The air exploded with a flurry of cries as two groups rushed one another. Goslin grabbed both Sarien and Tomford, slapping them both on the back with excitement. He felt a tightening within him release. His friends were home again.

“You’ve been fighting,” Sarien said, looking at his friends’ torn clothes and dirty faces.

“Anyone hurt?” Tomford asked.

“We survived with only minor injuries. Heylien stepped in as the healer in your place,” Goslin said, indicating to the wound on his back. Heylien smiled broadly, though a little sheepishly as his efforts.

Lana scoffed. “Minor? Tom, please make sure Goslin and Kax don’t die from stupidity.”

“Good thing you found us,” Tomford said as he unwrapped the bandage around Goslin’s torso. The wound had begun to fester. Goslin felt the familiar chill run through his body. “That was a pretty grim injury.”

Tomford healed Kax, then shook his head. “A day will come when I’m not around to tend to your wounds. You should be more careful. Foolhardiness will be the end of you, if you don’t.”

“We will be more mindful of our mortality,” Goslin promised.

“Did you also meet strange men on the road?” Heylien asked.

“They are called the rhinn,” Sarien said.

“Rhinn?” Kax asked, clutching tightly to the pommel of his sword. “How do you know their name?”

“It’s a long story,” Tomford said. “Wait, what happened to the kozimuz?”

“Killed it,” Hart said.

“What did you call it? Kasimuss?” Kax asked.

“The gateway brought us to a land called Rhinerien,” Sarien began. “The people there are called the rhinn and they’re gathering an army. We briefly met with the resistance before we had to escape through a gateway I created. It was they who told us of these things, and about how the kozimuz are treated like evil legends.” He looked right at Goslin. “There are pyromancers in Rhinerien working with the army.”

“So, that cursed beast really came from a different world,” Lana said.

“Something bad is happening right under our noses,” Goslin said. “We need to get to Tyralien quickly so I can get word home to my father. Your news about pyromancers in that strange world is troubling.”

“We saw a group of them travel by using what they call waypoints. It’s similar to what Sarien can do,” Tomford said.

“They disappeared through a tear in the air?” Heylien asked.

Tomford nodded. “That’s right.”

Heylien’s face turned grim. “It’s them we met on the road then.”

“We’re covered in their blood,” Kax said.

“Except for the one you called the traveler,” Heylien added. “He got away.”

“We should depart.” Goslin said. Everyone mounted their horses, their spirits high from reuniting despite the worrying news of rhinn invading their world.

Goslin shared what happened in their own travels and then Sarien filled them in on his discovery of releasing people from their magic prisons.

Kax brandished his short sword. “You should make more of these weapons for all of us. They’re invincible. The price is not as steep when you have these rhinn to trap, right?”

Sarien visibly shuddered at Kax’s words, but it was Tomford who spoke first. “That little arsehole accidentally trapped me for a moment. It’s hell in there. No one deserves that kind of punishment. We’re not doing that to anyone else.”

“That’s not your decision to make. But Tom is right,” Sarien said. “I’m not trapping any more enemies unless I am forced to.”

“Hold on, you trapped Tom?” Lana asked.

Tomford chuckled. “And destroyed a farmer’s house.”

“Hey! I paid for that!” Sarien said, laughing.

“That’s it,” Kax said. “You’re telling us that story right now!”

No more rhinn showed up during that day, but the empty landscape made for eerie traveling, and they all agreed to keep watch in shifts so they wouldn’t be surprised when they camped for the night. Emeryn created a hole in the ground so they could hide a small fire to roast some potatoes and carrots, the last of their meager supplies. Goslin walked over to a nearby stream to bathe, taking his time to scrub the blood and gore from his skin, rubbing it raw. A chill wind blew when he emerged from the water, and he hurried to return near the fire.

Before full dark, they extinguished their small campfire. There was no hiding even the smallest flame, unless Emeryn built a whole house around them, and she needed to conserve her energy so she could fight if they were discovered.

