Matius carefully removed the glass orb again. "Very well but I'm afraid I must go first. The Arch Mage expected me days ago and without my report, reinforcements will never come in time."

"How can we be sure you won't shut it behind you?" Jayln asked suspiciously.

He winced. "I won't, but I'm not sure it'll stay open."

"But—" Echa snapped but Matius held out a hand.

"But I promise if you don't follow, I'll send someone to rescue you. You have my word."

"I don't know if that means anything," Jayln said, her heart pounding her chest. Fenrin had taught her to keep her cards close and Matius was asking for blind faith.

"Of course it does, it's the promise of the Arch Mage's Third Apprentice." Matius gave her a smile and then crushed the orb in his hand. There was a ripping sound and the air shimmered. Matius stepped into it quickly and disappeared.

"Go, go!" Tryst pushed Echa and practically threw her daughter at the portal. They disappeared and Tryst nodded to Jayln. "Go on."

She stepped through. Her eyes burned and her teeth hurt but after a moment she was on a cobblestone path. Tryst bumped into her and yelped as the portal closed with a snap, behind him, catching the blanket and pulling it off him back into the void.

Matius walked up and patted them on the back. "Glad you could make it." He slung an arm over their shoulders. "Welcome to Aziron!"

The area around them wasn't so much different from other port cities, other than the fact that everything was brightly colored, the buildings practically a rainbow against the stony road. However, it was the people that Jayln gawked at.

Their skin ranged from pale blue to a darker sapphire and almost all had jet black hair. A few stopped their walk to give the group that had just popped into the middle of the street a glance, but seeing Matius, continued about their day. A second look revealed some more oddities.

Magic was everywhere. A woman levitating her groceries, a man waving to make the fire roasting his spear of meat bigger, or baubles that danced in the air behind store windows. Matius clapped to get their attention back.

"Glad that worked and no one was lost in the interspace," he said cheerfully, "but we can't stand around. Follow me."

He spun about and started towards an ornate dock. No ships were tied to the stone slab that jutted out, instead there was a small obelisk. Matius held his hand on it and it glowed. The water shimmered and grew glassy, forming a path. Matius walked on it confidently and the others followed, trying not to look down.

"Hold on to me, there's a bit of a trick to not falling," Matius said and once he was sure they were all steady, he snapped and the water shot forward.

They stumbled but Matius kept them standing as they glided quickly across the water towards a building that grew and grew. What had been a relatively small looking spire grew into a massive stone tower.

A blue skinned woman with hair down to her ankles gave Matius a stern look. "What in the world, Matius?! Who are these people?"

"Long story, Yi'za, but would you mind finding them a spot to sit down a moment. I need to talk to the Arch Mage right away."

Jayln, despite feeling a bit sick from the odd travelling, managed to wave a hand. "Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Matius grabbed her hand from the air. "Fine, but be quick. Yi'za, be nice, they've been through a lot."

Yanking Jayln forward, Matius sprinted up some stairs. Jayln's head swam and she was sure the walls were spinning. In much less time than made sense, they were at the top. Matius anxiously rapped on the door.

"Sir, sir! It's Matius. I have news."

The door opened to reveal an ancient man. He had a long grey beard and a bald head, tattooed with glyphs that seemed to glow. He looked towards them with opalescent blind eyes.

"Who's this?"

Matius let go of Jayln. "Bystander. But sir, Niv is there. I don't know how, but she has a host. She's been opening rifts to try to free the others. I closed one that was dangerous close to releasing Enu. I'm sure a host was all they needed. She's powerful and has gathered a good number of followers."

The Arch Mage held up a hand and a golden sphere flew from one of the many tables littered with objects and papers. He turned it in his gnarled fingers and lights glimmered across its surface in shimmering bands. Black globs blossomed from some sections.

"The balance has indeed shifted. Good work, my boy."

Matius bowed. "Thank you, sir, but shouldn't we move quickly. Jayln—that's her—and her companions were caught up in things and I had to blow my cover. Surely Niv will figure out who I was and know we're coming. We mustn't give her time to prepare."

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"We can't risk sending any viable hosts into the valley unless we are certain there are no other rifts. I sense there is still a great danger there, something stirring, a beastly being. Bak perhaps? Its stink is much like the Lord of Bloodlust and Rage. Are you certain there were no other rifts? Did you seal the valley?"

Matius's expression sank. "N...no, sir. I didn't have time to seal the entire valley. I cleared the eastern edge and was almost finished with the north. Hak’s rift was sealed to the south..."

"And the west?"

"There wasn't time," Matius mumbled, but then he perked up, "But I was at their meetings and there was no mention of a second rift. I only heard of the one, Niv was set on her brother being the next through. Can we afford to let her continue to grow stronger?"

The Arch Mage released the orb which floated away. His voice was stern but kind, "I understand your concern. It cannot have been easy to watch and do nothing but you know well that sending any viable host near that valley is a far greater risk. You have done well and deserve rest. I will send Fredrick and Loquin to investigate the western valley. Once they have finished what you started, we will act."

