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    The plan, it turned out, was simple. Emiril worked in one of the libraries at Yelena’s keep and had access to the many of the side entrances. He’d let them into the keep where they’d force their way to the artifact and then destroy it. No one said how they would destroy such a powerful magical artifact nor where the artifact was located within the keep.


    To Sarien, the plan sounded shaky at best, but they assured him everything would work out. The keep was a little more than a day’s journey away, in a sprawling city called Yelnia. Viv explained that Yelena renamed their capital after herself when she came into power. Myn promised that as long as Sarien didn’t try using his magic, no soldiers would be sent after them.


    As they walked on the main road toward Yelnia, Sarien noticed that men and women pulled their own wagons. It was if horses did not exist in this world. He wondered in what other ways was Malac different than Maydian.


    "How many mages are there?" he asked Myn. "What kind of magic do you have here?"


    She put a finger to her lips and glanced around nervously. "You never know who’s listening. We’ll talk later."


    At dusk, they made camp on an unused plot of grassland near the road. It was warm enough that they didn’t need tents. Instead, they sat while Haen roasted some unknown type of meat over the fire.


    "Can we talk now?" Sarien asked.


    Myn shrugged. "We don’t know how many mages exist. The walking corpse here," she pointed to Emiril, "reads a bunch when he should be working. Why don’t you tell him, Emiril?"


    Emiril looked bored. "I don’t want to."


    Myn sighed. "Fine. You’re born with power here, but it’s uncommon. Perhaps one in ten thousand possesses any kind of power. Far fewer are strong enough make any difference."


    "Yet, you all still found each other. That’s impressive."


    Myn shifted.


    Viv cleared her throat. "How are your injuries, boy?"


    Sarien rolled his shoulder. It felt stiff, but fine. He knew his injured thigh was much better. It barely hurt even after a day of walking. "That salve of yours is the stuff of miracles."


    If he didn’t know any better, it looked like the old lady blushed. "There is power to be had even without magic."


    After eating, they all settled in for the night. Daisy snored next to the fire. Sarien thought of Goslin and the others. What would they be doing now that they’d saved Tyralien? And what of his father? Had he found Sarien’s mother? He reached into his pocket and withdrew his mother''s book. It was slim and well-worn, like she used it often. Sarien flipped through the pages. All the pages, except a few at the end, were covered in her writing. On a whim, he started reading the last page.


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    I did not think I would return to this book, but the pregnancy will soon be over and we will have put a child into this small world. These moments should be filled with joy, but it is hard not to show Ein how my heart is breaking. Once dear Sarien or Serinne is born, I must leave. The stranglehold on my wayfaring eased off a few months ago, inexplicably, and The Gatekeepers must be confronted. Are they perhaps expecting me? Nevertheless, I must depart Maydian. Something is very wrong out there, and I must learn more.


    Ein. I know you will find and read this. Know that I did not wish to deceive you, dear husband. If all goes well, I will return before our child is old enough to remember my absence. You are desperate to see the slayers, I know, but one of us has to stay by his side. Keep this book safe for my return.


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    Sarien stared at the page. What had gone wrong to keep his mother away? He placed the book back inside his pocket. He couldn’t make himself start at the beginning, not tonight.


    Instead, he turned his attention to the strange device his father gave him. When the glassy square lit up, it meant his father needed him. It sat there in the palm of his hand, dull and lifeless. Before he knew it, he fell asleep clutching both his mother''s book and his father''s artifact.


    The group entered Yelnia the next morning. With a gate wide enough to drive four wagons side by side, they entered without delay, despite the mass of people milling about like a confused flock of sheep.


    "Won’t we need weapons?" Sarien whispered to Haen, who walked beside him.


    The squat, wide man nodded. "We have a stash prepared inside the keep."


    "What about Yelena?"


    Freyn was first to answer, and she almost sounded angry. "We have a way to deal with her. Just stick with the plan."


    "And be ready to take us away from this place," Myn added. She stared straight ahead, refusing to even glance in Sarien''s direction.


    No one mentioned anything about Daisy, so he figured dogs were commonplace enough in Malac as to not attract attention. The dog padded along, content to sniff around and get pets from delighted children.


    Yelnia dwarfed the largest city Sarien had ever seen, Tyralien. It took them hours to reach a second inner wall and by the time they stopped outside the massive keep, Sarien’s feet were sore. Daisy flopped onto the ground panting, his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.


