WIEDERGEBURT Act VII: Chapter 18

“You’re wide open!”

Kari appeared on my left flank and launched two punches in swift succession, first the left, and then the right fists. I avoided the first attack by shifting my head. As her fist soared past my face, I raised my fake arm and used it to block her other attack, striking the underside of her fist and redirecting it away from me.

I wasn’t willing to just end things here, and so I took two steps forward. This brought me into Kari’s guard, and threw my fist into her side—or that was how it seemed until my attack passed right through her body. I recognized the Flash Step Version 2: Illusion Step. It looked like she had combined it with the light element to create an even more effective illusion. I hadn’t even realized that wasn’t her until my fist had already vanished into her torso.

Spinning on the balls of my feet, I threw out my fist to receive her punch. Our two fists connected and created a shockwave that pushed us back. The ground beneath us cracked from the force of the impact, but neither of us were knocked off balance, and instead we leapt away from each other before launching our respective techniques.

Kari created a ranseur made of light, while I made the Dragon’s Tail Ruler, and while she threw the weapon at me, I swung mine down to launch a blade of lightning. The two attacks struck in the center of our battlefield. They vied for supremacy, but neither attack had much Spiritual Power. Each technique canceled the other out.

It was a little later in the afternoon. Kari and I had decided to begin our day with a morning spar. Lin and Fay were currently busy. Fay was not in Vahn right now, having left several days ago for an expedition. Lin, meanwhile, was in the process of shoring up our defenses. I believed she was laying down the groundwork for Kari’s rune array, which would theoretically be able to protect the city from the Sekbeist.

As the two techniques dispersed, I disappeared within a Flash Step, appeared behind her, and swung my weapon. The Dragon’s Tail Ruler’s primary feature was its ability for the segments to unlock and increase the distance I could attack from. This was simply something I had created from the lightning element, but it worked the same way. The segments split apart and it acted like a dragon’s tail.

Kari only took a single step left to avoid my attack. Another light ransuer appeared in her hand, and she swung it into my weapon, shattering the sword with an even more overwhelming power.

I didn’t let that deter me.

I closed the distance and lifted my leg in a kick that connected with her ransuer, which shattered just like my own weapon had. Kari stumbled backward. I thought I had her on the run, and so I went in for the kick. I only realized she had led me into a trap when her body exploded with lightning that coiled around me like serpents. Even though I broke free within a split second, that was more than enough time for Kari to appear right in front of me.

Crossing my arms as she threw her punch, I winced only a little when I was lifted off the ground. The power of her attack tried to make me fly. I kept my body attached to the ground by using the middle concept of magnetism. Electric particles around my feet attracted the metal in the ground and kept me from flying off. As I skidded backwards, I bent my knees, then used the resulting force to push off.

Kari was already waiting for me to launch my attack, but she became startled when my body suddenly split into two. A split second’s hesitation was all it took for me to achieve victory. Kari paused before attacking the “me” that was attempting to punch her in the face. Her fist went through my body. Meanwhile, the real me was already attacking her with a leg sweep. I struck her in the ankle, and when she went down with a grunt, I straddled her waist and placed my fist beside her head.

“Haaaa… haaaa… looks like… I lost again,” Kari said, her breathing heavy, face flushed.

“Heeeeh… heeeeh… that’s only… because we aren’t using concepts,” I said before standing up. I reached out and she grabbed my hand, allowing me to pull her to her feet. “If you manipulated time to attack me, I doubt I’d stand a chance.”

Time was a very tricky concept to deal with. Unless you had more Spiritual Power than your opponent, escaping from a time lock was nearly impossible. To make matters worse, a master of time could speed up their own time, allowing them to move at speeds that not even the Flash Step could achieve. It was so fast they were practically teleporting. That sort of near instantaneous movement was nearly impossible to defend against.

“It’s not like you can use the Concept of Death against me. That’s too dangerous,” Kari said with a shrug.

“The chances of an accidental death is very high with that concept.”

