minutes.

Elva was then left to herself, watching Ruli as she pondered on everything that had just happened. Some selfish part of her, too, was a little sad that at the thought that this meant her cousins would most likely stay somewhere else, but at least Kire could ease the distance with that portal of hers. Still, everything was going to change drastically for them again. If the match went ahead, and went smoothly, Jan would finally be building her own family. Kire and Ed would have to repair a broken empire together, too. And what about Ruli, and Gavin, Ysaryn, Kire’s friends?
Plus, there was the matter of the strange situation with the gate. Gavin hadn’t seen where the gate had gone, but from the way he told it, the ritual should have been successful.

Daryll arrived later, greeted by Elva, who then gave him Gavin’s account of the day’s events. It looked like Ruli would make a full recovery soon, though again Elva only had an educated guess how long the antidote would take to completely rid him of the effects of the poison. Daryll sat down, head cradled in his hands at the immense relief of knowing they had won the day, and together the cousins sat side by side, silently supporting each other.

Wanderers

The mages were inside the hall. Inside her home. And Ruli… Rage boiled inside her. “[i[Cut them down[/i],” she hissed, raising her scarred hand. With a flash, her portals transported half of the hostages out. The Ring burned out in her finger, but she ignored the pain as she rushed forward, towards Ruli. As soon as she stepped into the rune circle, she felt the ground tremble. Around them, both the captives and the mages started shrieking as Ysaryn fought the guards. The hostages..

She cut down the nearest mages and stood guard over Ruli, summoning another portal to transport the remaining captives away. She hissed aloud in pain from transporting so many, her scarred hand aching. She could hear the sounds of shouting and battle from the hall they had just left; the Wyvern army was close by, and any minute now they would burst into the hall. But the runes…

Kire bent over Ruli, touching his brow, forgetting everything else for a moment. “I’m here, I’m sorry, please hold on.” Gods, his skin felt hot, and pain twisted his features. “I’m sending you to Elva’s. Don’t you die on me.” She straightened up again, summoning a portal for Ruli. In a flash, he was gone, and Kire prayed Elva knew what to do with the poison in his blood. The runes, feeling the portal in the middle of the circle, pulsed in response. For some reason, Kire sensed she shouldn’t step out of the circle.

The last of the mages knelt in front of Ysaryn’s blades. “Mercy!” he cried.
“He’s asking for your mercy,” Kire said to Ysaryn, her voice cold. The door opened, and Ed, Narda, and Gavin were the first inside, followed by the [i[Wenches[/i] and, behind them, the Wyvern soldiers. “Everyone, don’t step into the circle!”
“Where the fuck is Gael?” Narda growled.
“Our soldiers are already scouring the grounds. The Capital is ours,” Ed said. “What do we do with this? How do we stop it?”
“Kire! Don’t move!” Gavin yelled, his eyes focused on the runes on the ground as he pointedly ignored the dead mages and guards around them. He shuddered. This. This was what Ikegai had wanted him to do. What they had been trying to do. It was more advanced than the one Ikegai had tried teaching him, but he knew what to do. Everyone could feel the tremors. The wards he and Ruli had set were fighting with deep Amrian magic tied to the bones of the land. “W-we need to stabilize this. The magic, it’s tied to you, that’s probably why it got activated somehow.”
“You!” Kire barked at the mage. “Tell us how to stop it.”
“We can’t. If we try, the Tower will take us as sacrifice. If we let it continue like this, it will destroy this hill. He’s right. You need to see it through.”

“Fuck.” Kire looked at Gavin. “Can you do it?”
Gavin unsheathed the knife she had given him. “When I tell you to, open a portal in front of you.”
“Nard, Ed, tell everyone to move out of the Palace,” Kire ordered. “Ysaryn, [i]claim your blood payment.[i]”

Kire gathered her strength as she watched Gavin circle the hall, anointing the ground with his own blood, scratching at runes here and there, etching new ones into the floor, until he had made a full circle around the one already laid down by the Gemini. “The mages should have gems on them,” Gavin said, looking down at the ones Ysaryn had killed. He steeled himself, and began searching. “When you find one, you lay it down along the edges, where I had marked them. Hurry!” Everyone else left in the hall with them inspected the dead, finding a carnelian hidden in their clothes. They found the marks Gavin had indicated and laid a stone on each. “Kire, now!”

The Paladin nodded, and a portal opened in front of her. She let out a cry, a surge of power coursing from her Ring throughout her body. The rune circle lit up, and Kire could see an illusion—a glimpse, more like, of some other place: a familiar hill, with brightly colored homes. Uvano. The smell of the sea filled the Great Hall. “How much longer, Gavin?” Kire yelled, feeling the strain of keeping the portal open.
“Almost!” His right hand was stained with his blood, and he pressed it against the floor. The Great Hall exploded with white light, blinding everyone, and then everything faded. The runes stopped glowing, and the portal had closed, with Kire slumped on the floor, blue smoke similar to the aftermath of her destruction of the gate rising from the center of the rune circle. After a moment, she coughed, rising to her feet. The ground had stopped trembling.

“Where’s the gate? Is it over?” Narda asked.
Kire nodded. “It’s over. And—I think I know where the gate is. But, could you give me a moment?” She walked over to Gavin, who looked pale but triumphant. “Are you alright?”
Gavin was shaking as she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Can’t believe we did it, honestly,” he confessed. He wanted to both lie down for a whole week and run around the hills in elation. The blood magic part he didn’t have much taste for, but seeing that he could help, that he had a hand in winning a war against blood mages—he liked that.

