The day moves by slowly despite our morning excitement. I haven't told anyone what I thought of the Avyanan rulers yet, nor do I think doing so would be pleasing. In simple and rather nice terms, they were rude and disrespectful, but thank the Gods they smelled of fear by the time we misted back. They are clearly well-practiced in the art of masking their fear from the eye, but not masking it entirely.

I was impressed with Kat and her words, and hold more respect for the young lioness than I did before. I knew she was brave and strong-willed, but I didn't expect her to tell a King and Queen to fuck off. Especially a King and Queen in which we're asking for aid. She did so rather beautifully, as well, not shrinking away from them.

Nothing made me smile more than watching the Mater stare down the steely Queen and then breaking it, not giving the other woman the satisfaction and keeping her eyes anywhere else but back at her. I still see the Queen of Avyana's furious face in my mind and feel my lip twitch in satisfaction. Her cheeks reddened in anger, her mouth and jaw setting in a harsh line. Her eyes bore into Clarice's face as if she could cause the Mater pain with her gaze alone. On a normal occasion, I would've had the Queen against the wall for the dark thoughts, her crown thrown off her head and a knife at her throat. They're lucky we need them.

The other King and Queen that still trail us are not much more amusing, let alone tolerable. The only reason I haven't snapped at them is that they've stuck to the opposite end of our traveling party.

I realize that my thoughts have turned rather violent, even for me, more recently. It's this damn ball. The stakes, the dangers, the fucking power-hungry man himself...it has me wanting to train out my worries and hunt demons just to annoy him. But it's also because both Serephina and Tsillah have returned a day early, yet none of the others do. I realize that them not being here means they've likely succeeded in the mission they've been sent on, but the reminder makes me wonder if something might've gone wrong instead.

I think of Tsil and Kathika, knowing Tsillah would've cloaked the whole eastern continent into darkness if anything happened to her partner. If Tanith was gone then I wouldn't be able to speak to those nearby without moving my lips. But Branka...

Darius said it earlier when we first started riding this morning. The northern continent is an unknown. Aside from the stories of Mortala's Garden of Lost Souls and the fact that there are minimalistic facts to know about the northern continent, we know nothing. She knew nothing when she left to find the supposed twelfth kingdom, and I currently know nothing of whether she's vividly alive, or on the edge of death. She's not dead, that much I know. Otherwise, the continent would be underwater beneath Willa's pain.

So much potential for death and yet the real war hasn't begun yet.

"Go ahead," I tell Dee, having heard the howl of another hellhound too.

The dog's numbers increase the closer we get to the castle, but of all the creatures Xaxias has risen, the hellhounds are one of the easier to kill. They don't require a beheading, burning, or loss of their heart to be finished. Just a normal slit of the throat or stab in a crucial area.

People often mistake the hellhounds for the scariest and most ruthless animals of the underworld, but they're actually more like the rats of the burning realm. It's the ten-foot Chimeria you have to worry about. Its body consists of the head and body of a lion, a goat head that emerges from the lion's back, and a tail that ends in a snake's head. If that isn't odd and bad enough, all three heads breathe scorching white-hot fire. Much as I believe Darius can handle the flames, anyone else will be instantly charred before they could scream.

"Rohana?"

I pull my horse back at the Mater's call, coming to ride alongside her and Katarina who has joined her once again on Víđarr. "Yes?"

"How do you make someone feel the power you have?" she asks. It's a rather random question considering that they were just talking about expanding the Vandarian castle once this is all over. It is rather small.

"There's no need to make someone feel it," I explain. "Anyone with a power themselves can feel the power you hold. Your power lies in every living thing, the only difference is that when you're close, those living things suddenly vibrate with the energy they didn't have before. As if those things have finally awakened fully. I could mist ten miles away from you and tell which direction to travel in to reach you."

"But what about those who don't have magical abilities?"

"Like me," Kat offers. "I don't feel anything...off with all of you unless you forcefully shove it around. You're all just plain."