I summoned a towel from my storage ring and used it to wipe the sweat from my face, then summoned a canteen filled with water and took a long swig. My body felt hot. Spars like this always made my body feel like it was burning, I guess because spars these days were always so intense and often lasted a couple hours. We had started sparring early this morning and the sun had already risen high above us.

I judged it to be about midday.

Kari removed her shirt to wipe off the sweat leaving streaks down her torso. She was wearing breast bindings to keep them from jostling during our spar. I admired her as she worked, and when she caught me looking, a small grin appeared on her face as she deliberately ran the towel just underneath her breasts.

“Minx,” I said with a sigh.

“Thank you for the compliment,” Kari responded.

She put her shirt back on and we began our walk back to Vahn. The cool breeze felt nice against my skin as the two of us walked hand in hand, our boots crunching against twigs and gravel.

“Now that we’ve begun training again, I was thinking we should try that dual cultivation method that Fray mentioned,” Kari began. She single long strand of hair fell in her face, but she was quick to tuck it behind her ear. Casting a glance my way, she raised her eyebrow, and asked, “thoughts?”

“I’m not going to say it’s not a good idea, but I don’t think we can use that method right now,” I replied.

Kari frowned. “Why not?”

“From the way Fray spoke about it, I suspect there is more to dual cultivating than just having sex. There’s likely a special method needed to properly utilize this method. I mean, if it was as easy as fucking, then everyone would be able to use this method, right?”

Biting her lower lip, Kari considered that for a moment, then said, “I had been under the assumption that using the dual cultivation method required a rune array like ours.” She gestured to her chest. I could just barely make out the hint of the runes engraved there. “Is that incorrect?”

“No. I think you are right. But again, the Marriage Array that the Guddomelig use is one that has been in use since before the Great War. Fray herself said she used this method with her husband to increase her power. However, it sounds like not everyone has been able to dual cultivate even though they have the Marriage Array, which leads me to believe we need a special training room that can help stimulate the runes or maybe our training.” I paused here, then smirked. “Of course, if you want to try, I would be more than happy to help you seduce Fay, Lin, and Siv to bed.”

“I would not mind that,” a voice said in my ear.

“Yikes!” I spun around to find Siv standing on my other side. Clutching a hand to my chest, I gave the woman a stern frown. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“I have been here the whole time.” Siv pouted. “You’re the one who wasn’t paying attention.”

“Ah… well… sorry. That was my bad,” I said, scratching the back of my head.

Siv had gone out with us to watch, and she had even sparred for awhile, but we had to ban her from sparring when one of her stray attacks destroyed a nearby mountain. This little lady didn’t know the meaning of the words “hold back.” The last I saw, she had gone for a flight. How was I to know she had returned?

“You really should be more self-aware, Eryk,” Kari teased.

“Ha ha. Like you knew she was here,” I snarked.

The easy and light banter after a good spar was always fun. It was a nice way to relax and wind down. I was also able to forget about my troubles, even if it was for just a little bit.

“Back to our previous conversation,” Siv began again. “If you wish to try using the dual cultivation method, I am willing to help you seduce Siv and Lin into bed with us. I’m sure Kari would have no objections either.”

“You’ll get no complaints from me,” Kari said with a wicked grin.

“Down, girl,” I chuckled.

The idea of seducing all my wives into bed and having a rut did sound appealing, and maybe we would do that soon, but I didn’t think just having sex would help us dual cultivate. I would have to speak with Fray about it when I could. However, I was certain there was a trick to it. If it was really so easy, then so many people would have done it already.

It wasn’t long before we arrived in Vahn. The front gate was crowded at nearly all times of the day now. During this past month, I had been sending scouting parties under Alexis and Ashten to search for survivors, and they had been bringing back large groups of people. Rumors must have spread because now people were coming here of their own volition. The only thing we needed to worry about was Sekbeists disguising themselves as human’s to infiltrate the city.

It had already happened once before.

We walked past the line and walked up to Raul, who smiled upon seeing us.

“Father, Big Sister, Little Sis. Had a good spar?” he asked.

“About as good as we can without going all out,” I admitted.

