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    Ein and I are drawn together like the dark light of his void and the bright wayfaring coursing through me. If we were to manifest our powers in this close confinement, they would touch, and I dare not think what that would bring. Forbidden beyond the meaning of the word. No one knows the reason, but the law is undeniable.


    As I put pen to paper, we huddle in a baker’s shop in the middle of the night, having barely made it through ranks of Eldian conscripts and hundreds of pyromancers set on our destruction. War rages around Eldsprak’s capital, but we must trust our allies to endure while we hold Eld accountable for his terrible actions. It ends tonight. If this is the last word in this book, know that we did our best. Tonight, we make a god tremble.


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    Sarien found the person he’d been looking for sitting on the ground, next to a small two-person tent, by the edge of the allied pyromancers’ camp. They were on a hill overlooking the vast field of grass where the entirety of the combined Maydian forces were settled, not far from the burning tower of firemagi.


    "Tre?" Sarien asked.


    The boy was unrecognizable with his haunted eyes and thin face. Garbed in the clothes of a messenger boy, no one would think him a pyromancer, and a powerful one at that.


    "Tremalian, the Fourth of High Valley, House Reyna and Eldborn in the realm of Eldsprak!" Sarien barked when the boy did not react to his first inquiry.


    The boy jumped and his gaze focused. Startled, he looked up. "Sarien?"


    "How are you, Tre?” Sarien sat down next to the boy. "Heard you made friends with Lana and Wade."


    He frowned. "Lana mostly scowls at me, but Wade is fun." A shadow of his old grin swept across his face, but it disappeared quickly. "Never thought I’d see you again."


    Sarien looked down at Tre’s hands in his lap. They were trembling. "Adventuring came a little earlier than expected, did it?"


    Tre said nothing.


    "You don’t have to keep doing this, you know. It’s fine if you want to stop."


    "It’s too late for that." Tre’s haggard face looked beyond his years, but the way he sat curled in on himself displayed his childlike vulnerability.


    "It’s not. It''s never too late," Sarien said. "Do you have family anywhere? I can send you to them."


    Tre shook his head. "My village is overrun. I asked. Wouldn’t be going back, anyway. I’m needed here. I’m strong, remember?"


    "I remember," Sarien said, gently.


    A pyromancer with a few years on Sarien approached, his clothes a patchwork of different pieces of fabric from ruined uniforms and clothing. None of their pyromancers wore red anymore.


    "Tremalian?" the pyromancer asked. "It’s time."


    Sarien put a hand on Tre as he rose. "Where are you going?"


    Tre seemed to regain some of his vigor and pulled free from Sarien’s grip. "Practice. We’re working together in formation so we can be more effective against the rhinn and monsters."


    Sarien stood. "Remember that you don’t have to keep doing this if you don’t want to."


    "I want to," Tre said defiantly, posing with one fist up to the sky and the other on his hip. Sarien hid his smile as he thought about their time in the tower as embers. Deep inside, the boy hadn''t changed. "I’m going to become a legendary hero, like Ivan. Just you wait and see!"


    With that, the boy ran off. The other pyromancer gave Sarien a shrug before following. The energy in Tre’s voice and his jerky movements were the same as last Sarien had seen the boy. He just wished he’d seen the same spark in his eyes.


    Later that same day, after having held a gateway open for Tomford and his steady stream of Vatners, and helping the Eldian leader, Landé, move troops around through more gateways, Sarien sat with a thud in one of the free chairs placed in a ring out in the open sunshine. He felt wrung out, his white flame stuttering inside him.


    His friends gathered, along with Thys, Wade, and Landé, and a number of his men. It took them quite a while to share the information they’d gathered or gleaned during their respective adventures. Sarien explained a little about his findings with the wayfaring but kept it short and vague as the others wouldn’t understand the extent of it. Thys added his knowledge of the Priests of Wyndemir and apparent rituals to speed their god’s arrival. Goslin spoke of how he saw the priest''s eyes turn purple and their creation of monstrosities.


    Heylien squeezed in an apology about his deceit, and his allegiance to Landé and the resistance. To no one’s surprise, Goslin forgave him without preamble, and everyone else murmured their agreement, Sarien included.


    Thys had found more rhinn allies and sent them north to what he assumed were Eldian allies, and Goslin looked uncomfortable when he realized they’d been sent to his brother’s army.


    Emeryn told them about Taera''s existence and her control over the growers. She spoke about their retreat to the dark continent. The idea that one of the gods remained living set the group on edge. Their alarm heightened when Sarien revealed that none of the gods were really dead, only imprisoned.


