We slid through the ocean swiftly and silently. All talking was done quietly.
Tension was in the air; we were headed to a risky mission. I trailed behind Zano as he gave out orders.
"Shift the sails," he commanded a group. "Tie that rope tighter," he said to another.
"Clean those swords; load the cannons;
you look tired, get some rest."
No doubt; General Zano knew what he was doing.
Eventually, we entered the Captain's quarters. A man named Mc'Calley was captain of the ship.
After a brief discussion, he assured us that we'd be in the bay soon.
"Don't worry," Mc'Calley said. "We'll blast their ships before they even know we're there. Then
we'll take back the port."
"I sure hope so," Zano answered. "If
they see us, that will make the mission that much harder."
We excused ourselves from Mc'Calley's quarters and walked back to the main deck.
It was about midnight; the moon shone softly and bathed us in its cool light.
"We should be in the bay in an hour," Zano told me. "You ready?"
"Of course," I answered.
Still, I nervously flexed my hands.
Zano and I parted. I meandered around the deck. Eventually I ran into Pinta.
"Hey Talia," she greeted me cheerily.
She held a sword in each hand and was wearing a belt full of small daggers.
"Hey," I said back, then asked, "who taught you how to fight like that?"
Pinta smiled and shrugged.
"No one; I've always fought like this."
"Oh."
I picked up a sword that was lying
against a barrel and did a few testing swings.
"Do you fight with swords much?" Pinta asked.
"Not really," I answered. "I mostly stick with the staff."
A horn blew from the top of the mast. I bit my lip. We were half hour away from the port. I looked into the cold depths of the sea and shivered. I was nervous. Surrounded by water on all sides - but I knew what was expected of me. I was still expected to use my powers. But I had never lifted earth from the ocean before.
Zano swung down from a bird perch and called everyone to the main deck. I walked over and sat on a stack of barrels.
"Alright crew," Zano said to everyone.
"We're headed to one of the riskiest missions that we will ever face. We are far outnumbered, we have limited supplies, and there is nowhere to hide."
"Hopeless," was the murmur that went over the crowd.
Way to inspire, Zano, I thought grimly.
"But in many ways it isn't hopeless," Zano continued. "The enemy is on the beach; the city behind them is occupied by our people. They have nowhere to run. We are going in there, and we are going to blast their ships and take back our port."
The crowd was unconvinced.
"Sir," someone said. "what are we going
to do when we get the beach? Most of Layrucia has been taken over while we were gone. It will be near impossible."
Many nodded grimly.
"Just leave that to us," Zano said.
"That's not reassuring," someone fumed
angrily. "Your strange powers will do more harm than good I'm sure."
Zano tried to keep order.
"I promise, we will win!" Zano assured.
People muttered to themselves.
"And another thing, General," another
one said. "What about the Dragon? Will it come and destroy us?"
"It's a trap by the North!" someone yelled out.
I shook my head. We weren't going to win if everyone thought we were going to lose. I stood up.
"A flying lizard scares you all?" I said loudly in my best confidence voice. Gazed shifted from the general to me. I smiled and jumped off the barrels, then made my way toward Zano.
"Come on, everyone," I continued.
"We're Layrucians, for crying out loud! What do you mean, what are we going to do?"
I pumped my fist in the air.
"We're gonna do what we always do! We're going to go in there and show the North who's boss! We have ships, we have cannons, we have swords, our leaders, and you have the help of two of the heroes! I assure you, Zano and I are going to give this our all!"
I looked out into the faces of the soldiers.
"We're Layrucians," I said again. "And I'll tell you what we're gonna do."
I lifted the Staff high above my head. The top of it glowed in the moonlight.
"We're going to win!" I shouted.
Cries of excitement rose from the crowd as they went back to their duties. Zano looked at me
thoughtfully.
"You really are a Chancellor's daughter, aren't you?" he said teasingly.
I grinned.
"You bet," I answered.
"You know, Talia," he continued. "I think soon we four heroes will all have a regiment to lead;
I think you will handle yours just fine."