His smile turned wry. “I heard you from here. If that’s not you going all out, I shudder to think what is.”

“Has there been anything unusual?” asked Kari.

“No. Wait.” Raul looked like he was going to shake his head, but then he paused as if remembering something, and an expression that looked halfway between a frown and a blush appeared on his face. “Two extremely beautiful women passed through the gates about an hour ago.”

I looked at Kari and raised an eyebrow. She giggled. Then I looked at Siv, who merely shrugged as if to ask me why wanted to know her opinion.

“Was there anything special about these women other than their beauty?” I asked Raul.

“Oh. Um. Uh. I mean… they were very pretty, but… aside from that? I’m not sure. I mean, I couldn’t get a good feel for them when I used Spiritual Perception. They weren’t Sekbeist… but they didn’t quite feel human.” Raul paused as if trying to find the right words, then shrugged and said, “they felt a little bit like you, Father.”

“Like me?”

I wasn’t sure what to make of that and thought about it after we walked through to gate. Just before we left the vicinity, I heard an amusing conversation from several people waiting in line.

“Hey! Why do they get to go through, while we have to wait in line?”

“Because that person is Eryk Veiger and those are two of his wives. They’re the leaders of Vahn. If you’ve got a problem with it, then take it up with them,” Raul said to the complaining old man.

We merged with numerous people walking along the streets. A few couples walked arm in arm. Several women wandered to their destination in a giggling pack. A couple old men were seated at tables to play a game of Hnefatafl. Two children burst out from an alley in front of us, forcing Kari, Siv, and I to move away. Thousands of people and hundreds of scents filled our sights and noses.

“It’s gotten very lively,” Kari said.

“Our population has gone from a mere fifty thousand to four hundred thousand in less than a month,” I said.

At its peak, Vahn had boasted a population even greater than Nevaria, so four hundred thousand was honestly a paltry sum in comparison. Even so, that was a marked improvement now. The citizens of the Northern Plains had been devastated, taken captive, and sacrificed to help bolster the Sekbeists numbers. To discover that four hundred thousand had survived was miraculous.

I could only hope we would find even more people.

“How many people live in the Northern Plains?” asked Siv, tilting her head.

“The last I remember, the Northern Plains as a whole had a population of about fifteen billion,” I said.

Siv looked shocked. “That’s a lot.”

“It is, but the Northern Plains is a big place. I think the only place that’s bigger is the Endless Desert, but that’s not a hospitable enough environment to allow so much life to flourish.”

The Northern Plains was not only the second largest area on the continent, but it also boasted the most hospitable terrain, with food aplenty, great locations for farming, and a lot of natural wildlife. There were also a lot less Demon Beasts here than there were in the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

We passed by a building that was currently being repaired. It was a two-story building that looked like it had once been a shop. A couple ladders had been set up and a number of people were either on the ladders or traveling across the roof, hammers clasped in firm grips as they pounded away at several nails. The noise forced us to stop talking, though we continued once we left the vicinity.

“Sniff. Sniff.”

“What is it, Siv?” I asked when Siv began sniffing the air.

“I’m hungry.” As if in response to Siv’s words, her stomach began rumbling.

“She probably smells the kebabs.” Kari pointed toward a stall that was roasting meat on a vertical rotisserie. The man behind the stall used a large knife to carve the meat from the spit and loaded it folded flatbread, which he then handed out to customers.

“Let’s get some. I’m pretty hungry too,” I said.

I bought nearly a dozen kebabs for Siv and only six for myself and Kari. The stall vendor looked pretty shocked when I gave most of what I bought to Siv, but his jaw practically dropped when she stuffed almost all of them into her mouth. She really must have been hungry. Siv normally had more manners than that.

Our residence was located close to the mountain. I could see Galdr standing a few blocks away. His head was leaning down and it looked like he’d fallen asleep standing up. I shook my head and entered the main parlor with Kari and Siv before making my way up the stairs. The mayor’s office—now my office—was on the second floor.

We had just emerged from the staircase when we nearly bumped into Lin. The Lamia jerked back, startled, but then she saw who it was and calmed down.

