“Someone get Mayor Marr!” Finn shouted as he emerged from the gleaming, fiery portal in front of the great black tree in the center of Blackwood. All around him stood the central market square. The new, large stone council hall of Blackwood dominated one side, with the smaller temple on the other. There were gasps of surprise and shock as the traders at their tables stumbled and jumped at the sudden arrival.

  Finn paid them no heed, even though he knew he must look a terrible sight. A man dressed in black part-plate armor stolen from War Chief Durzog, with his ragged Blackwood green cloak hanging at his shoulders. He had not waited to get cleaned up, and the mud and stains of battle were still heavy on his boots and features.

  He wasted no time heading straight for the Lamakai Quarter. That was where Sesuuk said the portal was…

  Finn was grimly aware of the reactions to the rest of his cohort coming through the portal, but his pace was fast.

  Esther. Sesuuk has taken Esther, he kept thinking. Maybe the Lamakai thought he was helping in some way, but Finn had his doubts.

  It wasn’t that Finn didn’t respect the Prophet of the Third Trine. If anything, he respected the Lamakai more than he did most of the others around him. Respect, however, was not the same as trust.

  Finn had accepted Sesuuk as his patron, which meant that Sesuuk benefited every time Finn ascended or advanced in any way. Now that Finn was a Realm Founder and a patron himself, as well as leader of the Fire Lodge, Finn was sure that Sesuuk had gained from that.

  What did Finn get in return? A small army of advanced Lamakai warriors, the entire Third Trine who regarded Sesuuk as a prophet. They had made their home there in Blackwood and had been years more advanced than the other citizens, complete with Ascension Path powers and advanced fighting skills.

  Blackwood had needed them to survive, Finn knew.

  He wasn’t so sure that was true now.

  “Finn? Finn! It’s the Knight-Defender!”

  There was a shout after him, but Finn ignored it. A small crowd had started to follow his group, which Finn had limited to those who had agreed to go after Esther and Sesuuk: Sister Alharrow, Rosa, and Tobias.

  He knew there were more people arriving through the portal, and he knew it would close once Chairwoman Diane on the other side chose to close it. There were traders and craftspeople bringing requests for aid for their embattled and torn city, but all of that was beside the point for Finn. He wanted to know just what in the fresh hell Sesuuk was playing at.

  “Plan?” Sister Alharrow appeared at his shoulder. She was surprisingly fast for an older person, Finn always thought.

  “I’m going to go through that portal, and I won’t stop until I have Esther back, and heavens help anyone who gets in my way…” he growled.

  She grunted approvingly. “I will tell my Lycans to prepare supplies. They will bring them at the temple right away.” Then just like that, she was gone, transforming into her wolf form and bounding through the streets. Finn wasn’t going to wait for her, but he was also sure that she would be true to her word.

  Unlike Sesuuk, who had promised to keep his sister safe.

  They passed the entrance to the Lamakai Quarter, marked by a stone statue of some strange snake-human hybrid. Finn saw Lamakai in the first market square standing up and regarding him, but he ignored them too.

  It looked like the Lamakai had their own problems on their hands anyway. There was already a crowd outside the temple—both humans and Lamakai, with the humans including Blackwood guards surrounding the temple and a group of Lamakai gathered outside.

  The snake-people were silent, for the most part, and didn’t appear to be threatening. They were just standing and watching the human guards, as if ready to do whatever was needed.

  “FINN!”

  This time, Finn couldn’t ignore the shout as Captain Goreth pushed his way through the guards to confront him.

  “Out of my way, Goreth,” Finn said in a low voice. His temper was up, and when it was, it always felt to the Knight-Defender like he had a barely controlled furnace of burning coals somewhere in his chest.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The balding, bearded Guard Captain frowned but didn’t budge. “Finn, maybe you’ve heard the news, maybe not, but we need to talk before anything gets out of hand…” he said evenly.

  Finn raised his eyebrows. “Captain Goreth, I respect you. You have a job to do. But if you are about to stand there and tell me that you are going to stop me going into that temple, or that you are going to lay a finger on my sister, then you and I will have a problem,” Finn said steadily.

  All around them, a dreadful silence had settled. The human guards had shuffled away a little, giving Goreth and Finn some space, while the Lamakai onlookers appeared to be standing a little straighter, more alert.

  Were they expecting violence?

  “Finn…” Goreth began, but then there came a raised voice, and Laurie Marr pushed the others aside to barge between the two men.

  “Enough! Enough of this! This isn’t how we do things in Blackwood!” Laurie scolded.