“You should get that hand looked at. You’ve given a lot of blood today. And—could you help Elva look after Ruli? Would you know how to treat poison?”
Gavin squared his shoulders. The work wasn’t over, though he didn’t expect it to, anyway. “Yeah. I can do that.”
“I’ll go see you both in the evening.”
Kire summoned another portal, glad it was only one person she needed to transport this time. She had spent the Ring’s energy for today. She turned to the others, ignoring her body’s plea for rest. “The gate is at the Tower.”

--
Her soldiers and the Wenches had secured the rest of the Palace grounds by the time she found Gael in front of the Red Tower. Kire gaped at what she saw: the stones glowed red, but the windows around the Seer’s Chamber shone blue. Around them were statues of crystal—no. Not statues. Mages, twisted in agony, standing on remnants of rune circles. From the look of things, none of them had been successful in getting to open the Red Tower. Her soldiers were pointing blades at Gael, though not too close, afraid that he would contaminate them with blood magic.
“You’ve opened the gate,” he said, his expression blank. “And now you’ll finally get to annihilate us like you wanted.”
Kire glared at him, but didn’t speak to him. There would be time enough for that when his execution day comes. “Take him prisoner.”

“Ysaryn,” she called to her friend. “Much of the work left right now is to make sure the Capital is safe, and to tie up loose ends. I don’t know if you’d want to stay for that, but Ruli and Gavin are both at Elva’s. You can stay here, with the Wench crew, or you could join them.”

--

Elva hadn’t been able to sleep at all since the start of the campaign. Jan had sent word that the army had started the march. That was a day ago. Two days? Gods, she was tense. But just as she thought she had gotten a handle on her nerves, her attendants called for her, telling them that Ruli was in the Great Hall, and in pain. “Gods above.” It took as many hands as were available to get him to the infirmary, he had been struggling so bad, almost as badly as Kire when Ruli brought her back from the battlefield. “Test his blood for poisons,” she ordered. “Ruli! Ruli, can you hear me? It’s Elva!”

By the time Gavin had reappeared later, Ruli had just managed to go limp. “By the gods, what happened?” Elva said, as soon as he entered the infirmary. She spotted his bleeding hand. “And what happened to you?”
“Nevermind that, Ruli was poisoned by the Gemini,” Gavin said, still running on adrenaline, even as another healer started attending to him.
“We figured as much. I have an idea what kind it is; Kire had suffered through a similar one, but this one’s stronger.”

Wanderers

The poison had been meant for Kire. She would have experienced a less potent precursor of it months ago, and if it hadn’t been for her cousin Elva and the blasted Ring of hers, she wouldn’t have survived that. The Gemini were well-versed in poisons, but this one was especially nefarious. Gael saw the poison take effect on the man named Rulitus, whom the Gemini emissaries had told him about from when Kire had transported them back unwillingly in the middle of the disaster with the errant gate. Gael turned his attention to the Wyvern soldiers though, who were just about ready to charge, despite the danger to the hostages. He could see Narda was calculating it, too, just how much loss of life there would be if they did just that.
“Try it,” he called out to the giantess. “And we’ll send your kin back to you in pieces.”

The moment their enemies reluctantly stepped back, he and other Gemini guards stepped forward to bind him, and Gael finally noticed what was hanging around the sorcerer’s neck, now that he had yanked off his armor. While he was no mage, himself, he had spent enough time with his kin to know this was something very important. “Take this to the others inside. The sorcerer, despite the poison taking effect, was still struggling, and the Gemini guards landed blows on him. It didn’t take long to overpower him. Gael almost felt sorry for the man. But he had cast his lot with an Empress who would wipe out his people, even as he knew their side was thinking the exact same thing about him and the Gemini. The bad blood between them went too deep, too far back, for them to change anything. He had come to accept that after trying to fight the idea for most of his life. Now they were going to be annihilated, so might as well try for one more gambit.

As soon as Ruli was restrained, the guards dragged him inside. They would make the Red Tower heel. It had resisted, this past year, despite the deep well of old, dormant magic, to yield to them. Or perhaps it was precisely because of that. And with each attempt, it seemed the Tower took more and more from the Gemini mages, to the point that they were almost convinced the place was alive, and seeking revenge. A temporary madness would take over the mages, or their old methods wouldn’t work until more of them bled. Dreams and nightmares plagued them in these final months, visions they couldn’t understand, even when it had been a while since their last real attempt at opening a gate. They had even begun putting protection wards around the Palace itself, afraid that they would trigger the Tower’s magic—protections that were now useless, after the sorcerer had put up his wards around the Palace.

Gael remained outside, to negotiate with the Wyverns for their hostages. But he was also just buying time. If the mages inside were successful in using Ruli’s blood, all this wouldn’t matter. They’d rip through the negation wards with a new gate, or rip through whatever force had been keeping magic in Amria dormant all this time. Or they would all be annihilated on this hill. Him, Kire, Wyvern and Gemini, it will all be over.

--
Though Gavin worked as fast as he could, together with Ysaryn who allowed them to circle the wards stealthily, he felt like time was going as slow as molasses. But he couldn’t compromise the steps and mess up, which would be fatal for all of them. They left Kire where she was, to lie low until Gavin and Ysaryn returned so he could use her blood for the final touches. A good idea, considering Gavin would have been distracted by Kire’s own impatience. The rest of the Wyvern army was pulling through, overwhelming the dolls, what was left of the Gemini army, and securing the rest of the Capital, circling the Palace hill to cut off any other means of escape.

Kire received updates from the Wenches as their reinforcements arrived. How Narda had been close to charging ahead already when she realized they were taking Ruli captive to use him for something diabolical. Ed and the other lords who had arrived had quickly realized who else were inside. Now they were negotiating. How many people? After a few tense back-and-forth jabs between Narda and Gael, and from the noblemen who were able to confirm the identity of some of the people inside, there were perhaps twenty hostages from nobility, and perhaps another twenty or thirty people from the Capital. Fifty. Give or take. Not that she trusted Gael’s word on it.