“Oh, Darling. You’re finally back.”

“I am. Is something wrong?”

There didn’t seem to be anything unusual about Lin or the way she was acting, but I had this sense that she was a little agitated. That was when I noticed the way her tail was rattling. Her tail only rattled when something was really bothering her.

“No. Well, maybe.” Lin reached out to grab her left arm with her right. It was a very self-conscious gesture. “There are two people here to see you. They said they know you.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “They’re both women. Is there something you’d like to tell this princess, Darling?”

While I finally realized why Lin was agitated, I didn’t let that bother me. She got very territorial at times. What I focused on instead was the news that two women wanted to see me. Given the time, location, and what I was doing, there could not be many women who wished to see me that Lin didn’t know. I could count all of them on one hand and still have fingers leftover.

“Is one of them a gorgeous woman with blonde hair and blue eyes?” Kari asked. “And the other, does she have black hair and sharp eyes?”

“Yes…” Lin became cautious as she eyed Kari. “Big Sister… do you know these interlopers?”

Interlopers she called them. Ha.

“I’m pretty sure we know them.” I gestured to myself, Siv, and Kari. “Are they in my office?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know where else to put them.” Lin frowned for a moment before slithering over to me. “This princess was going to get them refreshments while they waited, but since you are here, she won’t. This princess would like to know how you three know them.”

I would have rolled my eyes, but I knew this was just Lin being Lin. Her territorial nature was honestly endearing.

We quickly traveled to my office, and I opened the door, already suspecting who was waiting for me on the other side… and I was right.

Two people were inside of the room. One of them was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, expression displaying annoyance. The other stood in the very center of the room. She looked like the quintessence of poise.

The woman in the middle was a blonde beauty with light blue eyes, soft pink lips, and a gentle expression that made her look very subservient and easy to get along with. Even though she a large cloak covered her body, she still looked exactly like a maid.

On the other hand, the woman leaning against the wall with a cross look on her face seemed more like a delinquent—albiet, a very beautiful delinquent. Her face seemed harsher, her eyes sharper. She was like a sword ready to be drawn. Even standing several meters from her didn’t lessen the effects of her powerful glare. Like the blonde woman, she was wearing a large cloak that hid almost her entire body from view.

“Chloe! Tora!” I greeted with joy, walking further into the room. “I can’t believe you two were able to find me!”

“What does that mean?” asked Tora, her scowl growing. “You say that like you didn’t fucking want to be found. Are you disappointed?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. I’m very happy. I was going to look for you and Fray when I had the time… but we haven’t been able to move on from Vahn yet, especially now that so many people have come here seeking protection.”

“It is very good to see you, Master.” Chloe clasped her hands in front of her and bowed. “I am very happy to see you have been safe. I have already heard a little of your accomplishments, and it seems like you have done much in the year and a half since coming to this realm?”

“Year and a half?” Kari, Siv, and I shared a startled glance, but then I looked back at Chloe. “Um… it’s only been about half a year since we arrived here.”

“Oh, dear. I was afraid this would happen.” When all I did was frown at her, Chloe smiled and made circular motions with her index finger. “I’m certain you already know that time is not as rigid as many people think. It’s a very fluid concept. You can create ripples within it quite easily, and those ripples can have long-lasting consequences.” She paused for effect. “I’m sure you already know that time in Miðgarðr passes differently than the other realms.”

“We had noticed that,” Kari said for me. “The six or so months we spent in Niðavellir was the equivalent to a whole year on Miðgarðr.”

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Kari,” Chloe said with a smile before getting back on track. “Yes. Time in the other realms passes much more slowly. This has a lot to do with the barrier that’s set up around all nine realms. Miðgarðr is a special realm that we didn’t want the Sekbeist ever being able to reach, and so the barrier around it was strengthened using the Concepts of Time, Space, and Dimension instead of just Space and Dimension. That is why time flows differently here.”

“I think I get it,” I said, nodding. “That’s why eight years passed in Miðgarðr instead of four.”

“Precisely,” Chloe said.

