you know what we did? We took her to each of our kingdoms. We gave her a guarded escort to the four ends of our kingdoms.”
“For what?” Elmwood asked. “What did she need?”
“I don’t know,” Crow answered. “She did collect her compounds. The potassium, lanthanum, vanadium, indium.”
“That doesn’t explain how we found her badly beaten,” Samiel said. “She was near dead.”
Crow nodded. “We assumed she was the victim. I’m beginning to think we rescued the wrong person.”
“Who was the right person?” Tancho asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. But we need to get to Aequi Kentron and find out. No more waiting, no more playing. There are too many unanswered questions, and let’s not forget an entire battalion of strange creatures walked into this very castle and used that doorway.”
Tancho nodded and turned to Asagi and Erelis. “We’re going to need those element components. The potassium, lanthanum, vanadium, indium. We need to open that door.”
Elmwood grinned. “Kicking arse in broad daylight. I like it.”
Crow wanted to practise opening the doorway before doing it for real. Better to fumble the opening to his Northlands than to Aequi Kentron. And just as well, because the first time the circle sparked to life but then fizzled out before it opened. Giving Maghdlm a warning shot wasn’t in their plans for surprise.
They only had one chance to get this right.
But it worked the second time, and they all stepped through briefly to alert Crow’s men to have the army ready at the gate. Erelis, Asagi, Sirocco, and Oaken would see the Eastlands and Southlands were told the same, then go back to studying the ancient books. They each said goodbye to their mentors, and Tancho felt strange saying goodbye to Asagi this time. It felt too final for his liking, but he pushed those feelings down as they stepped into Northlands.
Tancho needed to be focused.
But both Samiel and Elmwood stared out the windows of Crow’s castle in disbelief at the golden sun setting over the majestic mountains and snow, even though their stay was all too brief. “It’s beautiful, is it not?” Tancho asked. “When this is all done, we will see more, and we will be more, yes?”
Samiel gave a hard nod. “I would like that.”
“I as well,” Elmwood agreed.
Crow joined them, having refixed the arrows on the compass to point to the centre circle. “Are we ready to do this?” Everyone nodded, and then he turned to Tancho. “Are you?”
Tancho gave him a smile. “Yes. Whatever happens, we stay together. You and me.”
“Together,” he whispered. Then he took some of the element components and sprinkled the compass. Purple sparks lit the room as the circle spun to life. It opened just enough for them to see into. Tancho could make out a chaos of movement at the doorway opening.
“Now!” Crow yelled, and Samiel and Elmwood threw in a smoke bomb each, and Crow closed the doorway before they exploded.
And then they waited.
The few minutes it would take the smoke to clear dragged like hours.
Tancho took in the faces around him. Elmwood, dressed in his green leathers, his axe at the ready. Kearmore and Cardwick were just as big as him, just as broad, with short brown hair and square jaws, and just as handsome. They had axes and bows and arrows, blades strapped to their legs.
Samiel stood tall and proud, her long braids tied back, her bow in her hand, quiver at her back. Her two guards, Addax and Fazluna, mirrored their queen, the three of them dressed all in russet red.
Karasu and Kohaku, Tancho’s closest friends, stood beside him. They wore their white armoured vests over their white uniforms, matching Tancho’s. Kohaku’s long white hair was pulled back from his face; Karasu’s black hair was braided. Tancho had tied the top of his hair back to keep it from his face.
Tancho noticed that Karasu and Soko stood a little closer to each other now, and they quite often would murmur things to each other no one else could hear. He liked Soko and in a way he hoped Karasu did find happiness with him. She deserved it. Soko was roguish and charming, always with a smile, perhaps the opposite of Karasu. But just like her, he was also skilled with a sword and dagger and dedicated to his king and country. And there Soko stood, dressed in his black leather and armours with his sword in hand, ready to defend everyone who stood alongside him.
Tancho had once joked that whoever won over