"I've never been described as plain before," Mak mumbles, shifting uncomfortably in her saddle. "I don't like it."

I roll my eyes despite her having a point. Makatza is anything but plain.

"Your mother and Kerrigan once described the ability to make their presence known to mortals," Vanya answers. "She said that she would use the water in people's bodies to allow them to sense her. Something about taking hold of the water and moving it in a different rhythm or something." She waves her hand through the air, swatting away the vague memories.

"Very helpful, Vanya." She throws a middle finger in my direction.

"Kerrigan would make the air in people's lungs thicken," Serephina tells Darius. "I let him try it on me once. It's kind of like that tingly feeling you get when you're nervous. You know when your chest feels like the air in your lungs is unnervingly thin - or like when you eat mint and then drink cold water and you feel like your mouth is having a blizzard, only it's in your chest not your mouth. It was weird, but it worked."

"But how do we do that?" Clarice asks again.

"Focus on who you want to make feel your power without having to see you. Then call upon your power and when you feel it vibrate through your body, slowly start to direct that vibration towards them. Your power will do the rest," Nilsa explains.

I should've known she would be the one to know. She can warp one's reality. Her powers are to literally enclose you in her power without you realizing that you are. In order to know how to hide it from you, she'd need to know how to also make you feel it.

"And that won't hurt them?" Darius asks.

"Not if you only let a little bit of your power touch them. The elements aren't made to harm, they're made to create and sustain life. They only cause harm when you want them to. If you don't want them to, then they won't."

"Sounds like a few hours of training at least," Clarice decides.

Nilsa shakes her head. "It's not too hard, especially with how much control the two of you have already. It shouldn't take more than an hour and a half at most."

Clarice nods, eyes narrowed and head tilt in the look of a scheme hatching and soon cracking. Everyone waits for her to reveal her little idea forming, but instead, her eyes turn to look me up and down with pursed lips. Her scrutiny has me wondering what it is that goes on in that little mind of hers. I've seen the plans she can create, and the evil decisions she can make in seconds. Over time her mind has become an empire for puzzle piecing and riddle breaking. It's admiring, yet currently questioning.

I look down at myself as she continues to rake her eyes over me from the tip of my head to the bottom of my toes. There's nothing interesting there. Just an immortal body and some fighting leathers carrying all kinds of weapons. Nothing new or exciting seeing as I've been wearing these for almost a cycle.

"How was your armor made?"

I blink at her, wondering how all of that led to the question of the Ginerva's mist blue armor which is currently in Fernweh with Willa. "Your grandparents and Dawna nd Kerrigan forged it, as all elementals do when they take their thrones and the Ginerva pledge their allegiance in a blood vow."

"Why do the elementals forge them?"

"Metal forged by elementals is ten times more durable than that of man-made steel. It's also lighter in weight and easier to put on in case of an emergency and a quick getaway."

"Why is it blue?"

I hesitate only for a second, wondering where this is going. "It's the color tour mother and Kerrigan settled upon."

"So the elementals can choose what color to make the armor?"

"Yes."

"Dawn's parents made our first set sage green - oh and before that it was lavender with silver designs that only came out at night," Serephina lists. "And before that, it was sunshine yellow, and before that rose pink, and then mint, and then-"

"I think they get it, Inna," Dee tells her gently. The former chews on her bottom lip, stopping her recitement of the Ginervian line and the armor colors they've gained over the years. I can see her continue it in her head, however. She always had a fascination with the history of our origins. A nerdy quality she doesn't always make public.

"Has there ever been gold?" Roseia asks, glancing back to our small escort of golden armored men.

"Thralians don't hold any interest nor value towards the color or the currency," Dee explains. "We simply have no care for it."

"Why not?"

"Because the rest of the world does," I answer, more harshly than I wanted to. I'd apologize, but I don't feel like it. "We don't think ourselves above everyone else, we just simply think that there's no use in carrying the metal when all it does is bring conflict over who has the most, and if they do, then how highly ranked are they. We don't base our rankings on wealth. We base it off of who the people trust to lead them."

