??: Dash of the Daring, Rise of the Iron Will, Mountain's Embrace, Whispers of the Unseen

  The next hour passed in a blur of organized chaos. General Reed's forces moved through the fortress with the efficiency that comes from decades of experience, securing sections systematically while our small team helped guide them to key positions.

  "Found their record room," Law called down from an upper level. "Letters, ledgers, everything. Enough evidence of corruption to shake the Council to its foundations."

  "Get those documents secured immediately," General Reed ordered, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "Everything needs to be catalogued."

  Lady Moira moved among the wounded, her healing magic supplementing the army medics' efforts. Even the captured Brigade soldiers received treatment, though under heavy guard. "These men might have valuable information," she explained when someone questioned it. "And we're not them."

  The fortress's great hall became a temporary holding area for the civilian craftsmen and hired hands. Many sat in stunned silence, finally understanding what they'd helped build. "Most surrendered immediately," Sergeant Thane reported. "Said the Brigade kept them in the dark about the true purpose of their work."

  Bear - still impossibly impressive even without my song's enhancement - directed teams fortifying our position, the massive gate bar he'd tossed aside now reinforcing makeshift barriers. The Black Scale Brigade leadership found themselves in the fortress's deepest cells, separated from the regular mercenaries who were held in the converted barracks under watch.

  "The mercenaries might be useful," Lady Moira observed, finishing another healing spell. "Many were hired for regular guard duty, did not know about the portal."

  Twylla moved methodically through the secured areas, laying fresh protective wards. "Some craftsmen have offered to help," she said, her magic shimmering along the walls. "They want to make this right."

  The morning sun climbed higher, casting long shadows through the fortress windows. Each secured area felt like a weight lifting from our shoulders, but the portal room's chamber still waited, promising horrors we'd only begun to understand.

  "Ready?" Lady Moira asked as our core team reassembled. The question carried weight beyond its single word.

  Master Aldrich led us through the winding passages, Reed's scouts and warriors taking point while our group stayed protected in the centre of the formation. Behind us, I could hear General Reed issuing final orders to the soldiers left defending the walls against any potential Black Scale reinforcements.

  The portal chamber took my breath away. Ancient stone walls opened into a vast cavern where six crystalline stones pulsed with otherworldly energy. Between them, reality itself seemed to tear open, revealing a scene that belonged in another world entirely, because it was.

  Through the shimmering gateway, we could see alien terrain where Brigade craftsmen laboured on the beginnings of a fortification. The construction was crude but purposeful, barely two days' work evident in its foundation. About fifty Brigade soldiers patrolled the perimeter, unaware they were being watched.

  "Position archers here and here," General Reed commanded quietly, his tactical mind already planning. "When we breach, I want complete surprise. No one on that side can be allowed to destroy their records or supplies."

  The assault was over in minutes. Reed's veterans poured through the portal with practiced precision, their experience showing in how quickly they secured the site. Brigade soldiers, caught completely off guard, surrendered with minimal bloodshed. The craftsmen dropped their tools immediately, many looking relieved to be captured.

  "Get them back through," Reed ordered as his men began shepherding prisoners toward the portal. "Sort them with the others - craftsmen with craftsmen, soldiers with their respective units."

  I watched the efficiency of the operation, still trying to process that I was seeing actual evidence of another world. The portal pulsed steadily, its light casting strange shadows across faces both familiar and foreign.

  Back in our world, as the prisoners were being secured, one of the craftsmen pulled away from the group - a stonemason judging by his callused hands. His face was pale with fear as he practically begged to speak with us.

  "Please, you need to know about the scouting parties," he said, voice trembling.

  General Reed turned his full attention to the mason. "What about them?"

  "Three teams were sent out to explore." The mason's hands twisted together nervously. "First team came back with exactly what they were looking for - ancient ruins full of worked metal, rich mineral deposits ripe for mining. But the other two..." He swallowed hard. "They're overdue."

  "Where exactly did these teams go?" Reed's voice carried that edge of command that could cut through fear itself.

  The mason pointed back toward the portal, his hand shaking. "Northeast, following a valley toward the distant mountains. The commander was obsessed with these strange lights they kept seeing at night..."

  Lady Moira's tactical mind was already working as we gathered in the portal chamber. "General, if Aldrich's story is correct, we need to fortify this position immediately. We can't risk making the same mistake the Kandari did - leaving this portal vulnerable."

