I can only guess that this passageway was sealed off because of the potential for people to read the Emeths' words and reenact the Spell, but I find this notion exceedingly foolish.

...

The Eastern Ocean was unlike anything Nell had ever seen. Sure, he'd been on a boat before; Plumeria had wonderful rivers where his mother had taken him on canoe rides. But he had never seen water stretch across the horizon and glint off the daytime moons before.

Queen Morgause found him on the railing of the great ship. Its rudder floated within the water, the wooden structure itself elevated. According to the queen, the ships were built so sea monsters couldn't sense them with their sonar. "What is on your mind, Master Nellith?" she said softly.

"Memories."

"What kind?"

"The bittersweet sort." Why was the Salinean queen speaking to him? What did she care? What did anyone care?

No. Micah cares. You're the coward for staying silent. Morgause gazed out over the waves. "I hope you're right about this mission, good doctor," she said softly. "But His Majesty of Bright Moon will see us through. He was able to get our kingdoms to unite, after all."

"It remains a tentative coalition," Nell said. "Differing values, differing cultures."

Morgause sighed. "This is true. What would it take to get Mystacor on our side? Madame Arvina must see reason someday...if one person from the Horde reaches the kingdom, their armies will follow."

"I know," Nell replied. "Micah's about to visit her again. He had some disturbing information to share about Shadow Weaver's abilities." Information he's only told Angella, he added silently. "I knew Arvina – she was one of my teachers in university. She's a stubborn woman, and I reckon she took Al– Light Spinner's betrayal as a sign that Mystacor could not join the war."

Morgause was deep in thought. "She doesn't want to play with her people's lives, perhaps."

"I understand. I grew up a pacifist," Nell said, looking at the crystal-clear water. "I still believe in nonviolence myself."

"You believe in Thaidamorka, then?" Morgause asked.

Nell shook his head. "I don't believe God could be a force of nature. I wouldn't call myself an atheist, but..." he sighed. Why was he more comfortable discussing these matters with a stranger than with his best friend?

"But?" Morgause prompted.

"But I don't think God cares," he said. "Not about us. I can paint a lovely canvas while leaving it on the table to collect rot."

"An intriguing perspective," the queen replied. She was wise and introspective, just as the stories claimed.

Nell sighed through his nose. "I'm not pacifistic, not anymore. I can't be. People...they get abused under pacifism."

"War causes abuse, too. I believe this is an issue too great for any mortal philosophy to solve."

"Which is why I don't fight," Nell agreed. "But I will support the war, even if I myself do not participate."

"I find standing by one's convictions admirable," Morgause said. "Do not worry, Master Nellith. You are a valuable part of the war, even if you don't fight. There are people who are meant to harm in order to exact justice. And there are people who are meant to love, so that others can heal."

Nell lowered his eyes again. But he had lied, hadn't he? He refused to fight because he was spineless. That was why his hands had bled, why he had massive welts on his back...why he'd laid on the floor in silent submission...

He couldn't banish the memories, not completely. So Nell focused on the sky-rays making their rounds toward the Boundary of Horizons, wishing he could be free enough to soar above the past on their great wings.

...

A week passed; Micah's goal in the mission to claim Fort Ammeer was simple. Distract Shadow Weaver. Keep her busy while her coastal base burned.

As he exited the Whispering Woods and boarded one of the carriages Spinnerella sent him, worry struck him. According to Zeka, Shadow Weaver was concussed from their last duel. What if she wasn't up to fighting? What if she just...decided not to come?

Micah was banking on her interest in him to lure her out. What would happen if that strategy didn't work?

Biting his lip, he summoned his sorcerer's staff and stepped out. He recently tried transforming it into a sword – the sage who had taught him how to summon the staff said he'd be able to do it – but somehow, he couldn't. So, a staff it remained.

Micah inhaled, then stepped out of the carriage, gripping the staff as he stayed in place at the border. Eyes darting to the sky, he scowled; where once was a gentle shade of pale pink, there was now a smog that stained the horizon – and the moons – bright red.

The carriage driver stayed where he was; going back would alert Shadow Weaver of Spinnerella's exact hiding place. Micah waited. And waited.

Until the border patrol sounded the alarms. Micah found satisfaction brewing; he was an army unto himself, wasn't he? Best to use his powers for good.