  Laurie was smaller than either of them by at least a head, but she had a compact ferocity that Finn had always admired. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore her stiffened jerkin and pants the same as she had even when she was just Blackwood’s scoutmaster. Even though she was now the mayor and official head of this entire town, Laurie was not one to sit in meeting halls or on thrones.

  She turned to Finn with all of that contained determination, and he saw the strength in her. She wasn’t going to back down for anyone either.

  “Finn, calm down. No one is going to harm Esther. In fact, Esther isn’t even here. But we need to get to the bottom of the murders, and there has to be repercussions. For the families of the guards killed. For justice.” She said the words with absolutely no hesitation or room for doubt, and Finn believed that she would see them through.

  “’Repercussions’ covers an awfully wide ground, Laurie,” he said heavily.

  Laurie fixed him with a stare. “Aye, it does, but I’m not a cruel person. But if your sister killed those men without provocation, with intent to harm? Then yes, I would exile her from this place.”

  Finn’s jaw hardened. “You’ll lose me too, then. I go where she goes.”

  There was a scandalized gasp from the crowd. Finn had only really an inkling of how he was regarded in the community he had helped found, but he saw some of it now.

  “You’ll give me Blackwood’s Hearthstone before you do,” Laurie countered, which Finn thought was fair.

  He nodded, and that was that. Suddenly, he felt the tension lift between them. These were terrible words, and the prospect of leaving Blackwood forever was also something that went against everything he had been trying to build: a realm free of Asai involvement.

  We could go to Malvas. I wouldn’t be a founder, but we would be welcomed, Finn thought.

  The very act of announcing the worst that might happen, and knowing that you could survive, was enough. He had seen Laurie’s limit, and he respected that, as he believed she respected his, too.

  “Now can I go and find my sister please? Or does someone want to tell me exactly what has happened since I’ve been away?” Finn said with a sigh.

  Laurie appeared similarly shaken but also relieved that this hadn’t come to violence.

  “Come on. There is a portal inside, which we think Sesuuk must have used. I’ll tell you about the deaths, and the blue-skinned intruder,” Laurie said, turning.

  Finn followed her in. Blue-skinned intruder?

  * * *

  “So, you automatically believed this man?” Finn growled as he stood in the small room at the bottom of the temple before the glowing portal that hung in the air, similar to the one that he and the others had recently stepped through.

  Goreth shrugged, but Laurie shook her head.

  “Of course not. We don’t know who he was or what realm he represents, but that also doesn’t mean he was lying when he said that Esther was dangerous.”

  Finn felt his chest swell once more, but Laurie was already taking a swig from one of the water pitchers and then slapping it against his chest.

  “Easy there, Finn. I said dangerous. You’re dangerous. Half of Blackwood is dangerous. That is why we need to talk to Esther, to work out what happened and why it happened, then I can decide what action is appropriate,” she sighed.

  Finn took a swig of water, and for once, he realized that he didn’t envy Laurie her position at all. She had been right when she talked about the family of the Blackwood guards. If Esther was in any way—even accidentally—responsible, then how could she ever rebuild that trust with the guards here?

  It was too much to think about right now. Finn shook his head and nodded at the portal.

  “I need to get going. I’ve wasted enough time already,” he said heavily, turning to see that Sister Alharrow was already in the corridor with small knapsacks bulging with supplies.

  “Mostly water. The Lamakai Realm is a hot, desert place,” she said, dropping three bags on the floor.

  One for Finn, Rosa, and Tobias…

  “You’re not coming?” Finn looked up.

  She shook her head. “No. The Lycans here are unsettled with all this talk. I need to stay here and be with my people,” she said, but Finn didn’t detect any rebuke. If anything, it was the opposite. Support. She was staying to be with her family, and Finn was seeking his. “The Lycans will decide what we will do if Esther and Finn Callahan leave this place. We may go with them, or we may stay, but it requires a lot of talk,” Alharrow said a little more stiffly, nodding to Laurie before she turned and vanished down the corridor.

  “Great. Just wonderful. I might possibly lose my Realm Founder, the Lycans, and the damn Lamakai all in one, at this rate!” Laurie hissed under her breath, annoyed but still not backing down from her original position. Finn respected that about her.

  “Blackwood has Malvas,” Finn said firmly. “The alliance is stronger than ever, and whatever happens between us, Malvas will still stand strong with Blackwood,” he said, and he believed it.

  “And Blackwood will do the same for our sister-city.” She glared at Finn for one last, long time and then nodded to the portal. “Off you go, then. I’ll not hold up up any longer!”

  Just like that, Finn Callahan, Rosa Lux, and Tobias El-sandro were gone, stepping through another burning celestial portal, this time into another realm entirely.