King Lontonkon looked down at councillor Delqua impatiently as he tapped his fingers on his throne’s armrest. Delqua looked rather pathetic at the moment, certainly changed from his usual stern and cold behavior displayed in the senate’s security council. The king’s face was obscured in the meeting room’s poor illumination, and the throne under him, one of hundreds in the world, was also a bit too small—only adding to his disdain.

  “Unbelievable,” he said simply. “Councillor, you sniveling idiot…”

  “Again, I do apologize, I truly do. The boy tricked me. I thought he was just another tracker. I-I didn’t know he came from Hold.”

  “Either way, he’s likely completed his actual task by now. This is a failure, Councillor. One I hope is not followed by a concurrent.”

  “Of course not, sir…”

  “And what of the Australian portal?”

  “It had been destroyed before the men got there. That leaves only one functional portal left for the time being… sir.”

  “Which makes the claws that much more important. Rivia is no longer a concern, but I fear that he has begun something that can quickly go beyond our control. I’m giving you another chance, as sending out a Pretorian after this pathetic rabble is still too inefficient to abide by.”

  “A… a pretorian, sir? F-for that worthless lot?”

  “Nullify this matter immediately and restore order. Or keep proving your ineptitude, and I shall send the worst of my reserve after you, as well.”

  “The worst? You mean P-Palar? You’re using… him? That monster?”

  “Ha, monster? I only see a loyal genius of the craft. I don’t care how you do it, Councillor, but I want those claws, and I want that group captured before they make matters worse than they already are.”

  “Yes sir. Of course, sir. I’ll have them before the pretorian.”

  “Good. Now, I must attend to business back at the palace. Take good care of City N, Councillor… It is still an important place. I don’t expect you to comprehend why.”

  “Yes sir…”

  “May the circle and system stand.”

  “M-may the circle and system stand… sir.”

  The king stood, returned to his two bodyguards, and escorted himself back to the fibrocator in the corner of the room. He disappeared instantly for City A, and the device shut down. Delqua stood alone in the royal meeting chamber, scheming just how to capture the group—but more importantly, the claws they carried. They had become a dangerous few, and together, they’d likely overload the suppression field.

  The only choice was proceeding in a way that did not amount to further provocation. Rivia’s followers believed that they were safe for the time being in their home City, a feeling of security that could be easily exploited. Delqua quickly left the room to plan for the night’s new event. There was no more time to squander.

  “This is your home?” Simon exclaimed after gazing out at N’s towers from Rivia’s office. “Beautiful. It has some kind of cultural theme, right?”

  “A little Roman, a little Indian. Population is fifty million,” Garder replied as he looked in Rivia’s desk, searching through its many drawers.

  “So many people… Then again, these Cities are huge, aren’t they? But, ‘N’ is pretty far down the alphabet. How’d a good guy like you get stuck here, Garder?”

  Garder laughed and answered, “It’s not that far down. Anything above ‘S’ is considered a good place to live. And we do have a tier system, yeah. ‘A’ is at the top, ‘B’ through ‘E’ are second tier, and so on. ‘N’ here is about the same grade as Cities ‘L’ through ‘O’.”

  “Letters… What plain names you have for your homes.”

  “They’re supposed to promote individualism,” Milla said. “You’re not meant to love your City, but the people in it.”

  “Oh—so kind of like stopping brand loyalty from happening?”

  “That, and every two centuries, Cities are re-ranked and renamed.”

  “Anything over there, Garder?” Shin asked passively as she leaned against one of the room’s columns.

  “I’ve looked through all of the drawers except the locked one, for obvious reasons.”

  “Then pick it,” Shin said, forming a metallic lock pick in her hand.

  “Right, if only it were that easy.”

  “Hm?” Milla wondered.

  “The entire drawer is shrouded in an alchemagi seal. It’s going to be tough to open.”

  “A seal?” Simon asked.

