Chapter 114:

Anton returned to the Training Fields to find it awash with activity. Men and women sparred and trained relentlessly on the flat trodden grass. A handful of instructors, including Jeff, barked orders at the trainees, saying whatever was necessary to keep them moving.

"It's come a long way," Anton said to Sam.

"You should see Jeff when some new people from Qaiviel arrive." Sam chuckled devilishly. "They're used to hardships so Jeff can really work them over. After the first day, most of them can barely move."

"That sounds like it could be dangerous." Anton mused. "To morale at least."

Sam contemplated his words. "Maybe. But after a few days, they aren't complaining. They look and feel stronger. And if there's anyone that's a little haughty he makes sure they are broken very quickly."

"By broken?" Kal trailed off.

"Sorry Kal." Sam laughed awkwardly. "That was probably the wrong thing to say to you. What I mean is that..." Sam frowned as she held her chin. "I don't know a better way to say it."

"It's okay." Kal tried her best to reassure Sam. "I understand what you mean. Just please don't say that around the Beastkin. It'll bring back way too many bad memories."

"I'll be sure to let Jeff know." Sam began walking towards Jeff. "I wonder what he's going to say when he sees me up and about?"

The groups training only paid them a momentary glance before an instructor barked and they redoubled their efforts. Anton didn't know much about stances but simply having strength and stamina was a very good start. Especially where the bow and sword were some of the most advanced weapons they had.

Jeff only realised they were approaching when he heard the crunching of grass underneath their feet. Despite the noise of the training he still heard it, even with all the movement and activity underway in the training fields very few people were moving about. Jeff frowned lightly but it quickly faded upon realizing who he saw.

"Sam!" Jeff broke from his position and ran to her side. "You're up. How do you feel?"

Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. "Much better. These last few days have been absolutely terrible." Sam relinquished her hold and brought one of his hands to her stomach. "They came around to make sure I was alright and did their magic thing on me and the babies. I feel a lot better now."

"That's wonderf...Babies? Did you just say babies?" Jeff looked at Sam's slightly swollen stomach. "More than one?"

"Yep." Sam squeezed the hand on her stomach. "That's what they told me. And I trust them. They have no reason to lie."

"How do you know that, Anton?"

Anton shook his head. "It wasn't me. Kal healed Sam."

Jeff turned to Kal. He wasn't worried that Kal's Beastkin hands touched Sam, merely questioning how she knew.

"I…” Kal coughed lightly. “When I healed Sam I asked Tethra to heal the child within her. But it took…enough mana that there must have been two. I’m not certain but that’s what it felt like.”

Either that or she was in such poor health that she about to die…That doesn’t seem likely though. Maybe the children needed more since mana since they still have so much life to live? I really need someone to explain the intricacies of this power-

Anton’s thought train was cut by something touching his hand. Verona poked the back of his glyphed hand as she looked up at him, not worried but simply throwing up a questioning brow.

“Lost in my thoughts again,” Anton whispered to Verona.

“Well.” Jeff clapped his hands. “If it is, then that’s brilliant. If not, then we’ll still have a healthy child. And everyone’s been waiting for so long.”

Jeff glanced back to the trainees. They were still working hard but they were within hearing range. Jeff approached Anton and Kal and leant in.

“Can I ask you to keep doing that? Just in case something goes wrong. I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Anton pulled Kal in for a sideways hug. “We’ll be sure to stop by from time to time. If you do think something’s wrong don’t hesitate to get us. It’ll only take a few seconds to do and it could save a life.”

“I don’t have a problem with it.” Kal continued. “It’s a good way for me to train my mana control too. Tethra’s magic looks completely different to the fire or lightning and I need every bit of training I can get.”

“Thank you, you two.” Jeff gently waved Sam over. “It means a lot to us. Now, are you just escorting my lovely wife or do you need something else?”

“We need somewhere that we can experiment with some magic. And within the walls, we don’t know if we’ll be so distracted that we won’t see a Goblin or a Kobold sneak up on us.”

“You can take the far side of the field.” Jeff waved to the far side, near a strange wooden corral. “Near that Goblin you wanted.”

Anton laughed. “Oh…I’d completely forgotten about it.”

“You wanted a what?” Cetina asked, shocked and utterly stunned.

“Sometimes it’s better not to ask,” Verona spoke softly, annoyingly Kal agreed with her, though they appeared to be putting it on just a bit. Cetina didn’t know what to think.

“I’m not that bad,” Anton said. “I wanted to know more about the Goblins and the only way to do that is if I have one.”

“What could you possibly want to know about them?” Cetina asked, a slight frown wrinkling the large horizontal scar across the bridge of her nose.

“How to kill them, mainly.” Anton smiled wickedly.

“He’s not wrong.” Verona sighed and flicked back the silver hair trailing over her ear. “One of the first things that he did was cut open a Goblin.”

“Okay…” Cetina stared at him blankly.