"Sounds peaceful," Darius muses.

"Sounds conflicting," Garrison counters.

"Every type of government is conflicting because there are always conflicting views," I intone. "There are always going to be people who want more for themselves and less for others, but at least this way they're not fighting over money or inheritance or power. They're fighting over who represents them properly, and if that person has their best interest at heart or not. The elementals are chosen. The Ginerva are chosen. The Council is chosen. The officers, captains, trainers, mentors, and representatives are all chosen by the people. If they deem any of us unfit for the position any longer - save for the elementals - then we'll be replaced."

"Has that ever happened?" Vladimir asks.

"It's not unheard of for anyone in the military or the council, but never for the Ginerva. There hasn't been a Ginerva in which has failed to do their duties, therefore they needn't be removed."

"And what about Willa? You didn't mention her position," Darius points out.

Vanya answers, keeping her eyes on the upcoming horizon of the hill we've begun to climb. "Willa's power and position are the only one which is passed down strictly through the bloodline only. The Resolute Protectors live longer than both elementals and Ginerva, as the number of powers they hold lengthens their lifespans."

"Couldn't she be considered the most powerful of you all since she carries...what? Eight?" Malen suggests.

"Yes, and no." They all look at Dee in confusion at her unhelpful answer. "Willa only has so many because every time a Resolute Protector passes, their power is passed down to their kin who also gains power of their own in addition to that. So, for example, when Willa dies in another five thousand or so years and...someone else comes into her power, they'll gain all eight of Willa's powers, and keep the one which they currently have. So they'll end up with nine."

"Saints..." Kat gawks. I look around more urgently, hoping no one will speak Branka's name and thankful that Dee avoided doing so herself. One whisper of that name will have Xaxias turning up and demanding what we mean when referring to her in the present tense.

No one does, and I take a few deep breaths that do nothing to help me.

"But," Dee continues. "They'll never be able to reach the full amount of power the elementals hold. The elementals control everything in this world, and they can pull from it and sustain themselves with it. Willa can't. She runs purely off her own energy, and she has to use one source for eight different powers, whereas the elementals use their rather large ocean of energy for two each. The number of powers held doesn't determine strength. The source does."

"Just thinking about powers and magic is giving me a headache," Alex mumbles.

"There are pros and cons to magic," Vanya agrees.

"More cons to being mortal compared to it," Winston points out.

"I wouldn't go that far," I say, ending the conversation as we all rise to the crest of the hill, and finally come in sight of Cadorelin.

We make quick work of pausing on the hill, taking the higher advantage point for the night. We sent the Crovinians to make their own grand camp outside the city border. It's not too far, and we had to thoroughly and prolongingly explain to them that if Xaxias wanted them dead, he would've done it by now. He wants a big audience for his performance.
It took a whole hour we could've used doing more important things.

At least they're gone, and we're left in nearly blissful silence. There's still the roaring of who lies in the castle walls to sing us to sleep. Walls which we all currently stare at, thinking about what he could possibly have in store for us and all the other kingdoms of Ker.

"We should recon to see what he's already got roaming the streets," Garrison suggests.

I look over to Darius, waiting for the order. Instead, he turns and walks over towards the soldiers which have found a place to sit on the shorter grass. We all follow and gather around, waiting again in silence.

"We should split the city into groups, it'll make it easier to do scout," I say into the silence.

Thankfully, Benny responds. "Cadorelin is already split into quarters. Northern, southern, eastern, and western. Shouldn't be too hard."

"You'll go in groups of two," Darius decides. "Eight of you total. Each pair will take a quarter and see what they can find, then regroup and watch the castle as a whole team."

I nod, but it's Garrison who speaks. "Which eight?"

"One Ginerva, one Bhaltayr in each pairing," I offer. He nods, and Darius takes his agreement as his own. Odd how the King looks for the approval of others before his own answer, but respectful.