  Jeryn walked over and looked at the odd drawer. He hit it a few times to check it for himself. It didn’t budge or react in the slightest.

  “It’s a special field that blocks all manner of alchemagi from touching it,” Jeryn explained. “It simply negates the kind of energy.”

  “Can’t you just break it open physically or find the key?”

  “It looks pretty tough,” Garder said. “It’s really attached in the desk. But there ought to be a key somewhere, right? Maybe Linsky knows. We don’t want to bust this nice furniture apart.”

  “I’ll ask him,” Milla said. “Rivia left clues for us, right? He’d know that we’d have to have full access to his office.”

  She got up and left to fetch Linsky. In the back of the room, Lechi was beginning to doze off with the three dogs as the sun rose outside.

  “There are twenty-six Cities?” Simon continued the conversation.

  “Yeah.” Garder sat up on the desk. “And you can go to any under your rank, if you’d like. But it usually means a longer wait in line in Hold.”

  “And how’s the whole transfer thing work?”

  Shin shot Simon a look that he picked up on. Garder noticed too, but answered the question anyway.

  “It works a little differently on Aurra. Once you choose a City or are assigned to one after judgment, your soul—the inner you, is tagged onto a baby matching your Earth life’s gender. This happens within six months of conception, and the tag ensures that another soul won’t get in. Still, true split personalities in Aurra do happen, and they’re typically ugly things.”

  “That’s when… two souls are in one body?”

  “Yep, as a rare accident. Now the babies are controlled as best we can. We strive for some perfection, but never alter the genetic structure too much. We never mess with aging since growing old on time is important for the circle. The big difference is that unlike on Earth, you don’t get fully transferred until they put your new body under a certain device. After the spiritual injection—the process should be obvious with a term like that—the baby becomes fully aware. At about the same time the human body is able to retain memories properly, past life recall returns.”

  “Simon, I won’t stop you, but do know that you’re taking all the mystery out of your Earth life by asking these questions…” Shin said from across the room. “If you weren’t a newsoul, it wouldn’t be so bad, but…”

  “I know,” Simon replied. “I would’ve stopped asking questions long ago if I weren’t devoted in helping all of you. I perfectly understand what you’re saying though, Shin.”

  “Just don’t tell anyone else about your birthworld. I’m pretty sure you could all get into big trouble for it.”

  “What’s dying like, anyway, Garder?” Simon wondered.

  “Huh? Why do you ask? You really should wait and see on that one.”

  “I… I um, I don’t know… Maybe so I’m not as afraid of it?”

  “It’s just like passing out, really. You feel very light for a few moments. And before you know it, you wind up in Hold.”

  “Okay. Well, what if you were resuscitated on Earth after a heart attack or something?”

  “You’re a smart kid,” Garder commented. “You think of everything, don’t you? Anyway, there’s a natural interval for such a thing. Your soul will kind of unconsciously linger in place, for maybe a day before it enters the fabric that holds the worlds together. In Aurra though, the physical body fades only about a minute after the release. It’s a little easier to die here due to that. But it’s important, I guess. Helps keep the circle in balance.”

  “And what makes the suns and the synthesizers?”

  Garder looked at Shin, who replied with a shrug. He took a breath and continued, “You really want to get everything answered, don’t you?”

  “It’s hard to stop wanting to know more…”

  “Maybe it doesn’t matter. You learn all this stuff in Aurra’s newsoul schools. Sun creation is a bit of a secret process, so I’m not too sure about them. Powerful mind adepts can probably synthesize them with powerful synthesizers… And as for the synthesizers…” Garder nearly stumbled on the word after saying it for the third time. “They’re one of the few things we can’t create, apart from living things. No, they’re made in a factory. City S is the heaviest supplier of the things. And they come in all sizes and classes. Chefs get ones that only make food. Architects—the builders of Cities, get access to the largest, that can create entire towers.”

  “Ah, I get it. I guess. Mostly.”