Gavin and Ysaryn appeared beside her. “It’s all set. All we need now is your blood,” he said. Kire nodded. Ysaryn took them to the final location, the one closest to the Red Tower. Immediately, Kire felt something was—off. Strange. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Something about the Tower sent the hair on her nape standing on end. The only other time she felt this way was when she had first met the Seer there, when she had received the Ring. What were they doing here? “Kire,” Gavin whispered gently. Kire nodded, and Gavin made a small cut on her wrist where Ruli had done earlier, letting it fall on the earth and on the small pebble with the rune etched onto it. Immediately she felt the ward’s aura change—and the Tower seemed to respond to it, too, as if recognizing she was nearby, welcoming her back. Why is it doing that? Is it stronger than Ruli’s wards? Somehow she didn’t know yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Kire, your Ring…” Gavin whispered, eyes wide. It shone faintly for a few moments until it faded.
“Let’s get the others.”

“They took Ruli inside,” Myka said, when Kire reappeared. “Ed and Narda are in charge, but if they don’t release another set of hostages soon, looks like we’re charging in. I don’t like it, something’s happening in there we don’t understand.”
“Does Gael know I’m nearby?” Kire asked.
“He suspects. But I think whether or not you are, doesn’t seem to matter. Which scares me.”
Kire cursed under her breath. “When you see the first group of hostages back here, you attack. Now, where are the eight fighters I asked for?” To Gavin, she said, “You’re staying with the army. Alright? With Narda and Ed.” Once they had been gathered, Kire instructed them to hold hands. “Brace yourselves.” I’m coming, Ruli. She took a deep breath, and pulled them into the portal.

They emerged facing the passage that would lead outside to the front doors. From there, they could see the stairs leading to the balconies. Though the other Wenches were winded, they shook off the dizziness and readied their weapons. The Gemini guards hadn’t registered their presence yet, occupied with their hostages upstairs on the balconies. Fifteen captives by the balconies. The Wenches charged, tossing flash bombs Gavin had given them, and with another flash of her Ring, portals engulfed the hostages she could see. She grunted under her breath, a dull pressure behind her eyes and a slight burning from the Ring, but otherwise it wasn’t as bad as her previous attempts.

Behind them, she could feel Ruli’s signature, weak but still alive, in the Great Hall. The doors were closed, but a faint blue light shone through it. The other hostages must be in there. More guards swarmed in, with the Wenches holding them at bay. “Ysaryn, cover me!” Kire said, as she fought her way to the Hall. The Wenches would be joined by the army soon, but Kire needed to get to the Great Hall first.

--

Inside the Great Hall, the walls were covered with runes, and a large rune circle was laid out on the floor. The moment Gavin had tied Kire to the wards outside, the Gemini runes glowed blue as well. Ruli lay in the middle, where the guards had dragged him, and the surviving Gemini mages had taken the pouch, which they confirmed had Wyvern blood in it—Kire’s blood—and mixed it with Ruli’s. If the Tower behaved the way it did with them before, it would need to feed on fuel. The rest of the hostages were crowded inside, with the guards poised to both defend the Hall and end the hostages’ lives here at the Gemini’s commands. Deep magic was working now, with every element in place: a Wyvern, a Gemini, and an Off-Worlder’s blood, with the sacrifice of lives outside from a great battle, all the elements that would call to the Tower to open the gate.

Wanderers

Gavin didn’t know where he had gotten the courage to volunteer to step away from Ruli, to rush into all this danger, but something in him felt like it did back when he had first started disobeying Ikegai’s orders, and that moment when he was freed from his grasp. With Kire providing cover, and Ed and Ysaryn herding the dolls as best they could, Gavin focused on instructing the Wenches on how to lay down the fire. When the horn sounded, Gavin stayed, moving as fast as he could carving out sigils beside the homes, making sure the fire would go where it should. Please gods, don’t fuck this up. “Move!” he heard Kire shouting, grabbing him by the collar, dragging him back, and yanking him down for cover, crouched over him to shield him.

The explosion was deafening, and he felt the shockwave pass through his body. Gavin covered his head with his arms, face pressed down on the ground. He felt Kire grunt in pain over him, but she straightened up as soon as it was safe to do so. “You alright?” she asked, panting.
Gavin nodded. Kire extended a hand. As soon as he took it, she helped him up to his feet. “Let’s finish this, then.”
His last-minute preparations worked; it kept the flames mostly where they needed to be, and together with the others they worked to spread it along the line he had indicated. After making sure the coast was clear for the other homes, Kire used her strength to push some of the weakened structures enough for the fires to catch onto them. She could feel the intense heat each time, staying away from the flames just enough.

“Can you still see the illusions?” she shouted.
“They’re fading!” came one reply, assented to by others.
Finally. Kire raised the horn to her lips and blew out three blasts. “Now. Ysaryn! Can you take us to the bottom of the hill?” She turned to Gavin. “Didn’t Ruli say you can bind me to the wards so I can use my magic inside?”
Gavin inhaled. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere in there until it’s safe.”
“I don’t care. You weren’t supposed to leave Ruli’s side, either. But if there are any more surprises, I need to be able to pull them out of Palace. I don’t like that they’ve gone this long without the reinforcements they were supposed to have.”

--
“Fuck it, they must’ve sheltered whoever was left in the Capital and their high-profile prisoners of war here,” Myka muttered, turning to Ruli when he asked about Gael. “He’s a bastard from the Gemini royal line. Not a blood mage himself. Used to be Kire’s spy in the Gemini territories, but their relationship soured around the time Ikegai became active,” she said. “Good fighter, shrewd fellow, chip on his shoulder the size of the Empire.” But when it became clear what Ruli was about to do, the pirate captain’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare. We should—Ruli!” Myka hissed, then signaled to the Wenches to provide cover, keeping their eyes on the archers in case they made any move against him.

