In answer to the three taps from Eiden, the door was opened by Clade. Behind him, Ivar and Cissa stood with weapons drawn.

"I brought them," Eiden said.

They entered the small cabin. Eiden saw both sides were wary of each other. He had to address the matter of mutual distrust. In the middle of the small living room, the hermit was talking with Stravros and Ierma. Eiden bowed to everyone.

"Guru, I apologize for this sudden intrusion and for endangering your life, by dragging you into this matter. " Eiden said to the hermit. Guru flashed him a warm smile.

"No harm done, young lord," he said. He bowed to the hermit, then introduced his group, one by one.

"They swore a magical oath to me. I trust them. Mashu helped us to find you. Sage is going to help with the flowers." Then he proceeded to introduce his friends to the group of soldiers.

"They are a bunch of strangers who helped me when I was alone, not knowing who was on my side. I trust them with my life." Eiden looked at them smiling.

"Here, I got you parts of armor, and matching belts, I didn't bring the whole thing, since you are not used to wearing armor, it can get heavy and uncomfortable." He explained getting the large pack he was concealing. His friends started to try them out enthusiastically.

“What I'm going to tell you now can sound unbelievable. Please don't be skeptical and listen, you can ask questions later, but actions are needed faster.” Eiden then gave them a short account of where his parents are stranded right now.

"Are you following me?" he asked the guests.

"It truly sounds like an old tale, but please continue," Simon said.

"Our destination is the seventh island from the Western shore of the fallen city." Eiden paused to look at each of them.

"Do you have any questions before I proceed to my plan?" he asked.

"How do you know we are not led into a trap?" Looking suspiciously at creature people and Stravros, one of them asked. Eiden looked squarely at Marcus.

"It's already a trap. I stoned at the beehive a few days ago. The place might be packed with guards." Marcus held his eyes with Eiden for a long moment and looked away.

"How long are you going to be in the so-called shadow dimension?" Simon asked.

"Time is irrelevant, as far as I know. Papa created the doorway to match relative time. So unless I perish there, it is supposed to be a few minutes. You're supposed to leave in 10 minutes, right, Papa?" Eiden turned to him. He nodded.

"If any of you perish, we will be able to feel the broken link" he answered.

"Who's going to come with you, not them?" Raki looked incredulous.

"It's them." Eiden smiled at his friends.

"My lord, I understand you trust your friends, but, you're surely not just taking them into a hostile magical dimension? As I know they aren't strong magicals." Raki asked.

Eiden took a moment to gather his thoughts. He felt that the older men already might have guessed what he was going to say.

"I have a few reasons actually.

"These dark spirits called shadows, I earlier said, can corrupt humans. Their only known weakness is cleansing fire. Among all of us, you know I'm the closest to the pure fire elemental through my father's side. So, there's no argument that I have to go.

Secondly, I'm not strong enough to fight you all if shadows made you fight with me, you're all highly skilled trained military service men, I'm not, and so if you are going to fight with me or with each other, it will be a fight to the death, no I can't lose you like that.

The third reason is that I feel like if they affect humans, then these creature people might be more immune due to their creature ancestry.

Last but most important reason is you are all skilled in defense and teleportation. What I seek is not a fight, I want you to escape, take my people, and run away."

For a moment, there's a heavy silence in the room, only broken by cracking fire.

"Do you agree with my reasoning?" Eiden asked.

"If so, we can proceed with the planning," he pointed out.

"Go on, my lord," Simon said with a slight approving smile.

"I haven't been to this place before, the road I think is perilous. Luckily, Papa can open a doorway to this point. So, we cross it from here to there. However, on the way back it is different. He won't be strong enough to open it next time. So, we have a second place set up in the forest. Ivar has the link. You need to follow Ivar."

Eiden asked his friends for pre-written runic sequences and showed them. They argued back and forth over a few matters but settled for logical solutions. Eiden asked for them to sleep a few hours to refresh.

But, Eiden felt too strung up for sleep. He went out to the porch, took a lungful of crisp and pine-scented night air, and watched the dark sky littered with stars. When he was going to go inside, Stravros stepped out.

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

"Eiden, one last thing." Stravros took Eiden to his side.

"Your uncle must have heard about us somewhere. I can not remember what happened when he was holding me. If I have enough time I might. But I don't. What knowledge my kind possesses is very dangerous in the wrong hands. Take every precaution to avoid that. Everything, Eiden. Can you promise?"

Stravros held his palm up. It burst into a red flame.

"Yes, I promise." Eiden set his hand, covered with his fire on that.

Stravros took his amulet which was shaped like a golden dragon fang and opened it. The thinner end was filled with soil, and on the wider end, there was a seed, resting in a magical field and glowed green.

"A seed from a dying First tree from my gardens of Cora. I kept it as a memento and good luck charm" he put it around Eiden's neck.

"Keep it."

"I wish we found each other in better times." Eiden held the gold dragon fang close to the heart.

"So do I, Eiden. But, this is all we've got." Stravros kissed the top of Eiden's head. Eiden buried his face in Stravros's chest.

"Papa must have missed you so much," he mumbled.

"I missed him too." Stravros took Eiden's face in his hands.