  “If you got more, write ‘em down and I’ll respond in a week or two.”

  Simon laughed. “Okay.”

  Milla returned with Linsky at her side, who had clearly only been awake for a short period of time. She led him over the locked drawer.

  “Oh, that one! Yes, yes—I have the key. Do you really need it?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Rivia has important documents for us inside of it.”

  “Okay, then. I’m sure he does. Yes, all right, I’ll go fetch the key for it,” Linsky said and left the room.

  Everyone waited around for a couple minutes until Linsky returned, key in hand. Milla thanked him and quickly took it. With the exception of Lechi, who was nearly asleep on the floor, the group gathered around the desk as Milla carefully opened it.

  Inside was a single item: the journal Xavier had told them about. It had decorated bindings and sturdy paper, making it easy to mistake for an actual book. Milla took it out and scanned the first few pages diligently.

  “It’s a captain’s log,” she explained. “At least, the first part is.”

  “What’s it say?” Garder asked.

  “In Rivia’s Earth life—two lives ago, he was a Japanese sailor… like Xavier suggested. He and his crew sailed into a storm in what is commonly called the Devil’s Sea or Dragon’s Triangle… What happened was beyond scientific reasoning on Earth, but it looks like he’s written down theories.”

  Milla moved into Rivia’s chair and flipped the book around for the others. A detailed sketch depicted a storm-ridden voyage. The sailors were in a panic as they attempted to keep their ship afloat in heavy wind and rain.

  Milla continued, “When they finally cleared the storm, five of the sailors had simply disappeared. None of them were ever recovered.”

  “That’s not all, is it?” Shin questioned.

  “No. This next page tells of what Rivia witnessed…”

  She turned the book over again. Drawn was the ship, surrounded by a very dense fog. Inside the fog were solid black figures that gazed over the ship. Behind them, just barely sketched at all, were wispy towers.

  “Well, that’s creepy looking…” Garder commented.

  “What’s going on in this drawing?” Simon asked.

  Milla read verbatim, “Like the eye of a typhoon, there was suddenly a brief calm. We heard loose objects hit the floor throughout our vessel after being knocked about in the waves. We found ourselves in a still and silent fog. Then, solid black shadows. Terrifying yet amazing—all around us. We could only make out their eyes, or the spaces where they were supposed to be. The temperature dipped for moment. Below freezing. But then the fog lifted, and the storm consumed us again. I’m not sure who else onboard could recall that event. It couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, and the storm we struggled through overtook any other memory of that night.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I have now spent two Aurrian lifetimes going over this perplexing occurrence. I have met with Escellé on several occasions, but even with all of her insight, she had little to offer. I began to shrug off the entire event, much to my own dismay, as a delusion brought on by anxiety. But I knew that there had to be something to explain what happened to us.

  “I had to extend my research to Earth’s collection of the paranormal. Most of her mysteries are unfounded or can be explained once one gains Aurra’s perspective, but I focused my research on two subjects: the triangles, and of ghosts and all of the varying forms they may take.”

  Milla looked over at the paranormal book Xavier had mentioned. In Aurra, Earth’s lingering mysteries were typically ignored and remained unanswered. The large book on unknown phenomenon must have been brought to Rivia’s office from Earth itself. She quickly flipped through the front end and confirmed its origin through its copyright page.

  “It turns out that what I saw could best be described as shadow people. Like ghosts, but even more haunting and rarely encountered. Perhaps nothing more than a delusion brought about by sickness or dementia. Like a fever causes hallucinations and bizarre dreams through a raised body temperature—therefore changing the way chemicals in the brain, all manner of odd things can be encountered when the mind is put into stress.

  “These shadow people typically appear in the corner of one’s eyes, and are almost never seen outright. But when they are, no matter how real the afflicted believes they are, they are overwhelmed with a feeling of dread. This has been reported in sleep paralysis, as well.