“I wanted to know what they were made of since the only thing anyone could tell me was that they were a menace. But I did find a number of useful things. Such as how they can eat grass to survive, though they can eat meat but it’s not necessary.”

“That would explain why it’s so hard to get rid of them.” Cetina held her chin.

“It seems you know more about the world than we do.” Jeff began. “Has anywhere succeeded in getting rid of them?”

“Maybe a few islands.” Cetina shrugged. “I think they’re to the west of Qaiviel, but they’re really small so it’s not that hard. I think everywhere else just has to put up with them.”

“And have them be a constant thorn and threat.” Anton shook his head. “So much effort has to be put into just dealing with them and making sure their populations don’t explode. Such a waste.” Anton clapped his hands. “I was planning to use that Goblin to tell me how long it would take for them to starve to death. The old capital Surdon is teeming with them and it’s only a matter of time before we’re going to have to deal with them.”

Not to mention we can’t go much further south than that. Just what is so important to Nithroel there? Is it just a buffer zone between us and her precious Wood Elves? I wish I could ask that Ferula woman. I get the feeling she might know something about it.

“And instead of seigeing them down, fighting in the ruined streets and have them jump us, I wanted to see if we could just wait outside and kill any that escape. So is it dead?”

Jeff nodded. “Yep. It lasted a long time but it died just before you got back. We gave it water…That was the punishment for someone disobeying an order, and nothing else. It’s…It’s crazy how tough those things are.”

“I want to take a quick look and then I’ll burn the corpse. If there’s nothing more to learn there’s no reason for it to just sit there and rot.”

Jeff smiled. It probably hadn’t done anything good for morale, to know there was a live Goblin inside Atros, one that could possibly escape and wreak havoc before finally tracking and killing it.

No one brought it up at the Council meeting. I guess they just wanted me to forget it and not start to collect the things for experiments. Not that I can begrudge them that opinion.

“Just one look and then it’ll be gone.” Anton smiled warmly. The others didn’t look so sure.

The Goblin, tied and staked to the ground, looked utterly repulsive. They did normally but this was different. Sunken skin covered the thin potbellied creature. Glassy and withered eyes stared endlessly at the clear blue sky. Its open mouth was utterly dry while its tongue, looking like dried and salted meat, hung loosely from its side. If anything Anton pitied the creature. This Goblin hadn’t done anything. And yet, if it was released it would have attacked someone, dragged them back to their nest for a fate that he didn’t even want to begin to imagine. Dana knew all too well what awaited a woman in a Goblin nest.

“How long was it before it stopped trying to escape?” Anton asked. Jeff and Sam looked at him oddly. “Look at its wrists and ankles. It tried to tear through the ropes.”

“We’ve had someone keep an eye on it,” Jeff replied. “A couple of troublemakers, with long spears so they don’t get too close.” Jeff laughed. “It scared them straight pretty quick. Nothing like a night of silence only to be scared shitless when it starts screeching.”

“And you don’t think there is a connection between it dying and the Goblin attack?” Kal asked. “Anton’s right, we don’t know much about them. Not really.”

Jeff shook his head, turning towards the small mountain in the distant northeast. “No. This thing was still alive when they started getting close to Atros. And it died three days before the assaults started. There could be something…I don’t know. Usually, it’s you that tells me there’s something linking this and that.”

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe they have some sort of faint psychic link, drawn to this Goblin stuck in incredible pain.” Anton shrugged. “But I don’t have anything to find out. And I don’t want to use Tethra’s power on it.”

“So do your thing and set it alight.” Jeff held Sam’s hand and pulled her away. “The sooner it’s gone the better.”

“Could you please hold Luna?” Anton handed over the white fluff ball. Jeff accepted. Luna didn’t seem to mind but didn’t like his big, rough hands holding her. Still, she endured it.

Anton knelt beside the withered dead Goblin.

“Kal? Can I borrow your knife?”

Zig’s ornamental knife came into view. Anton took the blade and said a wordless thanks. He prodded the leathery skin. It was tough like it always was, but it was clear that the flesh underneath was completely dead and loose. With the knife embedded into the skin, he could easily lift up large sections with ease.

“Any particular reason you’re doing that?” Verona knelt beside him. “Apart from taking some revenge on them?”

“Not really,” Anton admitted.

“They’re so disgusting.” Cetina kept her hand on her sword. “Especially like this.”

“True.” Anton took the blade and prodded around its face. The skin was just like that of its arm, loose and saggy. “But shouldn’t it be taught? Everything else when it dries out does that. Like the dried meat. And yet this…”

“Maybe they rot fast?” Cetina offered. “Thessos is far colder than it is here, but I remember the Goblins always rotted like they were further away from the mountains. Is…Is that relevant?”

“Probably.” Kal murmured.

Despite Anton trying to appear confident he didn’t actually know what he was looking for or even how to perform a proper dissection, one that would give him answers. Still, they had the answers that they needed. The Goblins would die given enough time, but it simply wasn’t a viable tactic for their small numbers. There was no way they could even surround a small nest and starve them out. Not to mention the Goblins, while not intelligent, were very crafty. They would find a way through a perimeter and collect one of the most common things around, grass.

