The lady bear lifted Denali onto my back, and the small Demi-Human wrapped her arms and legs around my spike.

  “Ready?” I asked as I craned my neck back to look at her.

  “Ready.” Denali nodded her head and tightened her grip.

  Then I kicked off into the sky, and the little snow leopard let out a whoop of joy as we soared above the mountains that surrounded the valley. Denali watched as we passed over the forest and the river that wound between the Mihireti Mountains, and then she took in a sharp breath as the Breach came into view.

  The murky depths of the rip in our realm were filled with the shadowy figures of demons who swam beneath the surface. They slithered and moved in the darkness like snakes in the grass, and she shivered as she peered down at them.

  “They’re demons,” I called out over the wind rushing past us. “They’re just waiting for the king’s seal to break, so they can come into our world.”

  “And destroy it,” she said in a voice I could barely hear. “They’re horrible.”

  “The worst,” I agreed. “That’s why we have to fight. We can’t let them hurt our people.”

  “There are so many of them.” Denali wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “If they got through, no one would survive.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” I said. “There’s even more now than there was last time I was here. They seem to be growing in number, but I’m not sure why.”

  Or there are more who have risen to the surface, Miraya pointed out. Either way, the level of danger is rising.

  “Where do they come from?” Denali wondered.

  “I-I’m not sure,” I admitted with a frown. “I just know they’re in the Underworld now, and they want to come here to destroy everything.”

  “Then we can’t let them,” the little Demi-Human decided. “I’ll give you as much of my strength as you need.”

  “You’ve done more than I ever expected,” I said as my frown faded with growing hope. “Now, let’s get back to the others.”

  “Yeah, you need to get all the other special people,” she agreed. “Your mission must come first.”

  “You got it.” I smiled and looped around to return to the valley.

  When I landed, Tawa was at my side before my wings even stopped moving, and Denali slid down my side into his arms.

  “Did you see what you wanted to see?” he asked her.

  “Yes, Papa,” she confirmed with a nod. “I’m glad I decided to help Lord Evan. We can’t let those ugly demons get out.”

  “Indeed,” he murmured as he kissed her on the head.

  I shifted back to my human form and nodded to everyone else. Denali was good to have on our side, and one day, I had a feeling she’d grow into as fierce of a warrior as her father and aunt.

  For now, we needed to get her home and move on to the next Noble Sword location.

  “We should get back,” I said. “We still have a lot to do, and the demons are growing.”

  “That isn’t good,” Rodion murmured and shook his head. “They’re gaining confidence that the seal will break soon.”

  “Then we must hurry,” Alyona agreed. “The portal is still open. We can hurry back to Odrein, then we’ll go back to Hatra to coordinate with the others.”

  We said our goodbyes to Rodion and Castor, and they stepped into the king’s portal back to the White Jade Temple. Then we all picked up our coats before Alyona and I led our group back through her portal into the courtyard in Narsglow. The drop in temperature gave us all the shivers, and our teeth clattered as we stepped into the snow in front of the ice palace.

  “Is it done?” Isi asked as she rushed forward to look over Denali.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “She was perfect, as was Nokomis.”

  “Thank the gods,” the king exhaled and hugged his daughter. “We were worried about you.”

  “Lord Evan would never let anything happen to me, Father,” she said with a glance over her shoulder at me.

  “Damn straight,” I growled and then winked.

  I heard the portal snap shut behind us, and then another sound caught my attention.

  Applause.

  I whirled around to find dozens of Narsglow citizens had gathered in front of the castle, and they all clapped, cheered, and whistled at our arrival. Even Nahuel stood among the celebration with an excited fist pumping in the air, and I turned and looked at the king and queen with utter confusion.

  “We told them what Denali volunteered to do,” Isi explained. “Not everything, as you requested, but we told them she and Nokomis agreed to accompany you on a mission that would save everyone on Inati.”

  “They’re obviously pretty excited about it,” Tecumseh chuckled.

