“Children and older folk up front!” Mayor Daevy Helper shouted over the roar of the panicked villagers crammed into the main hallway of the crystal temple. There was terror on their faces. Folk were unable to give way properly as those who were the most vulnerable tried to squeeze through. Daevy figured the passage was big enough for four—maybe even six—big men to walk through side-by-side. But the frightened Hylanders were massed in a confusing huddle all down the hallway, pushing as hard and fast as they could towards the doorway to the mines. He counted at least fifteen people in the uneven row beside him. This included his wife, Jeanna (with Wyll on her back once more), Jayn Hatter, and that Ginsook woman with her baby. There was a scream about halfway through the crowd and the mayor could see that an older woman had been knocked off her feet by the press and others were stepping on her as she lie helpless, unable to move.

  “STOP THIS NOW!”

  The commanding voice echoed so loudly throughout the stone passageway that all talking, shouting, and even the crying of young children ceased immediately. Davy looked toward where the shout had come from … and his mouth dropped open. Just a few feet away, clad in fancy Feast clothing, his unconscious daughter still slung over one shoulder, stood royalty. Tall and straight, with shoulders thrown back and head held high, Karl Starei was as regal as if he wore a crown.

  “What are you doing?” Karl demanded of the crowd. “Yes, we are pursued by demonspawn, but our flank is protected by the Soul of Heaven, the Wandering Woman herself! As frightening as this is, there is no excuse for this behavior. Poor Mayghan Bytters is lying on the floor being crushed underfoot. Haven’t all of us eaten from her bakery and received her birthday gifts? How can any of us treat her like this? There are parents and children who have become separated in this mess. Our brethren who have labored in the mines and been lamed are being left behind. This is not who we are, Hylanders! We have always helped each other! Always! Whether in storms or avalanches or sudden sickness ….” The Dashman paused and caught his breath, tears forming in his eyes. “Even in death,” he said more softly.

  The Mayor looked through the silent crowd and saw shame and sorrow on their faces as the llama herder’s words pierced their hearts like a king’s sword.

  “Help each other now, Hylanders!” Karl said again, loudly again. “Pick up the fallen! Help the weak! Carry and protect the children!” He walked to the front of the quiet crowd and pointed at the floor, shouting, “If you need extra help, if you are young or with children or injured, line up here!”

  As the aged, young, and infirm gathered Karl put them in straight rows of six or seven each. Those who could hold wee ones did, and he told the older children to care for the remaining youngsters. Though Daevy Helper had known for decades about Karl’s heritage, the mayor watched in awe as his longtime friend organized the ragtag group into orderly lines. In only a couple of minutes, the Hylanders were marching down the hallway towards the large doors at the end of the main hallway. They weren’t panicked, they weren’t confused or hysterical. The mayor thought they looked like he’d always imagined soldiers appeared when marching to war. Maybe that’s what we are, Daevy thought. And a general is leading us.

  “About time Karl showed us who he really is,” Hyacinth whispered in his ear, walking beside her husband. “There are many who never do. Like Ginsook. I got a good look at her when were getting ready to go to the Feast. Daevy, I don’t think that woman has ever had a baby.”

  “What?” The mayor said, a bit too loudly. He looked sheepish and grew quieter. “What do you mean?”

  “Her body has been through many things—some obviously very difficult—but birth isn’t one of them.”

  “So, the baby isn’t hers?”

  “That’s what I’m guessing,” his wife said, softly, with a sigh. “What’s more, she said she’d only been on the run for three days. Admittedly, fleeing demonspawn is going to take a toll on you, but not enough to be as emaciated as she was when she came to us. I warned her not to eat anything at the Feast but bits of bread and soup because starving people’s bodies can’t take it. But you saw her, didn’t you?”

  “Eating from both hands at once? Yes,” Daevy admitted. “I didn’t notice her sipping any soup, either.”

  “She must have downed three whole chickens,” the healer giggled. “Without even so much as a little indigestion. And have you looked at her, now?” Daevy shook his head and casually turned around, pretending to observe the crowd generally. When he saw the Hahnin woman standing in the row directly behind him, he very nearly tripped over his own feet. He whirled his head about.

