“I will… consider this a minor achievement,” the king said to Delqua as he looked over the two claws in his hands.

  “Yes sir, thank you sir…”

  “But you still let them all get away, so it stands that if you fail me again, there will be consequences.”

  “T-then what will be our next course of action? Should we invade City C right away and go after the demon?”

  “Hm. As long as I have these, that can be done at any given moment. Rivia’s cronies are the bigger threat for the time being.”

  “How should we go through with stopping them?”

  “I’m going through with it and sending Palar to intercept them at their next destination. Your use, for now, is limited. Keep N locked down.”

  “Will they actually attempt to return here, my lord? It’d seem—”

  “Yes. I have a good feeling that they will.”

  “Very well, sir. I will keep the City secured.”

  “That’d be in your best interests. Now…” He tucked the claws in his pocket. “I don’t wish to hear from you again unless they return here.”

  “Understood…”

  The king stood from his throne, joined his bodyguards, and returned to City A through the meeting room’s transportation device.

  Delqua was angry with himself, but he hadn’t expected the king to be so forgiving. Still, sending Palar after them? Were they really that dangerous?

  “Get her to drink this,” Shin told Verim, who was still carrying Lechi as the group entered Dublin. “It’s a strong pain reliever.”

  He took it, opened the top with his teeth, and poured the bottle’s liquid carefully into Lechi’s mouth. She stirred before drifting off again.

  “Poor child…” Verim murmured.

  “She’ll be okay. I’ve got plenty of first aid medicines in my side pack. Always prepared. Not that it makes it any less unforgivable.”

  “So how are we going to get to Japan?” Garder asked. “We don’t have passports anymore. I suppose we’ll have to travel through Aurra.”

  “My last Earth home was in Japan,” Shin explained, “but I don’t have any clear, recent memories of it. We’ll be stuck here until sunset, but we can go to Aurra during its sunrise and figure something out.”

  “What about Xavier?” Milla wondered.

  “What about him?”

  “He might be able to help. I think he should join us in any case.”

  “Call him when we get to somewhere that’s quieter,” Garder said.

  “Xavier might be our best chance to get there,” Jeryn explained. “He was Rivia’s bodyguard. He would’ve been to wherever he visited.”

  “Oh, that’s right…” Milla replied. “Let’s meet up with him as soon as possible, then.”

  Jeryn suddenly let out a groan and fell to his knees in pain.

  “Hey—what’s wrong?”

  “Ah… I still feel the pain from that burn…”

  “What kind of attack was it? Do you know?”

  “Whatever it was, I think it did some damage to my nervous system. Damn, it feels like my whole body is still on fire from the inside…”

  “Black flames,” Shin said.

  “Can’t be…” Jeryn got back to his feet again.

  Shin pulled out a small vial of purple liquid and handed it to him. He went ahead and downed it without even asking what it was exactly.

  “Used to be a technique only used by pretorians. You’re lucky you got hit by a long-range attack—at shorter range, the pain is so great it can burn out your nerves completely.”

  “But why would lower level alchemagists be taught such an ability?” Milla wondered.

  “It’s something we’ve noticed ever since Lontonkon came to the throne. More and more of the advanced techniques have been taught to lower Guardsmen.”

  “I never liked him…” Garder muttered. “Milla, isn’t he one of your descendants? Think you could talk some sense into him?”

  She sighed. “He’s actually on a different line, third generation of it I believe. But it doesn’t matter; no one can even get to him. He’s the most reclusive king to come around in some time.”

  “What should we do?” Simon asked as they stopped at a bus stop.

  “I’ll call Xavier and see what he knows,” Garder answered. “Then we’ll just wait until sunset, I guess.”

  “And Lechi?”

  “I’m fine, now…” she murmured. “I was just resting…”

  Verim slowly lowered her back to the ground, where she stood with a slight wobble. Tanesh scuttled over to her and whined.

  “We look like freaks…” Garder said. “We left everything back in N.”

  “Then we’ll go shopping once we’re in the city,” Simon replied.

