Night fell. Camp was set. Guards were posted. The guards had long since returned. Evening meals were passed around. Some even slept, finally being given the opportunity.

Colt found himself seated beside Dan and Leo, the three staring at the ten items on the table before them. They were trying to decide what to do next.

According to the Scouts, Enliatu had used his power to create a portal. They’d all left this world and there was no way to follow them. No one had any idea where they were going and, even if they were returning to Terpola, conflict between the God Worlds was forbidden on their surfaces. They had to be going somewhere else.

In other words, they’d once again reached a dead end. The only difference was this one appeared permanent.

A bang! made Colt and Dan jump, the latter swearing in surprise.

Leo’s head had slumped on the table and a noise was coming from him. It sounded an awful lot like snoring. Colt had to stifle a laugh. His companion coughed, no doubt doing the same. The two caught each other’s gaze. That was all it took for them to burst into laughter.

“Just leave him there,” Dan said, regaining his composure though his amber eyes still glowed brightly. “He will come around sooner or later.”

“You know, the Terpolites say the ‘feared Lyriumian General’—” He put that in quotation marks— “could stay awake for days on end to fight.”

The Dragonoid laughed again. “Where did you hear that bullshit?”

“In passing.” Colt waved a hand, dismissing the subject. “What do we do with these?”

“That’s for Leo to decide.”

The two looked up as Amneris entered their tent.

She took up the seat beside Colt, leaning over the table to poke Leo. “Did he get bored?”

They shrugged.

Dan sat straighter. “Do you have any idea where the Terpolites have gone?”

Amneris shook her head. “I can’t even sense the Silent Core’s power for some reason. It’s like . . .” she paused, thinking. “It’s like he’s vanished from Creation. Again.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

That was not a good sign. If Amneris couldn’t sense his power, they were at an even deader end than Colt first thought. Was that even possible? There had to be something they could do.

He tapped a finger on the wooden table, mind racing as he hummed. It was an old fast tune; one he’d heard when still mortal. The beat always helped him think, as strange as that sounded.

Colt delt someone looking at him and glanced up. Amneris was staring at him wide-eyed. “What?”

“That melody . . .” she said.

“What about it?”

“Where do you know it from?”

Colt’s eyes drifted toward Dan. The Dragonoid still didn’t know . . . Colt switched to the Kemetic language before saying, “I overhead you singing it once when we were kids.”

She nodded, remaining in the Lyriumian language. “It’s a prophecy, and I think it just told me where Enliatu has gone.”

Leo shot upright, taking everyone off-guard. Dan swore at the sudden movement, Amneris’ power flew off her in sparks, Colt felt his body jolt.

The General took no notice. “You know where he is?”

“I think so.” Amneris sat back in her chair. “It was a song my father sang to me as a child. Let’s see if I can translate it . . .”

Right, Colt thought. Out of everyone in her Court, she was the only one who spoke the Old Language fluently.

The three men watched closely as Amneris closed her eyes. She frowned, concentrating. Colt knew how hard the Old Language was to translate. Even he only knew a few words.

“Okay,” Amneris said with a laugh, “I swear this makes more sense in the Old Language, but this is the closest translation.”

She took a breath and sung in a low voice:

“Heir of Light against Ruler of Dark

On the Worlds they will leave their Mark.

Their power stretched so far and wide,

Nowhere in create will there be left to hide.

An old Site lost so long ago

A place made of ice and snow

Is where the battle will be fought,

But give it not another thought.

For a day will come where one goes too far

That day the battle moves to Erostah.

For Balance to restore, the sacrifice must be made,

Lest Erostah become the Hybrid’s grave.”

Dan was first to speak. “Erostah?”

“Hybrid?” Leo asked.

“You make it sound like I know what the damned thing’s about. It’s just an old prophecy.” Amneris kicked her feet onto the table. “There’s theory it’s about the Core Guardians and a final battle in Erostah.”

Colt frowned. “Isn’t Erostah that place with all the glaciers south of Kiloqua.”

She nodded. “That it is.”

Leo stood. “We move first thing in the morn—”

“And who put you in charge?”

He glared at Amneris. “You did. You made me your General. I have the authority.”

“My authority goes well above yours,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

The two held each other’s gaze as they both left the tent.

Dan and Colt glanced at each other and sighed. Clearly the two were still mad at each other.

“They have a love-hate relationship,” Dan explained. “In another life, they could have been siblings.”

Colt chuckled. “You don’t say.”