  “She looks twenty years younger!” he exclaimed hoarsely, trying to be quiet.

  “As if she had been completely healthy her whole life … never starved or been injured. And she’s in incredibly good condition! Those are the muscles of a warrior, not a farmer. Also,” Hyacinth continued, “she has a brand on the back of each hand. One with the Hahn symbol for the number two, and the other with a moon symbol.”

  The mayor scrunched up his brow and whispered, “So, what does that mean?”

  “I think she’s one of the Daughters of the Second Moon.”

  “The Hahn Emperor’s royal guard?” Daevy asked.

  “The same. And if that’s the case, then the baby must be …”

  The mayor’s eyes grew wide once again. “No!” he mouthed, trying not to shout. “I heard he was killed.”

  “So did I,” Hyacinth admitted. “I also heard he was kidnapped by a rival faction.”

  “Well,” Daevy Helper said, as the front of the long line of Hylan refugees approached the enormous mine doors, “it’s going to be a very interesting journey, isn’t it?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Myria and the several other of the women from the temple were standing by the doors, along with a few of the miners the mayor had assigned to meet them. They had all decided to leave the doors closed until they absolutely had to be opened, in case any demonspawn got through the defenses. Now, those at the doorway swung the huge, wooden doors inward, revealing the gaping mouth of the mineshaft. It was much darker than the hallway but was sufficiently lit by white crystals overhead and embedded in the walls.

  Karl turned to the crowd, still carrying his daughter as if she weighed nothing. “The path in the mineshaft is much narrower than this hallway. Each row will need split in half. Follow the miners and the Temple Sisters and they will show you a way to escape.”

  As the Dashman turned around and started to go through the doorway, Myria stopped him. “Your daughter,” the diminutive white-haired woman said. “She is not supposed to go this way. Ekatern left special instructions for her to travel by the Font.”

  Before Karl could tell her to go to Treland, a high, wea voice from over his shoulder said, “No!” The Dashman nearly cried out in relief as Dahn wiggled off his shoulder and onto her feet.

  “No!” Dahn said again. “I’m not going that way!”

  “Hey, Little Mouse,” Jayn said, as she appeared at Myria’s side. “I’m so glad you’re alright!” The woman grabbed Dahn in a bear hug and the young woman hugged her back. Karl quickly moved them all to the side so that the large train of people could begin their trek through the mines. The mayor and his group went with Karl to keep an eye on the crowd and make certain they all got through. Then Dahn released Jayn and took her place next to her father.

  “I’m alright,” Dahn told them. Her father put his hand on her shoulder and asked if she were sure. “I am,” she said confidently. “But I am not following Ekatern’s plan.”

  Myria retrieved a silver ring with a glowing green crystal in it from her robes. “This is Ekatern’s diadem. It is meant for you,” the white-haired woman told her. “She left it for you explicitly. And she left instructions for your … special mode of travel.”

  “I know,” Dahn said, nodding. “My mother told me.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled on the group around the young woman.

  “I’m not crazy,” Dahn said after a moment. “I know my mother is dead. But she spoke to Xahn and me in the Crossroads.”

  “That’s not how the Crossroads work, my Dear,” Myria said kindly. “They are a representation of our past, present, and future. And they …”

  “I know what they are,” Dahn said, trying to be calm. She stood quietly for a moment as the crowds of Hylanders passed them by, heading into the mines. “My mother called Xahn and me to the Crossroads to speak to us from where her soul is now—in the Heart of the World. She told us not to follow the plan Ekatern had made for us. She said the green crystal is to go with Xahn and that I am to lead us through the mines, but not to Lolan.”

  “My dear Dahn,” Karl started kindly, “you have been through so much. Why don’t you follow …?”

  “Mother said to tell you the High Queen of Dash commands it.”

  Karl Starei reacted as if struck by lightning. He fell back against the hallway’s smooth stone wall and would have sunk to the floor had Daevy and Hyacinth Helper not steadied him from each side. His eyes were wide, his breathing labored.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wyll asked Jeanna from her back.