Anton sighed. “Well, there’s not much else to say. They can starve to death but it’s far too complicated for us.”

“Easier to just kill them with an arrow or a blade.” Kal leant over Anton, her body casting some shade.

“Yeah…Jeff. Do you remember the Goblin Commander from Mount Aspire?”

“I do. Not something I want to think about often. That thing blocked your magic. Then Verona had to charge into the fray to kill it.” Kal and Cetina looked surprised between Jeff and Verona. “Quite a sight to see a silver-haired little woman flying through the air.”

Verona laughed. “What a shitty day that was.” She pulled closer to Anton. “Though the night before was incredibly fun.”

Anton ruffled her hair. “That it was. But we kept the body because it was so weird, harvested some of the more odd parts…Do we still have those?”

“Should do. Unless someone’s eaten them. But I’m sure we’d know about it then.”

“Well, near the end of that whole thing, when we cut into it you said you saw something near the neck?"

"Yeah. And then it started writhing about before its guts turned inside out."

"What?" Kal and Cetina asked simultaneously.

"That was gross." Verona flicked her hands. "Didn't get much on me but by the Gods did it stink."

"Not to mention that its ribcage had torn itself apart."

"When did this happen?" Sam held Jeff's hand tight. If anything she looked a little cross. "And when were you going to tell me?"

"Just after the Goblins had been defeated. And I didn't tell you because it wasn't that bad and I didn't want you to worry."

Sam didn't look too happy with his answer but accepted it when he planted a loving kiss on her lips.

"Just don't do something silly like that again." She mumbled.

"I won't. I think it'll be Anton from now on." Jeff looked at the withered Goblin. "If he really wants to."

"Apart from that, I don't have any need of this thing." Anton looked to the Goblin. "Where did you say it was?"

"At the base of the neck. Where Verona managed to rip it off. Then climbed onto its corpse and screamed at the Goblins to run."

"You never told me that," Kal smirked at Verona.

"I..." Verona shrugged as a light flush crept up her face. "I'd almost forgotten that."

"There's no way I ever will," Anton said. "I'll never forget how brave you were."

Verona opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. Instead, she chose to just enjoy the moment.

"If we cut it a bit above the neck we might be able to find it." Anton was more speaking to himself than anyone else. He didn't miss the sound of Cetina drawing her sword and Kal backing away. "That's a good point. Verona? How do you feel about using your blood power to cut this thing apart?"

Verona shrugged as she drew her small blade. "It doesn't bother me. Probably safer this way too. But..." Verona moved close to his ear. "What about the children. If I use my power a lot will it affect them?"

"I...I honestly don't know. Right now it shouldn't, since it wouldn't be a baby yet...But when it starts to get noticeable I want you not to use it. Just in case."

"Got it." Verona stood up and pulled Anton along with her. "I don't think it has much blood in it."

"It's hardly going to attack us," Kal said flatly.

"That's what we thought about the Goblin Commander." Anton offered his hand to Verona. "And that didn't exactly end well."

Verona made a tiny cut and drew up her standard amount of blood. She held the blood in a long crystallized blade as she gently pushed Anton back several paces. Without moving her hand the blade struck the withered Goblins neck underneath its jaw. Verona gave no indication of difficulty, neither did her blood as it carved through the dried skin and flesh. The blade twisted and kicked the severed head away, Sam squeaked as it rolled away and held tighter onto Jeff. A thick dark red blood oozed from the wound with the same viscosity as tar.

"Definitely dead now." Verona chuckled.

It was hard to tell what she was thinking, her brilliant red eyes hid her thoughts but her smile didn't. Goblins had destroyed her home and her parents. There was no way she would miss the opportunity to kill or hurt one of these despicable creatures.

So long as it doesn't go too far.

Verona broke the large blade into tiny slivers. "Just near the base? Around the shoulders?"

"Yeah." Jeff didn't appear too phased by Verona's glowing body and eyes. He knew exactly how dangerous it could be but also knew the person beneath. "I don't know exactly where though. I saw a glint and then it all went weird."

"I'll be very gentle then." Verona almost smirked as the blood shards began to cut at the Goblins neck.

Small pieces of skin and dried flesh slowly fell away. Verona directed a single thin and wide shard to scrape them away. Neck bones soon joined the growing pile as Verona worked her way down to the base. As the shards began to dig further Verona slowed them down to a crawl.

"You know, I might have something." Verona turned to Jeff, her eyes and body still glowing bright red. "There is actually something here...Maybe." Verona turned back to the Goblin. "Or it could just be a really hard bone."

"Be gentle." Anton held her shoulder. "Whatever it is it's extreme fragile-"

One of Verona's shards clicked, barely audible above the murmur of distant training. The corpse jolted up, the stakes and ropes holding it down groaned under the strain. Verona pushed Anton back, throwing a shard deep into its chest, while Kal pulled him back further and Cetina advanced with her sword ready to strike. Jeff moved in front of Sam, passing her a distressed Luna, and quickly pushed her back. She almost lost her footing but managed to keep upright, with a hand on Jeff's shoulder.