  “We can pay you back, Simon.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We can just use what you gave me to fly you guys out to the desert. Really, I’m here to help.”

  “We are in a bit of a pathetic state right now,” Shin said. She then turned to Jeryn, still in pain. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… where did you find that demirriage scroll? They haven’t been produced for a few hundred years, and last I heard, there could be less than fifty left. Our kingdom in Hold has three of them, which we use if an assignment calls for one. And I think City A has most of the rest locked up in vaults.”

  “Why is this important to you? I came across it several lifetimes ago and have been keeping it in a safe place ever since. That’s all.”

  Shin scowled just slightly and looked away. She could tell Jeryn was lying, and worse, no one else seemed to consider the subject important.

  A bus soon pulled up and the group boarded. Lechi didn’t know whether or not dogs were allowed, so she whispered to Tanesh to hide under her dirtied dinner gown, where the small dog kept in sync with her.

  Simon dropped a few coins into the box for the fare. The bus was mostly empty, but those who were aboard eyeballed them some. They looked even stranger than they would have in casual Aurrian clothing.

  The bus stopped further downtown, where they got off and went to the nearest shopping center—Tanesh still hiding between Lechi’s feet. Before buying new suitcases and clothing, they found a quieter corner of the store to call Xavier. Simon handed Garder his cell phone, and it took him a moment to remember the number before dialing it.

  “Hope the bum picks up…” he muttered.

  “Hello?” Xavier’s voice came in after the third ring.

  “Hi. It’s Garder.”

  “Oh, Garder, hi! You finally need something from me?”

  “Yeah. Are you still in London?”

  “I was just about to leave this hotel and try and meet up with you again. What brings you back to Earth?”

  “We’re in Dublin. By any chance, have you visited Japan recently?”

  “Ah, no…”

  “How about eastern Onasia—where Japan would be in Aurra?”

  “Hold on…”

  Garder heard Xavier scuffle about for a few seconds and check out of the hotel. He waited patiently for him to get back on the phone.

  “Eastern Onasia? Yeah, I’ve been there plenty in this lifetime, sure.”

  “You have?”

  Milla’s eyes widened just the slightest bit.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m with Rivia quite often. Except for now, of course. But yes—he’s gone out there several times. Owns a private villa near Point Trident. We’d go out there sometimes, but I’d usually have the villa to myself. I don’t know. He must’ve been studying something out there.”

  “Thanks, Xavier. This is perfect, just what we need. Look, we need you to pilot the demirriage for us. It’s important that we get out there—it’s the next step of our mission, and maybe finding him.”

  “O-okay. You want to meet up again, then?”

  “Yeah. Now listen for a sec, I think all of the Guard is after us, so we could get into a lot of trouble from now on if we don’t be careful.”

  “The whole Guard? Really?”

  “Rivia must’ve discovered something… And now the Guard knows we’re going down whatever path he did.”

  “If you need me, I’ll join you. Usual tavern at sunset?”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “Okay, I’ll be waiting, then. See you.”

  Garder gave the phone back to Simon and took a seat on one of the shopping center benches with a sigh.

  “We’ll met him at the tavern, sunset,” he told the group.

  “Good, good,” Verim replied. “Shall we shop now? Sounds fun.”

  “Fun? Uh, if you say so.”

  “Lechi? Do you feel okay?” Milla asked compassionately. “That knight hit you pretty hard.”

  “I’m all right. Irons have stronger bones, right? I’m fine now.”

  “Okay. Just making sure.”

  “Milla… Help me with my purchases, would you?” Jeryn asked in a passive manner. “I don’t have much of a fashion sense, I’m afraid. I didn’t really like my old Earth outfit.”

  “Oh.” She smiled a bit. “Sure, Jeryn.”

  Shin looked at Jeryn curiously, unable to comprehend his behavior. He knew who he was—why was he doing such a good job of hiding it? She couldn’t see herself going up against him, but she knew his inclusion in the group was a mysterious thing no one else, or Rivia, seemed to consider.