  “Even though we used magic?” Alyona asked in surprise.

  “Yes,” the queen confirmed as she turned to face the crowd. “Thank you all for your support! Our daughter and granddaughter have successfully completed their part of the mission with Lord Evan! We are one step closer to safety!”

  The crowd roared with more applause, and I quickly pinched myself to make sure I hadn’t fallen asleep and woken up in some alternate dream world. The people of Odrein were actually okay with our use of magic.

  The royals changed the laws, Miraya reminded me. You aren’t technically criminals now that the king and queen gave you permission to use magic.

  Yeah, but they didn’t get rid of the ban on magic, I countered. Why are these people so happy?

  Maybe because it’s magic they didn’t have to be scared of, she suggested. They can see their own people went with someone magical and returned unharmed with the promise of a brighter future.

  I considered that idea for a moment. The royals may not have given the citizens all the details of our mission, but they’d given them enough to tell them we weren’t there to hurt anyone, even with our magic. We only wanted what was best for everyone, and it seemed everyone could finally see that.

  “May I say something, Your Majesty?” Nahuel called out above the noise.

  The crowd quieted down as everyone turned to look at the polar bear Demi-Human in surprise, and he cleared his throat as he stepped to the front of the group.

  “Go ahead,” Isi said with a cautious nod.

  “When you told us Princess Nokomis and Lady Denali had left with the dragon lord, we all worried about how his magic could hurt them,” he said carefully. “Now that we’ve seen their pride upon their return, we all can see even the child was willing to trust the right person with magic. If she can do something to help this mission, then we can all do our best to be better people for her. To Denali and Nokomis!”

  “Denali and Nokomis!” the crowd cheered and pumped their fists.

  “Wow,” I breathed. “They all came together.”

  “And you helped with that,” Tecumseh reminded me. “You gave them something to believe in, and you gave us someone magical to understand besides the stories of our ancestors. Odrein has a whole new future ahead of us, thanks to you and your people.”

  “I’m glad we could help,” I said with a wide smile.

  Then I felt a small tap on my side, and I turned to find Kiona standing next to me with a solemn look on her face as she stroked one of her antlers with anxiety.

  “Evan?” she whispered. “I hate to interrupt the celebration…”

  “It’s okay, Lady Kiona.” I dropped to one knee and took her hands in mine. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

  “I’m afraid we aren’t done yet,” Kiona said.

  Chapter 16

  I narrowed my eyes on the somber Demi-Human child as she tugged my hand to pull me into the castle. I turned and motioned for the rest of my people to follow, and I heard the royals yell more thank yous as they followed us inside.

  “What do you mean?” I asked once we were in the palace. “We finished the ceremony we came here for.”

  “Yes, but I haven’t finished the barrier,” Kiona replied and dropped her head to her chest. “I can’t quite figure it out. Ubira’s notes are jumbled up, and the ancestor journals are even worse. It’s like they’re all speaking another language.”

  “Perhaps they are,” Alyona mused and tapped her lip before she turned to the king. “Your Majesty, do you happen to have another pendant Kiona could use?”

  “Like mine?” Tecumseh grabbed the pendant that dangled on his chest with surprise. “I-I don’t know. This was a gift from Isi’s father.”

  “That makes sense,” Alyona said with a nod. “Do you have any other jewelry similar to it? The inscriptions make it susceptible to magic, and I think I can use one to solve Lady Kiona’s problem.”

  “Oh, wait,” Isi cut in. “There’s a bracelet in my jewelry box. Nokomis, you know the one with the turquoise stone?”

  “Yes, Mother, I’ll be right back,” Nokomis replied.

  The snow leopard princess sprinted up the stairs and returned a few moments later with a gold bracelet that featured a turquoise stone the size of a dime. Each of the links in the bracelet were carved with intricate designs, and Alyona grinned as she inspected each one.

  “This will work perfectly,” she said as she clasped the bracelet around Kiona’s wrist. “Tongue of yours, tongue of mine, whisper truths most divine.”