  “I believed that there must be some connection in shadow people and ghosts; those once alive, unable to let go of life for some reason. Are they trapped somewhere? And why? How did they get there? It baffled me that ghosts hadn’t been put into research on Aurra. Of all paranormal encounters on Earth, ghosts and how ‘mediums’ may communicate with the dead could prove to be important studies.

  “Is something wrong with the system, I wonder? I’ve long heard about souls getting ‘lost’ between transfers. It’s a terrifying idea, but little more than a children’s tale. It would certainly be nearly impossible to keep a perfectly accurate number of how many successful transfers there are a day in Aurra and Earth, and ensuring that everyone passes through the circle as expected. But if people really are getting lost, even perhaps at the rate of only one or two a day, it’d mean that thousands upon thousands of these souls would be trapped somewhere else. Are they ghosts?

  “I brought this up to Research, but no one had ever performed any studies in the subject. Aurrians, for one reason or another, are less skeptical about ghosts than our Earth brethren, but we don’t exactly accept them as fact, either. Eventually, I brought up the question to the higher-ups—those serving directly under the king. I learned that I was far from the first to wonder about ghosts. They told me not to concern myself. There are never any verified Aurrian sightings of phantoms. No objects that move without explanation, no EVP. Nothing. Few discuss ghosts, and the Guard refuses to research their existence, even with Aurra’s understanding of the circle.

  “I pushed forward, perhaps in part due to my personal experience. I had to find out what exactly a ghost was, if anything, and why they seemed to be a taboo subject among the Guard. The more I researched, the more the Guard demanded that I stop. But I kept on it, in secret.

  “Years passed, and things got to the point where I was getting my hands on classified information. Every time I was invited to an Aurrian Guard meeting or gala at City A, I snuck out with as many reports as I could safely grab. Then I put them back the next time I was there.

  “These documents are all buried deep inside A’s catacombs. Their theft wouldn’t be found unless the king ordered a sweep of every archived file. Still, I was careful on what I took. And eventually, after many years, I finally stumbled upon something. It was a scrap of all things that led to the next step of my research: an order to banish someone to the Fragmented Dimension. I didn’t recognize the name, but I was sure I had never heard of the Guard ‘banishing’ anyone, much less to such a place. Realizing the danger of the note, I didn’t take it with me. Traversing A’s dark catacombs remained a treacherous act, even with my ability to cloak myself.”

  “Cloak himself?” Shin asked. “Wait a minute… is Rivia a solar?”

  “No…” Jeryn said and thought to himself. “He’s a… a silver, I believe. He couldn’t use solar techniques.”

  “But this isn’t specific as to what lifetime he did these things in,” Milla said.

  “Hm?” Garder mumbled.

  “He said he spent two lifetimes researching this Fragmented place, but not which one of those he spent stealing documents in City A.”

  “You have a point,” Jeryn replied. “He might’ve been a solar in his previous life, then. And it may mean he hasn’t taken anything recently.”

  “Anyway, there’s not much more written. He says something about a potentially weakened area of space in the Devil’s Sea that may lead to this Fragmented place. But with the true dimensional power of demirriages gone, he wouldn’t be able to go there. He adds that something else may be needed to open a doorway to this dimension. A demirriage might not do it—but he mentions tearing here. Then it just ends with Rivia promising himself to keep up his research. I wonder what he’s found since then.”

  “Tearing?” Simon replied. “Like what the claws can do, right?”

  “Yes,” Jeryn said. “If I could guess, he left this journal unfinished on purpose, or just started writing it recently. He knows a lot more than only what’s in here, but this is a definite starting place for us.”

  “What do we do, then?” Garder wondered. “Go out to this sea on Earth and try to open up a portal to the Fragmented world?”

  “Hold on…” Milla thought for a moment. “Anyone got a layered map of Earth and Aurra?”

  “Yeah,” Jeryn said.

