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    Sarien woke with a start as the door to their chambers crashed open. Daisy was gone and nowhere to be seen.


    “Get in there, you louts!” The voice came from outside the door and couldn’t be mistaken for anyone other than the foul-mouthed Slayer.


    A pair of servants wheeled in a cart laden with food so fragrant it made Sarien’s stomach grumble. Ein was on his feet in an instant and was grabbing at slices of bread and filling a bowl with stew before the servants stopped the cart.


    “Have you two ingrates decided to join us yet?” Lila asked, with a haughty tone of voice.


    “We’ll have to sleep on it some more,” Ein said between chunks of freshly baked bread.


    Sarien helped himself to the food. “Where is my mother?”


    Lila removed her mask without warning. Sarien thought it best to hold off on eating.


    When Lila opened her mouth, many of her teeth were either missing or blackened. Large sections of her flesh appeared to be rotting off the bone, revealing her twisted skull underneath.


    The malformation was far worse than what he’d seen in the other masked council members, including his mother. This woman’s face made Sarien’s stomach turn and the smell only made it worse. So much worse. That sickly sweet scent hinted at when Sarien embraced his mother was like a cloud around Lila.


    Lila cackled. “Beautiful, aren’t I?”


    Ein continued to eat.


    “Did Wyndemir cause that?”


    Lila shooed the servants out of the room before replying, “A small price to pay for the sort of power offered to us in exchange. Or so I thought.”


    “You doubt your decision?”


    With the severity of her deformity, it was difficult to read her expression. However, Sarien noticed that something about how she held herself had shifted.


    “Wasn’t all that much to look at before all this,” Lila said. “What is with the questions, stable boy? I’m the one asking questions here!”


    Ein slurped a spoonful of stew. “Ask away.”


    “You’re lucky we didn’t kill you immediately, Ein! Not many Council members from the Slayers. If not for Anja’s vote, you would be dust right now, mud-for-brains!”


    “How did you cast your vote, Lila?” Ein asked, narrowing his eyes. “You didn’t hold our past against me, did you?”


    She stamped her foot. “Enough!”


    “You know each other?” Sarien asked.


    “Old friends us two. Thick as thieves.”


    “We were never friends,” Lila said.


    “I saved your behind from being eaten by a Tusker!”


    “Tusker?” Sarien asked, looking from one to the other.


    His father waved him off. “Difficult to explain. You had to be there.”


    “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have made it past the first set of trials!”


    Ein laughed and even Lila gave off a short chuckle.


    Sarien’s father sobered and a tired resignation overtook him. “What have you done here, Lila? How did you get mixed up in this?”


    She slapped his hand off her shoulder and stepped back. “What have I done? Shithead? I’ve done what needed to be done to keep the Slayers from the brink of destruction. With the Wayfarers doing,” she waved a hand in the air, “everything they’ve done, we either had to follow suit or all fall to despair.”


    A desperate plea crept into her voice. “Don’t you see? It was the only choice. Only two of us were admitted onto the council. We’re doing all we can to get the other Slayers out of quarantine and bring them into the fold. The Prime of Chaos is a boil upon all our asses, but it’s either him or oblivion.”


    She opened the door, shouting the last words. They were full of grim determination, but Sarien thought he heard a thread of doubt within them. “You have until tonight to decide, or the choice will be taken from you!”


    Lila slammed the door behind her and locked it again.


    “Love that girl,” Ein said, with more than a little admiration in his voice.


    Sarien raised an eyebrow.


    “Not like that! A friend from the good old days, that’s all.”


    “We’re not joining them.”


    “Of course not, Sarien. Just look at them. They’re obviously evil.”


    “Wouldn’t say evil, now!”


    Sarien jumped and turned. Daisy had returned.


    “Where did you go?” Sarien asked.


    She grinned mischievously. “Didn’t count the chairs, did ya?”


    “You were a chair?”


    “Sure! I can be anything!”


    “Must come in handy,” Ein said.


    She shrugged. “I mostly just stay as a dog. I like dogs. Did you know there are no dogs in Nexus?”


    Ein refilled his plate, muttering, “I did know that.”


    Sarien forced himself to eat. There was no knowing when he’d get the chance again.


    “Daisy, are you sure you don’t want us calling you by your real name?”


    “I’m sure! Already consider Daisy my proper name.”


    “And you’re sure you want to oppose what mother is doing?”