  The bracelet glowed a soft blue light and then faded back to normal, and Kiona stared at the jewelry with round eyes.

  “What did you do?” she asked the princess.

  “I enchanted this bracelet, so whenever you read a language you don’t know, you can still understand it,” Alyona explained. “Now, even if the journals didn’t make sense to you before, they will. Shall we try one?”

  “Yes!” Kiona grinned and slipped a text from her satchel.

  She and Alyona put their heads together as they skimmed through the scrawled pages of a former shaman’s journal, and I looked up to see the king and queen watching their new shaman with fascination. Isi’s mouth had curled into a small smile, while the king couldn’t seem to help but stare at the small Demi-Human.

  Maybe now was the right time for my other questions.

  “What if they find the barrier spell?” I asked carefully.

  “Then we can prevent magic again,” Tecumseh replied after a brief hesitation.

  “You can,” Alyona agreed as she turned from the table with Kiona and squared herself to face the royals. “But do you want to?”

  “Why have we always banned magic?” Kiona asked with an air of innocence. “I’ve already used it a few times to help.”

  “But you’re the new shaman,” Isi argued. “You’re supposed to use magic to help us.”

  “Other people could, too.” Kiona shrugged and looked down at her book. “I guess I just don’t get it.”

  “A long time ago, some people used magic to hurt Narsglow,” Alyona said. “And the royals before decided to make sure that never happened again.”

  “Well, no one is going to hurt Narsglow while I’m here,” the little Demi-Human said with a small smile. “I would never let anyone do that. I love it here, even though sometimes other kids are mean to me.”

  “You won’t have that problem living in the palace,” the king pointed out. “So, you can just use your magic to protect people.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to have some help.” A pink blush colored Kiona’s face as she looked down at her books. “Some of these spells only work with more than one mage. I wouldn’t be able to do them all.”

  “Not everyone should be able to do spells,” the queen said with a harsh bite. “They are for special people like you.”

  “If you say so, Your Majesty,” Kiona replied and turned her attention back to her book.

  “Even the child shaman disagrees with the law, even if she doesn’t know how to say it,” I said.

  Isi and Tecumseh looked at each other and frowned, while Tawa ushered Denali back to her room. Then he stood and crossed his arms over his chest as he awaited his parents’ decision. I wasn’t sure if he’d speak out again, but I was fairly certain his mind was made up. He enjoyed using his magic. I’d seen it on his face when we’d fought the shadow spider today. And there was no doubt his daughter would enjoy it, too, and she had the potential to be one hell of a fighter when her time came.

  “You’ve seen for yourself how good magic can be,” Nokomis pointed out. “I used it to determine Kiona’s honesty, and she has already helped heal our land of the rifts. And Tawa used his power against an evil creature today, and then Lord Evan used his magic to cleanse the evil from Rahma. Magic isn’t always bad.”

  “We can agree with that,” Isi said with a curt nod. “But there’s no way to know if someone will use it in a bad way until they do.”

  “And there’s no way to know if someone will kidnap your sister-in-law until they do,” I chimed in with a smirk. “You had no idea Lenno would do something like that until he did it. He didn’t have magic to turn his choices into bad ones. He did that one on his own.”

  “Well, if he’d had magic, that could have been much worse,” Tecumseh argued. “He could have used one of those portals to take her somewhere we couldn’t find her.”

  “And if your people were allowed to protect themselves with magic, he may not have ever been able to take her,” I said with a shrug. “There will always be an argument one way or another with magic. The way it’s used will always depend on the person using it.”

  “So, how do we know if people will use it in a good way?” Isi asked with tears of worry in her brown eyes. “What if more Vis Imperio come up?”

  “You can’t stop every bad thing, Your Majesty,” Ravi said with a kind smile. “Trust me. My people are only known for doing good, yet that is exactly what drew the demons to us in the first wave of the Breach war. We never did anything to hurt others, and our purity became our weakness. Evil will always want to do evil, but the good ones must do their best to fight it.”

