Author's notes:

Happy Easter, people :)

About the language and notation:

The Baylon language is a predecessor to Latin, which is why it looks like Latin at a glance.

Mental communication is denoted by a < and ends with a >, so a mental communication will look like this: "< Who are you? >"

Some warnings:

This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. While you're here anyway, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

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Chapter 34 -- Flashback: The Northern Anchor

Arcem Discendi in Lescare

Traveling to Arcem Discendi took several Gates, which puzzled me, because the distance from Baylon to Kemet was almost the same as the distance from Kemet to Arcem. However, Tia explained that her gates from Baylon to Kemet was the result of a magical item, that allowed her to travel between the two places, despite the distance exceeding her normal range for a Gate.

So, to get us to Arcem, Tia used the various trading posts and colonies as steppingstones. First, she gated us to the trading post in Dilmun. The next gate took us to Cinnamon Island and from there we gated to Fog Island south of Lescare, from where we could finally reach Arcem Discendi.

Despite the stops along the way, it didn't take that long, and we arrived in the gating room of Arcem Discendi about half a glass after we started.

As usual, there was a squad of Feminae Bellum on guard in the room, but after a moment the Sergeant saluted Tia Magnus. "Welcome to Arcem Discendi, Dominus.", before she looked at me, saying "Welcome home, Captain.", which meant the magical defences had been disengaged.

"Thank you, Sergeant Sibylla." I replied with a slight smile as I returned the salute, while Tia just gave a nod and a 'Thank you' in return. Lucia Sibylla was one of the few Feminae Bellum I had shared pleasure with, and it had been a fun experience for both of us. That was years ago and now she was married to a baker, have had a child, and had just returned to active duty after a year of maternity leave.

A little smile crept onto her face. "Vice-Captain Serranus asked us to tell you that she would like a word with you, if you showed up."

"Thank you. We'll go find her." I replied and walked out of the gating room, followed by Tia. As soon as I was outside, I reached out with my mind to contact Verina.

"< Hey Verina. I'm at Arcem now. You wanted to talk with me? >"

The reply came almost immediately. "< Hey Ivah. Did you feel the power surge? >"

"< Yes. It could be felt even in Grove >"

"< Both the Southern and Western Anchors are gone >" The worry that came along with that message betrayed her calm mental voice. "< The Return will start any moment now >"

"< There's a problem... as usual >" I said and explained about the calculation on to her, as Tia and I walked towards Verina's house. I finished by saying. "< I know you've said that you won't return to Baylon, but if we for some reason doesn't manage to dispel the last Anchor, the backlash will kill about three quarters of the human population on this planet. If you want to save Jia, we need to get her to Baylon >"

"< That sounds like a good idea >" she sent. "< Except it isn't possible, so I'm going to come with you instead. You can't keep doing things on your own... You'll get killed >"

"< Why isn't it possible to fetch Jia? Where is she? >"

"< Visiting her sister in Lescare, but not the usual place, since they moved >" sent Verina along with a feeling of regret. "< There's no way we have time to fetch her, get her to Baylon and reach the northern anchor in time >" There was a humourless chuckle over the link. "< So like you, I'm betting on destroying the dimensional anchor before she's killed by the backlash along with everybody else >"

"Flaming shit." I cursed verbally, causing Tia to ask. "What's the matter."

"Verina's wife is in Lescare."

She shrugged. "So, what's the problem? Let's go get her."

I felt like slapping myself. If I could get a mind-image from Jia, Tia could make a gate there as easy as anywhere else, provided it was within range. "Do you have the power to gate there?"

"Yes, I think I can manage." She said with a smile.

"< So, what's the plan? >" asked Verina at the same time.