Never again, he swore to himself. Never again will I get my friends killed.

Dark smoke curled around Micah's feet, and he clutched the staff harder. He ignored the memories – those moments of fear, pleading with Light Spinner not to kill him. It was a battle in and of itself.

Clammy hands touched his shoulders. Micah whirled around; Shadow Weaver stood behind him. Her black tendrils of shadow slinked away from him as she gripped the carriage driver, whose blood ran from his throat and stained his white polo.

Micah gritted his teeth. "Why kill him?" he snapped.

Shadow Weaver crossed her arms, tossing the corpse to the side. The message was clear – Micah had inconvenienced her, and she would ensure he wasn't the only one who paid the price for it. Why couldn't he banish the memories? Why couldn't he focus today?

Shadow Weaver opened her spear. Tired, she signed. Perhaps that meant something like I grow tired of your interference.

"You and I both," Micah decided to reply. "Fight me. Show some honor, for once in your life."

Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes, her mask glinting in the moonlight. Buy time, Micah reminded himself. That's your goal.

Shadow Weaver struck. And Micah parried her blow with great effort, praying the distraction would hold long enough. He was determined to be the only one bearing the cost of this fight.

...

However, I have since transcribed the words on these panels into a journal – the only one I took with me when I begged for your mother's aid.

...

The first bombs hit the gate around Fort Ammeer. From aboard Queen Morgause's ship, Nell could almost convince himself that the specks he saw were fleas, or those pillbugs Micah sometimes ate after a foraging session in the woods. He could almost convince himself he wasn't complicit in the destruction of those people.

He wore heavy-duty wax in his ears so the sound of the cannons wouldn't deafen him, but they didn't help much. Screams echoed nearby, screams of people who had been conquered and forced to fight for the Horde's brutal regime. Alura's voice joined them. The screams of a woman who wanted to end the war before it began, who tried to help and was punished for her plan to stop the Horde. Mystacor claimed that she had changed in the end, that she was hungry for power – even Micah acknowledged that.

Nell rocked back and forth, feeling an episode come on. One of his professors suggested Nell should see someone about his issues. They'd said uncontrollable crying, trembling under stress, and mental shutdowns weren't normal.

But all Nell could hear was the echo of his father. Grow the hell up! You'll never know real pain! I nearly died due to that damn Delvalian, and now you're whimpering because of a little discipline!

Someday, Nell would grow up. But he had to be a child first. So he took off his glasses and wept silently into his hands, as the symphony of murder still resounded from afar.

"Master Nellith," a hard voice called. "Come."

Nell snapped up from where he'd been lying on his cot and pulled a wet cloth off his eyes. Princess Talyn stood at the entrance to his cabin, her mousy brown hair trailing down her chest. She inhaled. "I need you to help me take the main control unit."

Oh, no. "I...I'm Vernish, Princess," he said. "I can't fight."

"We're not fighting. You're not, anyway. But I need help in case I'm injured – and I need someone who can cloak us in invisibility while we make it up. Her Majesty of Salineas is ready to deploy her soldiers beyond the gate. There's no time to spare!"

Can I help? Nell knew basic illusionary spells, as all sorcerers did. Standing, he pushed his spectacles up on his nose. You can do this. You've got to.

Nell took two extra bottles of moondust for when he got strained. Queen Morgause stood at the ready; Nell got Talyn to the other side of the captain's cabin, then cloaked them and teleported to the shore.

The effort left him weak, and he took a moment to get his bearings. According to Micah, Light Spinner fought in the Battle of Illuras to save one of the villages. But she had almost died of magic strain in the process. Nell had more stamina than her, but he couldn't match her experience and intellect. Thus, he had always considered her more powerful.

He inhaled softly, taking Talyn by the arm. Nell still trembled from the episode. It was time to grow up. The soldiers marched ahead, and he gave them a wide berth as Queen Morgause's general, the Flounder, shouted orders at the troops. They split down the hallways of the open base, and Talyn inhaled. "Follow the group to our left," she whispered in his ear.

Shaking, Nell obeyed. Don't worry. As long as they don't touch you, they won't even know you're there.

The soldiers got in a clash with the Horde's forces; spearmen parried the enemy's green electric rods. Horde soldiers shocked several in the heart, and they slumped over on the floor, dead. Other spearmen were able to land shots on the chinks of the enemy's armor, stabbing them through the shoulder or neck.