    She nodded vigorously, her tongue about to loll out of her mouth like a dog before catching herself.


    “But you don’t know how to stop Wyndemir?”


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


    “No clue.”


    “We’ll have to trap the Prime in another prison,” Ein said around a spoonful of stew.


    “Why not kill him?” Sarien asked.


    His father chortled. “Kill a Prime. You’re audacious, I’ll give you that.”


    “Told you,” Daisy said. “Can’t kill a Prime.”


    “They’re forces of the universe. It would be like killing the wind.”


    “The wind wouldn’t take Maydian for itself and rule everyone in them, or care about bestowing power to the council and its allies,” Sarien protested.


    Ein grabbed a cup, eyed it mistrustingly, then shrugged and downed the contents. “Fair enough.” He refilled the cup from a red clay pitcher. “The point still stands. Wyndemir is necessary.”


    “Why?”


    “The universe needs chaos.”


    “I’m not so sure it does,” Sarien retorted.


    “What would life be if you knew the outcome to every action before taking it? If the dice fell on four with every toss? If every day was the same?”


    Sarien shrugged. “Doesn’t sound that bad to me.”


    “It would be bad,” Ein said.


    “It would be bad,” Daisy agreed.


    Ein drank another mug. “Either way, you can’t kill a Prime. That much even I’ve read, and that’s saying something. Ask Lila.”


    “I’d rather not. So, fine, we can’t kill Wyndemir. What then? Imprison him? Again?”


    “Either that or drive him away.”


    “Away?”


    “Sure. Make him understand that he isn’t welcome in this realm and force him back to his brothers and sisters, the other Primes. I’m sure they’d welcome him back with open arms.”


    “How do we do that?”


    Ein shrugged.


    Daisy shrugged.


    “Fantastic.”


    Sarien’s father brushed the crumbs out of his beard. “What I do know is it’s going to take a lot of power. If you managed to stop him, even for a second, it means you’re stronger than what should be possible for a single Wayfarer.”


    “The travelers,” Sarien breathed.


    “Who?”


    Daisy jumped up and down, excited. “Sarien stole from them!”


    “I did,” Sarien agreed. “The rhinn have mages who can travel. Not like a Wayfarer, but across the world they’re in. What I did was take their power, or borrow it, and added it to my own.”


    “Well, there you have it. All we need then is to gather enough power for you to use for yourself. Then you give Wyndemir a good old shove out of existence.”


    “Couldn’t he just get back in?” Sarien asked.


    “Who knows? We’re dealing with concepts beyond our understanding at this point.”


    “What if we trap him in a void and then throw him overboard?”


    “Oh, I like that!” Daisy shouted. She put hands over her mouth and glanced to the door for several long heartbeats. When no one entered, she breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed, “Sorry.”


    “Sure, sure. Let’s do two impossible things instead of one. Great idea.”


    “What do you suggest, then?” Sarien asked.


    “Oh, I wasn’t being sarcastic. Let’s do that. Step one is freeing the Slayers then. I assume you can steal their power too? I’m sure they’d lend it to you, but you never know.”


    “I actually have no idea. It may not be enough. We need to find Kax. And the Halvgudar.”


    Ein smiled wryly. “Let’s just get out of here first, why don’t we?”


    “Let’s!” Daisy pointed at the window.


    Sarien and Ein went up to it and looked out.


    “Long way down,” Ein said.


    “Let’s go!” Daisy shouted at the top of her lungs, apparently no longer worried about the guards.


    Sarien turned and cried out in alarm as Daisy, now half again as tall and ten times her original bulk, barreled toward them at top speed with her arms outstretched. Ein didn’t have time to turn before both of them were wrapped in Daisy’s strong arms. She flipped, crashing through the glass.


    The three of them fell screaming.


    It took Sarien longer than he’d like to admit remembering their survival was in his hands, and even longer still for him to gather himself enough to focus on his gray flame. It woke inside him with a roar, and Sarien opened a gateway in their path. Only he missed. Spinning in the air added quite a bit of difficulty to an already near impossible task. They missed the second gateway too, but the third finally opened right below them.


    Sarien released a sigh of relief when they passed through the gateway but began screaming again as instead of falling vertically, they moved at incredible speeds horizontally above the square where they first appeared in Nexus. Sarien was sure they’d all be turned to paste while skidding across the cobblestones.