I went to say something, then suddenly, a flash of fire flew passed my face. It landed on the deck, then sizzled and caught on the wood.
"Zano!" I cried.
"It wasn't me!" he shouted back, then grabbed a nearby bucket of water and splashed out the flames.
We ran over to the side of the ship and looked out. I shook my head and looked at Zano. He looked out and turned pale.
"They found us," he whispered.
He whipped around and started shouting
orders. I followed him as people began to bustle about.
"Fire the cannons!" he shouted. '' Man the decks; no flames on the sails!"
"Zano - " I started.
"Talia," he said suddenly, turning around and grabbing me by the shoulders. Zano was gone, replaced by the lead general of Layrucia.
"I need you to hit those ships. The cannons can only do so much."
"Zano, I don't think I can - "
He shook his head and silenced me.
"No Talia," he said firmly. "Remember, we're gonna win. But to win, I need your help."
"But Zano, I've never controlled earth over the ocean before I've never even been on the ocean before today!"
"You'll be fine."
"But -"
Too late; General Zano had already taken out
the Hammer of Fire, slamming the cannonballs of the enemy back into the water. There were five ships. Giant, impressive,strongly built ships, all decked with weapons and soldiers. I could hear them crying out - human soldiers, finally. I looked to my left, realizing we had made it to
the bay. I could almost see the beach.
It looked like a thin red line, no doubt the flames from their fire. I ran to the edge of the boat. The water was churning angrily, sending up a white froth. I swallowed hard.
I can do this, I thought to myself.
I lifted
my hand from my side. The water parted; earth cameup at my
command. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Watch out!" I heard someone scream
next to me.
I jumped out of the way, right as a
large cannonball came hurtling to where I was standing. It
crashed into the deck, leaving a large hole. Captain
Mc'Calley came
running.
"Oh, that's just great," Mc'Calley
grumbled, to himself, then louder he commanded, "I want a
crew on this hole now. And double your game; use your bows!"
I took a deep breath. I took another position by the edge of the boat and started to slam the opposing boats with earth.
* *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *

ELECTRO
We swiftly travelled
through the ocean, headed straight to the Adlez cliffs. With
me were Frozene, Klara, and Alaan, along with Chancellor
Darius and General Nola. We had three small boats
in our company, all full of soldiers and crewmen. Captain
Xena was the leader of the ship. She walked about with Nola,
giving out orders and explaining what we were going to do once we reached the cliffs. I was sitting on a bench, cleaning the Sword of Lightning.
Frozene was next to me, creating arrows
for herself. Klara and Alaan were polishing swords.
"When are we supposed to be there?" she
asked me.
"Soon; an hour, I think."
She stood up and began swinging a sword
around.
"You know, I really hope this works,"
she continued. "Getting all these people to Kronos without
being spotted will be no easy task."
Alaan picked up,
"Yeah, and how are we going to convince
the people in Adlez that we're there to help and not to hurt
them?"
"That's why you brought the big man," a
voice said.
Darius walked around the corner and
grinned as he sat next to me.
"If I tell them that this was a mission
set up by the leaders, they'll have to let you in the
city."
"Yeah, that's the easy part." Klara
frowned. "The part I'm worried about is climbing the cliffs.
That's the hard part."
"It is risky," I agreed. "If we're
spotted climbing those cliffs, there will be nothing
stopping them from blasting us off."
Alaan groaned.
"Then we just don't get spotted,"
Frozene said, "and we'll be fine."
"As long as we don't fall," Alaan said.
"But we need to get to Kronos, not Adlez. How are we going
to get half way across Layrucia without getting spotted?"
"We travel quietly to the Castle," I
explained. "There is a secret soldiers' path there that
leads straight to Kronos. If we take that, we'll get there
safely, and hopefully
Zano and Talia can meet us there. Then
we just take out the enemy in the village and reclaim it for
Layrucia. After that, we leave the soldiers with Nola and
Benton,
and we go off to defeat the Dragon."