  He pulled out one of the canisters at his side and opened the scroll that it had held. He laid it out on the desk and flattened it. It was a map of Aurra—and attached to it was a sheet of rigid plastic with Earth on it. When the two sheets were pressed against one another, a perfect dual map of Aurra and Earth could be made.

  “This is what Aurra looks like?” Simon wondered.

  “Sure is,” Garder said. “Yeah, the land masses and oceans are a bit different from Earth’s. We’ve only got two major oceans, four major continents, and one smaller one.”

  Simon looked over the map as Garder pointed out each landmass.

  “The bottom continent is Subarctica. It’s even worse than Earth’s version. Completely intolerable icy wasteland. No one goes there. To the east is Onasia—the big one, shaped like South America tipped sideways. It’s where we are, with D our closest neighbor. Connected by the land bridges here is our longer, narrow partner, Tillethy. Most of Aurra’s lower grade Cities occupy it. One long stretch of them, see? The area with the coiling mountains in the west is where City C is—right in the center of them. All other Cities here are low tier. Z is on the continent, so… yeah.”

  “What’s across the ocean?”

  “Mightoria. That’s the big continent spanning from north to south, with City I in the far north and R just above the Subarctica strait. Lastly, on a large island mass surrounded by Mightoria is Grandis. City B takes up most of the island, with A off to the southwest and a bit cut off from the rest of the world.”

  “Amazing,” Simon said. “I didn’t even know Aurra looked like this before now. I thought it was just a mirrored Earth or something.”

  “N rests just a few miles outside of where Dublin does on Earth. That should give you an idea of where we are right now.”

  While Garder explained Aurra further, Milla had been comparing the landmasses of the two worlds and trying to find a connection between the Triangles. She looked at the Devil’s Sea last and noticed something.

  “Check this out,” she said, lifting the plastic map of Aurra up repeatedly. “Right around the Devil’s Sea location on Aurra is this area of land, on the eastern tip of Onasia, near K. See that?”

  Shin looked. Three peninsulas formed something akin to a trident with its prongs bent. They were pointing to the same place, but if they were aimed at something significant, it didn’t appear on the map.

  “The three points of Onasia,” Shin explained. “There are ancient ruins—towers from an early settlement out on each of those points, I believe. But the area is restricted. Only the Guard can go there.”

  “Look here,” Jeryn added and tapped on where the prongs pointed. “That’s the exact center of Earth’s Triangle. There must be a connection. I think it’s just become evident where we should go next.”

  “We’d have to sneak in using the claws, though. We can’t just get a ride out there in Aurra.”

  “Right,” Garder sighed. “Well, if that really is where we need to visit, I guess we should go ahead and—”

  A knock came from the other side of the twin doors. They opened a moment later, and Linsky walked in.

  “Pardon the interruption, but you have a visitor.”

  “Oh,” Milla replied. “Yes, bring them in.”

  “Right in here, Councillor.”

  “Councillor?” Garder growled.

  Milla, Garder and Shin reached for their swords. If a member of the Guard was after them, they couldn’t attack, but they could still use their weapons to defend themselves and try for an escape. To the twins’ relief, however, it turned out to be Delqua, who had a high position in the City.

  “Oh… Councillor Delqua, hello…” Milla greeted.

  “Yes, greetings.” He faked a smile. “I see that you are tending to Rivia’s research in his absence. He would be happy to hear the news.”

  “What can we do for you, Councillor?” Jeryn faked politeness.

  He cuffed his hands. “I’m here for an apology, and an invitation.”

  “An apology?” Milla wondered.

  “Oh, yes… You see, it was I who assigned a Guard unit to come after you that day you left in the portal…”

  “Y-you?”

  “But it was simply a misunderstanding. Rivia must’ve forgotten to receive proper clearance that day. Of course, we must protect our portals, so I performed my responsibilities. Had I known you were assigned by Rivia himself, it never would’ve happened. I’m glad to see that you’re all safe. And that you’ve picked up some new… friends.” He slowly grinned.