As quickly as it had begun the corpse thrashed one last time before turning limp and still. Only after a few seconds of anxious waiting did the girls start to relax.

"Okay. We're not doing that again." Verona said flatly. "Whatever it is we've done it twice and this has happened both times. I don't want a third time."

"At least it didn't explode." Jeff made sure Sam could stand on her own feet. "And cover us in its guts."

"Look at its chest." Kal's hands went for her back, to retrieve the bow that rested in their home. She clicked her tongue as she drew an old rusted blade.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Anton had been too focused on its arms and legs, wondering if it could actually get loose. The small rib cage, usually sitting over a distended pot belly, had tried to open. The dried leathery skin prevented it and caught the opening bones, forming a large hump along its chest, the rib bones pulling tight against the skin.

"I've never seen that before," Cetina mumbled. "And I've seen some crazy things in the last winter. And that..."

“Can you please burn it now, Anton?” Kal asked.

Anton summoned a small fireball.

There’s something strange that’s going on with the Goblins. Something…Yet I don’t know what. It was clearly dead and yet it still had enough ‘life’ in it to jolt back when Verona broke…whatever she just found. We should keep investigating but with something that isn’t so destructive. But in this world, we don’t have real medical equipment and I don’t want to use my magic on it just in case something happens. Perhaps Ferula might know something? I don’t like having to rely on someone like her for everything.

Anton threw the small fireball onto the Goblin. The withered corpse quickly engulfed in flame and burned to ash. Only when the last fragment of the Goblin was gone did the girls relax.

“Okay…” Cetina rubbed her temple. “This is…This place is so strange.”

Verona laughed as she relinquished control of her blood. “You get used to it.”

“At least now we can use all of the Training Field now.” Jeff looked to his trainees. Without his presence, they had slacked off and some were mulling around aimlessly. Anton saw the veins on his head bulge. A wicked smile crept up his face.

“Looks like someone’s about to do a lot of running.” Jeff rubbed Sam’s stomach again. “While I deal with them what will you do?”

“I think I’ll go for a walk. Now that I can actually walk outside the house without feeling sick I kind of want to see these Beast-kin for myself. I’ve only seen Kal. Are they different to us?”

“Some of them are.” Jeff laughed. “A spider, a snake and a big blue giant just to name a few. But they seem like good people. And you, Anton?”

“We’re going to practice some of our magic. I’ve been thinking of ways to make a way to make it easier to get from one place to another. So we can get the Beast-kin here much faster than before, so we don’t have to cross a whole Kingdom.”

“Sounds interesting.” Jeff held his chin. “I’m sure there’s more that you want to do with it than that, you always do, but I suppose if you could do something like that we could also get our wood, stone and coal much faster.”

“And we can start to buy and sell things directly with the Kingdoms and Empires. Then we can really start to build up Atros.”

“Ha! I guess Johnathan’s about to be out of a job.”

“Not in the least. Do you remember my little project?”

Cetina raised a brow at Jeff. Jeff chuckled.

“Yes. Yes, I remember it. My ears do, at least. I don’t understand what that was all about, that seems something that’s common when talking about you, but I know it’s important.”

And right now there’s under a handful of people that can guess what potential those have. Not to mention there are other things that I’d like to bring from Earth. And not all of them are related to killing too. I’m sure the girls will appreciate that…

“So what do you need?” Jeff asked.

“We’ll keep away, just in case, but is there something that we need. We need some of those Karak fruits since we’re going to need all the mana we can get. Do we have some on the tree or not?”

“I think so. I’ll send someone to get all of them.”

“Not all of them. We can only have about four or five every day.”

“Why?” Sam tilted her head questioningly.

“Because we’ll be sick if we do.” Verona chuckled. “Anton chucked up pink vomit last time.”

“This was before I was here?” Kal asked. “Right?”

“Yes, yes.” Verona dismissively waved her hand. “You haven’t seen Anton puke yet.”

“I’ll get…Cetina, can you use magic?”

“No.” Cetina idly scratched her eyepatch. “I don’t think I ever will. And after I got this I definitely can’t.”

“Right…I’ll get ten then. I’m guessing that Verona’s blood power isn’t going to be useful for this.”

Verona chuckled. “Yeah. Yeah. My power can’t do anything like that. If you want to keep the rain off your head then it’s perfect.”

Jeff and Sam looked confused but there would be time tonight to explain. Jeff signalled to a villager and sent him on his way.

“Anything else?”

“Um…Do you have about sixteen rocks of the same size?” Jeff frowned at Anton’s question. “I’m going to use those as the base for my portal. I want to be able to make it a reasonable size and so that it can be picked up and moved easily.”