"< We go to the armoury, get anti-magic items, weapons and armor as well as anything useful we can find, and go fetch Jia in Lescare before we dispel the last anchor >"

"< Fetch Jia! >" Sent Verina with hope in her mental voice. "< How're you going to pull that off >"

"< I have Dominus Tia Magnus with me. She can gate us there >"

A massive amount of relief flooded the link, followed by a "< Thank you! >". There was silence for a few heartbeats, and I could almost feel Verina's mind shifting focus, when she said. "< Back to the Anchor. You mentioned armor and weapons. Do you think it's guarded? >"

"< Yes. I know it's pointless to guard one anchor when the others are gone, but I could say the same about trying to prevent me from leaving Grove, and I had to take out two dozen opponents, soldiers and magi both, along with Angus Nigrus Cor, just to get out of the city >"

That caused her to pause, and her mental voice was thoughtful, as she sent. "< So, yet again, there's something we don't know >"

"< Yes, that would be my guess as well, and it's starting to piss me off >"

"< Send me the calculations. I have a suspicion, but I would like to see the calculations first. Both the original and yours with Vis added >"

"< I'll do that... and Verina... pack a bag. Once we have left, we're not coming back to Arcem >"

"< Got it >"

I sent the calculations and looked at Tia, who had been walking silently beside me, while I talked with Verina. "Exactly how many more gates can you make before you run out of power?

"That depend on the range." She said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, I used a lot of power this morning to enchant an item, but I should have power enough for four or five Gates."

I accepted that with a nod. It wasn't enough to get everything done today, but Pandora had said that we had three days from the moment Baylon started to drift into the dimensional rift, so we had time to sleep and regenerate power.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. "I used a considerable amount of power during the fight today and getting some rest when we have reached Lescare is a good idea. We all need to regenerate power before we reach the Northern Anchor. It might be guarded."

"Do you happen to have a mage-armor somewhere here?" Tia asked with a sly smile as she looked down at her Ordo Architectus robe. "This outfit don't offer much in the way of protection."

"There should be some in the armoury. Normally, I would have to swear you in as a volunteer before I can get you one, but that's not really an issue with you being a Dominus." I pointed at the house Verina shared with Jia. "There it is."

Verina greeted us, looking pale but collected and I quickly introduced them.

Verina's face lit up in a smile and she gave Tia a quick hug, whispering "Thank you!"

I waited until they had stopped hugging and then asked. "Did you look at the calculations?"

Verina nodded. "The anchor will be guarded."

I raised my eyebrows. "Explain."

"I looked at the original calculations but as it's really not my speciality, I contacted Sabia and had her look at it as well." She ran a hand through her hair. "We haven't had time to go over them in detail, but she has a few comments on the situation. First of all, she estimates that the number for the shield strength is five times too low. Secondly, she thinks they have underestimated the effect of destabilizing the planet with a dimensional rift, while the power lines from an Anchor come crashing into it. According to her, backlash of the power lines alone will kill every human mage on the half of the planet where the Anchor is located, in addition to the other catastrophes."

Tia opened her mouth to say something, but knowing Verina's body language, I stopped her with a gesture. "Wait. There's more."

Verina nodded. "Despite what your sister and her friend told you, there's no way the transition will go as smooth as they say. Sabia came with a long explanation with a lot of magical theory, but what it boils down to is that the only way to make the transition to go as smoothly as they claim, is to keep one of the anchors functioning. The power lines will act as a restraint, sending Baylon into the rift at exactly the right course or whatever it's called, eliminating the need for active guidance. If the third anchor is dispelled, the Dominus Grande Ex Magica will need to step in and control the passage through the rift, most likely dying in the process along with the assisting magi."

Tia cursed, causing us to look at her. Seeing it, Tia explained. "The current Dominus Grande Ex Magica is Marilla Nigrus Cor, and the Disease didn't hit the Cor family as hard as many other families, so they have no less than three magi among the assistants."

I vaguely remembered Marilla Nigrus Cor being elected to Dominus Grande Ex Magica while I was on a mission, but I haven't known that the Cor family had three magi among the assistants. It was regarded as a position of honour within the Ordo Magica itself and not something the Ordo Magica made public.

It looked like the Cor family was trying to both have their cake and eat it too. If Baylon returned safely to its own dimension while Marilla Cor was Dominus Grande Ex Magica, it would ensure their fame and reputation for thousands of years, especially with three magi among the assistants.

"Well," I said slowly. "I assume that they're willing to sacrifice most of the humans on the planet in order to not only force the Return, but to gain fame, reputation and perhaps even a noble title."