I involuntarily shuddered when I
mentioned the Dragon.
"Sounds risky," Alaan said doubtfully.
"It is," Frozene admitted. "But we have to try. It's the only way to get back into Layrucia."
General Nola approached us.
"We're almost to the cliffs," she informed us. "And everyone is ready for the climb. Xena and the other ships will stay put until we reach Adlez City safely."
"Thanks for telling us," I said. I
turned to Frozene as the rest scattered to finish getting
ready.
"This is it," I said to her. "You ready to go?"
"Of course,'' she said smiling. "Why, you think I'm not?"
"No, that's not it," I said, shaking my
head. "It's just - I promised Tarnus that I'd take care of you."
She put a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Electro," she said
reassuringly. "I'll be fine. I know you have my back; and I have yours."
I smiled, then nodded. The sky seemed to darken as the Cliffs of Adlez came into view. The ship was pulled in right along side it. Looking up at the staggering height, you'd feel like an ant staring at a human being. The rocks stuck out jaggedly and
crookedly. There was no rhyme or reason to the structure; it dared anyone
foolish enough to try and climb it. The first group began the long haul. Everyone had to pack lightly; that's why we were counting on Talia and Zano to
meet us at Kronos. I tied the rope around my
waist and started the climb. Soon, everyone was on the
cliffs, climbing to get to Adlez.
For the first few hours, everything
went fine considering the factors involved. A few people
slipped here and there, but they were caught and hauled back
onto the wall. I pulled and heaved myself up,
trying to avoid all the loose rocks. The progression made it
halfway when midnight hit.
The call went out to find a place to
be still. Eventually, I found a small place to sit and rest
for a moment. I looked out across the ocean. The vastness of all the water always made me catch my breath.
The moon shone down on the ocean, causing it to shine. The
sky was crystal clear. I smiled to myself - but then something
caught my eye. I peered out. Near the
large rocks in the water, right by the cliffs was a boat. I
looked directly down. I was at a dizzing height, but I could see all three of our boats right beneath us. I looked quickly back up and strained my eyes, trying to see if what I saw was true. Nola was about twenty feet to my right.
I called out to her. She looked at me.
I pointed out across the water. She followed my gaze, squinting out. Then she immediately started climbing closer to me.
"Electro," she said when she got to me.
"Do you know what that is?"
The seriousness of her voice made me wary.
"It's a boat," I answered.
"Yes, it is," she said. "It's a Northern boat."
I looked back out and swallowed hard.
"But - but you and Zano said all their
boats were in the port," I protested. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure," she replied snappishly.
"And we're in real trouble. They haven't shot at us yet, which means they either haven't seen us or they're waiting for us to get higher up."
"Alright; well, what do we do?"
"We have to stay hidden until Xena
notices them - "
Just then, the cliffs shook violently.
We clutched desperately to the walls. My legs swung off the rocks, leaving me dangling. I heaved myself back up and looked back out to sea. The ship was starting to come closer; Xena's ships weren't moving at all. What was
she doing?
Bam!
The cliffs were hit again, harder this
time. Stones blasted in all directions and showered into the
water below. Some of our number fell. I shuddered.
"Stay where you are!" Nola shouted.
I saw Darius on my right, climbing
towards me. Nola came to my left.
"What do we do?" I asked them.
"We're completely defenseless up here,"
Darius said. "And Captain Xena seemingly hasn't noticed the
ship."
"I don't know what to do," Nola replied
tensely. "We could send someone to our ship, but it took us
hours to get up here."
Bam!
Another cannonball sent us reeling. I
looked back out across the sea. There was a far out storm; I
could see flashes of light touching the icy surface of the water.
Light, icy water...
"We're not completely defenseless," I
said quietly, then started to climb away.
"Wait, Electro!" Darius shouted. "Where are you going?"
"To find Frozene!" I shouted back, and
continued to climb.
* *
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
ZANO

"Fire those cannons
now!" I commanded the rans.
