Narda thanked the elf and proceeded to dig into the food as soon as she was seated. “Hope you don’t mind, that was hungry work back there,” she said. She nodded at Zeke’s summation of their discussion, happy enough with the suggestion he made, then shook her head when asked if she was half Kartaian. “No Kartaians in Amria,” she replied. She wrinkled her nose at the description of the wolf’s burning, but she was nevertheless glad that it burned at all. “Hmm. It’s hard to say. Knowing Kire, she would deduce what would’ve happened to us based on what had happened to Ed and his soldiers when they disappeared.”

She chewed on her food before continuing. “She would perhaps wait until she was sure that we were either there or here. Give or take the rest of the day. She also needs to rest to make sure she has enough power in her for portals. It’s reasonable to hope she would return with them in a day or two at the earliest. If it didn’t take you too long to find Ed and the other Amrians, it hopefully wouldn’t take her long to find the others. Any help you need to help burn that infernal wood down, I would like to help. I’d like to see it razed to the ground with my own eyes. I’m sure Kire wouldn’t return at the exact same spot, if she’s afraid the gate might scatter us again.” 


--

“Welcome, sirs,” Kire said, with a voice and expression that definitely did not mean ‘welcome’. “We told your messengers we would be having our meeting in a field not far from here. I trust that won’t be a problem for you?” 
“Not at all, milady,” the emissary replied with a curt bow of his head. It may sound like a polite address, but Ed frowned at the omission of the proper honorifics. 
The Wyvern delegation led the way, the advance guard heading off road towards the field Kire had mentioned. While an attendant led her horse away, Kire stayed on foot to walk beside Ed and Ysaryn. “It’s possible that the rest are still back in your world,” she said to Ysaryn, “but I’ll just wait a bit longer for the scouts and search parties to come back with any word. If you want, though, I can take you back, just outside the woods. And Ed, I might have one more portal for today after that to send you to Elva.” 
“I’m staying with you until you have word of your friends, and while this is going on,” he said, gesturing around them. “I’m not leaving you alone with them.”
Kire looked grateful at that, even as she shook her head. “You shouldn’t be working on your first day back.”
Ed grinned. “I’m [i]lucky[/i] to be back, Kay,” he said, glancing at Ysaryn when he mentioned luck, remembering their banter earlier. “Did you think I was planning to retire?” 
Kire smiled, though it was brief. If Narda was here, at least she would know her way around. Zeke and Ruli though would have a harder time. And Ruli had an untreated injury. 

They reached the field, where a large tent had been erected, the perimeter already guarded by Wyvern soldiers. As Kire’s group approached, a messenger came forward, spoke in hushed tones to one of the knights, who then approached Kire with the message. “Myka’s sent word. The spies had been captured—and they’ve coming back with Ruli,” she said to the other two as they entered the tent. Two well-worn tables were lined up end to end, and some food and drink were laid out on it. As soon as everyone was seated, Kire looked at the emissaries on the opposite end and laced her fingers together on the table. 
“Let’s go straight to business. You want help containing and destroying the world gate. The gate your kind had opened to allow a dangerous criminal to escape. The gate that you had also used to help funnel your forces to the Capital and its surrounding cities. The gate that had taken my cousin and my soldiers to another world and left them there for nine months. That gate?” 
“Milady—”
“You will speak to her as ‘Your Grace’ while you are under our protection, behind our borders,” Ed said, his tone having just the slightest bite in it. 
The emissary cleared his throat. “My apologies—Your Grace.” He had the thinnest smile on for Kire as he spoke. When Kire gestured for him to continue, he nodded and said, “As you know, we officially disavow the actions of the Offworlder criminal Ikegai. As for the gate, what it is now is a result of errant magic. The gate has gone awry, and if we do not do something about it, it might cause more irreparable damage. It had appeared not too long ago and was sensed by our mages, who have been tracking the bursts of errant magic for days now. We are speaking to you also in your capacity as Paladin. For this particular matter, may we set aside our differences and work together to contain the threat?” 
Kire, too, had a grim smile on her face. “Quite a large set of ‘differences’ you are asking me to cast aside.” 
“Your Grace, we humbly remind you we are in a ceasefire as well.”
“The ceasefire you honored by sending spies across our borders?” 
“We sent no spies, Your Grace,” he answered coolly, “just as you had not sent pirates to harass our waters and act as your spies as well.” 
Kire leaned back against her seat. “Your people have always been tinkering with forces you don’t understand, and when it goes wrong it becomes my duty to correct your mistakes. You don’t even know who else is still stuck on the other side of that gate, do you?”
This time, the cool mask of the emissary broke a fraction. Ed looked at Kire, wondering what she was playing at. [i]The Gemini boy?[/i] Before the emissary could ask what Kire meant, she waved her hand, not giving them the luxury of an answer.
“If I agree, how are we going to go about destroying the gate on this side?” 
They had a long discussion, going back and forth about how they would combine the Paladin’s portals and rune circles to contain the world gate and siphon its magic away. Many times Kire’s voice would almost rise in anger, only biting back her temper just enough so the discussion could proceed. “The gate has the tendency to ‘move’, so the net must be wide,” she muttered, steepling her fingers. “I will think it over, and give you an answer within the day.” 