Tia nodded. "Humans mean nothing to them, only power, and if the last anchor disappears, there's a good chance that they will lose the head of the clan and the most powerful mage they have had in centuries, as well as three of their best magi." She looked at Verina. "You're right. That anchor will be guarded."

"Not by that many and not before the Return is official." I said, "Until then, the Northern Anchor will be guarded by the Ordo Presidium and nothing the Cor's can do will prevent that. However, as soon as it becomes official, the Ordo Presidium will call the guards home and the Cor's can move their own guards in. On the bright side, they can't send the Dominus Grande or any of the assistants along with their armsmen, because according to the law, those must stand ready to guide Baylon home."

"They also can't send any Baylons to guard it." Added Verina. "The moment the Return becomes official, the guards will either leave for Baylon or they'll be contacted by Ordo Mentalis and fetched by Ordo Vectio as soon as their family realise, they're missing."

I nodded slowly. For the last thousand years, there had been a plan on what to do, if or when the Return started. Obviously, the greatest problem was getting people back to Baylon as soon and efficient as possible. Not that there was that many, since most Baylons reacted badly to the human world. So, everybody reported missing, or just unable to make it home by their own, would be contacted and brought back.

In the meantime, all the human slaves would be transported off Baylon using gates to the western Middle Sea. Mostly because the Magi who had made the plan had determined that there was no way of knowing if the presence of that many humans on Baylon would affect the transition through the dimensional rift.

However, Verina had a point. If the Cor's sent Baylons to guard the anchor, there was a good chance, that those guards would be whisked back to Baylon before they were needed.

"Good point." I said. "But the same goes for us: We can't just bring thirty Inquisitors along with us, and nothing stops them from using humans, so we still need armors. Let's get to the armoury and then to Lescare."

I used the walk to do the calculations again, but this time with the additional shielding Sabia had told Verina about. With that level of shielding, Baylon could withstand a real beating and unsurprisingly, the calculations showed that Baylon would survive. At least when I used the same numbers I had in Grove.

Unfortunately, those numbers were even further from their true value than the shield and as I started added the number of people in every city I had been in or heard of, the chance of Baylon surviving vent down fast, as the force rapidly approached the point where the shields would be crushed. Fortunately, even with the shields down, there was an even chance, that Baylon would make it, though it wasn't something I would bet millions of lives on.

Unlike Baylon, it wasn't an all-or-nothing scenario for the humans, but the floods, massive earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions the event would trigger, would still kill of three quarters of them and make societies crumble.

All in all, it was just a shitty situation.

--------------------------

Neither Verina nor I had any trouble getting into the armoury, but since she wasn't a member of the Ordo Gladius, Tia had to stay outside with the two Feminae Bellum guards stationed there.

We walked inside, passing row after row with weapons, armor and every accessory that could be imagined. Ignoring them, I walked to the end of the room and pressed my captain's seal against the door. It opened, revealing a smaller room, filled with equipment that was either magical, high quality, made from enhanced materials or all three.

Three of those items that was magical, high quality and made from enchanted materials, was the black and gold Inquisitor Battle Armor. One of the rarest types of magical armors in existence, the three armors was made almost a thousand years ago and as far as I knew, they had rarely been used since. Mostly because wearing such armor required so many permissions, that it was usually impractical to even try. When a situation arose, that might require the use of such an armor, Inquisitors didn't have time to sit on their assess and wait for the permissions.

"You do know that we haven't a permission to use those, right?" Said Verina when she discovered what I was looking at.

"I don't care. Either this works or there will be nobody take us to court for using these without permission." I said drily, as I looked at her. "What Sabia called 'my greatest estimate' was just what would happen if Yinxu, Pi-Ramses, Waset and Babylon as well as a few smaller cities are destroyed. It didn't include Illum, Alashiya, Kashi, Dvārakā or any of the hundreds of larger cities in the human world, meaning that the real number is at least fifty time greater than the largest number I used." I sent the calculation I had made while we walked and saw her becoming pale, as she asked. "What if there's something you don't know? We have discovered new twists and turns to this all the time."