  Practically chased out of the store after Tanesh was spotted, the team wandered about the Dublin streets in new clothing until the sun touched the horizon. They hid their weapons in their suitcases—with the exception of Verim’s blade; it was too large and remained disguised at his side instead.

  Eventually they found a quiet park where they could catch an hour’s rest and take in some fresh air. Garder fell asleep, as Shin and Verim told Milla and Simon about their kingdom. Jeryn had taken out his large book on alchemagi and was going through the scant solar section with Simon.

  “We don’t have much time, but I’ll expand on the basics,” Jeryn began. “Being a solar, you have nearly limitless resources as long as you have some light. Remember that alchemagi is the art of world manipulation. Earth moves soft minerals, while iron is the temporary forging of these minerals. Both rely on altering and controlling what’s around us.”

  “How can you form needles and such with no metal to work with?”

  “The human body is made up of thousands of chemicals and material, and one of them is something we can work with.”

  “Oh—iron. Bet that doesn’t give you much alone, though.”

  “Exactly, yeah. When we release our grasp, the alchemagi returns to our bodies and an object’s state goes back to its previous form, barring any permanent changes in the landscape. If I made a rock spire, for example, it’d stay, if not lose some stability. An ice spire, however, would not because it takes controlled energy to change the moisture in the air. Any spread fire will keep burning, while created plants will typically wither away quickly. You, however, don’t need any seeds to work with. Like Shin, you work with what’s always in the air, no matter what. Shin creates friction to make electricity, while you work with the active spectrum.”

  “That seems impossible, though.”

  “It’s difficult. And you’ll never make light move at its actual speed—it’s too fast for us to comprehend. Last time, I taught you a basic control spell. They only lightly manipulate things in front of us. Now I’ll show you how to do the strongest technique you have access to as a level one.”

  Jeryn flipped the book over and pointed at the technique’s explanation and summoning words, all in clear English.

  “Is all the text in Aurra in English?” Simon asked.

  “In a way, yes. We already all understand each other. No matter what language you spoke before, you’ll be able to understand everyone else. That Aurrian ‘language’ translates to English on Earth, sometimes with minor changes, but I can still speak fluent Russian, and if I could recall here, I’d be able to speak several others, as well. Anyway… try this spell.”

  Simon looked over the book. It seemed to be a kind of magnification spell. Under it was a technique titled Flash Bang, and the only other spell available for him was something called Light Shed. He raised his right index finger near his mouth and recited the words for the first technique.

  “Arc—Shade—Ray—Sun—Shade.”

  He faintly gasped as the light around the picnic table darkened.

  “Keep control,” Jeryn said calmly. “You have to keep absolute control, or the changes will disappear.”

  Simon nodded and tightened his focus. The two were quickly surrounded by darkness, as if a large object had been placed above them that absorbed the sun’s rays. He looked up at the top of the shadowing dome and saw a bright ball of light. Then, a beam erupted downwards from it. It was fast, but still slow enough to track. The only sound the beam emitted was a small sizzle on the table. The light around the area returned to normal, and Simon noticed the smoking black mark he had created.

  “Good,” Jeryn said. “There’s really nothing to it in a controlled environment. A good alchemagist can remember the longest of spells and use them in a fierce battle. This next one, flash bang, should do pretty much what it says. You saw me fire off a burst of light at the party, right?”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Yeah…”

  “Your version should be more potent. I can only combine two explosive ingredients to create the flash. But you can compress actual light.”

  Simon went ahead and read the next spell. Jeryn lowered his sunglasses in preparation.

  “Flash—Ray—Flash—Arc…”

  Thousands of tiny light threads gathered around Simon’s fingertip. He realized what was going to happen at the last moment and closed his eyes before the flash went off. He could tell from the bright red in his eyelids that it was a powerful burst.

  “This is amazing,” Simon said. “And I could do this the entire time?”

  “Everybody on Earth can. But they’d have to go to Aurra first and ‘unlock’ that part of their minds, or else they’d have no idea what they’re doing. We don’t really understand the purpose of alchemagi or where it comes from, but it’s always been a useful tool and weapon.”

  “What about this last technique?”