“And I’m guessing the method we used to break through the barrier was also unstable,” I continued. “When we traveled through the gateway, we were separated from the main group, and thus we ended up not only traveling to a different location but a different time as well.”

“That is what I suspect,” Chloe admitted.

“Makes sense,” I said with a nod.

“This princess doesn’t understand it at all,” Lin suddenly interrupted the conversation. “This princess demands an explanation. Darling, who are these two people and how do they know you?”

“I also want to ask a fucking question,” Tora added, pointing at Lin. “Who the fuck is this rude snake woman?”

Lin hissed and her tail rattled as she glared at Tora like she wished to kill the woman through eye contact. “Who are you calling rude?! This princess has been nothing but polite! You are the one who is being rude with all your cursing… you foul-mouthed cretin!”

Oh, boy. I had a feeling Lin and Tora might not get along at first because of how confrontational they could both be, but I had been expecting to ease the two into each other. Instead, they met without my intervention, and it would be my job to calm the pair down.

Fortunately, I had aid.

Smack! Whap!

“Owch! Darling, why did you hit this princess?!”

“The fuck was that for, Chloe?!”

“You are both being rude,” Chloe and I said at the same time.

Siv leaned over and whispered into Kari’s ear. “They did that in sync.”

“That’s a maid for you,” Kari said with an approving nod. “She knew exactly what Eryk was planning and executed her tag team with Eryk perfectly. I’m almost envious.”

“Thank you, Lady Kari,” Chloe said as she stepped away from Tora and clasped her hands together again, looking for all the world like she hadn’t just hit Tora. She then turned to Lin and bowed her head. “Lady Lin, I greatly apologize for my colleagues rudeness and for not properly introducing myself. My name is Chloe. During his time in Gudeverdenen, I had the honor of being Master Eryk’s personal servant. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Chloe’s respectful attitude had the admirable affect of completely mullifying Lin’s anger. Now instead of anger, the Lamia looked embarrassed and pleased. Even her ears were twitching with joy.

“Ah… well… it’s nice to meet you too. I am also sorry for being so, erm, hostile toward you.”

“I understand. You love your husband very much and feel threatened when other women you don’t know crowd around him. That is a perfectly natural feeling,” Chloe said, nodding several times.

“Hold the fuck up,” Tora suddenly said. “You mean to tell me this creepy snake woman is—owch! The fuck?! Eryk, why did you fucking hit me for?!”

I glared at Tora as she rubbed the back of her head, returning my hand to its side, not saying anything and simply staring her down until the woman turned her head aside, unable to maintain my gaze.

“Tora, you are a good friend. I enjoy spending time with you, and I will even admit that I am not against the idea of marrying you… but Lin is my wife. I love her. If you ever insult her or any of my wives, I will not even consider marrying you. Do we understand each other?”

Flinching as she realized I was serious, Tora mumbled, “All right. I understand.” She turned to Lin. “Um, I’m sorry for… you know… insulting you and stuff.”

I had been hoping that Lin would prove magnanimous and accept the apology, but I suppose that was expecting too much from someone as haughty as Lin. Instead of simply accepting the apology so we could move on, she puffed out her chest, put on a smile smile, and said, “Apologizing to this princess is the least you can do after being so rude. But if you expect something as simple as an apology to be enough, then you have another thing coming. This princess won’t be bought off so easily. If you really want to show your sincerity, then get down on your knees and call this princess—ack! B-Big Sister! Why did you hit this princess?!”

Kari ignored the question from Lin. While the Lamia held the back of her head and nursed the giant lump there, my Primary Wife turned to Tora and bowed.

“I hope you will accept my apology on Lin’s behalf. Even though she is over thirty years old, my dear little sister still tends to act like a child sometimes.”

“Do not!” Lin shouted.

“Apology accepted,” Tora grumbled. “Well… I did have a hand in all this, so it’s, ya know, it’s whatever.”

“Well… now that it looks like all our issues have been momentarily settled, perhaps we can take this conversation somewhere more pleasant,” I began. “Would you two like some dinner?”

“I would love some,” Chloe said.