"Good," Darius says. "Then you'll all go through every street until you've learned every crack and hidden doorways. I don't just want a simple glancing recon. I want to know what he's got the people doing or suffering, where he'd likely hide his own, where they'd go for safety...everything. No unnecessary risks or decisions made without some serious consideration of the consequences of everyone involved. Don't do anything that will make him act out and kill someone before tomorrow. The last thing we need is King Rainier and Queen Edila dead and rumors of us having sent them into a trap landing in the ears of every other ruler. Everyone will have ears everywhere before they arrive tomorrow, so be careful of what you say. You should know the whole layout of your quarter by the time you get back, that way when shit explodes - as it undoubtedly will - you'll know how to get in and out without a hitch. No shortcuts. Not anymore."

"And how long do we have?" I ask.

"As long as you need."

"And the castle?" Osiris asks as one of the five going.

"Sit there most of the night if you have to. Though I doubt he's done so, I want confirmation that King Cyrus and Queen Aria are alive, and what their condition is. I wouldn't bother being secretive. If Visha has been visiting and the hellhounds are in the fields, then he already knows where we are and what you'll be doing. He'll likely even send a few smaller demons to bother you. Deal with them quickly and get your job done. We're going into that castle tomorrow, along with eleven other kingdoms. I want to know every way in and out - but stay out of the walls. The last thing I need is one of you getting taken."

"Because the first thing we'll do is get you back," Clarice adds, her face set in unquestionable determination. "And that won't end well. For anyone."

"What should we do if we find a civilian in trouble?" Benny asks. He must be a second to join the group.

"Get them to Fernweh and to Willa, away from here."

"Your castle is going to be beyond its capacity," I tell Darius.

"Rather that than it drained of its numbers."

"Ozzie, Henry, Benny, and I will go," Vlad decides.

I glance at my sisters and list off our five. "Vanya, Nilsa, Dee, and I will join. Serephina should stay here in case you need to call us back."

Darius nods, happy with the decision, but Clarice has that look in her eye that tells me she's about to say something I don't like. "Actually, I was hoping Nilsa would stay and teach me that power thing. Serephina can go with the rest of you, as I think she wants to take the southern quarter."

We all look to Inna, who does look rather eager to see the docks of Declan Cove. I shake my head but agree to the small change.

"Oh, and I want Henry and Ro partnered to take one of the quarters together. No arguments," she orders when both he and I go to throw a rather heated fit. "You two need to figure this shit out. Tonight, because tomorrow we'll be put to the test and we can't risk having two weak links next to each other because they can't stand the sight of one another. Suck it up and do your jobs or I'll send you back to Fernweh to be benched."

We both glare heavily at each other, but we don't argue. Neither of us wants to be benched when we've traveled a whole cycle just to get here. I try telling myself that one night won't be bad, but it doesn't work and I debate breaking one of his bones to sideline him. I'd only get a worse punishment so I decided against it, but I still daydream about it.

"Good," Clarice states.

"How are we supposed to know how many demons and creatures are around if some of them are underground?" Benny asks.

"Leave that to us," Darius answers. "We'll do the counting of them, you learn the streets and what prowls them. As for the castle, see what you can find out. Try and get information out of the people - gently. We don't want to scare them off. If they run, Xaxias will just let his pets have them for dinner."

We all nod, understanding the assignment.

"When you return, we'll figure out the details and prepare for tomorrow. Don't use your power unless absolutely necessary," Darius directs to me and my sisters. "You'll need everything you can get tomorrow, so don't go throwing around your power like it's confetti. Use your other skills for anything else, and if you need it, call us. I'd rather you ask for help than risk getting a chain around your neck for them to hold you against us tomorrow. We don't have the time for that."

My sisters and I place our fingers over our brow and bow at the waist. The orders of the past ten minutes settle against my skin like a thin blanket. A light, simple presence that won't be anything more than that so long as I do as I'm told. It won't be hard, as they've set easy enough parameters to follow.

He stands, finished with his requests, and offers his hand to Clarice. "Then you may leave at your own leisure. Take what you need, and even those you may not."

The two of them head off back down the