A row of cannonballs fired into the
night sky. They slammed themselves into the enemy ships. The
enemy pressed on, however, and we were constantly moving to
stay out
of the line of fire. I ran through the
decks, searching for Talia. Many archers were shooting at
the crews of the enemy ships. We had finally made it to
Layrucia Bay.
The ports were in view. I found Talia
on the west side of the boat. Her eyes were closed and her
mouth was set in a determined line. The water churned to her
left.She
swung her right hand up, immediately
calling up a large chunk of earth. This was instantly thrown
through the air and clashed into her target.
"Talia," I aid, approaching her.
"Yeah, what's the news, General?" she
asked me sweetly.
She was sweating, but she was
grinning.
"It's time for us to switch ships," I
told her. "Captain D'lann is meeting us on the east side of
this ship. From there we sail around this battle to the
beach, where we enter Seaport."
"Got it," she answered. "But - I
thought the beach was besieged."
"It is - we will have to fight. And we
need to move quickly if we're going to meet Frozene and
Electro in time."
We made our way to the east side of the
ship. Mc'Calley met us there, along with Pinta and Morrow.
After telling Mc'Calley that we were going to depart, he
assured us
of his confidence in victory. Then he
left us to check on his crew.
The four of us stood on the edge of the
deck, gripping the railing. Even though it was night, the
water and the ships were lit orange with the bright torches.
I looked
up at the moon. It was about midnight.
We were running right on schedule.
"There's our ride," Morrow said,
pointing across the water.
Sure enough, a Layrucian ship was
pulling in quick. It was the smallest of our fleet, and had
been waiting in deeper waters just for this time.
"Get ready," I said as it drew nearer.
"It will pull close for just a few seconds the way this
water is moving."
The ship's deck drew closer to ours;
closer and closer until -
"Now!" I shouted.
We all jumped onto the railing and
launched into the air, each landing on the opposite deck as
Mc'Calley's ship drifted away.
"Good, we made it," I said. "Now all we
have to do is find Captain D'lann and get to the beach."
"Wait, Zano," Pinta said, drawing her
swords. "Something isn't right."
We all stood, frozen, listening. There
was no noise on this ship; no crew, no people, no lights.
"Let's go to the lower decks," I said
softly.
We all crept to the stairs. I went to
go down, but then I heard Talia cry out is surprise. I
whirled around to see what was the matter, only to feel my
arms yanked
behind my back and tied with a rope.
Something hard hit my knees, making me stagger. I was pulled
back to my feet and pushed toward the main mast.
Talia, Morrow, Pinta and I were shoved
to our knees as numerous torches around us were lit. It was
then that we saw we were surrounded by Northern soldiers.
And one of them was holding a sword in
my face.
* *
* * *
* * *
* *
FROZENE
I clutched to the cliffs tightly as another shock hit it, sending a roaring
sound to my ears and shattering to my bones. I gritted my
teeth and kept climbing up.
"Frozene!" I heard somewhere to my right.
I looked around. I didn't see anyone
calling me, and thinking I had imagined it, I pressed on.
"Frozene!" I heard again.
I stopped. Maybe I hadn't imagined it.
"Frozene!" I heard a third time. It was
Electro.
"Thank goodness, you're okay," he said
when I got to him. "Listen, I have an idea."
"Okay," I replied. "An idea for what?"
"An idea to keep these soldiers alive."
Another cannonball crashed into the cliff.
"Okay," I said, regaining my grip."
What do I need to do?"
"It's all on us," he started, climbing
a bit higher up. "We need to block the cannonballs from
hitting the cliff, and we need to get rid of that ship."
"How do we do that?" I shouted as we took another hit.
"Use your powers!" he called back, then began scrambling away.
"Right,right," I muttered to myself as I looked for a suitable place to stand.

A narrow ledge to my
right was promising. I reached out to grab the edge.
Bam!
