It had taken a couple of days for the group to settle their emotions and get ready for the upcoming journey. Condolore was now aware that his daughter had been taken and that she was being kept close to where they would be meeting Seth. He was plenty ready with the group that he would be traveling with. Ali had finally been approved for her High Council position, which she had submitted nearly two hundred years ago and continued to submit and go through trials for the position. Borris found out that he had a little brother that he hadn’t known about because he was only twenty. Jade had been given news that he house had been blown to pieces, but no body had been found. She knew that could only mean that he mother was on the move. Austin found that her parents had left her their property. Alex and Jason had found out that their old orphanage had been burned to the ground. Anne learned that not only was her father still alive but he was still following the trail of her mother’s killer. Mathos had learned of a village that had been built over the ashes of his home. Griffin and Gonza had been approved for marriage by Griffin’s command in the Interdimensional Police Force, run by the Ninja Academy. Jessica knew that Seth was in real trouble and that he would need her in the coming days. Nearly everyone was ready for the trip, aside for Kaythanos, he’d learned that his father had been killed and that he was now the a hereditary High Council Member.

Kaythanos had been pacing out in the courtyard for an entire day. He had no idea how he could possibly be a High Council Member. It terrified him to think that someone could actually kill his father, but it also enraged him that his father had died. Jade was the one who convinced him to think about the situation before making a move, which was why he had been pacing in the first place. After that day, he’d continued to train day in and day out, twenty-four seven. He trained constantly until Condolore had finally come to get him.

Jessica had spent the entire time reading every book that there was on the dimension that they were headed to. The name of it was Bonovallia and it was ruled by a just man who took care of his people. The timeline was a mix of western and renaissance, with primarily hand weapons but there were still limited firearms.

Jade turned to her spell book to learn more about what she was capable of. She got help from Gonza who was one of the few masters of magic in the demonic realms of the world. Before she knew it, Jade was well versed in magic and how it worked. What really surprised her was how fast she was able to learn because of her understanding of chemistry and the periodic table. When it came to elemental magic, she could learn and even enhance spells after a single use. It was the mental magic that she was having a hard time with, mainly because it took a clear visual or dominating mind to perform. By the time they needed to leave, Jade had learned almost every spell in the book, though she was still having trouble with all of the mental magic.

Alex and Jason had come quite a ways with their sword mastery. Condolore had commended them and given them his blessing as swordsmen. They honed their abilities in the basics for the last day until they needed to go.

Borris had an idea and was able to extend the range of his shadow field, making him able to transport more than just himself in shadow. He did training with boxes for the entire time but wasn’t sure of the actual number of people that he could transport.

Ali concentrated on mastering her abilities as a bijanir. She separated all of her limbs from her body and manipulated them to go as far away from her as she could while maintaining control of them. By the time they had to leave, she was fairly certain that she could manipulate them without hindrance as far as a football field away.

Mathos found himself meditating for the remainder of his time there. He was trying to reach a state of mind that would enlighten him and he was well on his way. In a basic mediating stance, he could feel the very life that surrounded him, the animals, the trees, even the change of the atmosphere. What he didn’t realize was that he was floating off of the ground like a true monk, which was exactly what he was trying for.

Griffin was calling contacts that he had with information on the current state of the dimension that they were going to. He had much more experience with gaining information and understanding it than anything else, so he was going to use that ability to the fullest to help the team. He had a solid grasp on the political situation, which was bleak, by the time they had to leave.

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Austin used her time to advance her body in hand-to-hand combat. She had stopped placing rocks in them to filling them with cement. Since the straw bags were breaking too easily, she had fashioned some out of a thick leather. The dummies hadn’t lasted long since she never stopped striking them until they blew to pieces. Austin learned very quickly that she was now far stronger than she previously thought. When she asked Condolore about it, he gave her an odd answer, “Being related to The One has its perks in many aspects. You’ll just grow stronger as time goes by.” Then he left her to continue her training.

The night before they had prepared to leave, so that in the morning they could simply take the portal that Condolore was making. They got a surprise from Alex Donovin. He had strode into the dining room while everyone was eating dinner and stepped up to the head of the table, “Aye’d like ta join ya.” It was all he said and there wasn’t much of a question in his voice.

Kasakierin had stood up as the resident leader until Seth returned, “Why? What purpose would you serve?” He stepped over to Donovin and crossed his arms as he waited for an answer.

Donovin didn’t back down, mainly since he was taller than Kasakierin. “Aye got me reasons ta join of me own choice. Tha Dak King wa’ the one who ‘illed me family.”

For a time they just glared at each other, until Kasakierin laughed and gave him a slap on the shoulder, “That’s as good of a reason as everyone else here. You’ll fit right in. Also, you didn’t need to ask. If you wanted to join us, then you should just join us.” He strode back over to his seat and continued eating, not even waiting for Donovin to respond.

Everyone got back to eating as Donovin nodded his head and left for his room once again. Jessica was the only one to go looking for him once she was done eating. She found him up on the roof above her usual spot that she’d use to wait for Seth. She leaned on the railing and looked up to him, waiting to see if he noticed her or not.

Without looking down, Donovin began speaking, “Wat do ya wan’? Me life stoory? Me tragedy? Wat?” He sighed and started explaining without waiting for her answer, “When aye wa’ a we lad, me pops died an aye wa’ left wit barin’ the family. Then me mum pass’ an aye wa’ left on me lonesome. Con foun’ me an took me in. Firs’ one ta even gimme tha light a dey. Den aye foun a differnt set a skills dat aye ‘ad. Aye cou’ talk ta tha deed, cou’ even see em, learn from em. Came a sniper than’ ta dem. Den aye foun out dat me family had bin murdered by da Dak King imself.” He dropped down to where Jessica was and grimaced, “Don know why aye shar’ dat wit ya. Seem da right ting ta do.” He put his hands in his pockets and made his way back inside.

Jessica was left on the balcony with tears on the verge of streaming down her cheeks. Something that had been happening more and more often because everyone there had been through some kind of tragedy. She had started to empathize with them and could barely hold herself together at times. She stayed out on the balcony for a time, until she heard something to her right. She jumped at the massive figure that was before her.

A massive humanoid wolf, far larger than any of the werewolves they’d seen was standing before her. Then he slowly morphed down in to Max in his Rottweiler form. “Sorry to have startled you.” He said through his mind, which he’d only recently started doing and only with Jessica. “Are you alright, I sensed distress in your heart.” He strode over and hugged her leg as he said it.

Jessica smiled and hugged him, “No, my heart just hurts on the behalf of others. Nothing wrong with me aside from wanting to take care of our people.” She scratched behind his ear and Max’s back leg started to rhythmically slap the floor. “Are you ready for our journey?”

Max stopped instantly and backed away to sit in front of her, “Yes, but I have a bad feeling about the coming morning. I fear that they will be here before we can leave.”

Jessica sighed when she heard the fear of them once again, “Max, who are they? Who’s coming?”

Max stood and slowly morphed into his monstrous form once again, facing the forest, “A horde of werewolves, the main fighting force of the Dark King.” Then he shot off into the night to start another patrol of the tree line and the surrounding forest.

Jessica was left once again alone on the balcony with her thoughts. She looked up to the stars and made a small prayer that everything would be alright, but it wasn’t a prayer to God, it was a prayer to Seth.

Down in the second dimension, Seth looked up to the stars while he strode through the forest and smiled, “Everything will be alright, my love.”