  “Don’t be rude,” Jeanna scolded him over her shoulder.

  “Karl, are you alright?” Hyacinth asked from the Dashman’s side. “You look very pale.”

  “How did you … how could you have known that …” Karl muttered. Suddenly, he blinked, shook his head, and stood up, as if he had just awakened. He looked at Myria and Jayn, then at his daughter. “You must do as Dahn says,” he told them. “You all knew Suhan. If she sent her children a message through the crystals, then she did it to save them … to save us all. And that message … that is from her. There is no doubt.”

  “So, all of Ekatern’s plans …” Jayn started.

  “Will eventually fail,” Dahn finished. “But they have gotten us this far. Circumstances have simply … changed.”

  “Did you say Tern’s crystal diadem has to go with Xahn?” Myria asked. Dahn nodded. The white-haired woman watched as the end of the long trail of Hylanders approached the mine doors. “I’m not sure how we’re going to get this to him,” she said after a moment, indicating the silvery ring in her hands. “Xahn is still in the Great Hall with M’Randa.”

  “He’s where?” Dahn asked, confused. “With who?”

  At that very moment, at the far end of the main hallway, M’Randa and Xahn appeared, sprinting towards them, the Sword of Heaven making great arcs of yellow light in the air as they ran. Karl and Dahn’s face brightened for a moment, then turned to despair as the walls of the passageway between them burst apart in an explosion of stone and dust. Those at the end of the Hylander procession screamed and dropped to the floor. Karl sheltered his daughter and those in the group with him turned their backs to the destruction as pieces of rock flew through the air. In a few moments, the dust settled, and they took stock of the situation.”

  “It looks like we are no worse off,” Hyacinth told them, after a quick review of everyone, including the Hylanders who were slowly rising from the floor. “No injuries and a pile of rocks between us and the demonspawn.”

  “And Xahn,” Karl said with a heavy sigh. “We can no longer reach him. But, if anyone can protect him, it’s M’Randa with the Sword of Heaven. We had best get moving. Those were rock trolls that brought the wall down. They can clear the rubble almost as quickly.”

  “NO!” Dahn screamed. “Xahn needs Ekatern’s crystal! Mother said he must have it!”

  “Dahn,” Jayn said softly, “there is no way we can get it to him.”

  They all stared at each other with a mix of relief, frustration, and desperation. It was very quiet for a few seconds until Ginsook made a growling noise and said, “Well … shit!” Everyone stared at her in surprise and amazement. She looked at Dahn and blew out a breath of frustration. “I can get the crystal to your brother, but I can’t do it with the baby on my back.” In a swift move, the Hahnin woman grabbed the baby, removed the blanket from her back, and wrapped the child in it, all without waking him. She shifted her focus to Hyacinth and held the wee one out to her. “You must take him.”

  “Me?” Hyacinth squeaked. “Why…”

  “We don’t have time to debate it. You’re the most qualified and if anyone can protect him, it’s this team.”

  “So, you do speak Glishtongue after all,” Daevy said in awe.

  “A fair site better than your wife speaks hahno,” Ginsook retorted. “No offense intended.”

  “None take,” Hyacinth said in not much more than a whisper. “Are you sure …?”

  “I am. Besides, I heard you talking to your husband—you know who he is—how important he is. Now, go! Before the Goblin Horde catches you!”

  With that, the Hahnin woman grabbed the diadem out of a shocked Myria’s hand and scampered up the pile of rubble, disappearing into a breech that none of them had seen until now. Everyone stood still as statues, staring after that very odd woman.

  “Come on!” Karl shouted, once more looking royal. “We have no time to waste! Those doors will hold back the demonspawn, but not for long. And not at all if we don’t get on the other side and shut them! Let’s go!”

  Everyone in the hallway dashed for the big doors. After the last person was through, Daevy and Karl each pushed one of the large, heavy doors closed. They shut with a thunderclap that echoed through what was left of the temple, like the warning of an oncoming storm.