  “Light shed? Shrouds the user in darkness. Not quite invisibility, but it can be useful, I suppose. It can only be used in low light environments, though—that’s what it says here. But you’ve got the basics down now.”

  “Yeah. Thanks for helping me.”

  “Be careful not to blind your own team, by the way.”

  “Hey, we’d better get going,” Milla called to the two with a wave. “The sun is finally beginning to set.”

  “Okay,” Jeryn replied. “It’s going to be a little cramped, though.”

  He took out the demirriage scroll and sprawled it out onto the grass. The light being nearly perfect, the carriage formed almost instantly. The group being used to the form of travel now, everyone piled in and took it to the usual London alleyway for the third time.

  Xavier was already inside the Big Ben Tavern, and they didn’t rest or chat before pulling him back outside and back to the alley. It seemed as if he had been on Earth for years; like he wasn’t from Aurra at all.

  “What’s kept you busy, anyway?” Garder asked him on the way.

  “Oh, you know… Checking out the local museums. Finding out what Earthens are up to these days. I’ll tell you one thing: slang changes so quickly. Anyway, you wanted to go to Rivia’s villa, right?”

  “Yes,” Milla said. “To own a home outside of a City—that’s really rare. It’s got its own sun, right?”

  “Of course. I think it’s been in his family for a few generations.”

  “You’d better be right about the sun, or else we’ll all dissolve instantly,” Garder replied. “We’ve got no lamps on us.”

  “I’m sure. I’ve been there enough times.”

  “And you have a clear enough memory to get us right next to it?”

  “Oh, sure. I can pilot the carriage for you.”

  “Guard might be expecting us,” Shin reiterated. “Be prepared to run or defend ourselves right away.”

  “First, we have to get to Aurra,” Milla said, taking out the claws. “We’ll search until we find an animal farm. Might as well start here.”

  She tore open a portal. Aurrian haze immediately seeped right through, turning into harmless vapor upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. Milla gazed from the opening, but found no life-giving sun bubbles. She closed the tear, turned around, and opened another one in the opposite direction of the previous. She smiled some and closed it up.

  “There’s one about a mile south,” she said, pocketing the claws. “It’s a bit downhill, though. I think we can reach it if we use the Underground.”

  “Okay, then,” Garder replied. “To the tubes.”

  They proceeded back to the street, located the nearest Underground entrance, and descended. After getting away from the crowds, they found a secluded spot to open a tear. Milla looked for a moment, and then closed it.

  “Still a bit south. We have to go through the turnstiles, it looks like.”

  “Geez…” Garder moaned. “Another time to waste money.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Simon replied and took out a handful of bills.

  After everyone had a ticket for a train they wouldn’t board, Lechi snuck Tanesh into the oversized suitcase she had bought just to carry him.

  They waited until the crowds thinned after a train passed by to act. Milla opened the smallest tear, peeked through, and sealed it.

  “It’s still a bit to the west,” she said with a touch of disdain.

  “But we’re already at the end of the platform…” Garder replied.

  “I, um, I know…”

  The group looked down at the tracks.

  “No choice,” Shin sighed.

  She was the first to leap down. Verim followed, stopping to help Lechi down. Before Garder and Milla could take the plunge, they were all noticed by security and several commuters.

  “Hey!” one of the guards yelled out. “You can’t go down there!”

  The sound of the next train could be heard in the distance. They hurried along the tracks, and the noise of the other commuters and security faded into echoes.

  Milla opened up another small tear, but quickly closed it again.

  “Just a little further!” she explained.

  “Er, sis, this is getting a little dangerous—we are actually almost to this place, right? I’m not ready to meet Escellé again so soon.”

  “It’s close. Trust me.”

  “The train’s coming!” Xavier shouted, its lights just turning onto the station straightaway.

  Milla opened up another tear. The animal farm was just a few feet away—but they had to enter it directly. Just attempting to pass through the smallest layer of haze was enough to destroy all organic matter. She closed it, stumbled forward, and ripped open a full tear.

  “Hurry! In, in!”