    Myn wrapped her arms around herself. "Well, this is it."


    "Can you feel it?" Viv asked, looking at Sarien.


    "Feel what?"


    "Her evil presence," Emiril muttered. The rest of the group looked apprehensive, glancing at one another.


    Nerves, Sarien figured. "Don’t worry. We have your plan. I’m sure we will be escape Malac soon."


    Myn nodded and Emiril unlocked the door before them. Sarien followed the others into a dark hallway.


    Someone struck a match, and a lantern came to life. Emiril passed it to Viv and lit another until everyone held a lantern.


    "Well, we’re here," he said.


    "Viv, where do we go?" Myn asked, her voice low in the dead quiet of the unadorned stone hallway.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "We go up," the old lady whispered. "The artifact will be near Yelena’s personal chambers."


    "That’s vague," Sarien said with a frown. "What do we do if we''re discovered?"


    "Enough of that," Freyn hissed, pushing Emiril forward. "Let’s go."


    Haen walked behind Sarien and leaned in to whisper, "She’s just a little on edge, don’t worry. There is a stash of weapons up ahead. Servants don’t wear specific uniforms, so we’ll blend in. If we’re stopped, let us do the talking."


    "Right," Sarien said, feeling a tad better about the situation. Things had moved fast since he tumbled into this world, a little too fast for his taste. Perhaps he shouldn’t complain when things were going his way for once.


    The impenetrable darkness of the hallway resurfaced a memory of his imprisonment in the dungeon of the Burning Tower of Magi. He shuddered at the memory of Madge standing there in the dark, plotting on the many ways she would dissect his body.


    Myn turned and smiled at Sarien. "Don’t worry, we’ll be done here soon."


    The hallway ended, and they emerged into a small chamber. Emiril pulled a cloth sack out from behind a wooden bench and opened it. Daggers. Sarien blinked in surprise. They’d prepared daggers smaller than the ones Lana used.


    "These are the weapons?" Sarien asked, holding one up in its sheath. It looked more like a knife one would find in a kitchen. "You don’t have a spear tucked away somewhere?"


    Myn slipped one of the daggers under her tunic. "All weapons are outlawed if you’re not one of Yelena’s soldiers."


    "Right," he said. If he was going to make a habit of coming into new worlds, he needed to learn not to make assumptions. "I’ll make do."


    "There are no soldiers inside these walls," Emiril grunted, his voice tired and ragged. "These are for threatening nosy servants and the like."


    "No soldiers? There’s no one protecting or guarding Yelena and her rooms?" Sarien asked, astounded.


    "Yelena needs no protection," Haen muttered. "Right Viv?"


    The old lady held a dagger close to her face, squinting to get a better look at it. "Saw her fight once," was all she said.


    Emiril moved for the only door out of the chamber. "Follow me."


    "Wait, what can Yelena do? How do we defeat her?" Sarien asked.


    Freyn answered without turning as she exited after Emiril. "We don’t."


    "This only works if we stay out of her sights," Haen added.


    Sarien reminded himself that he had survived perilous situations before. This was no different than the others only that, well, he could no longer rely on his magic. His twin powers churned and resonated with his increasingly quick heartbeats. They felt no different from back in Maydian and however this artifact worked in blocking magic, he couldn’t detect a difference. If not for the fact that any attempt to use his magic would alert Yelena to his presence, he would have tried to manifest his white flame.


    Instead, he silently followed the others.


    The winding corridors and stairwells were difficult to follow, but Emiril didn''t hesitate. Servants scurried back and forth with harried expressions and Sarien soon stopped expecting them to stop and question their presence. Though, that didn’t stop the rest of his companions from throwing nervous glances everywhere, many of them upward.


    "Are we close?" Sarien whispered to Myn.


    She nodded.


    After a short flight of stairs, the group found themselves standing outside a set of ornate wooden doors that looked solid enough to stop a marauding army. As promised, Sarien hadn’t seen a single guard or soldier on their short journey through the keep, and the room with the artifact was no exception. Sarien didn’t like it, but he didn’t have time to voice his concern.


    "We’re here," Emiril said. Without waiting for another beat, he walked up to the door and unlocked it.


    "You have key here too?" Sarien asked, surprised.


    Instead of answering, Emiril pushed the door open with his shoulder and went inside. "Come on," he said, urging them to follow.


    They all poured into the room, and Haen gave Sarien a gentle shove so he would follow. Once inside, Haen shut the door with a heavy thud.