Matius opened his mouth then closed it. He forced a smile and nodded. "As you wish. Please let me know if I can be of any other help." He snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, and I brought back three more of Jayln's companions. One is demon touched—soul shredded—if you want to take a look."

The Arch Mage raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Fascinating. If he is well enough, send him to the Amethyst room and I'll texamine him."

With that the old man turned away and a number of books flew in front of him, dominating his attention. Jayln moved forward to object, but Matius held a finger to his lips and pulled her out of the room. They went down a dozen steps before Jayln dug in his heels, wrenching her hand from Matius's.

She glanced back but saw only curved stairwell. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she asked in strained voice, "Could you please explain what's going on?"

Matius leaned against the wall and sank down until he was sitting on one of the stone steps. "Yes. Sorry. You heard of the Accursed Ones?"

Jayln sat down next to him. "Always thought they were a nightmare tale for children. Demons right?"

"That's one name for them. Evil gods, reflections of mankind's mistakes, the Pantheon of Darkness, they have plenty of titles. Point is they're powerful, immortal, and hate everything good in the world. While Brimstones is usually just the colloquial name for their followers, the Pantheon itself is the real threat. The Azir and the Pantheon have been at war since the world began."

"Wait, the Azir? As in the entire nation?"

Matius bobbed his head. "Well not the nation per se. More like the race. I'm sure you noticed the biological differences in town."

"You mean the blue? Like Niv's skin"

"Yup.” Matius snapped his fingers. “Niv's body used to be some poor Azir girl. There are many theories, mainly theological, on why but the Pantheon can only inhabit Azir bodies. More specifically, pureblooded Azir bodies. Not that the pureblood part is much of a deterrent since Azir rarely choose to marry outside of Aziron, so you can see the danger."

"Why not just...marry outside the gene pool?"

"Well there's complications there. The point is, it's very dangerous for an Azir to go near any portal to the Pantheon's realm. So when we caught wind that a portal may be open, I was sent in."

"Since you're not Azir."

"Precisely. I could close any rift I found and provide the vital surveillance without the risk of becoming a host."

Jayln shook her head and held out her hands. "Hold on. How come, I've never heard of any of this? You'd think dark gods emerging from portals would have been some big news."

Matius snorted. "Well that depends on under which rock you came from." Jayln shot him a look and he held up his hands defensively. "I'm just saying, you had never even heard of the Arch Mage!"

He held up a finger and added proudly, "Besides, it doesn't often happen. We're pretty good at keeping the Brimstones in check. It's very rare they actually manage to open a rift, let alone get a host."

"You keep saying we."

Matius gestured around, "Yes, we. The mages of Aziron. I told you I was Third Apprentice to the Arch Mage. That's a pretty big deal, especially for a yuji like me."

"Yuji?"

"Non-Azir. I was found as a baby by the Arch Mage. There aren't a lot of us who can practice strong magic."

Jayln's brows furrowed as she tried to place everything together. "So you were sent because you were yuji and that's why the Arch Mage won't go to the valley until he's sure there's no other rifts."

Another snap. "You got it. He's sending the only other two competent yuji mages." Matius frowned. "I hope they'll be okay. They aren't very powerful and even though I'm pretty sure there is no second rift, the Arch Mage's premonitions are rarely wrong."

Jayln put her arms between her legs looking down at her hands. "A beast. What was the name he mentioned."

"Bak, Lord of Bloodlust and Rage," Matius repeated, "Not a fun guy as I'm sure you can imagine. The rift we closed was for Niv's brother, Enu, Lord of Despair and Madness. Thank you for that by the way."

Jayln shook her head. "Thank you for saving us. I just..." She covered her face with her hands. "I don't know what to do now. I've lost Fenrin. Everything happened so quickly. I don't even know where I am."

Matius gently placed a hand on her back. "Hey, don't cry. You're safe. There are not many safer places than the Arch Mage's tower."

Jayln turned knocking off his hand, it was all a bit too much. She'd gambled on Fenrin—stayed with him much longer than she really had reason to. She'd had a half-hope that when Fenrin found his answer, she'd find hers.

It'd been months since she was home and now she was on the other side of En.

"I'm not worried about me! I failed my village! Fenrin was supposed to be our answer, then I thought maybe it would be the valley, and now they're both gone. On top of it, now I find out I need to add evil death gods to my list of threats?! I wish I'd never left home."

She started to cry and Matius tentatively reached out his hand again. This time she didn't stop him and he pulled her closer to him.

"I'm sorry. It's going to be okay," he murmured to her until she was able to take a deep breath and wipe her eyes.

"Look, " Matius said, giving her a kind sincere smile, "If there's anything I can do to help, just ask."

Jayln gave him a small smile in return. "I don't suppose you can turn back time?" Matius shook his head and she brushed her hair back. "Well then, how about some food. I'm famished."

Matius brightened and helped her up. "That I can do."