  The train’s operator noticed them and blared the horn. From his perspective, he ran all of them down just moments later. But by the time the train’s brakes brought it to a grinding stop, the group was already safe inside the animal farm bubble, each taking in air heavily.

  “This dimensional traveling…” Garder breathed out, “I have a good feeling this is the reason it’s not advisable.”

  “At least we made it,” Milla replied, putting the claws away.

  “What is this place?” Simon wondered, watching as various animals of all sizes materialized on the plains, its only human creation being a spire with a small sun on its top.

  “It’s where the animals go,” Verim said. “Most of them, anyway.”

  Lechi let Tanesh back out of his “carrier” and observed the multitude of creatures in the farm. A cat appeared almost directly in front of Tanesh. He responded by barking wildly until it fled in a daze.

  “Come on, then,” Jeryn said, taking out the carriage scroll again.

  Finishing their brief stop, they returned to the carriage. Rather nervously, everyone watched as Xavier placed his hand on the center pedestal and tapped into his memories. In an intense jarring whir, they were brought out to Point Trident a second later.

  Upon stepping out, they each quickly took note of something strange. The villa lay directly in front of them… but no sun protected it.

  Hanging pots and a garden were devoid of any plant life, having all been burnt up when the glowing orb was destroyed or moved. Somehow, fortunately, they were in the safety of a small bubble. But at first, no one could see where it was coming from.

  “I guess they were expecting us,” Garder said. “They removed the sun here, hoping we’d warp in and burn up… But, what the hell? Does someone have a sunlamp? Does the carriage have one built in, or…?”

  “No…” Jeryn replied. “Look, Garder… It’s Simon.”

  “Huh?”

  Simon glanced around in surprise to see that it was true; the small protective bubble was emanating from his body. He took a step forward—and the bubble moved with him.

  “Fascinating…” he murmured. “Why am I… um, a sun? Is it because I’m a solar or something?”

  Shin rubbed her forehead with two fingers in thought.

  “No…” she said. “Simon, I think… Hm—try something for me. Think of the happiest moment in your life. Just concentrate on whatever it may be for a few seconds.”

  “Happiest moment, huh? Here goes…”

  Simon closed his eyes and thought back to the day he was accepted to Oxford. It may not have been his happiest moment of all, but it certainly was one of the better ones, and a recent standout. He opened his eyes to see that the bubble had grown at least ten feet. When he relinquished the memory, the bubble steadily shrunk back its previous state. He also noticed that it seemed to be quivering a bit, as if it were alive.

  “Hm… thought so.”

  “Yes, I get it,” Jeryn added.

  “I don’t,” Garder replied.

  “It’s simple really,” Milla said. “Earthen feelings are fed into Aurra and affect the atmosphere. When Simon is here, the same process takes place. But it’s probably more efficient. It’s direct, stronger.”

  “Oh… So… Simon is like our very own sunlamp.”

  “And the bubble moves in and out a bit like our thoughts and emotions do.”

  “So… positive thoughts and emotions negate the haze?” Simon questioned. “I mean, let’s just say, for science, that I was suicidal… Would this bubble be really small?”

  “Or might not exist,” Shin explained. “I must say, this was very lucky for us. We’d all be dead otherwise—and Simon would be the only one still alive to some degree, back in my kingdom. Stay close to us, okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think happy thoughts,” Garder quipped.

  “Ha, okay, I’ll try.”

  “Anyway, what should we do now?”

  “Someone was already here to make Rivia’s villa uninhabitable,” Xavier replied. “So… we should watch out for them. But anyway, this is Point Trident. The island Rivia sailed to on occasion is out there.”

  “Island? You didn’t mention an island.”

  Xavier pointed out across the dark purple sea. Barely visible through the haze in the distance was a small stone islet, several dozen giant pillars occupying it. To the west were two of the trident’s towers, while the tallest was in the east. At the bottom of the cliff where the group was stationed was a small dock, any boats it might’ve kept already gone.

  “Look at that,” Garder noticed something about the island. “It’s got a working sun on each of its columns. Any idea what it is, Xavier?”