    Daisy laughed maniacally, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Right before they smashed into the ground, the world spun in place and then came to a stop. Sarien’s stomach lurched, and he bent over and emptied its contents onto the stone. By the sound of it, Ein did the same.


    “That was fun!” Daisy shouted.


    People were gathering all around them, murmuring amongst themselves. Sarien saw how they were pointing, and straightened, trying to look unaffected.


    Ein pulled Sarien toward a side street. “We need to find my sister.”


    Following, Sarien looked over his shoulder. Daisy was nowhere to be seen, but he thought he heard echoes of her joyous laughter still ringing through the square.


    The city was a maze of spiraling streets and narrow alleyways broken up by the occasional wider main thoroughfare. As far as Sarien could detect, they were not being pursued and he soon stopped his father.


    “Let’s slow down,” he panted.


    Ein faced him. “Fine, but let’s keep walking.” People were giving them both a wide berth while simultaneously throwing curious glances their way. A thick-armed man in a white apron dusted with flour stared openly from his shop door. The man’s build and coloring made Sarien think of Mohalim, the smith in Tyralien, who knew his father.


    “Son, you’re able to find people through the wayfaring now, correct?”


    “You know I can.”


    “Good, now do that in reverse.”


    Sarien turned his gaze from their surroundings. “You want me to look for no one?”


    “No. I want you to make it so they can’t find you. Us, if you can manage it.”


    “That’s a thing?”


    “It’s what grandma used to avoid detection. That barrier alone would not have kept her safe.”


    “And you’re telling me this now? How does it work?”


    His father made an impatient sound. “How should I know? You’re the Wayfarer.”


    “But I don’t know anything!”


    His father put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. “That’s what I’ve been saying all this time. You’re not ready for the bow yet. Should have taught you how to use a shield for your own protection.”


    Sarien brushed his hand off. “Stop that.” Though what his father said rang true.


    “That’s it,” Sarien said. “Shield.”


    “We don’t have time to practice now, son. Also, we don’t have a shield at hand.”


    “Be serious. What I mean is, a shield. Deidra’s barrier. Nexus’ barrier did not stop me from finding mother, so they can’t be exactly the same.”


    The man watching them with open interest had gone inside his shop, and in that moment, he re-emerged into the street holding a finely worked metal shield.


    Ein yanked on Sarien’s arm and the two hurried down a side street. They stopped outside a building with a sign depicting a tankard of ale.


    Since it was the middle of morning, the tavern was relatively empty. Someone slept slumped over one of the wooden tables, his head cushioned on his arms. From his disheveled appearance and stink, the man had spent the night. Other than the bored female barmaid, Sarien and Ein were alone.


    A youngling with heavy eyelids and a sour expression took their order, then returned with stale bread, hard cheese, and water, which tasted faintly of dirt. It reminded Sarien of his time at the Karm estate, mucking out stables with his childhood friend. He allowed himself a moment to mourn Ben while they shoveled food into their mouths in silence.


    “If they’re not already looking for us, it won’t be long until they are,” Ein said.


    “Give me a moment.”


    Reaching out through the wayfaring grew a little easier each time he tried. Afraid that the council could detect his magic, Sarien only allowed a sliver of his power to carry his consciousness beyond the border of Nexus.


    He shook his head without opening his eyes. “The barrier is keeping me inside. I can’t reach Deidra’s plot of land.”


    “The medallion isn’t working?”


    Sarien felt at his chest. “It’s gone.”


    “Mine too. Your mother must have taken them from us. She’s the only one we came in contact with.”


    “Unless they came into our room and took them while we slept.”


    “I wouldn’t have slept through that,” Ein said, his voice grim.


    Sarien returned to himself and grew a sphere, fueled by his gray flame. The idea was to keep it small, but it grew quickly and soon enveloped the entire building. It wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but he couldn’t be sure what would happen if a Wayfarer used their power to look for him. Would they see an empty space or a strange barrier of suspicious origins?


    “I’ve done what I can,” Sarien said.


    “A barrier?”


    He nodded. “I’m not sure if it’ll work, so we shouldn’t linger.”


    “Fair enough. Let’s go.” Ein stood and headed over to the bar where he signed a piece of paper.


    “You’re not going to pay?”


    His father pointed to a Slayer’s emblem he’d fastened to his coat. “The proprietor will collect his fee from the Wayfarers.”


    “Oh. Where are we going next?”


    “To find my sister and see about your friend.”