When Ruli drew near, Gael regarded him silently. He turned his head, as if listening to somebody speaking to him behind him, then nodded, disappearing from the balcony. “You’re him, aren’t you? The Empress’s sorcerer.” He was dressed like a warrior, his black hair swept back, though his face was rugged, bags under his eyes. He smirked, though the shadow remained in his eyes. “You might actually be the one we need.” The smirk disappeared. “We will free some of our captives, as a gesture of good faith. But you must come with us. Drop the sword. Inflict harm, and we will kill a captive for every hit and cut you land. That warning goes out to the rest of you, Countess Narda,” he said, raising his voice.

Before he could continue with his terms however, a bright explosion rocked the Capital. All of them, even Gael, turned to see a slash of flame bisecting one of the streets, with cries and curses sounding from the Wyvern soldiers outside the Palace. Gael’s eyes widened. “You have a Gemini among you, don’t you?” he breathed, and he let out a mirthless laugh. He knew that, soon enough, the vast Wyvern army would overrun the city. The Gemini’s allies had failed them: crushed by the retaliating forces, surrendered, or abandoned them. Their attempts at using the Red Tower to gain more power and open another gate into several worlds had failed. There was always some element missing. Just their fate that this missing element would present itself at the moment of their annihilation.

He barked out an order in Taakalon, and soon Gemini guards released two captives: a young man and woman who looked related to each other, bandages along their arms. They looked malnourished, and had been dressed in the tattered remains of what would have been their royal clothing. From where they stood, the Wyvern soldiers would have recognized the insignia of a noble house embroidered in what used to be more resplendent attire. Narda could recognize their faces. “Stay where you are,” Gael told Ruli as he stepped backward, his own hands raised, a good couple of yards away from the freed hostages. “Lady Narda, can you confirm the identity of our two hostages?” Gael called out.
“Yes,” the giantess replied, the venom in her voice apparent. They would be related to at least two other noble families who had sent armies for today’s march. If they or any other houses found out they might have captives from their own kin in the Palace and that anything befell them, it may undo whatever bonds Kire and her family had to reforge and strengthen this past year, tainting their victory. She stepped forward, just at the gate, and extended her hands to the two captives. “Hurt them any further, and we attack.”
“We won’t hurt them,” Gael assured.

The lordling and his sister looked at one another, their bodies trembling from exhaustion, pain, and the obvious fear painted on their faces. They held their hands close to each other as their shoulders shook, as if afraid that the moment they relaxed, they would feel arrows pierce their chests. With tentative steps, they walked towards Ruli, but just as they were about to walk past him and towards the exit, the young man lunged at Ruli, yanking him down with whatever strength his frail body still had. The young woman did the same, only with her other hand she slashed at the exposed skin on Ruli’s face, grazing his cheek with the shard on his hand. “I’m sorry!” the young woman cried, as her brother pulled her away, towards Narda, who lunged through the Palace gates to grab them. Arrows bounced off her armor as she all but carried the two behind their lines outside.
“Ilana, what did you do?” Narda yelled, grasping the poor girl by the shoulders.
The young lady, tears streaming down her dirty face, was shaking her head as she spoke. “Th-they said to pierce his skin, or they’ll kill us and everyone inside,” she sputtered.
“What was in the shard?” she demanded.
“P-poison.”

--
Kire had directed Ysaryn to take her and Gavin to a blindspot on the hill. “There’s a sequence to it,” Gavin said immediately the moment they stepped out of the shadows. “We have to go as fast as we can if we don’t want them catching on.” He glanced at Ysaryn as he spoke.
“Kay!” one of the Wenches whispered, spotting them. As soon as she approached, the pirate gave them a quick update on the situation on the other side.

“Shit.” Kire could still sense Ruli’s signature, overlayed with her own, but it had weakened, the same way it did back at the mines when he had been drugged. Kire explained to the pirate what they were planning to do. “The rest of the army will be here soon. Keep them occupied. Negotiate with them. I need a rough estimate of the hostages.” She paused, then added, “I need eight of the fastest fighters. Gavin and Ysaryn, be ready to fight. Once I’m tied to the wards and I have my estimate for the hostages, be ready with those flash bombs. We’ll be Portalling into the Palace.”
Gavin’s eyes widened for a moment, and he swallowed. But he nodded, already mentally preparing himself for the steps needed to bind her to the wards.

Wanderers

All told, fifteen of the crew, including Narda and Myka, found themselves outside of the wards. They immediately took cover before more arrows headed their way. “Something’s wrong down there,” Narda grunted. “It’s like they’ve been spooked, seeing things—” They all stopped as distant explosions sounded. “Shit. Those dolls!”
“From the look of things, Kire’s trying to chase after the soldiers that had been led astray,” Myka continued. “But it’s slow work. Right now, the ones here on this hill are all the backup you have.”
Gavin thought it over. “Illusions. The disguise we gave her might’ve made her immune.” He looked at the city downhill, frowning. There must have been hidden rune circles throughout the city.

“Okay." Gavin took a deep breath. "The wards are working here, so no dolls or illusions past this point. But down there, you need people with clear eyes.” He turned to Ruli. “The Wenches can have your back here. But I gotta go help them down there. Trust me,” he added firmly, staring steadily back at his mentor before looking over to the elf. “Ysaryn, can you make one more trip? With me? Back where the rest of the crew are?”
The Wenches were already readying their incendiaries. “Let’s bring down those archers, ladies,” Myka said, grinning.