  “Not really, no. Rivia’s been out to it several times. Me, never.”

  “Looks like it might be in the exact center of the Devil’s Sea. How do we get out there?”

  “No worries,” Jeryn said. “As long as I can see it, I can get us there.”

  “We’d better hurry. The Guard may be mobilizing in this area as we speak. Still, do you think we should change into our Aurrian clothing first?”

  “What’s the point?” Lechi asked. “If all goes as planned, we’ll be in this Fragmented place within minutes.”

  “And there’s nowhere we can change, anyway,” Milla added. “Let’s just get out to that island for now. Ready, Jeryn?”

  He opened the door of the demirriage, allowing everyone to climb in before him. Looking at the island through the vehicle’s nearly transparent structure, he concentrated for a moment and pressed the pedestal.

  Instantly, they were in the middle of a stone dais. Jeryn quickly rolled the carriage scroll back up and looked around with the others.

  Several of the columns were broken, while others were holding dead, cracked suns. The remaining white orbs were frail and dusty, showing their age. The stone ground was worn and damaged, but the etched, vortex-like patterns depicted on it were still visible.

  “This place… is ancient,” Jeryn noted. “It’s certainly much older than I am. Its history has probably been lost for centuries.”

  “The markings look a bit like early cave paintings,” Milla added. “And this island is so low to the sea. It’s likely submerged at high tide.”

  “Never seen so many suns in one place, either,” Garder said.

  “Tanesh senses something…” Lechi mentioned, watching as the dog looked around the island with an almost terrified whimper. “There’s something in this island’s dimensional fabric.”

  “I almost feel it, too,” Jeryn replied. “It’s like there’s some kind of distortion in the air. It just doesn’t feel right—it’s as if the island is disconnected somehow, being pulled away.”

  “Do you suppose this is the gateway to the Fragmented City?” Milla wondered, reaching for the claws. “Is this where Rivia was guiding us?”

  “Over there!” Shin suddenly shouted and drew her sword.

  Everyone turned to see a figure step out from one of the columns. It was clad in a light, black, shimmering armor, and covering its face was an industrial visor with a single red lens in the center. Strapped to his back, its sharpened edges reaching almost to its feet, was a large, dual-edged battle-ax. Either blade reached back up to his shoulders, its hilt extending just past the head. The figure said nothing as it made its trek towards the group.

  “What is that?” Garder wondered aloud.

  “I think…” Jeryn replied. “It might be a…”

  “Only pretorians are armed like that,” Milla said nervously. “The highest offensive unit of the Guard. This is bad. We need to run.”

  “He’s certainly got a big weapon,” Verim commented. “But how powerful can he really be?”

  “What do you want from us?” Milla called out.

  There was no reply. The figure was now a hundred feet from the group. She took out both claws and fumbled with them.

  The aggressor responded immediately. It reached around to its ax, swung it out, and then slammed it into the ground. The stone in front of the impact ruptured into a fissure, aimed directly at Milla. Moments before it reached her, she jumped out of the way. A giant rock spire sprung up at the center of impact, which would’ve easily impaled her.

  “That power!” she gasped. “His alchemagi is immense!”

  “You’re right. I can feel that in the air, too,” Garder shot back.

  “That was probably just a taste of what he’s capable of! We can’t fight him—we have to get out of here!”

  “But I can fight him,” Verim said, reaching for his sword.

  “No—he’s still beyond our level.”

  “But we’ll never make a tear if we don’t at least slow him down!”

  “The ax—aim for that,” Jeryn huffed. “It’s not alive. We can break it if we try, right?”

  “Exactly,” Shin agreed. “Split up, everyone. Simon, Lechi, come with me—I’ll cover you.”

  The dark figure looked at the group. A red optical scanner from the lens swept over the area, sending out a bizarre mechanical sound and making the pretorian seem more like a robot. A second later, it leapt towards Garder and Milla, ax ready to slam down onto them.

  Garder quickly summoned a mighty gust of air, hitting the two and getting them out of the way more quickly than if they had attempted to maneuver themselves to safety. The ax hit the ground hard, rupturing it and sending out a tremor. The shock wave was so immense that it knocked the twins back another ten feet.