Sarien asked for the first shift, and Goslin saw no reason to deny him.

Goslin, however, found that he couldn’t sleep. He wanted to go to Emeryn, to hold her, but this was not the time nor the place for it. He was to marry soon to a princess of Tyriu. If he was wise, he would put all thoughts of Emeryn out of his mind.

Instead, to distract himself, he stood and trudged over to Sarien, who watched the dark while absentmindedly scratching Daisy’s ear.

“Goslin?”

He sat next to Sarien. “Just me.”

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I should, but I can’t. I’m worried about what you saw in the other world and what we’ll find.”

“In Tyralien?” Sarien asked.

“Yes.”

“We’ll deal with it together when we get there.” Sarien scratched Daisy’s head again. “Whatever is happening, you’ll come up with a plan to stop it. That way, you’ll finish your quest and marry a princess. My journey will be over as well, if my father is in there.”

“You think too highly of me. And I’ve had some second thoughts about the marriage.”

“Why?”

Goslin sighed. “Em.”

“Oh,” Sarien said, shifting uncomfortably. It seemed that Sarien wasn’t interested in the matters of Goslin’s heart. Goslin smiled wryly to himself. This would be one problem he would have to puzzle out himself.

“Hey, what happened to my spear?” Sarien asked, changing the subject.

Goslin’s mood darkened. “Hart lost it.”

Sarien looked stunned.

“He hasn’t quite been himself,” Goslin said. “Not since he and Lana finished off that monster.”

Sarien pursed his lips and looked thoughtful but didn’t comment. Goslin let the silence stretch for a while, then spoke with some trepidation. “Sarien?”

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“Yeah?”

“When you were in the tower. Did you hear anything… suspicious?”

“You’re talking about the pyromancers in Rhinerien,” Sarien said.

“I am.”

“I wish I could say no,” Sarien began. “There were few pyromancers in the tower. Most classes were on the supremacy of pyromancers above all other forms of magic. When you arrived and I was about to be thrown back into a cell. One of them commented on not being ready for something. For what, I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I’m sorry.”

“How would you know? But I don’t like this at all. It reeks of revolt. The pyromancers have chafed under the Eldi Agreement ever since they signed the document, but I never thought they’d go so far as to outright join hands with invaders and start a war against Tyriu of all places.”

“We don’t know that for certain,” Sarien said. “It could be something else.”

“What?” Goslin asked.

“I don’t know,” Sarien admitted. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“About when I was in the tower. I killed someone.”

At first, Goslin thought the young mage beside him was joking, but his face was serious. “You killed someone?”

Sarien drew in a breath. “The director of research experimented on me trying to understand my powers. That’s how I got these scars,” he rolled up his sleeves to show lines going up his arms. “She tortured me and planned on doing it again until I died under her knife. She was a monster with no regard for those she saw as beneath her. I killed her the night before you arrived. The tower didn’t find out before I left,” Sarien paused. “But they must know by now.”

Goslin searched Sarien’s face, then nodded. “Do you feel that your actions were just?”

“I do,” Sarien said, staring back, his jaw set.

“Very well, I believe you,” Goslin said.

Sarien blinked, a surprised look on his face. “Just like that?”

“Sounds to me like you did what needed to be done. I trust your judgement, dear friend. You should rest now. I’ll stay up and keep watch.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. One of us should get some rest at least.”

Sarien reached out in the dark and squeezed Goslin’s shoulder. “I’ll go then. I’m sure it’ll all turn out well in the end.”

Goslin heard Sarien drop down onto his bedroll nearby and thought about what his friend had confessed. If Sarien had killed one of the directors of the tower, there would be consequences no matter his reasoning. If the pyromancers ever found Sarien again, they would seek their vengeance.

All Goslin could do was fight alongside his friend when the time came.