She rose and turned her back on them, softly gesturing for Ysaryn and Ed to follow. She hadn’t touched the food and drink, the whole affair making her lose her appetite. “This is not how I imagined I’d introduce my friends to my home,” she commented, smiling briefly at Ysaryn before turning serious again. “You don’t have to be around for this. As soon as they bring Ruli here and have his arm looked at, I can take you back.”
To Ed, she said, “I’m going to weigh my options here by myself for a bit. When Ruli gets here, we could all have a discussion.” She paused. “After the medic takes a look at him.” 
--

“A world gate,” Myka muttered under her breath. “Seven hells.” She had asked her fastest scouts to run ahead and send word to expect them. Myka rubbed the bridge of her nose, then looked up sharply when he said who else was in their party. “Did—did you say [i]Ed?[/i] As in [i]Edward[/i] the Wyvern?” The others who stayed by her side had similar looks of surprise. “By the gods, she really did find him, didn’t she.”
One of the pirates shook her head. “No, we didn’t find anybody else, except the people we were meant to hunt.” 

They hurried through the mountain forest as best they could, given the many dips and ridges along their way. “So matron of honour,” Myka said, as they encountered another slope later. From there, though, they could see the beginnings of a wide road at a distance. “You’re saying Kire’s attracted to a sword-happy she-elf? Why doesn’t that surprise me,” she chuckled, a little out of breath. “Is this the elf namd Ysaryn? She does talk fondly of her.” Taking the lead, she half-ran, half-slid down the slope, followed by the others. “It was you who got the sword, though. That at least means she respects you a whole lot.”
“The Empress does kinda like pretty women who can fight,” another put in, eliciting another laugh from Myka. “But for men, though, I dunno, what does she want? She’s horribly fickle with men.”
“Heh, can’t blame her,” Myka commented. “We’re not far from camp, Rulitus,” she said over her shoulder, before pondering on her comrade’s question. “Eh, I think it’s because she has yet to find a guy who challenges her. Just a tip,” she added with a wink at Ruli before they hurried forward. 

They followed the road but stayed off it, in the cover of the forest. Far off, they heard an echo of horns. Myka gave instructions, and one of them climbed up a tall tree to scout. “Can’t see much from here, but looks like there’s two forces meeting at the road way ahead and—whoah.”
“What?”
“I see Wyvern banners and Gemini banners.” 
“Ah shit,” Myka muttered. “Not too happy with us capturing their friends, maybe?” 


Once they had neared the source of the commotion, some Wyvern soldiers spotted and recognized them and told them the Empress was having a parley with the Gemini nearby. “[i]Is this the Empress’s friend?[/i]” the soldier asked. 
Myka nodded.  “They’ve set up a tent for the wedding ceremony,” she whispered to Ruli dramatically. One of the pirates clicked her tongue at her, to which Myka cringed. “I’m just trying to ease the tension, Len,” Myka said. “Come on.” 


Ed was the first to greet the party. As soon as Myka and the women saw him, they all but swarmed the Wyvern captain. “Welcome back you handsome devil!” Myka said, embracing him. “It is true, Wyverns are notoriously difficult to kill”
Ed laughed. “Good to see you, Myka. Everyone. How’s the ship? Run her aground yet?” 
The women laughed, and Myka patted his arm. “You look really good for a dead man. What have you been eating in the underworld? And”, she looked around, noticing the Empress wasn’t in the tent, “Where’s Kire?”
“Woods nearby. Having a serious think. The Gemini discussed asking for her help to get rid of the gate, now that it’s a potential nuisance for them, too.” He looked over to Ruli. “How’s the arm? Empress’s orders are that you get that looked at first thing. There’s a healer waiting back in another tent,” he said, pointing it out behind him. “Someone should lead you to it. Most understand your tongue here, so you should be fine.” 
“Is Nard here?” Myka asked. 
Ed shook his head. “We haven’t found her, and another person—Zeke. But let me introduce you girls to somebody first.” He beckoned to them to follow him to Ysaryn nearby. “If I may—Ysaryn, these are Kire’s comrades, the pirates of [i]The Green Wench[/i]. This is Myka, their Captain.”
“Well-met, Ysaryn. Kire did mention you to us,” Myka said, smiling. “Your first day here’s quite a ride, isn’t it?” 
Ed wrinkled his nose at that. Myka chuckled, then turned somber again.
“We found something back there, by the way. Looks like big trouble.”


Kire, who had been deep in thought not far from the tents, looked up with a slight frown when a knight approached her, telling her that the crew of the [i]Wench[/i] had returned with Ruli and important news. Kire rose, silent, and followed the man to the healer’s tent. “Not dead. Good,” she said, sitting opposite him. “Nard and Zeke haven’t been found yet. Either they’re still lost somewhere, or they might have been left behind.” She gestured at his arm. “How’s that feeling?”