"I would rather be wrong and in prison, than dead along with Baylon and almost every human on the planet."

Verina thought about it and nodded. "Good point. Let's get those armors."

We stripped down to our loincloths and helped each other donning the armours.

First, the enchanted leather pants and shirt followed by the equally enhanced leather booths and gloves. On top of that, we added light shoulder-, elbow-, forearm- and knee-guards made of the golden, and magical, metal malanga. A protective hooded black Iron Silk cloak, complete with a black and malanga facemask that covered the lower part of the face.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the armor for a heartbeat to activate it. The magic kicked in and where it had been too large and cumbersome before, it suddenly adjusted to my size and became as light as an ordinary set of clothes.

"This is awesome." Declared Verina and looked down at herself. "It's as light as my kimono!"

"And you make it look good," I added with a smile and took a mage armor from a rack. Basically, just a hooded mage robe made from iron silk, it had been kept in the same black and golden malanga style as the battle armors.

I showed Verina the mage armor. "For Tia."

Verina nodded and soon we were both busy picking weapons.

Six magical adamant throwing daggers went into the sheaths in my armor, and a quiver filled with arrows went on the back along with an adamant sword, while I kept Shadow Fang in the belt as usual. For a long-range weapon, I examined several recurve bows, until I found one that suited my size and strength. That done, I packed my belongings in a bag, slung it over my shoulder and walked to the shelves with magical items.

There were two anti-magical devices, and I took both, just to be on the safe side. Two portal makers went the same way for the same reason. Since portal makers can make a temporary portal to a predetermined place from anywhere else, the Ordo Architectus normally inscribe the destination on the item. These ones weren't different, and I discovered that they led to the hospital in the Capitol, which made sense, since they were designed to be used in emergencies.

On the shelves with non-magical items, I found a medical aid kit, a silver mirror, a set of smoke-flash bombs and an iron silk rope. The last items I took was a few extra Securitas Interna seals of the non-magical kind used by the Feminae Bellum, just in case I needed to enrol some extra personnel including Tia.

"Are you done?" asked Verina, "I want to get out of here."

"Yes. Let's go."

To my surprise, both Tia and the guards were missing when we came out of the armoury again, but she wasn't hard to spot, as both she and the guards were standing some thirty cubits away, encased in the same kind of magical energy chains that had hit me in Grove.

Next to them stood a man dressed in an official looking robe and while I had never seen him before, I could see from the markings on the robe, that it was a senior mage from the Ordo Magica.

He wasn't alone, as there was another mage there and this time it was someone I knew very well: Dianna Piso. The mage from Ordo Architectus that had been my lover and then had tried to sabotage my work, due to our disagreement over half breeds in general and Tia Magus specifically. Older now, she would still look both cute and sexy, if it weren't for the triumphant look on her face as she looked at the chained Tia Magnus. Apparently, she still held a grudge again the Baylon-Kemetian mage.

Aside from the two magi, there was two squads of troops and magi in dark red armours, standing to attention to each side of the two magi. The same type of troops I had met in Grove, but this time I wasn't freshly rested, and I doubted that I could do the same as I had done in there.

"Shit." Mumbled Verina and I could only agree. It looked like the Cor's had caught up with us.

"Ah, Inquisitors!" Said the senior mage when he discovered us. "Stealing armors? Oh well, I guess that is a small thing compared to all the other crimes you have committed."

"What exactly are you talking about, sir?" I asked calmly, while trying to decode the situation. Something was very wrong. I could feel it in my bones, but I didn't know exactly what it was.

"He's trying to get us to attack." Stated Verina in a low voice.

"Agreed. The question is why." I replied.

Reaching out with my mind, I got hold of Sergeant Sibylla. "< Sergeant, did you admit some magi along with their armsmen recently? >"

"< No sir. Only two magi and they had a permission >" She paused. "< Shall I place us on intruder alert? >"

The protocol flashed through my head and suddenly I knew what Dianna Piso and the other mage was here for. A part of the intruder alert protocol was a lock-down, that basically prevented anyone from teleporting or gating out of the castle, to allow the Feminae Bellum and the Inquisitors time to hunt down and neutralize the intruders.