"He would have been proud of you," he said.

"Come inside." Stravros turned to go inside.

"Just a few more minutes."

Just after Papa left, Guru came to the porch from outside, bringing some fresh herbs from the gardens. He gave Eiden the baskets, and Eiden took it as a clue to follow. Guru took some jars out of a storage closet and started to sort through herbs. Eiden looked through them surprised.

"I know many herbs and flowers, but some of these are strange." He took a jar from the closest, which only consisted of clumps of five-petaled little blue flowers.

"In Terish, it's called "hero's tears," Guru said.

"They only grow in the strip of the Whitecrest Mountains where the great war was fought. It says those places are the graves of fallen warriors," he explained.

There was a moment of silence, in which Eiden imagined a hillside covered with little blue flowers.

"Those weren't slain by the enemy." Eiden looked at Guru confused, but he already turned his back and arranged the jars.

"They were betrayed and slain by comrades, brothers in arms." he turned to face Eiden.

"Young lord, strong or weak, brave or afraid, love or hate, none matters for cunning things with the darkest of desires, seeking only the corruption and ultimate destruction."

Eiden stared speechless. As he was trying to process why the hermit was saying that. Guru took a small phial, with a murky, orange liquid.

"Drink this, will help you to sleep."

Eiden took the phial, yet hesitated to drink, and looked at the hermit. Guru said nothing. He uncorked it and downed the liquid which was surprisingly cool and refreshing. He staggered, feeling tired, as the hermit took his hand and guided him to a grass mat by the fireplace.

Eiden gave instructions to Ierma, Sage, and Guru to add protections around the cabin. Also, he mentioned what he thought they might need after a long time in the shadow dimension. He also teamed up with his friends with military men to avoid confusion during teleportation. And went through the ready-made runic circles one last time.

Then it was time to leave.

"My lord, please be careful." Ierma hugged him again. Eiden thought he was hugged more than Ivar, who's Ierma's own grandson.

Stravros announced the runic doorway to the island was done. Stravros, Eiden, and Simon used their magic to power up the doorway because it can be too draining for one person. The doorway looked like an ellipsoid, rustling silk curtain which shone in iridescent colors.

"Go, Eiden,'' Stravros said, panting.

Eiden followed by others entered the doorway, and he felt a weightless floating sensation. It suddenly ended as he stumbled out to the cold air and grassy ground. He scrambled out of the way as others too fell one by one out of the doorway. He was too bewildered to talk as he watched, Stravros stepped out of the doorway, calm and confident, holding onto Simon's arm. Simon on the other hand stumbled on his feet and nearly squashed Cissa who was still sitting on the ground.

"It's a bit disorienting when you're not used to the method," Stravros said to the stunned-looking group.

"That's an understatement." Eiden shook his head to get his mind clear and took a long breath.

"Come on, we are going to start opening the shadow dimension." He urged people to get into positions. They have to keep a light, which means their position will soon be discovered. Simon and other soldiers made the outer ring and Eiden's friends made the inner circle.

Eiden was taught only the basics of runes. The first thing was the substance you used to write the runes. For much advanced magic and borderline gray magic, the most powerful writing substance was the magical blood of the caster or someone with a connection to the purpose of the runes they were writing. Actually, the magical blood would come in handy anytime, if you're not in a position to find any other writing substance.

In this case, they used both Stavros's and Eiden's blood to create the doorway. They were now establishing the link via the fire crystal prism, named Flame of the South.

"Eiden, the circle is done. Now you need to power it up. You're the one going to open and enter." Papa seemed exhausted after using quite a lot of magic in a short time.

"Yes. Papa, shall I tell others?" Eiden nodded.

Stravros agreed.

Eiden now, realized during the time he concentrated hard on the runic circle, their intrusion has been noticed. In the distance, a lot of lights were moving. The protections they laid around the place were enough to conceal them for a while. The soldiers were in position, arms drawn and ready to defend. Eiden walked to Simon.

"We're done, you are going to follow my orders, understand?"

Eiden stood erect and looked up to meet the commander's eyes. He knew there was a reluctance when it came to his orders.

"You're not to question me if I order you to leave?" he asked.

"Yes, my lord " There was no hesitation in Simon's voice. They bowed to each other.

"Listen, I'm opening the portal, ready to defend your positions," Eiden ordered.

"Are you sure you're going inside?" he asked his friends again.

"Yes," a chorus of agreements replied.

Eiden hugged Papa, and stood at the Northern end of the runic circle, holding the broken key. After a long incantation, aiming his magic at each tip of the hexagon inside the circle, he reached the last one where he stood.

"Vivaurtā," (old Terish word translated as 'open')

He held the key over the tip. The runes from his left, started to glow, forming a current of magical breeze. It traveled slowly, then faster, in an anticlockwise direction towards Eiden, who stood motionless, with his magic draining through the crystal key to the circle. The glow and current of magical wind reached the Northern tip together.

For a moment, everything stayed still, there were no changes, only the glow of runes and steady circular wind. Then it started. The breeze became a chaotic whirlwind and revealed a black swirling circular portal.

"Go,"

Stravros yelled.

Eiden felt his friends clutched him behind. He took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.