The cliffs were hit yet again, catching
me off guard. My grip failed; I was sent falling several
feet down. Quickly I jammed my heel into the nearest crevice I could find and grabbed for the rocks. The rope around my waist was pulled uncomfortable tight. I looked up.
I was several yards away from the ledge now.
Clenching my jaw, I set to climbing again.
The cliffs were hit three more times before I reached
my destination. Standing with my back against the rocks, I looked out.
The enemy ship was still there, and it
was getting ready to shoot. I untied the rope from my waist
and gathered it up. Digging the tips of two arrows into the cliffs
and tying the ends of the rope to the
shafts, I created a sort of safeguard for myself. I took a
deep breath and watched the ship closely.
It was drifting in deep waters and
facing the right side, toward us. I waited to see that speck
of light, that spilt second, tell - tale sign that would
show the
shot...
A small flash of dull orange light came into view. I framed my hands in front of me. A flurry of ice came at my command. I pulled them apart and pushed them forward.
A large sheet of ice hurtled forward,
hovering in front of the cliff. The cannonball rammed right into it.
Bam!
Like exploding glass is what the impact sounded like as the ice shattered into a million pieces and the ball fell into the sea with a dull clunk. Even more
deafening was the extreme silence that followed as everyone watched in wonder.
"Get moving!" Nola's voice rang out nearby.
Everyone clambered to obey. I prepared to block more ammunition, but I wondered where Electro was.
Another cannonball shot out. I sent a sheet of ice to block it.
It joined the other in the bottom of the ocean.
Finally, I heard a soft humming sound.
A long string of electricity shot out from somewhere above
me. It was aimed toward the ship. The lightning struck the
deck, then
disappeared. I realized that Electro
was trying to set the ship on fire. I glanced to my left and
my right. The soldiers had far advanced me. Deciding it was
time to move up, I waited for an opportune time
to advance myself.
* *
* * *
* * *
*
ZANO

"Well look what we
have here, boys!"
A man that appeared to be an official
held his sword to my face and grinned wickedly.
"Well I'd bet my best sword that we
have captured the renowned General Zano," he continued. "And
all we had to do was capture this here boat!"
The men around us laughed loudly. I
glanced at my companions.
"So tell me, boy," the Northerner said
to me after he had had his laugh, " why don't you explain to
us why you boarded this ship in the first place?"
I didn't say anything.
"Huh. Well you don't have to tell us
nothin', right fellas?"
The crew gave a hearty cheer.
"Because we already know." His eyes
gleamed. "Your Layrucian crew spilled it all."
"Let me guess," I piped up. "You killed
every last one?"
The man looked at me, then laughed. The
rest of the crew joined in. When the laughter died, the man
said,
"Kill 'em? By no means, boy. I locked
'em up below deck, so we can bring 'em back to the North a
prisoners. The boss will be real happy!"
"What? Happy that you had caught about
fifteen men on board of the smallest ship in the fleet when it
wasn't even engaged in battle?" Talia asked.
The official thought about this for a
minute, then sneered.
"Maybe not," he answered slowly. "But the boss WILL be pleased to see that we have captured the general!
And - whoever you three are.
Talia was about to retort.
"No Talia, be quiet," I hissed at her.
She wisely held her tongue.
"You know, for being so important, you
bore me, boy," the Northerner said, then to his companions,
"Take 'em below deck, boys, and let's sail to the North!"
"Hurrah!" the crew cheered as we were brought roughly to our feet and led to the door of the lower deck.
"Morrow," I said in a low tone as the
crew as the crew chattered excitedly, "how many are there?"
"About forty," he answered.
We walked downstairs and to the back
of the ship where the cells were. Torches lined every wall.
I could see the Layrucian crew locked
up in a nearby cell. They looked up;
their puzzled expressions were lined with hopelessness in
their eyes when they saw that they were
captured. Captain D'lann was there too,
sitting in the back.
"Where are the keys?" I murmured.
"That man, right there," Pinta replied,
looking at a big burly man.
I looked at Talia, then nodded.
I gripped the ropes around my wrists and burned them.