  “Damn, he’s strong!” Garder exasperated as he got back on his feet. “Milla—shred his ax! Quickly!”

  “I’ll try.”

  She summoned up her strongest vector attack, aiming directly at the attacker’s giant weapon. He made no effort to dodge the thin strands, allowing them to hit his ax. Each razor-thin beam was absorbed into the metal of the weapon and disappeared.

  “What…?” Milla murmured.

  “Ugh—what is that? A seal?”

  “I don’t know. That didn’t do a thing.”

  Verim was busy scattering seeds around the ruins for later use, while Jeryn was keeping his distance for the time being and Shin was protecting the others. Xavier seemed to be hiding somewhere, and Milla was sure she saw his head poke out from behind a column. But she couldn’t blame him, since she had told everyone to run. This opponent was far too fierce.

  Jeryn finished up his long summon and fired off one of his strongest offensive spells: a plume of plasma, which took to the air and crashed down onto its target. The pretorian brought up his ax to counter, and the weapon fully absorbed the fiery attack.

  Now it was glowing vibrantly. The attacker held it with both hands and looked around once more at his targets. Shin was now ready to try her hand at breaking the ax, but Garder had already figured out just what it was doing, even though he had never seen it happen before.

  “Shin, no! It’s absorbing alchemagi!” he shouted out.

  “What? There’s no such—”

  By the time Shin was just some twenty feet from her target, sword out and tempered enough to slice through her opponent's weapon, the counterattack was already under way. The pretorian raised his two blades and crashed them into the ground with all of his might.

  “Oh damn…” Shin muttered and came to a skidding halt.

  The attack was in the extremes of what alchemagi was capable of. Like a meteor slamming into the ground, energy blasted outward from the impact site, briefly engulfing the island in swirling dust and debris. Just a split second before the ax had come down, Garder noticed a bolt of arcing lightning coming from Shin’s body, but now he wasn’t sure if she was alive.

  “Shin!” he called out, covering his face from the scattering dust.

  With several coughs, he got up to look at the damage. The crater the pretorian had created was large, taking a third of the stone dais with it. The attacker stood in the middle, glancing around for prey. Garder then quickly found Shin—she was crouched at the top of one of the island’s pillars.

  “I’m okay,” she explained in Garder’s mind. “I mastered elemental travel a long time ago. Good thing lightning is so fast. Protect Milla until she gets a tear open. All we can do is keep him away for a few seconds.”

  “Got it,” he replied.

  Milla received a brief message from Shin as well, and then began to reach for the claws. Shin leapt on top of the next few columns and slid down to protect Lechi and Simon once more. Tanesh was whimpering behind Lechi, but she was too scared herself to comfort him.

  “Let’s try this!” Verim suddenly yelled out as he emerged from behind the rock spire created moments earlier.

  He connected with his seeds—each having been thrown into the air by the impact. Thorny vines sprung out from all of them, shooting directly out to the pretorian. He looked around for a moment, unsure of just why the unusual boy could target him at all with a plant technique that was usually lethal. The moment of hesitation gave the vines enough time to reach him, and in seconds, he was ensnared be their prickly, deadly grasp.

  “Got ya,” Verim sneered.

  “Good work!” Shin shouted, and then changed her method of communication. “But don’t expect him to be held for long with that armor, Verim. Better come up with your next attack.”

  Milla had managed to open a tear, but outside, there was only ocean. Water splashed through the portal, soaking some of the Aurrian ground.

  “Nothing,” she said, closing it. “Garder, if this really is the way to the Fragmented City, we might have to go to the center first.”

  “I figured—but did you see that?”

  “Hm?”

  “When you opened that portal, it was instant. We saw the other side right away. Usually, some of the fabric between the two worlds has to burn off first. Remember?”

  “Oh, yes—you’re right.”