“That’ll definitely help in Seocuria.” Kal smiled as her tail began to swish seductively through the air. “We could free an entire plantation and move onto the next one without having to take them to a ship.” Kal pumped her fists into the air. “Let’s do it, Anton.”

“We could finally get that bed.” Verona giggled deliriously as her body swung to and fro, her mind lost in the comforts of the Graterious bed.

“What bed?” Sam asked Jeff. “I feel like I need a lot of things explained to me. And yet…I think I can guess what that one is.”

“Oh, you’d love it too.” Verona sidled up to Sam, nudging her side before taking Luna from her hands. “Big, soft and sturdy. What everyone wants.”

“I understand now,” Sam spoke and smiled flatly.

“If you could find some stones then that would be more than enough to get us going.”

“You’ll get them in a moment,” Jeff smirked as he looked back to his trainees. One was looking towards them and warned the others. A ripple ran through them, they knew that something bad was coming for them. “If you four will excuse me I need to get some people running.”

Jeff and Sam gave a small wave as they walked away. Anton felt his heart warm watching them hold each other tight. That feeling faded when Jeff began yelling at the trainees. Instantly they straightened up and began shaking under his shouts. Anton sighed and turned to the three girls.

“Jeff’s right.” Verona began. “I won’t be much use.” Verona glowed red and drew up the blood on the grass, she recovered about a third. “I’ll just go over here and practice controlling this.” Verona’s face grew dark. “Don’t worry. I won’t do what I did last time. I don’t want to be shocked again.”

“Okay.” Anton pulled Verona close and kissed her deeply. Kal looked a bit jealous while Cetina looked away, a slight redness to her face.

Verona sniggered and pulled him down. “Not bad…” She nibbled his ear. “You’re getting better at it.”

Before Anton could ask Verona gave him another quick kiss and backed away. She moved closer to the wall and sat down. She placed Luna near the wall and gently patted her. The Peryton nuzzled against her leg and began to doze lightly. Verona glowed red as the blood floated in front of her face and began to swirl and transform in strange patterns.

“What about me?” Cetina asked. She scratched her head as her other hand gripped on the pommel of her sword.

“I’m not really sure.” Anton smiled bitterly. “I suppose you could get some practice, some training, in? It’s up to you since there’s not much you can do to help us. If you just want to rest in the shade you can do that. It’s up to you.”

Cetina looked at the ongoing training. “I…I might go and see what they’re doing. If I’m going to be a trainer I need to know the sort of people I’ll be working with, at least that’s what my trainer said. Besides I’m starting to feel a little weak.” Cetina laughed as she rotated her shoulder. “Maybe I’ll have a real chance to swing my sword…I’ll talk to you later.” Cetina took a step before stopping, spinning on her heel. “And if you are going somewhere else please come and get me?”

“Sure.” Anton smiled, giving her a small wave. “Have some fun. We’ll probably be here for a little while.”

Cetina gave a small wave before walking towards the nearest group of trainees. She spoke with the leader for a moment, pointed towards Anton and fell into line swinging a sword. Though he couldn’t see her face she appeared to be enjoying herself.

“Well, good for her.” Anton turned to Kal. “We might need to start doing something like that. Some proper exercise.”

“Cetina was very adamant for us to get stronger.” Kal kicked at the dry grass. “I think it’s a good idea too.”

“No such thing as a gym here,” Anton mumbled. Kal titled her head as her tail swished low to the ground. “Oh. Basically, a place where you can train specific parts of your body. I think that for now, at least something like that’s going to be our best bet.”

“I…I don’t know if I want to practice in front of others.” Kal smiled. “I just…I don’t know.”

“We’ll do it in the garden.” Kal coughed as her face reddened. She had more than just training on her mind. “Seriously…Insatiable.”

Kal laughed as Anton rubbed her ears. No matter what or when she loved to have them scratched. A few moments passed of Kal murmuring as Anton continued to pat her ears before two men ran towards them. Both had a large bag in their hands. Anton relinquished Kal’s fluffy ears, Kal seemed a little disappointed and accepted the bags before they returned to their training. One bag held ten Karak fruits, Anton had missed the pink and juicy fruits, far better than the vile blue mana potions from Graterious, and the other held sixteen large smooth stones. Where they had found these stones so quickly he didn’t know.

Anton passed Kal one of the fruit and took one for himself. With every bite he felt his mana recover, he continued until it was completely gone. Kal ate more slowly than him and far more neatly. When she saw that he had finished, and only about a third of hers was gone, she redoubled her efforts and devoured the fruit. Her teeth weren’t like a human’s, all incisors designed for cutting and tearing through meat not for crushing and grinding vegetables and fruits. She always had a little trouble eating the non-meat parts of her meal. When she was finished a considerable amount of juice remained stuck to her face. Anton chuckled as he took his sleeve and wiped it away. Kal pouted her mocha tanned face as he rubbed it vigorously.

“I’m not a child.” Kal murmured as she took another Karak fruit, a sly smile on her face.

“I like pampering you all.” Anton chuckled. Kal shook her head and ate the next fruit quickly.