  “I see,” Milla said, just ever so slightly relieved.

  “Yes, so I assure you: the whole Guard isn’t after your group. It was just a simple… mistake. A one-time mistake, that’s all. As to why I’m here, well… Well, I would like to invite you to a dinner party tonight. It’s in the City’s administration center. As you know, such events are uncommon… We’d be honored if you could attend in Rivia’s place.”

  “A-all of us?”

  “Of course. I couldn’t choose just one of you. That would be rude.”

  “I don’t know,” Garder said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do…”

  “It would be an honor for the City if you attended,” Delqua strongly emphasized the word the second time he said it. “I insist upon it.”

  The group looked at one another.

  “What’s being celebrated?” Jeryn questioned.

  “Nothing in particular… It’s just an old fashioned get-together—nothing more. You’ve been working so hard for the past days. Why not take a deserved break? Rivia wouldn’t want to see you all get overworked.”

  “Very well,” Milla answered suddenly. “We’ll be there, Councillor.”

  “Oh, good—thank you. I will see you tonight then. Good luck on your research. Farewell for now.”

  With that, Delqua quickly left, closing the doors behind him.

  “Milla…” Garder muttered.

  “We don’t have much of a choice,” she said. “If we were formally invited, we’d be under even more possible suspicion if we didn’t show up.”

  “She’s right,” Shin replied. “I don’t like this… at all, but we should attend. We don’t know what the Guard does, or if they’ve done something to Rivia, and we don’t want to act like we’re hiding something.”

  “Okay…” Jeryn agreed. “But be prepared for a hasty exit. I suppose we have little choice, trap or not.”

  A few light taps against glass suddenly echoed through the office. The group turned to see Verim at the windows, hanging from a vine and upside down. Everyone looked at him curiously for a moment before Shin went up and let him in. He leapt through, his sword once again on his back, its sharp end facing dangerously outward.

  “Verim?” Shin asked. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Just thought I’d drop by and see what you guys have found.”

  “How’d you get past security?” Garder wondered.

  “Building’s surrounded by a grass field. That’s enough to work with.”

  “Oh… you’re a plant, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Though I prefer the sword to alchemagi.”

  “You…” Milla scowled at the boy. “I should start the formalities by punching you in the face for what you did.”

  “Hey, sis, take it easy. Verim’s a good guy,” Garder replied.

  “Really? He left you bleeding on a rock. That… hurt me, too.”

  “I’m sorry, Milla,” he apologized sincerely. “I had little choice. It’s not easy forcibly bringing someone to Hold’s kingdom for the first time. If it makes any difference, he fought valiantly. It was exciting for me.”

  “Yeah, well…”

  “I understand your anger. But perhaps we can be friends now?”

  Milla crossed her arms and looked over Verim indifferently.

  “Verim, why are you here?” Shin asked again.

  “Maybe I just want to help you out some.”

  “We’ve already got help. I mean, look—they even have an Earth boy with them now.”

  Verim looked at Simon and smiled, “You’re from Earth, hm?”

  “I guess, yeah,” Simon replied.

  “I see. Interesting! What interesting company you keep, Miss Milla.” Verim noticed the dogs in the corner, which Lechi was speaking with. “Doggies!” he gasped. “Oh, I love doggies!”

  He ran over and hit the floor with a slide. The two Danes started licking his face, and he seemed overjoyed for a few moments.

  “Wait, don’t tell me…” Garder mumbled.

  “Yep. He’s an animalect, too,” Shin said.

  “Why’s he act like that? He’s like a jungle boy or something.”

  “Well, he pretty much was once. He’s a bit… jumpy, I know, but he’s actually very intelligent and softhearted.”

  “Softhearted? He seemed pretty savage when he was fighting me.”

  “I know. That’s the way he acts. But I’m actually colder than he is.”

  “Saw Delqua talking to you,” Verim called out. “He’s a bad man, you know. Has connections with the king. Shouldn’t listen to him. He was the one I tricked, used him to find you. He’s very bad, and also kind of stupid.”