    “Do you think Taera will find and release them?” Landé asked Emeryn, once everyone regained their senses.


    She shrugged. “How would I know?”


    “Unlikely,” Sarien answered. “Even if she is powerful, I don’t think she has the ability. According to my father, no one can release them. Except me."


    Some of the dark looks from Landé''s men turned on Sarien, making him realize that it might have been a mistake revealing that tidbit of information.


    "That’s it, then," Landé said with an air of finality. "We have to deal with Gatling of House Steerian, the priests of Wyndemir, the continued onslaught of monstrous creatures, and the rhinn forces."


    "And Wyndemir himself,” Kax added, holding up a finger.


    "And Wyndemir," Landé agreed.


    "And Taera?" Kax asked, holding up a second finger.


    Emeryn gave a quick shake of her head. "No, I don’t think so. Not in the short term, at least."


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Landé waved his hand, and an aide stepped into the circle with a large map. He rolled it out.


    Sarien leaned in but couldn’t get a sense of what he was seeing.


    "Fyrie," Landé said, "and the surrounding areas where the main branch of the rhinn forces are stationed. This is where they open their gateways and launch their operations. This is where they keep all their reinforcements."


    "We’re finally taking the fight to them?" Wade asked, obviously happy about the fact.


    “We are,” Landé said. “It is time. We’ll be moving out as soon as we’re done here. My commanders will rendezvous with you Loftians, Vatners, geomancers, and the rhinn so you’re all informed of the plan. In short, we’ll go to the Eldian capital and overwhelm them. A small force will be dispatched to deal with the priesthood. I was hoping you would take charge of that, Kax."


    Kax looked up from the map. "I’m not much of a leader."


    "I’d like to go," Thys said.


    Landé eyed him for a long moment before nodding his assent. "Bring however many you’ll need. I’m trusting you with perhaps the most important part of this mission, rhinn. Don''t fail."


    Thys stiffened but nodded. "Lana, Wade, will you join me? Perhaps the healer?"


    Lana grunted in agreement, but both Wade and Tomford shook their heads.


    "I’m not one for stealth," Wade said. "Besides, I need to lead the Loftians."


    "I will be of more use on the field of battle," Tomford said.


    Thys obviously didn’t agree with Tomford’s assessment but did not argue. "Kax, Lana, and me against the entire priesthood then."


    "It’s not numbers we need," Kax said. "Moving without being seen will be impossible with a bunch of soldiers at our back."


    "It’s settled," Landé said.


    He was about to speak further when a messenger rushed into the circle, disturbing the map. "Sorry, but we received word of a rhinn army approaching from the north."


    "Show us." Landé commanded.


    The young man got down on his hands and knees, crawling to reach a spot on the map. "Here."


    "That’s just a day from here," Goslin said.


    "The gathered rhinn here will fight under the Loftian banner. Treat them well, Wade." Thys turned to Sarien. "Can you send us to Fyrie?"


    "No," Landé said. "I’ll need him to send us to survey the approaching army."


    Kax pulled on Thys’s sleeve. "Follow me, we have a rhinn traveler captured in one of the tents."


    A malicious grin spread across Thys’s face, and he followed.


    Lana glanced around the circle with a nervous smile. "I guess we’ll see each other after this is all over. Take care."


    Emeryn stood and threw her arm around Lana, hugging her tight. "You better take care of yourself, or I’ll be angry with you."


    "I’ll do my best," Lana said, hugging Emeryn back before disappearing into the crowd after Kax and Thys.


    Kax and Lana would be their best chance at eradicating the priesthood, Sarien knew, and Thys looked competent enough. Sarien just wished there were more people going with them.


    He’d go himself, if he didn’t have other, even more, pressing matters to attend. Wyndemir. The matter of the approaching god would fall to him. Not because he had the first idea how to defeat a god, but there wasn’t anyone else. No one else possessed his abilities. The thought made him sick.


    Wyndemir’s approach through the wayfaring twisted everything around the god, and Sarien’s knowledge was woefully inadequate. He would need to scour his mother’s book for more information.


    People were standing and getting ready to leave, but Goslin pulled Sarien aside, dragging him to where Emeryn waited.


    "You didn’t mention anything about how we will defeat a god," Goslin said.


    Emeryn continued where Goslin left off. "Can you use the black flame to trap Wyndemir? I assume that’s what happened to Eld and the others?"


    "I don’t know how," Sarien admitted.


    "So, what do we do?" Goslin asked.


    "There’s a resonance in the white flame, wayfaring, that I need to explore. There’s a chance I can keep Wyndemir out if other wayfarers are trying to bring him here."