  General Reed studied the cavern with experienced eyes, noting defensive positions I could only begin to imagine. "Agreed. And we have the craftsmen to do it properly this time." He turned to the mason who'd warned us about the scouts. "How many of your people have fortress construction experience?"

  "Most of us, sir. It's why the Brigade hired us."

  The irony wasn't lost on me - the same craftsmen who'd unknowingly helped create this danger would now help us defend against it. Within hours, they were working with almost desperate energy, as if trying to atone for their unwitting role.

  "Master Aldrich," Lady Moira's voice cut through the construction noise. "Can we shut it down?"

  "No," the scholar said, running a hand through his gray hair. "Once we powered it up, we lost our chance. Kiren left no clue on how to close the portal, and with the amount of mana we used to open it... if we tried experimenting with it, not knowing what to do, we could create a massive explosion. I'm sure with a few months' time, I can figure it out." "What about blocking it?" I suggested. "Pile stone in front of it?"

  Aldrich shook his head. "We tested that with city portals years ago. The System simply redirects travelers to the nearest safe space. That's why you never hear of portal accidents - it preserves life."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Which means they could appear anywhere in this chamber," Reed concluded grimly. "Behind our defenses."

  The General's plan came together quickly. "We collapse all entries except the main passage into the cavern. We'll build our primary fortifications here," he gestured to an area of the vast chamber that curved away from the portal's direct line of sight, "where the natural bend of the cavern wall shields our position. Anyone looking through won't be able to see our defenses or get a sense of our numbers." He pointed to the upper reaches of the cavern. "Those natural galleries - can they be expanded? They are Perfect positions for archers and mages." I nodded. "My songs can help get craftsmen up there if needed, and once ready, I can bring up those required to fight.

  "Traps," I added, the idea forming as I spoke. "We could layer the entire chamber with them from the portal outward."

  Twylla eyes lit up. "And wards. We can strengthen our defenses, weaken anything coming through.

  "What about stealth or invisible creatures?" Sergeant Thane asked. The question brought me back to our climb up the mountain, how easily we'd slipped past Brigade patrols under my Whispers of the Unseen. If I could do it, who knew what horrors from another world might manage? One of General Reed's colonels - a graying woman with intricate runes embroidered on her uniform - stepped forward. "Our mages can place detection wards near the portal," she said, her voice carrying the confidence of someone who'd dealt with invisible threats before. "Nothing will slip through unseen."

  "Flying threats?" someone called out.

  Reed nodded. "Archers and mages in the galleries will handle aerial attacks. The rest of us hold at the fortress wall."

  Looking at the determination on every face, I felt something I hadn't expected - hope. We might be facing horrors from another world, but at least we'd face them prepared.

  General Reed turned to Master Aldrich, his voice carrying the weight of command even as it held a note of urgency I hadn't heard before. "Your priority now is bringing down that portal. Study everything they left behind - notes, artifacts, anything that might give us a clue. If the Kandari could seal these things away, so can we."

  The old scholar straightened, some of his former dignity returning despite his prison-worn appearance. "I'll need access to their research chambers and any scrolls they recovered," Aldrich said, straightening with renewed purpose. I watched some of his scholarly dignity return, replacing the haunted look prison had left him with. "Perhaps..." His eyes lit with that familiar fire I'd seen during our lessons. "Perhaps in our rush to open the portal, we missed something crucial about closing it."

  He hesitated for a moment, then added, "And... there are a couple of mages locked up who helped me create the portal. They would be invaluable to this research."

  General Reed's expression remained carefully neutral. "The same mages who helped the Brigade open this thing in the first place?"

  "General," Lady Moira stepped forward, her voice carrying that blend of authority and compassion I recognized. "Most of them were like Master Aldrich - coerced into helping. They watched their families threatened, their colleagues disappear." She met Reed's gaze steadily. "And right now, we need every advantage we can get." Reed studied us both for a long moment, decades of command experience weighing options I could only guess at. Finally, he nodded. "Get them. But they work under guard, and they don't leave the research chamber." His weathered face hardened. "And Aldrich... make it count. We might not have time for second chances."

  The determined set of Reed's jaw spoke volumes - we'd build our defenses, we'd prepare for whatever horrors might come through, but in the end, our best hope lay in the knowledge locked away in ancient texts and forgotten lore. Knowledge that had cost the Kandari everything to protect.

  "We still need eyes out there," General Reed said, studying the portal's shimmering surface. "I'm sending a scouting team through to assess what we're dealing with."