The road to Tyralien was not without obstacles. Just as they broke camp, two rhinn patrolmen came into view along the road, from behind a hill no more than fifty paces away. Their large eyes widened in surprise and they turned to run back the way they’d come. Each of them fell to the ground, an arrow in one’s back and the other in the neck.

“You can’t just kill them!” Tomford yelled, pulling at Heylien’s bow.

Heylien’s horse danced away. “And what if they’d made it back to their camp? Rhinn could come swarming over those hills! Or, worse, materialize out of thin air. You’re the only invulnerable one here!” He pointed to the downed soldiers. “The rest of us can die just as easy as they just did!”

“That’s enough,” Goslin said. “I know that tensions are high right now, but we need to keep calm. Tom, I’m sorry, but they can’t live.”

“Fine,” Tomford said. “But I don’t like it and I refuse to kill anyone.”

“Bashing their brains in is much better, isn’t it?” Lana asked. “It’s them or us.”

“We might be able to talk to them,” Sarien said. “One of them must know something about what is happening.”

Emeryn nodded. “That might be worth a try.”

“You want to capture one?” Heylien asked in disbelief.

“Just wished we could talk to them and learn why they’re even here. The rhinn we spoke to in Rhinerien said something about their crops failing. They might just be desperate to survive.”

“It’s a noble idea, Sarien,” Goslin said, looking at Emeryn. “We’ll keep it in mind. How about that?”

“Sure,” Sarien said. “Was just a thought.”

When they crested the next hill, Goslin realized immediately where the rhinn soldiers Heylien killed were fleeing to.

The village below was swarming with men dressed in black uniforms. Hundreds of them. The group fell silent.

“Back, back now,” Goslin said, turning his horse to return from where they had come. “We’ll need to go around.”

“Didn’t you see Tyralien in the distance?” Lana asked. “We’re close.”

“Let’s just go through them,” Hart said. “It’ll be fun.” Everyone gave Hart a flat look, then promptly ignored him. It seemed Hart’s bloodlust had returned.

“More patrols will come,” Kax said. “They’ll find the dead soldiers.”

“Damn. We should have hidden them,” Heylien said.

“As long as we’re not here when they discover the bodies, we should be fine,” Emeryn said.

“Like I said, we’ll go around them,” Goslin said. “I don’t see any other way.”

They rode in a wide path around the village to avoid discovery. Even if the dead bodies were discovered, no rhinn soldiers were sent after them. Heylien rode a little ahead to make sure they didn’t run into another patrol. Almost an hour later, the village was safely behind them and the way to Tyralien lay open before them.

“Tyriu should have been able to send a message out to alert the other kingdoms,” Goslin said.

“Maybe they did,” Sarien said.

“We’re not exactly swimming in information here,” Kax agreed.

“Kleotram should have known if that was the case,” Goslin said. “But it makes no difference now. We’ll soon see for ourselves.”

“I think we already can,” Emeryn said, pointing toward Tyralien. “Look outside the walls.”

Goslin saw large clusters of bodies milling around the city walls. From this distance, they looked like insects.

“Are those people?” Sarien asked.

“Let’s go before we come upon another rhinn patrol finds us.”

Goslin rode off and the rest of the group followed. They were close enough now to see frenetic movements up on the tall walls of Tyralien and to see the main gates were closed despite it being the middle of the day.

A group of rhinn patrolled the road off to the south of where the group was riding. Goslin ignored them and kept going, pushing his horse hard, and racing past them. The rhinn in the patrol pointed and yelled, but they were on foot and had no hope of catching them.

It soon became clear that the city was under siege. Thousands of rhinn crowded around the outside of Tyralien’s walls. Goslin saw arrows flying in both directions, could hear the faint sound of rhinn screaming and dying as they pitted themselves against the massive fortifications.

Goslin stopped abruptly. They’d been spotted by more of the rhinn soldiers, who gestured wildly in their direction.

The city was surrounded. Most of the enemy troops were assaulting from the south, but they could see rhinn all around the outside of the city.