“Stop it.” Kal wiped her mouth before Anton could. “I feel a lot better now. I think I’ve got about half of my mana back.”

“Better than what I’ve got from them. Let’s take a seat a little bit away from the Goblin corpse.”

Kal readily agreed with him. A few meters away they sat on the dry grass, placing the Karak fruit bag to his side and the bag of stones between them.

“How is this going to work?” Kal asked. “It sounds like you have an idea.”

“I have an idea. Okay. Tethra, Goddess of Prayer, make these eight stones, and when placed in a circle, open a gateway to another set of gateway stones with...with..." Anton pointed at Kal's waist, to one of her blades. She hurriedly passed it over as Anton continued to mumble. He took a stone and scratched a cross into one. "With this marking. May it use Earth mana to fuel it and may it function so long as the circle is in place."

Please understand Tethra what I'm trying to say.

A great rush of mana left his body, taking his breath along with it. Even his vision blackened for a moment. A second passed, a heartbeat skipped, and he could breathe once again. When his eyes focused he saw Kal looking on with great concern.

"I'm fine." Anton took a rasping deep breath. "Just give me a minute and I'll be back to normal."

"You know that we all hate seeing you do that," Kal grumbled as her face contorted into a great frown.

"I'd rather go through it then watch one of you look and feel like this." Anton felt his breath and heart steady.

"What about us?!" Kal hissed. "When we watch you do things like that...It's not like we don't feel terrible watching you exhaust yourself and nearly pass out. I don't want to raise a child without their father."

"I..." Anton scratched his head and looked away. "Sorry."

Kal’s ears pulled back. "I probably went too far. But we do worry about you. You can rely on us more, you don't have to worry and fuss over every little thing. Otherwise, you'll always be too tired to focus on something. Which is only going to make things worse. For all of us."

"I'm sorry Kal."

"Well, you've still got tonight to make up for it." Kal winked seductively, her tail coiling through the air behind her. "So...Did it work?"

Anton pushed away the surfacing images of their first night in Atros and picked up one of the stones. They didn't feel any different but the mark he had scratched on glowed with a faint white light. He covered it in shade just to be sure.

"Maybe." Anton showed Kal the stone. "At least this one is."

"But you were touching all of them."

"And it felt like my mana went into all of them equally. Let's set it up and see what happens." Anton rose up, his legs were a little unsteady. "Oh, and don't get them mixed up. Otherwise, we're going to have to do it all over again."

Kal nodded and took four of the stones. They laid them in a circle while Anton kept the carved stone away. After ensuring that neither he nor the stone were inside as he laid the final stone. All eight glowed white as a line of white ethereal energy ran between the stones. When they touched the sound of rushing wind filled his ears as the air rushed past him. The white light grew inward until it covered everything inside the circle. The light shimmered and began to ripple like water after being struck by a stone.

"Wow." Kal skirted the circle to his side. "This is incredible." She couldn't hold back her smile. "Did you know it was going to look like this?"

"I'd like to take the credit, but no. I had no idea." Anton squatted and looked across the white surface. It was actually rippling and wasn't an illusion. "Far more impressive than I thought it would be."

"Do you want me to make the other one now? You can't have that much mana left."

"I've probably got a little under a tenth left. But I want to check a few things first."

Anton used Kal’s blade to knock the carved stone out of the circle. The stone didn’t want to move, something like a weak magnetic force kept it in place, but gave way under a little effort. A rush of wind blasted his face and the light disappeared. The disk faded away to the circular line until that too disappeared.

“Easy enough to break.”

Anton placed the stone back. The rush of wind came again as the light disk grew back.

“Pretty simple.” Kal patted Anton’s back. “Tethra can really help make sense of some of the things you talk about sometimes.”

“Perhaps I should have just told you all that it was like a door that could lead to anywhere.”

Kal smiled warmly. “That might have made some more sense. But seeing this now…Even though it doesn’t work yet I know that it’s very special. Far more impressive than just some door. Besides, are you going to have one of us carry a door around?”

She laughed, a sweet laugh, and pulled Anton back up.

“I know that I still need to make the next one but where does this one go? If it’s like a doorway, is it even open?”

“One way to find out.” Anton picked up a handful of grass leaves and threw them onto the white rippling surface. The leaves sunk through the white light weren’t impeded in any way, but he had no idea if it had actually worked. He knelt down and rested his temple against the ground. Now that he was low enough he could see the white disk wasn’t actually touching the ground, it hovered a few millimetres above, and the grass leaves had simply passed through.

“Right now they just fell through,” Anton said as he stood up. “But I don’t want to test and find myself lost in another dimension or something horrible. Crossing from one world to another was already traumatic enough.”

Kal smiled. “I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ll make the other portal now and we can-”

“Wait.” Anton held her shoulder, Kal stiffened and waited for his explanation. “Better have the other three Karak fruit’s right now. It’s going to take a lot of mana.”

“Right…I’m sure there’s another reason for that as well.”