They fell to the ground. Our captors didn't notice.
They even walked over the ropes without
a thought. Talia's ropes were next. They fell with singed
and smoking ends. We kept our hands
behind our backs.
We finally reached our cell.
Only four men were left with us. Morrow and Pinta were
pushed inside first.
"Now your turn," one said to Talia and
me.
"No way, you can't make me go in
there," Talia said, pretending to be scared.
"You wanna bet, girlie?" the man said
gruffly, then reached out to grab her.
Talia jumped two paces back and
declared,
"Five hundred kips says you CAN'T."
The man jumped at her again, now
assisted by his comrades. I took the keys off the burly
man's belt and stepped into the cell. Talia
whipped her hands from behind her back,
revealing her broken bonds. Before the men could get over
their surprise, she punched the air.
Now they were confused.
"That all you got, little girl?" one
asked.
She grinned mischievously.
"Oh, you're gonna wish it was," I said.
Then, a giant boulder came careening
down the hall. Talia ducked; the guards groaned as they fell
to the floor from the impact.
"Ha!" Talia cried triumphantly. "THAT
bruise was from Talia Tekana, don't forget!"
The four of us ran down the hall to the
other cell. I slid the key into the lock. It willingly
sprang open. D'lann's crew looked at us, surprised.
D'lann himself walked forward and
cleared his throat.
"Zano, I'm so sorry," he apologized
nervously. "We didn't even see them coming. They snuck right
up and took us over."
"It's really my fault, Captain," I
answered. I shouldn't have left you out there without some
kind of cover. I just hope Frozene and Electro
haven't run into problems like we did.
Now let's go - frankly I'm surprised they haven't noticed
that flying boulder."
We went to the left wall and quickly
collected weapons. Then we ran to the upper deck.
It was empty.
"Where is everyone?" D'lann asked.
"Right 'ere, Captain!" a voice shouted
from above us.
We looked up. The official stood in the
crow's nest, leaning on the mast with his arms crossed.
"I should have known that you'd try to
escape, boy," he called down. "But I also forgot about what
the boss said about the old legends
comin' true."
"You and your crew are on a Layrucian
ship in Layrucian waters," I shouted. "Surrender quietly and
I will take you all peacefully. If not, I
can't promise such friendly terms.
The man drew his sword slowly.
"If that's the way it has to be," he
said, so faintly I hardly heard him. Then he yelled,
"Get 'em, lads!"
The men poured out from undefinable
hiding places.
"On your guard, Layrucians!" I yelled,
and the brawl began.
I clashed swords with the first man I
met and shoved him overboard. The deck roared with battle. I
took a look out to sea. We were drifting away from the beach to open waters.
I ran to D'lann. He was parrying off
the attacks of two men. He backed up to the ship rail until
he could lean on it. When the men ran to
shove him off, D'lann stepped aside,
and the two Northerners fell into the water with a splash.
"Captain!" I shouted. "We need to
change course!"
He squinted out across the water.
"Good call, Zano!" he called back
heartily, and clambered to the wheel.
"No!" the Northern official shouted.
He had finally come down from the
crow's nest and was now coming toward us.
"You will not change the course of this
ship!" he yelled at us.
"Change course, Captain," I said. "I'll
take care of this."
"Right oh, Zano!" he answered, and spun
the wheel.
I staggered under the swaying. The
official was now just several feet in front of me.
"I should 'ah taken care of you
earlier," he said angrily. "Now look, you're gonna pay for
trying to take the ship back."
"Just doing my job, Northerner," I
replied, and took the first swing.
He parried the attack, and followed
with his own. I swung my sword upward to protect my head. I
went for his legs. He jumped over my
blade and swung again. We fought for
several minutes, clashing and slamming around the captain as
he tried to navigate to the beach.
"Hey Zano!" he called. "We are within
view of the beach!"
"Ha!" the official cried, "Now we've
gotcha! You're trapped, Layrucian scum!"