  “But they can’t fight it when they’re only allowed to bring a dagger to a sword fight,” Rebecca added.

  “Well, perhaps you could put a barrier that blocks dark magic,” Isi suggested. “Then they couldn’t possibly hurt good people or stop good magic, right?”

  “I’m afraid there’s no spell for that,” Alyona said and then furrowed her brow. “But there’s something that may ease your mind. Are you willing to allow magic in Odrein?”

  “We… are considering it,” Tecumseh replied haltingly. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Rather than a barrier against all magic inside it, why not a protective spell for Odrein?” Alyona suggested. “If it is maintained, it could alert the shaman of anyone who enters the barrier without good intentions for Odrein in their hearts. The spell wouldn’t keep them out, but the shaman would know immediately when someone with ill intentions passes through.”

  “Magic can read someone’s intentions?” Isi asked with wide eyes.

  “Not specifically,” Alyona admitted. “But I think I can combine the protective barrier with Nokomis’ empathic ability, and it would read the emotions of ill will toward your people. Then you could protect yourselves from the enemy, magical or not.”

  “Will you give us a few minutes, please?” Tecumseh asked as he motioned for Isi to follow him into the dining hall.

  The royals disappeared from sight, and I looked at Alyona with an impressed smile.

  “That’s a pretty good compromise, Your Highness,” I said.

  “I’ve learned a few things from my oh-so-diplomatic husband,” she giggled.

  “Me, too,” Nike agreed. “Like how not to talk to the Goddess of the Unrevealed.”

  The rest of us started laughing while Kiona watched us with raised eyebrows and confusion until we saw the king and queen return to the great hall. Then we straightened up and waited for their decision.

  “Princess Alyona, we have decided to accept your suggestion,” Isi declared. “It is in Odrein’s best interests to open ourselves up to new magical possibilities, and we can no longer avoid its existence in our lands.”

  “Really?” Tawa gaped at his mother in shock.

  “Yes,” Tecumseh chuckled. “With that said, we will also issue a decree throughout the country that magic is no longer forbidden, though dark magic will be. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee dark magic won’t be practiced, but with this protection spell in place, we have high hopes that no wrongdoers will be given free entry into our home.”

  “That’s wonderful!” Nokomis clapped her hands and hugged the queen. “I’m so proud of you, Mother.”

  The two snow leopards shared a fond smile, and Alyona grinned as she turned back to Kiona.

  “Alright, you’re getting a good lesson today,” she said. “We’ll be combining power into a written spell. Come on, I’ll show you how to rewrite one.”

  The princess led the little shaman to the table near the couches, and they set to writing out a new spell. While we waited, I was pleasantly surprised at the appearance of the kitchen staff with small pieces of fruit and bread, and we scarfed them down and chatted about the new laws regarding magic.

  “I would be very clear about dark magic,” I suggested as Sotsona took notes from the royals. “You can’t just say ‘no dark magic’ because someone new to the stuff might not know. It needs to be like ‘no necromancy, no spell that requires a living sacrifice,’ stuff like that.”

  Except to please the gods, Miraya added.

  “Oh, right, except for the ones to the gods,” I agreed. “Some of the old rituals have that.”

  “How dreadful,” Isi murmured. “Do the gods truly want that?”

  “Yeah, I have a feeling a few of them are perfectly fine with it,” I said as I thought back to the angry Goddess of the Unrevealed. “They aren’t all nice.”

  “You really have met the gods?” Tecumseh asked as he narrowed his eyes on me.

  “A few.” I shrugged and bit into a tender orange, which dribbled juice down my chin.

  “We met one today,” Tawa said. “The Goddess of the Unrevealed.”

  “Oh, wow,” Isi breathed. “At your ceremony?”

  “Yeah, although she didn’t seem too excited to be there,” Nokomis laughed. “And she didn’t like when Lord Evan told her she could be nicer.”

 

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