“Well…” Anton trailed off as Kal began to eat one the large pink fruits. “I don’t know if this is true but I get the feeling that having your body completely drained of mana isn’t a good thing. Especially if there’s another one inside of you.”

Kal smiled and ate the fruits in silence. Verona was continuing to practice, now the blood was forming geometric shapes as she held a deep frown on her face. Something was bothering her but so long as she didn’t fall into the strange trance that turned her into a mindless attacker it was fine. Cetina appeared to be having much more fun with the other trainees. If anything she was working the hardest, while the others had slowed or hunched down out of tiredness but she wasn’t. Anton admired that strength. Doubly so when some of the men, probably larger and stronger than her, were starting to look weak and she continued to stand strong.

With the last of the fruits eaten Kal burped loudly. She covered her mouth but she couldn’t help the slight flush that crept up her neck.

“I feel pretty good now.” Kal stretched her arms. “Just say what you did, right?”

“Just carve the cross on it first. I don’t know if Tethra will be as forgiving to you as she is for me.”

“I’d like to meet her.” Kal took back her blade and roughly scratched into the stone. “You and Verona have.”

“Yeah. Though not always for good reasons.” Kal raised a brow as she placed the stone on the pile. “Verona met her when she met Jira, not a good experience for her and Nithroel, not a good experience for both of us.”

“I would like to thank her personally though.”

I really would like to speak to them soon. Did they know about the Demons arriving just when we were passing though Graterious? Do they have more influence than I first thought or am I overthinking things? Again, only one way to find out.

Anton spent what remained of his mana to ask Tethra for a meeting. Like before he didn’t know if it worked but the mana left his body and disappeared into the ether. Without any mana his body felt lethargic and weak, his head started to pound and started to spin. He managed to take a bite of another Karak fruit before he fell down, enough of his mana returned so he could stand normally.

Kal rested a hand on the pile of stones and spoke the prayer. Kal’s ears and shoulders dropped as her tail flopped to the ground. Her breathing became laboured and harsh. She stepped back while the stones glowed faintly like the other eight.

“Are you okay?” Anton moved to Kal’s side and held her shoulder.

“See how we feel?” Kal coughed. She gently held his hand, staring deep with her bright green eyes into his own.

“Yeah…It’s not great.”

“No. But did it work?”

“Looks like it. Let’s get it set up and see what happens.”

Kal tried to stand up but her legs were still too weak, not to mention her tail refused to stand up, something that he rarely saw. He passed her a fruit, one readily devoured, and she helped him assembled the stones like before. When the last stone was placed the same light circle and disk came into being. Kal was more than a little impressed it even worked.

“More grass?” Kal asked.

Anton nodded as he tossed another handful of grass into the first white disk. It fell through just like last time and appeared in the other disk. Just as Anton was about to cry out in joy the grass blades disappeared. They floated between both disks as they constantly tumbled between the two white disks, unable to emerge properly.

“Do…Do you want to tell me what’s happening?” Kal asked. “I thought we had it.”

Anton watched the tumbling grass for a moment. “Gravity.” Kal raised an aqua brow at him. “What keeps us stuck to the ground. When it goes through the first portal it tries to out but gravity just pulls it down and back into the portal. And we can see it’s just tumbling in there. I wonder what it feels like for different parts of your body to feel like its being drawn to the ground.”

“So it doesn’t work right.” Kal sighed, holding her chin in her hand. “Unless it’s against a wall. Shame, I thought it would work.”

“Yeah…I wonder if we can just change the prayer wording a little?”

“You had to redo Cetina’s eyepatch.” Kal reminded him. “I think this might be it for today.

“True. But I might have learned something from that. Maybe we-”

“Did it work?” A voice came from his side. Verona walked towards them, her power gone and her eyes and skin had returned to normal. Luna was nestled in her arms and watching them expectantly with her doey eyes. “Oh. Wow! That looks really awesome.”

“It is.” Anton ruffled her hair. “But it’s not quite right.”

“Why?” Verona’s piercing blue eyes looked between the two portals. “They look fine to me.”

“Things just sort of tumble between the two right now.” Anton pointed at the spinning pieces of grass. “And I don’t think the Beast-kin want a rope tied to their waist so we can pull them through.”

Verona laughed. “No. No, they wouldn’t. So…Is this a failure then? That’s not like you if it is.”

“Not really.” Anton knelt by one of the carved stones. “More like a learning experience. Besides, it does seem to work, just not quite right. If we could get these stones vertical rather than horizontal-”

“Words, Anton.” Verona smiled weakly.

“If…If we had these upright like a doorway, rather than on the ground, I think it could work.”

“Damn shame.” Verona sighed. “Well, it was your first try. Tomorrow after we’ve dealt with the Goblins then? You both looked like you had run out of mana.”