“I already ate—urk! I mean, yeah, sure. Dinner. Sounds good.” Tora cast Chloe a glare as the woman removed her elbow from Tora’s side. It seemed those two were the same as always. Actually, was Chloe always that physically violent with the foul-mouthed Tora?

***

Since we didn’t have any servants to make food, I was cooking dinner with Lin, while Kari and Siv entertained Chloe and Tora in the dining hall. The kitchen was very modern. The stove was made of steel and stone. It had a place to boil water, a girdle to cook foods made from dough like pancakes, and even an oven, which was something Nevaria didn’t have until after we set up the Warp Gate between the two nations.

Since Lin and I were cooking, we had decided to make a combination of foods from Nevaria and the Endless Desert.

Lin was making Shakshouka, which was a dish of eggs poached in a sauce made from tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onions, and garlic. The scent wafting from the pot told me she had also added some cayenne pepper and paprika. She was still pouting.

“Did Tora really upset you that much?” I asked.

“Did she upset this princess, you ask.” Lin huffed as she watched her food cook. She hadn’t added the eggs yet since the sauce needed to simmer for at least 20-minutes. “That woman was incredibly rude. The first thing she did was shout, ‘who the fuck is this creepy snake woman?!’ when she saw this princess. Can you believe her nerve? Who in the nine realms does she think she is?”

I had to smile as I listened to Lin complain. There was a time over two decades ago when Lin had been timid about her snake features. The people of Nevaria had feared her, thinking she was a Demon Beast with human parts, and the very sight of her had caused a lot of people to run away. This used to hurt her a lot. Now she was completely unwilling to put up with that kind of bullshit.

Things certainly had changed, I mused.

“I understand how you feel, but Gudeverdenen doesn’t have any Lamia living there,” I informed her. “I don’t blame you for getting upset, but please try not to argue with her.”

“This princess won’t argue with anyone so long as they aren’t rude.” Lin looked at me with something resembling the stink eye, though it looked more like a pout on her. “And just what is that woman to you?”

“Just a friend,” I answered.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it for right now.” I shrugged. “The rest depends on whether or not Tora can get you and Fay to accept her.”

“Hmph. Fat chance of that happening.”

I shook my head and said nothing as Lin began adding eggs to her Shakshouka. I, on the other hand, was cooking red wine-braised short ribs, which sounded more complicated to make than it really was. It normally took two and a half hours to prepare. But I was cheating. Using my ability to manipulate all the elements and life itself, I was tenderizing the ribs with Spiritual Power while I cooked them. It cut down my cooking time from over to hours to just under half an hour.

We came out with the meal in hand. The table was already set for six. Lin and I set our food in the middle of the table and allowed everyone to serve themselves.

“The fuck is this?” asked Tora. “Smells fucking delicious.”

“That one is mine,” Lin said with a smug smile.

“I mean it smells like shit.”

“Rude!”

I sighed and looked at Chloe, who did me the honor of smacking the back of Tora’s head. While the dark-haired god glared at my maid, everyone else served themselves.

“Sit down, Chloe. You know I hate it when you stand on ceremony like this. It will also be much easier for you to tell me about your own journey if you’re not acting like a servant,” I said.

“As you wish, Master.”

Chloe sat down at the empty seat and Kari served her both the braised short ribs and Shakshouka.

For awhile, no sounds were made except those of eating. I carefully watched Tora, who first ate my short ribs and only reluctantly tried the Shakshouka. A smirk almost appeared on my face when the woman’s eyes went wide. I pretended not to look as she glared at Lin, then quickly turned back to her food and began scarving it down. Kari had also noticed because she shared an amused grin with me.

“So why don’t you tell us about what you two have been up to?” I suggested as Tora began choking.

“Very well.” Chloe pushed a mug of mead over to Tora, who lifted the mug to her lips and began chugging to get the food down. “We noticed immediately after arriving on Miðgarðr that you were not with us. Fray wanted to find you as soon as possible, but we had no idea where you were. Instead, what we discovered was several humans and dragons being annihilated by the Zehn Todesharr and their Sekbeist Slaves.”