Gavin and Ysaryn emerged back at the walls. Down below, the rest of Kire’s army waited, restless, with Ed barking orders to wait.
“What’s going on?” one of the crew asked. “Did the wards work?”
“Yeah, they did,” Gavin answered, “but Kire might need help directing her army to the hill.” From the walls he could look down at the city much more closely, looking for signs of rune circles. He turned to the others. “Okay. I think I know what’s going on. They carved out a big rune throughout the city, and that’s creating illusions, confusing the soldiers.”
“How do we stop it?”

Gavin looked back out again, muttering under his breath, trying to think it through, dredging up the memory of casting that same illusion magic back at Itallo’s mines. Which runes would they have used? He looked around, just to confirm which direction they were oriented towards, then back at the Wenches “If you’ll let me, I’ll perform some blood magic on you. To counteract it. Just enough for you to see through the illusions and know where to go.”
The women looked at each other, still a little uncertain. They had been involved with setting the wards earlier, and had allowed the other sorcerer to peer into their minds to check if the runes had been placed properly. If it got them to victory, they wouldn’t mind another bit of magic, but the mention of blood magic performed directly upon them still gave them pause. “How?”
“I’ll anoint you with runes. With each other’s blood. You’ll serve as each other’s anchor to the reality around you. I can use my blood for some of you, too.” He looked at Ysaryn. “Will you let me? There’s a chance your sense of smell and hearing could see through the illusions, but I’m not sure how strong they are.”

Deciding that they couldn’t waste any more time, the women assented. Gavin pricked their index fingers and guided their hands to each other’s foreheads, using their bloody finger to write a rune. Finally, with Ysaryn, he used the incision Ruli had made earlier and did the same for the elf’s forehead. “Alright. See those streets over there? Next to that line of burnt houses? You gotta set a fire, enough to cut a diagonal through the already burnt lane,” Gavin said. “Do the same to that other street over there. That should hopefully cut the enchantment. I’ll go down to Ed tell him.”


Kire couldn’t afford to feel tired. Kire forced the feeling to the back of her mind as she guided her soldiers out of the traps. Kire forced herself not to wonder if the dolls were all residents of the Capital, if that was all that was left. They leapt at her soldiers from homes and buildings. One or two exploded, taking some of her men with them when she wasn’t fast enough. She couldn’t let Ed and the rest in yet, not until she was sure they wouldn’t fall into the traps, themselves.
“Kire!”
The Paladin turned and saw one of the Wenches riding towards her. “Where are the rest? Go back!” Kire tossed a doll towards a horde, and together they exploded right after her soldiers took cover.
“We know! Gavin’s helping!” She pointed to her own forehead, where Kire saw a bloody mark. “We’re going to destroy the illusion with Ed’s help. I can guide your soldiers to the hill, but we’ll need your eyes for breaking the illusion,” the pirate added, knowing Kire would have gone on to guide her soldiers and risked approaching the warded grounds, herself.
Kire thought this over. “Alright. And I have an idea.”

Ed, a group of soldiers, the [i[Wenches[/i], Ysaryn, and Gavin were already beginning their work setting the fires, but they needed cover from the dolls, attracted to them massing around this portion of the city. Many of the soldiers who didn’t have Gavin’s rune on their foreheads still had trouble seeing the real city from the illusion without being specifically guided. “Gavin, keep guiding them. Ysaryn, we’re going to lure the dolls near the incendiaries. When you hear my horn, stay clear.”

When Gavin and Yasryn left, the rest of the Wenches focused on taking down the archers. Narda joined the battalion in fighting the Gemini guards that had emerged from within the Palace grounds, while Myka kept close to Ruli to give him cover. Ruli’s strategy was working; the Gemini defenders were split between needing to capture ‘Kire’ and fighting off the Wyvern army on the hill. They needed more soldiers, though; at the moment, they weren’t enough to surround the whole Palace grounds just yet. As they fought, Narda, from where she stood, noticed something was wrong. The windows hadn’t been fortified, left open for them to either fire arrows at or climb through.
There were men and women standing by the windows, looks of fear in their faces, their hands bound. More soldiers appeared on the balconies, but they, too, had what looked like ordinary citizens in tow, their hands similarly bound.

“Should have known the Empress would be willing to raze her own city to slaughter us,” came a voice, standing in one of the balconies.
Narda and Myka recognized that voice. “Gael,” Narda seethed. Myka had quickly translated to Ruli what Gael had said. “Of course they’d use hostages,” she said, cursing afterwards. Narda scanned the faces that were visible, knowing, no doubt, there would be more inside. One or two looked familiar; prisoners of war, she thought, from some of the battles they had lost.
“How about one more parlay, Your Majesty?”

Wanderers

Three loud booms sounded from the Capital gates. The Wyvern army had broken through. “This is it!” Kire said, and moved forward. The soldiers were eager. Everybody was. They had overwhelmed the standing army, with many surrendering, but Kire also knew there would be greater danger lurking inside, especially if the Gemini had created dolls out those who remained inside. As she and Ed rode forward, she could sight the Palace and the hill upon which it stood, see the wide street that led through the Capital. Her home. After over a year of running, fighting, and biding her time.
But it wasn’t over yet.

She could see something was wrong, and that feeling of foreboding sank into her stomach as she watched the vanguard break formation once through the Capital walls. While many were able to follow their predetermined path, forging ahead of the city, many others seemed to be chasing some other path, or an enemy she couldn’t see from her vantage point. When she neared the broken gate, she felt it, stronger now, perhaps, because of the blood they had recently spilled on the ground. She looked to Ed, eyes wide as she saw his nose bleed. “Fuck,” Ed cursed. “It’s happening.” Why wasn’t she affected? The disguise.