As he spoke, he forgot what he was
doing. I clanged my sword against his and dislodged it from
his hand. The move was so sudden, he fell
to the floor. I held my blade to his
face.
"On the contrary," I told him, "you are
our ticket for safe passage to the beach."
He glowered up at me. He knew what I
meant.
"Fine!" he snapped.
''Good," I approved. "Now call off your
crew."
Still holding my sword to him, I led
him to the wheel. Looking down at his fighting men, he
called out,
"Men! Stop fightin'! The Layrucians
have beat us!"
All at once, the fighting ceased. The
men looked up, puzzled, but they dropped their weapons and
put their hands on their heads.
"Please follow me sir," I said to the
captain, and walked to the edge of the ship.
Across the water, on the beach, we
could see Northern soldier encampments. When they saw our
boats, a collective cry went up as they
armed themselves.
"Who goes?" A man from the beach called
out.
"This is General Zano and Captain
D'lann of Layrucia!" I called back.
"How dare you come here?" the man
yelled.
"This is our land," I answered. "And we
demand safe entrance to our city."
"What makes you think we'd do that?"
"Because we have some of your number as
captive!"
Silence followed. I poked the official.
He sighed heavily and called out,
"Aye, it's me. Captain Margel. They
caught me and my crew."
I could see confusion on the beach.
"This is what I propose," I continued.
"You grant four of us passage to Seaport, and I give you
your captain and his crew."
There was no answer from the beach for
a minute. I gave them some time to think it over.
"Zano, is this wise?" D'lann asked me.
"We need to get to Seaport," I told
him. "We are already running late. We're supposed to be on
our way to Kronos by now."
"We accept your offer," the man from
the beach shouted. "Send your people over with Captain
Margel."
"Right away," I answered, and collected
Margel, Talia, Morrow and Pinta.
"Shrewd, Zano," Talia grinned. "Real
shrewd."
We all piled into a small rowboat,
along with two men to row us to shore. The whole way over to
the beach, Margel glared at me. We all
sat in silence as we listened to the
oars dip in and out of the water. I looked at the moon. We
were running very late.
Morrow must have notcied, too, because
he leaned over to me and whispered,
"How long will it take to assemble your
troops in Seaport?"
"Well, if our spy did his job, they
should be ready to go right now," I answered, then added
hesitantly, "are you sure you want to go? You
can stay with Klara's siblings, you know."
"Of course I'm going," he quietly
declared. "Kronos is my responsibility, my home."
He looked determined and almost
earnest. Still, I wasn't sure it was a good idea to bring
him, after the accident a few years ago...
"Zano," Morrow whispered as if he was
reading my mind, "please. Let me go."
I looked at him and smiled.
"Alright," I answered. "Just don't give
Frozene a reason to kill me, okay?"
We finally landed on the beach. I
jumped out, followed by Margel. I held the ropes on his
wrists and guided him through the small crowd.
"Who's in charge around here?" I
asked.
A man stepped forward.
"I am," he said. "I am the general of
this regiment."
His voice was bitter, but civil. I
pushed Margel forward.
"Here's your man," I told the general.
"The rest of the crew is on the ship. As for us, we are the
four that are passing into Seaport."
"Well, you kept your end of the deal,"
the general replied stiffly. "A rather unnusual deal, I
suppose, but I will honor my end as well."
He gestured up the path that led to
Seaport. I bowed to him, then began to walk; but a dark look
from Margel halted me.
"You're gonna regret this, Etheron," he seethed at me.
"I swear I'll make your regret it."
I walked passed him without answering.
I nodded to the Northern general once more, and my
companions and I went into the city. I
didn't really know it, but I left an
enemy behind me.
* *
* * *
* * *
* * *

TALIA
We entered the city
way passed midnight. It took us half an hour to get the
troops ready; about five hundred, plus archers. To
get out of the city, we had to climb
over the north wall. We had to go quickly and silently. When
we and our equipment was out of
Seaport, we began swiftly to travel to
Kronos Village in the pale morning light.
* *