the writing on the walls. They had left out the details about just how exactly there had been an exchange of birthmarks, suffice to say they said enough without making Asagi blush more than Tancho.
Kohaku and Soko both laughed, holding their injured sides from the pain. Crow threw a chunk of bread at them.
They had described the lake of water underneath them and explained how Adelais, Gabel, and Aelfflaed had been butchered at the water’s edge, though they were none the wiser whose side those three were on. Crow didn’t trust them, and while his argument about the use of arcane lamps was valid, Tancho was undecided. He thought their fear was real. Though perhaps now, they’d never know.
Erelis and Asagi explained how the four grimoires had formed one tome, one giant book filled with runes, rules, rights, and regulations for all kingdoms. As though the book had been divided into four, and each kingdom was given equal knowledge that would only be complete when rejoined. “We have much to learn yet,” Erelis said.
“We knew we had to shut those doorways, for good,” Asagi said. “There was a poem in old runic, and it took some time to decipher. The language is old and stilted. Almost in point form, and first we have to translate the runic to our old tongue, then to something readable today.”
Oaken sipped his wine. “Portalis, in lucem.”
“Doorway, into the light,” Crow translated.
Erelis repeated the chant he and Asagi had used to close the door.
De lumine,
Ad tenebrus,
et semel, et pro omnibus
apage!
Claude ostium, aeternum.
Sirocco explained, “We had to translate it from runic to our old tongue. It doesn’t translate too well today, but it basically reads as ‘From light to darkness, once and for all, be gone. Close the door, forever’.”
“And the powder mixture you threw at the doorways?” Crow asked. “It exploded and took the doorways with it.”
“A mixture,” Erelis replied. “Selenium and radium. Not a safe mixture by any accounts, but effective.”
“I regret sleeping through those science lessons,” Crow said, before he took a long swig of wine and handed the bottle to Tancho.
Tancho sighed, taking the bottle. “I fear we’ll all find ourselves back in the classroom.”
Asagi smiled at that, but then he said, “Maghdlm had written all the alchemical formulas and equations in her book. Deciphering her scrawls then translating them was not easy.”
Tancho growled as he finished a mouthful of wine. “I cannot believe Maghdlm was one of them all along. Waiting for the right time.”
“There are mentions of the Ascii,” Sirocco said, “in the grimoires. Those without shadows.”
“And in that book of fiction,” Asagi added. “Which is not fiction, after all.”
Sirocco nodded. “We can assume our ancestors hid the facts in fiction after the Great Wars so it would not be destroyed.”
“There is so much we don’t know, be it fact or fiction,” Oaken said wearily. “But now we have time to learn.”
“Before, we wondered how can they have no shadows,” Tancho said flatly. “I suggested it was because they have two suns. In that fiction book, it was explained that way.” He shook his head. “But after seeing what they did to those people . . . I now think they had no shadows because they are the darkness.”
No one spoke for a long moment, and Tancho put the bottle to his lips and drank.
“They were more than the darkness,” Crow whispered. “They were devoid of all light. Absolute and infinite darkness.”
“And they cannot return?” Samiel asked.
The four mentors shook their heads. Sirocco smiled. “No. Those doorways to their world are closed for good. We couldn’t reopen them even if we wanted to.”
“There are still the underwater doorways,” Crow said. “We need to find them all and destroy them.”
Erelis nodded. “We will go do that now.”
“There are catacombs down there, filled with bones and history.” Crow let his head fall back as the exhaustion was too much to ignore. “Lies or truth, I don’t know.”
“There are bone blades down there, too,” Tancho added. “From all kingdoms, it would seem. I think our four kingdoms tried to defeat the Ascii before, and the Great War was not us against each other, but against them. Our ancestors were bested by lies and deception.”
“We know better now,” Samiel said, a quiet determination in her voice.
Elmwood bit off a chunk of bread and nodded. “If they thought dividing us all those centuries ago was an effective ploy to conquer us, to make us fear each other, they were wrong. Our differences made us stronger