  "General," I stepped forward, my songs humming with anticipation. "They'll need Dash of the Daring. And with swiftclaws, we could outrun almost anything we encounter."

  Reed's weathered features creased in thought. "You're volunteering?"

  "Yes, sir."

  He nodded sharply. "Then I'm going too. Along with my four best scouts." He turned to Cole, his most experienced tracker. "Get the swiftclaws ready."

  When we were all mounted up,

  You sing Dash of the Daring

  We proceeded through the portal. On the other side, there was a strange moment where we seemed to pause, as if adjusting to this new world. We had to motion the swiftclaw forward again, along with my song needing to reconnect to everyone.

  This was my second new world in less than a month, though this one felt subtly wrong. A pervasive darkness seemed to hang in the air, and the landscape was more barren than anything I'd seen before. One scout pointed out a ruined fortress nearby - its alien architecture unlike anything from our world. The General theorized it had once been built to watch the portal but had been abandoned long ago.

  The northeast valley stretched before us, and somewhere in that direction, two scouting parties had vanished.

  As we raced across the alien landscape, the swiftclaws' powerful strides ate up the distance beneath us. The song's magic felt different here - sharper, more urgent, as if it too sensed we were somewhere we shouldn't be. I was getting better at maintaining Dash of the Daring; where once I needed frequent stops to replenish my mana, now I could sustain it for longer stretches. Another level or two, and I might maintain it indefinitely.

  The first time I called for a meditation break, bringing our group to a controlled halt, I caught General Reed studying me with professional interest.

  "Impressive," he remarked as I settled into my meditation pose. "Most combat mages can't maintain battlefield enhancements for more than a few minutes. "

  I couldn't help feeling a flutter of pride at the veteran commander's praise, though I kept my focus on regenerating my mana. When we resumed our journey, the swiftclaws seemed even more eager to run, as if they too enjoyed the magical enhancement to their already considerable speed.

  After two hours of rushing across the strange terrain, alternating between sustained magical sprints and brief meditation breaks, we approached a massive hill that dominated the landscape before us.

  As we approached the hill crest, General Reed raised his fist for a halt. Below us, maybe two miles out, a small group of figures moved with clear military precision - a raiding party, testing defenses, scouting routes.

  "Cole," the general nodded to our scout. He unhooded his companion - a massive black bird with eyes that gleamed with unnatural intelligence. I'd seen scout-birds before, but this one had clearly been with Cole through countless missions. The bond between them was almost visible.

  The bird launched silently into the darkening sky, becoming nearly invisible against the alien clouds. We waited in tense silence, my songs coiled tight in my chest. Something about this place made them want to burst free, to warn of dangers I couldn't yet see.

  Cole's bird returned. His face went pale as he received its vision-sharing. The fear in his eyes - from a veteran who'd fought frost giants alongside General Reed - made my blood run cold.

  "Sir," his voice was steady despite his expression. "Behind the raiders.. it's an army. Organized ranks, siege equipment, standards I don't recognize. They're..." he swallowed hard. "They're not human, sir. And there are thousands of them."

  Reed's weathered face hardened as he processed the implications. "Two days," he said quietly. "They've gathered an army in two days. Which means..."

  "There are probably more we can't see," I finished. "Other, most likely larger armies, already forming, already marching."

  We were halfway back to the portal when movement caught my eye - something massive descending from the clouds behind us.

  Name: Windreaver Behemoth

  Classification: Ancient War Beast

  Profession: Aerial Hunter

  Class: Elite War Mount

  Level: ??

  The creature defied description - like someone had crossed a rhinoceros with a dragon, giving it two sets of metallic wings and armour-plated hide that gleamed with an otherworldly sheen.

  "General," my voice cracked slightly, "what is that thing? I can't even see its level."

  Reed's face went ash-gray. "A Windreaver Behemoth? That thing is beyond level 50, which should be impossible." His voice hardened with urgency. "To the portal, now! This is worse than I feared - if creatures of that level gets through the portal..."

  I was almost going to call for a mana break, but hearing the General's sense of urgency made me reach for my last mana potion instead. The bitter liquid burned down my throat, filling my chest with renewed power.

  Fresh mana surged through me, pushing our swiftclaws to their absolute limit. Behind us, the behemoth's roar shook the very air, a sound that would haunt my dreams for years to come.

  The return ride was brutal. Every shadow seemed to hold threats, every distant sound could be another army on the march.

  We burst through the portal just ahead of death itself, the Windreaver Behemoth's massive form following close behind.