“What do we do?” Sarien asked. “There’s no way inside.”

“We can’t fight them. There’s too many,” Lana said.

“We’ll go through.” Goslin felt a strange sense calm overcome him. They had no choice. There was no other way than forward.

“What do you mean, go through?” Heylien asked, bewildered.

Goslin pointed north. “They don’t have horses, as far as I can see. There are plenty of smaller entrances on the north side of the wall. If we make it to one of those gates, we can convince the defenders to let us in, I’m sure of it.”

“Are you crazy?” Kax asked.

“If that doesn’t work, I can make us an entrance,” Emeryn said, riding up to Goslin’s side.

“Or I’ll cut one for us,” Hart boasted. He looked eager and much like his old self.

Goslin glanced to Sarien. “You can’t, you know?” he waved his hands around.

“I could try, but I don’t think I’d make it in time,” Sarien said. Waves of rhinn soldiers were approaching from all directions.

Goslin was ready to give the word for them to race for the north gates when, at that moment, the impossible happened.

A scream came from above them. Far above. No, not a scream. Someone yelling.

“BASTARDS!”

Goslin looked up, dumbfounded. There was something in the sky.

He shielded his eyes against the sun and thought he saw… was it a kite? A person hung from some sort of contraption, almost like a sail.

The man was approaching fast, high above their heads. Another word, “ARSEHOLES!” drifted down, and the man hurtled past through the air at an impossible speed, shooting straight for Tyralien.

“Is that man… flying?” Emeryn asked. Her mouth was hanging open, eyes wide.

Kax looked just as stunned. “I want to do that.”

They watched as the flying man soared past the walls of the city and disappeared.

“Was he naked?” Tomford asked, blinking.

Lana groaned.

“What?” Heylien asked.

“I think I know him,” she answered, then looked around. The rhinn soldiers were only a few paces away. “Shit! We have to go! Now!”

“Go!” Goslin yelled, pointing his horse north. He set off riding for a gap in the enemy lines and everyone followed. Daisy kept pace with them, running at full tilt to match the horses’ stride. Goslin set a fast pace to give them a chance at outmaneuvering the foot soldiers. He found a gap in the first line and they shot through.

The rhinn looked surprised, but soon gathered themselves for pursuit. Goslin set his shoulders and bent down close to the horse’s neck as they flew through the masses of soldiers that swarmed toward them.

Arrows flew through the air, but the rhinn archers didn’t seem very practiced. A few even hit their own companions as Goslin broke through another gap in their lines.

Tyralien was massive, and it took longer than Goslin hoped to circle around to the north side, but they made it through the worst of it without having to fight at all. Rhinn troop placements on the northern side of the city was sparse. The enemies were spaced too far apart and lacked any semblance of coherence. Small groups of rhinn clustered far off to their left, and some patrolled along the road in the grass field where Goslin directed the group further along the city wall. They looked at Goslin’s group, unsure how to react.

“There are more of them here than I’d like!” Kax yelled. “They’ve almost surrounded the entire city!”

“There aren’t that many of them!” Heylien yelled back. He drew an arrow and shot a rhinn man that managed to step in their path. The rhinn soldier fell with a scream, and that, finally, made the small army surrounding the group take notice and act.

Goslin gave his horse free rein. The horses were tired from the mad sprint, but there was no helping it. The rhinn swarmed like ants from all directions. It didn’t matter if they faced a hundred men or a thousand, they would not be able to make it out alive if they were caught in the middle.

Goslin looked behind them and saw Daisy fall behind. The dog couldn’t keep up and had to dodge and run around rhinn who tried to catch the animal or attack him with spears.

“A gate!” Emeryn yelled, pointing to the city wall as it towered above them. It was small. More of a door, and there was no road leading to it. But it was their only chance. Goslin saw the curious looks of Tyriu soldiers up at the top of the wall, but they did nothing to aid them in their mad dash.