“Stay back,” she warned Ed, then, turning behind her, “Halt! Don’t go in yet!” she shouted. “Give me a horn, quickly! When you hear three blasts, you follow!” Once one was placed in her hand, she galloped in after the battalions that had gone ahead of them. When she stepped through the fallen gates, the smell of Gemini magic filled her nostrils, and she could see ghostly images, illusions. She could tell they were illusions, but the soldiers who had gone ahead have not. They had suspected this would happen, but the city would have been too big to cast illusions of this scale. The citizens. Did they sacrifice all the survivors?
Kire looked frantically around for signs of runes. She couldn’t see any on the ground, but she just noticed that some lanes had burnt homes, while those nearby did not. “No….” Did they burn the runes through the city? Burned whole streets and lanes? Her blood boiled, and she urged her horse forward again, to the nearest wayward group of confused soldiers. They were following one of the burned paths towards a dead end.

“Stop!” she yelled as she caught up with them.“Turn back!”
“Your Grace!” the commander cried, in surprise and confusion, realizing then where they were. The rest of the soldiers followed her orders, their expressions looking like they had just emerged from a daze.
Thank the gods the illusions weren’t as strong as the ones Kire had experienced, but it was clear they only needed to last long enough for her soldiers to be led into a trap. “Follow me back, there should be a shortcut—look out!”

The back of her neck prickled, and she halted her horse just in time to see dolls leap down from the burnt and dilapidated homes, cutting off the battalion’s exit. They’re ignoring me, she realized. As the dolls charged, she met them head-on, beheading them swiftly while the dolls were preoccupied with the soldiers. This unit had seen the dolls from the battlefield and knew what to do, cutting away the gems quickly before they could explode or deal some other kind of extra damage. “To me!” she said, directing her steed back the way they had come.

Meanwhile, Narda, Maika, and the rest of the Wenches, after subduing the last of the wall’s defenders, heard the order not to enter the city. “Stop? Why?” Maika asked, concerned, as she and the women took stock of how many incendiary weapons they had left.
“Look,” the giantess said, looking down at the city below them. “Some of them are going the wrong way! What are they doing!”
“Shit—and there’s Kire!” Maika said, pointing at the Empress as she chased after one of the battalions. “What’s going on?”
“Whatever it is, it’s magic,” Narda seethed.

From their vantage point in one of the wall’s guard towers, they could see that some of their troops had made it as far as the Palace hill, where they’re meeting the Gemini defenders there. They could see flashes that resembled Kire’s portals and knew Ruli and Gavin were there, too. “They need help there,” Maika said. “And looks like if you make it past the city and near enough the Palace hill, you don’t get affected.”
“Ysaryn,” Narda called. “How many of us can you bring to the foot of the Palace hill?”

“Got it,” Gavin said, readying himself as they emerged from the edge of the wards. A part of him was so, so tempted to stop and look around, to see the Palace up close and finally get an accurate picture of the maps they had been studying so closely. He could smell the orchards from here, a strange thing to smell, contrasting with what was happening just downhill. But—what was happening downhill?
“Wait, where’s the rest of the Amrians?” Though part of the vanguard had made it through the city and were making the climb up the hill, the rest, Gavin saw, had not. But he didn’t have time to ponder; Gemini guards poured out of the Palace itself, heading their way. “Archers!”

Gavin dodged as arrows landed near them, just a foot or so away from their current position. The first of the guards followed them to where they had ducked for shelter. Concealed by shadow behind a broken statue, Gavin cut him down before the guard could spot them. His hands shook around the sword handle. He had cut open flesh before, as he had gone in and out of the daze of Ikegai’s control. This time, he was facing foes that fought back. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
The first group from the vanguard that had made it to the hill, and their swords clashed with the Gemini. The Gemini guards were torn in two, one group diverting to push back the attacking Wyvern soldiers, the others chasing after ‘Kire’. More warning shots were fired, which confirmed to Gavin that the Gemini were hoping to capture them alive.

Wanderers

While the rest focused on preparing for setting up the wards, Kire and Ed sent out emissaries to meet with the defending army, bearing terms of surrender. Though she sincerely wanted to see if they would lay down their arms, or let some of their own go, it was mostly to buy time, just as she knew the opposing army, too, was buying time. By numbers alone she knew they stood a good chance. The defending army refused their terms after a heated discussion, which, too, was expected. By then, Kire’s forces moved to their designated positions, surrounding the Capital and cutting off any potential reinforcements to break the siege. The plan was working out as they had envisioned, but Kire couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong. Calm down. If something goes wrong, deal with it later. If there was a gate nearby, she should feel it. By the time Ysaryn came to tell her that the pieces were in place, Kire was itching to give the signal to begin the battle and storm the Capital.

Gavin, meanwhile, was silent, sinking into his task, only speaking when he needed to clarify instructions. He was calm while his entire concentration was needed for preparing the runes, but once that was over and he was left to watch over the last of the runes, the anxiety set in. Everything will be fine, he told himself over and over. Time seemed to stand still as he waited, but when Ruli and Ysaryn returned, along with the women, it almost felt too soon. He watched Ruli silently confirm with each volunteer that the runes had been placed correctly, and after that, it was his turn to make a decision. He looked down at his own hands, biting his lip as he thought it over. “No. I want to see this through.” He extended his hand to Ruli. “Use my blood.”
Kire joined them, then. “It’s done?” she asked.
Gavin nodded. “The wards are in place.”
Kire took a deep breath. “Your blood to mask my aura, and my blood to mask Ruli’s, correct?” She waited for Ruli to finish with Gavin’s bloodletting before offering her own hand.
As soon as Ruli finished the disguise, she sensed both his signature and Gavin’s, feeling a slight tingle at the tips of her fingertips. She glanced at Gavin, meeting his gaze. The lad looked resolute. She looked at him, then at Ruli. “The only thing left to do, then, is for you not to die here,” she said, smirking a bit before turning serious once more. “I forbid any other outcome.”