  “So, we must be in an area where the fabric is weaker. It’s probably weakest at the exact center. If we could just get there…”

  The pretorian freed himself with a burst of strength, and promptly swung his ax around to attack Verim. The boy was too quick for his large, heavy weapon and leapt on top of it and then behind him, where he planted a pink seed in the dirt with his thumb. As the figure turned around to take care of its only possible threat, Verim summoned a level three spell.

  The pink seed sprouted into a bloom larger than he was. Verim quickly took to the air again, performing several powerful leaps to get away from the figure and the growing plant nearby.

  The plant puffed up and exploded before the pretorian could move an inch from it. Petals flew in all directions, and the attacker was sent backwards and away from the rest of the group. The plant had also exuded some nasty pollen that caused disorientation in its victims. Being so heavily armored, the pollen didn’t have the full effect on him, though it did send him reeling for a few seconds.

  “Now!” Verim yelled out. “Hurry! Open the tear!”

  Milla and Garder rushed forward, past all of the damaged stone and the crater the pretorian had created. Where the spirals ended and the two sets of snaking rock met, she thrust out the claws and pulled them apart. Something was different—she couldn’t get them to budge. It was as if she had stuck them into granite.

  Xavier, Jeryn, Lechi, Shin and Simon quickly met up in the center as the pretorian began to recover behind them.

  “Hurry! Open it!” Garder said desperately. “He’ll be right on us!”

  “I—I can’t…” Milla groaned. “The claws aren’t working!”

  Garder looked at the invisible spot in the air where the two points met, and grabbed onto Milla’s right hand to help pull. Verim did the same with her left, and the two claws finally began to separate from one another.

  But the attacker recovered fully and started a headlong charge at the group, ax out for a wide sweep attack. Simon noticed before anyone else and realized he was in the best position to counter.

  He looked at the attacker’s visor, and considered it as a kind of visual equipment similar to a night vision device; it might overload with a bright enough burst of light. He was in exactly the right place to do something, and Jeryn’s teachings couldn’t have come at a better time.

  He raised his index finger and prepared the attack. The pretorian cocked his head in a curious manner. How could he be harmed at all with a level one spell? Why was this young man even trying?

  A sphere of light gathered at Simon’s fingertip, and just like before, he fired it outward and closed his own eyes at the last moment.

  The explosion of light stopped the attacker in his tracks. He stumbled about in a daze, his hand on his forehead in pain. His other hand was shaking as it made adjustments of some sort into his optical device.

  “Good, Simon,” Jeryn said. “Hurry, you three. Get that portal open!”

  “Almost… Got it…” Milla strained.

  Like a bolt of rising lightning, a black line suddenly erupted from the center of the dais and rose upwards at great speed.

  “A-are you guys seeing this?” Garder called out.

  A tremendous blast of energy came out from the tear, nearly knocking everyone around it down. Milla struggled to keep the two claws in place as a raging wind picked up from the point they touched.

  “What did we just open?!”

  “I don’t know, but we’re not sticking around here,” Milla replied. “Everyone, go in!”

  There was only a solid black void on the opposite side. Jeryn stuck his hand in first, and watched as it disappeared. He pulled it out again and moved his fingers.

  “I don’t know, Milla…” he said, “This isn’t a normal tear.”

  “Just go! He’s going to come after us again any second!”

  Jeryn looked back at the pretorian. From the looks of it, he was almost fully recovered. He wasted no further time—he leapt in completely and vanished behind the veil of black.

  “And our suitcases?” Garder mentioned. “We can’t just leave them.”

  “I’ve got them all,” Xavier replied.

  He looked over. Indeed, Xavier’s tired arms were full of carriers.

  “Hey, thanks,” Garder said. “It’s stupid to think about them in a time like this, but we do need them. In you go.”

  Xavier swallowed nervously, and stepped in. Lechi, carrying Tanesh, was next, followed by Shin and Simon. The pretorian had gotten his bearings again and continued his charge. His ax blew by Milla just as she went in herself and closed the portal behind her, leaving Aurra behind.

  The group was once again safe, if just barely. And now a new hidden world, a fourth world, had been discovered as a result of Rivia’s original simple assignment. And this one was the strangest yet.