“So the dragons were under attack,” I said. “I feared as much.”

Chloe gave me an approving look. “It seems you are aware of what they protect. Fray sensed what was happening and intervened. She has since created a powerful barrier that not even the Zehn Todesharr can break through. However, because the barrier requires her presence, she is unable to leave the Misty Mountain Range. Tora and I were sent out to find you since she cannot do it herself. We could find neither hide nor hair of you for the longest time, until about one month ago when we began hearing rumors about a powerful Spiritualist who led an army to recapture Vahn.”

“And that’s when you decided to travel here,” I said.

“Yes,” said Chloe.

“All right. We told you our fucking story. Now you tell us yours,” Tora said.

“Do you ever stop swearing?” asked Lin.

“Fuck no,” answered Tora.

While Lin hissed at the woman, I placed a hand over hers, which rested in her lap under the table. That settled the woman down easily. I think Tora also knew we were doing something because she narrowed her eyes at us, but I wasn’t about to let that bother me.

I told the two about all the things that happened to Kari, Siv, and myself. I first started with how we had been expelled from the gateway somewhere in the Endless Desert, how we traveled across the desert in search of people, only to feel the presence of a powerful battle several kilometers away. The story went from there to how we defeated the army, fought against and killed Morden, and then made our way into the Northern Plains.

Chloe was very impressed when I mentioned how we killed Morden.

“That is incredible,” she said.

“You think so? I heard Morden was the weakest among the Zehn Todesharr,” I said.

“He is, but that hardly makes a difference.” Shaking her head, Chloe explained something I myself only vaguely understood. “The Zehn Todesharr do not gain that title lightly. Morden might be the weakest among them, but there is still a vast different between him and the regular Lords. Morden could probably match me blow for blow. That you could defeat him means you could likely defeat me.”

“I had help,” I added.

“That does not change how impressive this feat is,” Chloe said.

I didn’t argue with her after that. I could recognize that we had done something impressive, even if at the time it did not feel like it.

“Thank you,” I said.

“What is your plan now?” asked Chloe. “I’m sure you know this, but Fray would love to see you again, to know you’re okay.”

“And I would love to see my aunt as well, but we can’t afford to leave right now,” I said.

“There are too many people relying on us for protection,” Kari added.

“I suspected as much,” Chloe admitted. “I’m not saying you should leave permanently, but I do think you should pay her a visit so she will stop worrying. Also, while I understand you must remain here because of all the humans traveling into Vahn, you must realize that such a large group is going to attract the attention of the Zehn Todesharr.”

“You underestimate us,” Lin said. “We’re already aware of the Zehn Todesharr and know what they want. That’s why Big Sister has devised a rune array that can protect us even from the likes of them.”

“Oh?” Chloe looked at Kari.

“It’s not complete protection,” Kari admitted. “The rune array I’ve made creates a time-space barrier around the city, putting us out of phase with the rest of the realm. No attack can hurt us so long as the barrier remains active, but there is a limit to how long the barrier will last and we also cannot leave while the barrier is still up.”

“How long will the barrier last?” asked Chloe.

“About a month,” Kari answered immediately.

Chloe nodded as she considered a solution. She eventually turned to me.

“Eryk, I believe you should go visit Lady Fray tomorrow. Let her know you are safe and about your plight. The barrier surrounding the Misty Mountain Range is much stronger than the one Kari has made, and it is also under Lady Fray’s control. We can come and go as we please. I’m certain she can spare you some of the Valkyries to help shore up your defenses. We can also begin sending correspondences back and forth.”

“Okay. I’ll go see Fray tomorrow,” I agreed.

There wasn’t much else I could do in Vahn right now, and Fay, Alexis, and Ashten were currently away. Queen Medusa and King Menes could remain in charge of the city for a day as well. This would also be a good chance to introduce my aunt to Lin, though we would have to schedule another visit to introduce Fay.

“Good. Now, would I be able to get some more of that mead?” Chloe held up her empty mug and smiled. “It’s quite delicious.”