The battle was about to begin. Kire’s army already in formation, they encircled the edge of the fields surrounding the Capital walls, stomping, beating their swords against their shields, intimidating the standing army sent out by the Gemini to meet them. The Wyverns waited, sitting on horseback on a hill overlooking their vast host. Something was niggling at Kire’s brain; she didn’t understand why the Gemini army massed outside the wall like that; it was impractical, and they’d have had better use of the manpower guarding the walls. Was it desperation? In the months leading up to this siege, her forces had cut off roads, captured allies, hemmed them in from the sea as well.
She noticed, too, just how much the fields outside the Capital looked dry and bare, when there would have been more greenery around it. Had it been the battle over a year ago that rendered it lifeless? The Capital was eerily quiet.

Her generals sounded their war horns, and their soldiers stopped, falling silent. Another blast, and they moved forward. The vanguard met with the standing army in a violent first clash, with the battalions behind them manipulating and defending the siege engines. Kire didn’t like it, but the best way to storm the Capital would be to break down the outer city walls first. The Wyverns knew which portions of the wall to attack first. She itched to run into battle now, but it was too soon. Elsewhere, she knew Narda, Maika, and the Wenches were fighting through the army to make their way around the wall to light fires and smoke out the defenders, particularly any archers hiding in the walls.
And still, Kire itched to fight now. Soon. Just a little further.

One thing Gavin hadn’t anticipated was the noise. He stuck close to Ruli, acting as his cover, but he could barely hear himself think over the din. All his senses were devoted to making sure they weren’t cut down, to watching Ruli’s back. But while the noise was a shock to him, what was worse was how familiar the smells were now. Blood, the reek of human bodies, and, somewhere, burning. Don’t, Gavin. Don’t think about that. Focus on what’s in front of you. Focus on getting through this alive.

Wanderers

“Two and a half hours,” Kire repeated. She turned to the others gathered with her. “So, till then, we have to stay well clear of the Palace hill. We’ll call a parlay with the standing army first. And if they reject our demands for surrender, we’ll begin. It’ll take us two and a half hours at least to fight our way through that standing army, breach the city defenses, and make it to the Palace hill.”

“Are—are there people still inside?” Gavin asked.
Kire paused, sighing softly. “We had breached from inside and outside. Prior to that, there had been word of an attack; those who could leave the city did so, but not everyone. While I was away hunting Ikegai, they made their move. During the escape, we managed to save some more, but not everyone who was left.”
“Likely, the able-bodied had been enslaved, forced to fight,” Narda put in. “In some of the battalions that had surrendered to us, there had been some who did experience this.”

Gavin thought this over. “They would have probably used the others, too. For—dolls. And blood magic. As you know.”
Kire cursed. Ed looked at the off-worlders. “There should be a tent provided for you already, not far from here. The guard outside will lead you.”

Wanderers

“Not surprised she’d say that,” Kire commented. At his question, she paused, then sighed, tilting her head back a bit as she did so. “I’m already tired. Or maybe it’s just in my mind, since I know I slept pretty deeply last night,” she added, smirking, if only briefly. “I’ll be alright when we’re home and this is all over,” she said. She looked over at Myka and the Wench crew, then back to Ruli. “If you need a clearer picture of the Palace let me know.” She paused, looking like she wanted to say more to Ruli, or something else, at least, but thought better of it. “Get plenty of rest, all of you. We’re marching at first light, and we’re expecting their reinforcement army to arrive to try and break our siege.”

They crossed the mountain pass the next day, which took a couple of hours. Though Gavin had been used to working at Uvano very early in the day, journeying with an army for a whole day prior and continuing again today was something else. The first hour he spent almost asleep on his feet, but as the sky brightened with the coming day, he grew more alert. Narda, Myka, and their crew, too, looked eager, speaking to each other in Taakalon. “It’s been a long time since we journeyed like this on the other side of this pass,” Narda told the off-worlders. “We’ve sent forces ahead to secure our position and surround the Capital, and also to send word back on whether Gemini reinforcements have arrived.”
“Nard,” Myka said, grinning as she nudged the giantess. She looked to the other three and gestured to them. “Look.”

Standing on a high point in the mountain pass, they could see the rest of the countryside spread out before them. Rocky hills, forests, fields of wildflowers. Far off in the distance, bathed in golden morning light, surrounded by a city and raised on a hill, was the silhouette of a great Palace, casting a shadow on the city beneath it. Though still far away, Gavin stared, transfixed. He could tell the Palace was enormous. Even Lord Ulrich’s castle would have fit in the grounds. He had an idea of how big it was from the maps they had studied, but to see it from this vantage point was something else. Anxiety rolled in his stomach. Holy gods, were they really going to cast a ward around that?
Narda grinned. “Almost there,” she said, looking down at the off-worlders. She turned behind them to see Kire and Ed looking on, too, halting their horses side by side. The Wyverns were silent, but the expression on their face was plain enough. Longing. Anticipation. Hope that they would finally be home again soon. Even the thought of an army waiting behind the Capital walls and whatever lay within the Palace grounds didn’t dampen that bubbling of hope inside them. The tiredness that had been on Kire’s face the night prior disappeared, and her eyes were bright. Ed reached over to rest a hand on Kire’s shoulder, and Kire patted it, no words needed between them at that moment. She caught Narda looking and nodded. The giantess returned it. “Let’s keep moving then.”