Nell turned his eyes away from the bloodshed, wishing he could help the Horde troopers. He was a doctor. It was his duty to help those in need – not to decide who deserved to live. The war was so real now that he was here. The shouts of the innocent as they gutted one another...

"Nell," Talyn whispered harshly, "we need to go now. The main control unit is ahead." Twenty-five soldiers led the way, another ten dead on the floor. Nell followed them up the stairs to the door.

The soldiers took quick care of the guard at the door, and Talyn opened the computer as Nell dropped the cloak, exhausted. "Damn it," she cursed. "It's in Kriesges."

"Are you able to read it?"

"Of course not, you idiot," she snapped. "We can barely even translate it. So many sounds...so many characters..."

She gritted her teeth, and Nell shared her frustration. Kriesges was unlike any Etherian language, and Meyan scholars had a devil of a time trying to decipher it. "Can you alter the settings from here?" he suggested.

Talyn shook her head, continuing to type. "They don't even have the same writing system, but I at least know the phonetics. Perhaps..." she bit her lip, sighing in frustration. "Call my sister. She has a governess at home who can get us to her."

"I can only open channels of people I've met," he said, exhausted. "Might I contact your father?"

"Ata is busy overseeing affairs at the palace."

"What about your holo-pad?"

"I don't have one!" Talyn cried in frustration. "And if I can't get that power source back, if I fail..."

"We're not going to panic," Nell said firmly. "And you will not fail. Ground yourself, Princess. Please."

Talyn took deep breaths, her dark hair twitching of its own accord. "Perhaps..." she said softly, "perhaps I can get to the communication channel by myself."

Nell nodded. "All languages are about patterns. I learned Standard at school, and I grew up speaking Meyan and Florian. What patterns can you crack with Kriesges?"

"The nouns have genders," Talyn said, her voice shaking. Nell was used to the immovable rock of a woman; it was strange to see the princess so ruffled. "The articles also change based on whether they're the subject or object."

"Good. Do you know any vocabulary?"

Talyn took a deep breath. "Yes," she said. "Danışmaq in Rjali is sprechen in Kriesges. Kanal is a cognate."

Strange. Why would Kriesges have any cognates with an Etherian language? "And those words in Meyan?"

"Parlar and canal," Talyn said. "Speak and channel."

"Try those," Nell suggested. "Does the entrypoint still work?"

She nodded, typing in sprechen on the holo-pad. There was no reply. "Sprechen is the infinitive, I reckon," Nell said.

Talyn massaged her temples. "We don't know how to conjugate the verbs yet. Perhaps..." she typed in kanal, and multiple options came up.

Biting her lip, she shook her head. Nell spoke. "Read to me all the ones you do know. Quickly." There were sounds at the door; the enemy would find their way in soon, surely...

"Bewachen," Talyn said. "Guard. Verschiebungen – shifts. Taktik – it means taktika in Rjali, or tactics in Meyan..."

"Keep going," Nell said. "We'll review these later. Are you able to open the door?"

"The word is açıq in Rjali, but I don't know the word in Kriesges."

"In Meyan, it's obert," Nell offered. "Maybe it's similar?"

The pounding from behind the door grew louder. Talyn's mouth was set in a determined line as the Flounder bellowed, "Hold the line, men! Guard the Princess of Dryl and the good doctor!"

"Öffnen?" she tried. "Moons, this language is difficult." She opened the channel, and it asked for a passcode.

She shut her eyes. "I'm hacking it – these are numbers."

Scarcely had she said that when the door burst open, and Horde soldiers began to pour through.

...

Did you know...
- I loosely based Micah off of Kaladin from The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (one of my favorite series of all time). He's a lot less brooding, but both of them struggle with fighting versus healing, and have a savior complex they can't seem to shake.
- Nell doesn't have much in the way of religious trauma - his parents weren't particularly religious either - but I still think he's a theist. Don't ask me why.
- This chapter was definitely an opportunity to show off my linguistics nerdiness. I'm fascinated by how different languages work and borrow from one another.

Tell me what you think...
- Do you think Nell should engage in combat more often? Why or why not?
- Do you agree with Nell, or Morgause? Why?