    "Can I help?" Goslin asked.


    "Not this time, I’m afraid.”


    Kax came running across the field with Lana and Thys close behind. "My pet traveler is dead!" he shouted.


    Landé came over. "Dead? What happened?"


    "I killed him," Kax said.


    Lana caught up. "He had a tattoo on his forehead. And when he opened his eyes, they were purple, and he began frothing at the mouth." Lana gasped, trying to catch her breath. "He broke his restraints. We had no choice."


    One of Kax’s blades, materialized out of nowhere, and Kax pointed it into the air. "I put him out of his misery."


    Sarien didn’t know what he’d done to Kax down in those watery tunnels below Tyralien, but the changes were spreading. His skin drew in the light around, encasing him in a strange haze.


    "Anyway," Kax said, making the blade disappear while ignoring Landé’s exasperation. "Could you send us to Fyrie, Sarien?"


    "Right now?"


    "Daylight is burning."


    A silvery light appeared in front of Kax, but when Sarien moved to open it, he felt the now familiar resistance. Frowning, he asserted his will, straining. Little by little, Sarien forced the gateway open, sweat running down his back. There was a sense to the wayfaring, like it was being manipulated. Wyndemir’s coming was tearing it apart, creating chaos where order was of the utmost importance. But that wasn’t all. Someone, or several people, were working against him, their wills attempting to block him from the wayfaring.


    He would not allow it. It took everything he had, but Sarien finally forced it open wide enough for someone to squeeze through.


    "What’s wrong?" Tomford asked.


    Sarien spoke in short, clipped words. "Wyndemir. He’s close."


    Thys frowned. A gateway the size of a person’s fist opened up before him, and he visibly strained to increase its size.


    "There is a resistance," he grunted, trying to force the opening wider.


    Sarien sensed a connection when he looked at Thys’s gateway. Curious, he reached out a hand and concentrated, and found that he could touch it with his own wayfaring, despite already holding a gateway of his own open.


    Thys’s eyes widened in surprise, and his gaze shot to Sarien when the gateway suddenly grew a little wider. "What did you do?"


    "Helped," Sarien said, in wonder. This was new. He’d fought against someone else’s power when closing a gateway, but never tried to help another open one.


    "Didn’t know you could do that," Thys murmured, looking between Sarien’s gateway and his own.


    "Perhaps we should get going, before someone in Fyrie notices a wide-open gateway?" Lana asked.


    "Yes," Thys said, deep in thought.


    "Thys," Sarien said, pointing to his own gateway. "Help me widen this one. Reach out and add your will to mine."


    "I can’t travel over large distances," Thys protested. “Swords of Wyndemir only use gateways to aid us in combat.”


    "I don’t think that matters here. Just give it a try."


    Sarien strained to widen it. At first, he felt nothing except the drain on his white flame. Then, a soft touch was added to his own. Its strength was like a newborn foal taking its first steps strapped to a wagon already pulled by a span of horses, but it wasn’t nothing.


    "You’re strong," Thys said, his voice quiet and thoughtful.


    "Is what we just did common knowledge in Rhinerien, that we can pool our strengths together?"


    Thys shook his head, still looking a little shocked. "No."


    "Well, that was a fun experience for everyone," Kax said, stifling a yawn. "But let’s go."


    He stepped through Sarien’s gateway without waiting, and Lana followed.


    Thys was about to follow, but Sarien stopped him with a request. "Don’t kill any travelers who aren’t priests if you can help it."


    "I’ll try," the rhinn warrior promised.


    Thys’s gateway closed when Sarien released his own. A simple gateway such as this hadn’t even cost him a noticeable amount of power before, now he was exhausted.


    "You won’t be able to send us to the approaching rhinn army, I take it?" Landé asked.


    "No," Sarien said. He turned and twisted what he’d just learned to make it fit with what he knew of the wayfaring.


    Landé began sending messengers away with orders to the different branches of the Eldian army and its allies.


    "Wait," Sarien said.


    Landé turned, his face a mask of irritation. "What?"


    "Don’t kill any rhinn travelers. I think we’re going to need all the help we can get with Wyndemir."


    The leader of the allied forces sighed and walked off, waving in a gesture Sarien took for confirmation that he’d heard and understood the request.


    "Could you send me to Gatling?" Goslin asked.


    Sarien gauged the strength remaining to him and the expression on his face must have told Goslin the answer before he spoke. "In a day or two, perhaps. Maybe more."


    "That’s fine," Goslin said, though his voice was tinged with exasperation. "He’ll listen to the rhinn and see reason, I’m sure."


    Emeryn gave him a worried glance but said nothing.