The weather did cooperate, and the army made good time. Gavin was more nervous now that he had seen the end of their journey ahead. Soon after sighting the Palace from a distance, they left the mountainous region behind. Another hour later, scouts have returned to let them know that there was a standoff at the gates between the advance guard and the Gemini army. The Wyvern army had sent forth terms of surrender, which the defending army refused. Raring to join the battle, Kire was eager to quicken their host’s pace, but they kept steady. Be patient. Sieges took a long time, but with their gambit with the wards, hopefully not too long this time.
Soon, they sighted the camp prepared for them by those who had marched ahead. No longer just a sight from a distance, the Capital walls could be sighted from where Gavin was standing. Their arrival was greeted with a roar from the advance guard, and soon they took up chanting Kire’s name. Kire was quiet, but the hunger in her eyes shone bright in her features as she rode forward, followed by Edward, Ulrich, and the other lords and officers. “Alright. It’s time for the final preparations,” Narda told them. “Come on.”

Kire was waiting for them in the tent with the other noble lords. “That standing army outside is trouble, but their numbers aren’t a match for ours,” Ed said. “And we know the Capital enough to figure out their defenses. There don’t seem to be any dolls among the massed army, so safe to say they’d probably concentrated that on the inside.”
She nodded, then looked up as Ruli, Gavin, and Ysaryn joined them, followed by Narda and Myka. “How long will your final preparations take?” she asked Ruli.

Wanderers

Narda snorted, amused. “Yes, we do walk on foot. There are battalions on horseback, and your position on the line depends on your rank, too. But as for the Wenches, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves too much, anyway.”
“That’s pretty fucking hard to do, Cap’n,” Myka called, meeting with them. “Have you seen you?” She winked at the other three, then paused, looking them over, particularly at Ruli, who had Kire’s sword and Wyvern armor on. “My, my, my. Looking very Empressy today, aren’t we?” Though she clearly was making a joke, her demeanor was less cheerful now. The sight of Ruli as decoy hammered home the dangerous task they were to take on tomorrow. “This is it, huh.”
“Mmhmm. This is it,” Narda said solemnly. “We’re just waiting for the Wyverns to give the signal to begin. Won’t be long now, the battalions are almost done packing up their camps.”

A half hour later, Kire and Ed emerged. The meeting was exactly Kire had expected: both Jan and Ulrich were straight to the point, meticulous but efficient. Perfect for each other then, Kire had concluded, and from Ed’s expression she could guess he felt the same way. Jan wasn’t riding to battle with them, but she was to stay here and hold the fort, just in case they needed to send more men. “You owe me a marriage ceremony,” Jan said to Kire, who grinned before she hugged her.
“I’ll bring your fiancé back, and I’ll officiate it, myself,” she promised. Ed embraced Jan in turn, whispering a few words of encouragement, before they left. As soon as the Wyverns got on horseback, their banners were raised, and horns sounded throughout the camp. The vanguard, on horseback, moved first, with the rest of the battalions moving forward once the first had advanced. The Wenches joined the third battalion to move out, with Narda in the lead, in the middle of the whole march. The Wyverns were right behind them, with Ulrich and his sons nearby.

Gavin felt cold, though the chill wasn’t just from the weather; it dawned on him that he was walking amidst an actual army. He remembered how Ikegai wanted to raise one of his own, an army of dolls, with mercenaries paid with Itallo’s coin. This was nothing like that. Gavin had never felt so small. Strangely, he didn’t feel nervous yet, but that may be because they still had a day’s march to finish. Are they nervous? Afraid? he wondered, looking at Ruli and Ysaryn. Ysaryn, probably not. Ruli kept his cards close to his chest most of the time, though. What about the giantess and Myka? He looked behind them at the two armored Wyverns. He remembered the day Kire cut down Ikegai and set him free from his control. How it was clear Kire would lose her life for that one short to lop off his head, and how she took it, anyway. Gavin looked down at his hands, remembering that desperate scramble to get her heart started again. Would it come to that, again?

The day wore on. They left behind the hills and forests of Ulrich’s territory and moved on to flatter land. Vast golden fields, past farming towns. At one point, they sighted from a distance an empty battlefield, the remnants of a battle picked clean by scavengers, both human and animal alike. Gavin spared it only a few moments of attention before decidedly looking ahead and away from it. They made camp by noon. Gavin picked at his food, wondering if the nerves manifested as loss of appetite. “Eat, boy,” Narda demanded, though not unkindly.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, smirking a bit, before trying to eat properly. “How many wars like this have you fought? Are you used to it by now?”
“Mm—quite a few. There had been a civil war a few years ago, and sometime after Kire’s coronation, too. Besides that, we’ve hunted on Kire’s behalf, as well as fought with slavers,” Narda answered, while Myka nodded along, in the middle of her meal. “Used to it? Not sure if that’s the word for it. There will always be routines, yes. But every war is different.”
“Hey, since you’re borrowing that, show us,” Myka said to Ruli, grinning as she gestured at the sword he was carrying. “That sword is like Kay’s Ring. Barely leaves her side. Is it heavy? Have you practiced with it?”

Once rested, the army moved out again. The weather was more cooperative now, and it had grown a little warmer. That, or they had been walking for so long the effort stored up heat in their bodies. “Still willing to go along for the whole march?” Narda said to the two Shadow-walkers, grinning. Ahead of them, the mountains grew closer, and Ruli and Ysaryn would have recognized the terrain from their current position by then. By late afternoon, they had finally reached the main road and the village Ed and Ysaryn had seen from their last visit to the mountain range. Ahead of them, the military camp that had received Kire here after they were spat out by the world gate was waiting.

They reached the main camp by dusk. As soon as the battalions had settled, Kire came to visit them. “Regretting it yet?” Kire asked Gavin.
“No. But we haven’t fought anyone yet,” he answered.
“Fair enough.” Kire smiled, though the weight of what will come tomorrow reflected in her tired gaze. “We’ll reach the Capital tomorrow by midday, sooner if we keep a good pace. Later, if the weather doesn’t cooperate.”