    It was all bare rock except a red carpet covering the entirety of the expansive floor. It was easily as big as the throne room in Tyralien and its only feature was a chair that didn’t look all that different from a throne at first glance.


    To Sarien''s surprise, the chair was occupied. He froze.


    "Is that Yelena?" he asked, everything inside him screaming for him to flee.


    "It’s the artifact," Viv said.


    "But it’s a person," Sarien said.


    Freyn shook her head. "Look closer."


    Haen and Myn kept glancing at the door, where Daisy sat panting happily, his tail wagging and beating against the floor.


    The light from the lanterns didn’t quite reach the chair. Sarien took a step forward and then another. No, it wasn’t a person.


    "Is it some sort of creature?" Sarien asked, moving even closer.


    A creature shaped like a human sat on the chair, motionless. Its head was wide and leathery, with a bright iridescent sheen like a fish. The color of its skin was a deep orange, and striations of red ran along its naked body. Two small beady eyes stared back at him from a face without a mouth and only two long slits for a nose. A spark of intelligence flickered behind its dark eyes.


    Just looking at that featureless face made Sarien take another step forward and then another. Complex emotions radiated from the being, and Sarien felt he understood some of it. Helplessness. Impotent rage.


    A prisoner.


    Metal bands etched with glowing complex scripts encased its wrists, ankles, and neck. Sarien looked closer but could not decipher what the markings meant.


    "Come on!" he shouted. "We have to free it!"


    He removed his dagger and began scratching at the strange markings. Defacing the script was their only option.


    It wasn’t until he heard the yelp from Daisy that Sarien knew that something was very wrong. He stopped hacking at the glowing scripts and turned, knife still clutched in his hand. A woman in a regal, deep blue dress stood grasping Daisy around the neck, lifting him with one hand like he weighed nothing at all.


    "What is happening?" Sarien asked, confused.


    The others kneeled in front of this woman. Their eyes were all cast to the floor except for Myn who looked at him worriedly.


    "You’re noisy for a wayfarer," the woman said, her voice steady and heavy with authority.


    Sarien held the small dagger in front of him. "Let my dog go!"


    Yelena’s flawless face twisted into an amused grimace. "You are powerless here, wayfarer."


    She turned to Myn and the others. "You have done well, little birds." She


    turned to the creature in the chair. "Release the bonds on their feeble powers when they leave the keep."


    Sarien cursed himself for being so stupid. It was a trap all along. That’s what he deserved for being so naive.


    In a fit of rage and betrayal, he called forth his black flame. The power surged out of him, and black flames billowed out of the palm of his hand toward Yelena, whose eyes flew open in surprise. Just as they were about to strike, the flames bent and shot away, heading back for Sarien. In the last moment, it diverted and struck the being in the chair.


    Sarien tried to extinguish his flame, but he couldn''t let the power go. He stood helplessly as his flames drained out of his body and into the creature trapped in the chair.


    Yelena’s face turned into a mask of rage. "What is this? You said the worm was a wayfarer. What use do I have of black flames?"


    Sarien looked down at his hand in astonishment. The flames weren’t being drained, they were being taken from him.


    Yelena threw Daisy aside, and the dog cried out as he hit the ground, before scurrying away.


    Sarien felt the place inside him where his black flame resided shrink and disappear. His white flames broke free and filled him until not a speck of black remained. Sarien couldn’t believe it. His black flames were gone. He wasn’t a slayer anymore.


    "He came out of nowhere!" Viv whined. "Myn saw him, didn’t we?"


    "We did. I promise!" Myn confirmed.


    "A wayfarer is a traveler, not a wielder of black flames."


    "You!" she shouted, turning back to Sarien. "What are you, and how did you come to Malac?"


    Sarien stood there, stunned, then slowly turned his eyes to the Yelena. He gritted his teeth, then charged straight for her. "I am the last person you’ll ever see!"


    Yelena flicked her wrist in disgust, and he crashed back into the chair on top of the trapped creature. "Taste your own disgusting power, little troublemaker."


    Sarien gaped as black flames swirled from the trapped creature’s hand, billowing strong enough to suck light from the air around it.


    A powerful wave of regret emanated from the creature. Before Sarien could react, the flames touched his skin. Darkness enveloped him.


    He heard Yelena''s voice fading away. "One of you will dispose of his corpse. For now, let’s see you properly rewarded for your failures, little birds."