Anton removed the stone from the portal. The rush of wind followed as the white disk faded back to the ring. Something gave him pause, the grass leaves that were still tumbling through the portal remained. At least some of it did. Half of the leave, perfectly cleanly cut, gently floated down to the round. The other half of the grass leaves fell through the other white disk. Verona and Kal backed away as Anton shuffled alongside the second portal and looked underneath. Sure enough, the grass had been cut in two.

"Okay." Anton stood up, brushing dried grass off his clothes. "I think it's a good thing that it doesn't work the way I thought it would."

"Because?" Verona tilted her head, Kal looked just as confused.

Anton pulled away the marked stone of the second portal. Once the white disk had faded he tentatively reached in and grasped the cut grass leaves. When he showed Kal a worried realization overcame her face, Verona still looked confused.

"I wasn't here at the beginning," Verona said softly.

"When the portal collapsed it cut these in half. Now, imagine if someone was in there and someone moved a stone."

A second passed before Verona's eyes widened in shock. "Oh! Shit. That would be terrible. Right down the middle of someone...or across their guts." Verona nodded as she looked at the incomplete portals. "Yeah. Good thing you two say that this isn't what we're going to use. It would be tough to explain to the Beastkin why it looked like we cut one of them in half."

"Yes." Anton let the grass fall from his hands. "Exactly what I don't want. But it's a good start."

"If it only worked one way then it would be fine," Kal said. "Or both ways but you don't fall back through."

"It’s on the right track." Anton tossed the stone into the air. "I think I've got the right idea for one that won't make someone tumble in place. Maybe. But we won't be able to test it until tomorrow. Now I don't know what to do with these. They're still good, just not what I wanted."

"Could..." Verona frowned even more. "If that's the main problem then...I don't know, put them on a wall so they don't keep falling down?"

"Huh..."

"You didn't just realise that, did you?" Kal asked. “I know you didn’t.”

"No. I just don't know if things are going to be turned around in there." Both girls looked oddly at him. "So, say I walked facing the mountain would I come out also looking at it or turned in some other direction? And if they were both on a wall you could come out upside-down and crack your head open. Not a great way to introduce Beastkin to Atros."

Kal chuckled. "No, it wouldn't. Neither is nearly being shot with an arrow."

"Yes...But we could mount these to a wall and use it for other things. Like throwing iron ore or coal through to save on travel time and free up a whole lot of carts and Ix." Anton turned to Mount Aspire. "Since they're going to be much smaller than a log or a chunk of stone they could do it by hand and not potentially lose a hand if it collapses. And it doesn't matter if they break or smash apart either. It would really speed things up there. I know Jonathan and Zac would be pleased. Especially Zac. It would free up a lot of manpower for collecting and transporting wood. And stone."

"Maybe one for each," Verona said. "So they don't have to sort through it to find what they want."

"We'll do that after we've made the good portal for people." Anton held his hand on Verona's head. "But that's a very good point."

Verona's face beamed with happiness. "Just like with those enchanted weapons that Shawn and Jocelyn made, there's use for them outside of fighting. Or at least the way they were intended."

"Just like yours." Kal ruffled Verona's hair as well. Verona pouted as they held their hands on her head.

"Get off me," Verona grumbled, darting forward and slipping from their grasp before moving to Anton's other side. "I think everyone's going to be impressed when they see this. And if we can make the one that you want before we have to go we can always come back to Atros each night. Or every few days." Verona sniggered. "And enjoy our bed rather than an uncomfortable rucksack."

"And start to bring in all the resources we could possibly need." Anton continued. "Hundreds of bows and crossbows. Shields, swords, everything. Once we have that, and people know how to use them, this place will be a true fortress. Compared to what it was."

"As long as Avery lets a third of the people here even touch them, let alone use them." Verona slowly shook her head, folding her arms in disapproval.

Anton was sure, at least he hoped he was, that Avery wasn't hateful and prejudiced against the Beastkin. When they had an unlimited supply of weapons the truth would be revealed.

"Hopefully that's not going to be a problem. I…Oh. There’s something new.”

Out of the main gate from the inner ring of Atros Anton saw a large blue body emerge. Rasha led several Beast-kin towards the training fields. There were probably only ten in total but it was heart-warming to see. The trainers and trainees stopped at the sight. Cetina began speaking to the trainer and he quickly waved the Beast-kin over and brought them into line. Wooden training swords were passed out and they all began training alongside the humans.

“That’s good.” Anton smiled. “I’m glad they’re actually being allowed to train with us. It’s not much but it’ll help bring everyone together.”

“So what now?” Verona asked. “We’ve still got the rest of the day. And I know that we can’t just slip away to our house just yet. Do you want to get some training in?”

“Do you think you can?” Anton looked to Kal.

“I think so.” Kal chuckled. “It’ll be a good excuse to have a bath too. I don’t want to go to bed, or even dinner, reeking of sweat.”

“A fantastic excuse.” Anton lightly kissed them both. “Right after we collect these stones. Let’s show the Beast-kin and the villagers what their saviours are capable of.”

The girls laughed, though they knew that the best outcome would be ending up piled on the ground in a sweaty heap.