  “He invited us to a dinner tonight,” Milla explained. “And we pretty much have to go. We don’t want to raise further doubts about us.”

  “I see, I see. Then I will go, too.”

  “Y-you?” Garder stuttered.

  “Yes. To protect you. Don’t worry, I can clean up and look very different than I am now. He will not recognize me.”

  “But why would we need you to protect us?” Jeryn questioned.

  “Look… There’s something you should know about Verim,” Shin said. “For reasons unknown, he has the ability to break providence.”

  “What? Do you mean he can attack Guardsmen?”

  “Yes. He can kill anyone in Aurra. We don’t know why the Guard can’t protect themselves, but it must be due to a flaw in the suppression—Verim resists its influence. He is as free in Aurra as he is on Earth.”

  “Why?” Milla asked. “How can he do that? It’s not even supposed to be possible. I’ve never heard of that happening before.”

  “We don’t know for sure. But it’s why we use him often. He’s the only one we know that can do what he can. Still… he rarely uses his ability. As I said, he has a good heart, and will only kill if he needs to. In Garder’s case, it was an assignment. In any other, it would out of self-defense.”

  “He’s still very dangerous, then,” Jeryn stated.

  “He could be. It’s a great power, but I’m usually afraid to see him in Aurra. If he dies here and loses his current life completely, he might lose the ability along with it. It’s important for us, but we refuse to use Verim as a weapon to assassinate whomever we please. If that were the case, we’d be no better than the Guard. But, yes,” Shin sighed, “it is very unusual for someone to be able to break providence like that.”

  Verim was having a discussion with both Lechi and the three dogs. Even with his odd, perpetual smile, Garder could tell that he was happy for the time being.

  “He said he’d barely be recognizable if he cleaned up?” Garder wondered. “What’d he mean by that?”

  “You’ll see, but it certainly takes a while. It’s already past lunch…” Shin checked her pocket watch. “We’d better get started. Verim! Get over here—we need to get you ready for the dinner tonight.”

  “It’ll just be a trap, you know,” he called back.

  “That might be the case, but they’ll come after us anyway if we don’t go, don’t you think? Now come with me—you know this takes a while.”

  “Very well, Lady Xin,” he said jokingly. “Bye, puppers.”

  “Why don’t we all take a break and meet back here in six hours?” Shin said.

  “What about the journal? Should we leave it?” Simon asked.

  “We’d better take it with us. Just make sure it’s hidden.”

  With that, Shin grabbed Verim’s hand as if he were a child and left the room.

  “Weird kid,” Garder mumbled.

  “But to break providence…” Jeryn replied. “He’s more powerful than we can appreciate. Of course, the ability to do that alone means little if you can’t actually take down a Guardsman.”

  “Oh, he could,” Garder assured. “He rivals the Guard’s best knights. I don’t know about his alchemagi, but he definitely has skill with a sword.”

  “So now we’re going to a dinner party?” Lechi asked near Milla.

  “Yes. We just need to be careful about it,” Milla replied.

  “That boy seemed troubled. I could tell from his voice when he was talking to Vlad and Kerchief. He acts happy, but… I don’t know. He’s mysterious. In a scary or sad way.”

  “No kidding,” Garder agreed. “But it looks like we’ve got yet another team member. Man. If Rivia sent all of us out at the same time originally…”

  “It would’ve made this all seem a lot more serious,” Milla pondered. “What an odd group we’ve made. Aurrians, Holdians, an Earthen. And now we’re all together on some strange, elusive mission put together by an old man who has been conspiring against the Guard for lifetimes…”

  “Yep. And it’s probably going to get stranger from here on out. It’d just be nice if the old guy was here to point us in the right direction.”

  Milla nodded and tucked the general’s journal safely into her side pack. The group then split off for some much-needed relaxation before the party that night, which they were already dreading.