"< As far as I remember, the lock-down period is a day, right? >"

"< Yes, sir >"

That was long enough for the Return to start, preventing us from destroying the Northern Anchor while it was still under control of the Ordo presidium.

"< Listen carefully now. Do not, no matter what you hear, lock down the castle >" I sent.

"< That's exactly what they're aiming for and I don't want them to have it. Use a lesser alert and send reinforcement, but do not lock down the castle, and have the reinforcement use non-lethal force. I'm sure this is a trap of some kind >"

"< Yes, sir >"

"< Oh... Did that permission have names on it? >"

"< Yes, sir >" There was a brief pause where I assumed that she was looking at the permit. "< The permit was for Senior Mage Cossus Livia Cor and Mage Diana Pico >"

"< Thank you >" I said and cut the link.

"Well, Inquisitors." Called Senior Mage Cossus Livia Cor. "Lost your tongue? Are you just going to stand there like the powerless people you are?"

Dianna Piso did something with a hand, causing the magical chains to tighten and Tia to cry out in pain. Then the mage looked at us, saying, "Do you enjoy seeing your lover suffer, Emilian?" She snorted. "Yes, I'm not blind. You might be masked, but there's only one male Inquisitor with your lack of height." Her eyes moved over to Verina. "So, you must be Inquisitor Serranus, Emilian's long-term lover." She snorted again as she nodded in the direction of Tia. "Did you know that he fucked her?"

The was silence for a moment. Then Verina looked at me, saying. "Is that true? You fucked Dominus Magnus of the Ordo Architectus?"

For a moment, I wondered why she asked, because I had already told her that a long time ago, but trusting her to have a cunning plan, I went along with it. "Yes, I did."

There brought another triumphant smile on Dianna Piso's face, but that was wiped away, when Verina laughed. "Way to go! The highest I ever managed was a Captain. Was she any good?"

"Oh, extremely good." I said lightly. "Way better than Mage Piso. I guess that why she's pissed... But then again, she tends to let herself be ruled by her emotions, which in turn have caused her career to go down in flames."

"Fuck you, Ivah!" Shouted Dianna Piso, rage evident on her face.

"Sorry to tell you the truth, Dianna," I said calmly, as I studied her. She looked just as angry now as the day of our discussion. "But you're still an ordinary mage, while in the same time Tia Magnus have become a Dominus."

"At least I didn't fuck my way to the top!" She shrieked, her grip on her temper slipping quickly.

I took a moment to glance at the armsmen, wondering where they came from, since the only way into the castle was through the gating room. I snorted, when I realized that the most logical answer to that, was that they weren't here at all, and that I was looking at an illusion.

Using an Ars Mentalis trick to detect mind-patterns, I nodded lightly to myself when none of the armsmen showed up on the scan. Touching my Captains Seal, I used it as a focus to send a message to all Inquisitors within the castle, that the Armsmen were Illusions, just as Verina laughingly said. "Even if that was true, it means that the higher-ranking magi preferred to fuck a half-blood over you. Goddess, you must be bad."

With a shriek of fury, Dianna Pico snapped and with a simple flick of the wrist, she sent a glittering bolt of ice towards Verina. It didn't make it all the way, as the castles defences kicked in and dispelled it halfway, and at the same time, Mage Valentius and a squad of twelve Inquisitors appeared out of nowhere, as their invisibility spells were cancelled when they showered Piso and Senior Mage Cor with Stun and Sleep spells.

The idea was faultless, but unfortunately it didn't go as planned. Only Cossus Cor was affected, tumbling to the ground, and making the illusionary armsmen disappear.

Something black and golden streaked through the space between me and Dianna Pico and then Verina appeared in front of the mage. The sound of someone being hit reached me a heartbeat later, as Verina took down Dianna Pica with three hard blows from her folded fans.

A moment later, the magical chains that held Tia Magnus and the two guards disappeared as Mage Valentius dispelled them.

"Secure those two!" I ordered and walked over to Tia, who had collapsed on the ground. "Are you wounded?"

She shook her head. "No, but that faming hurt!" She sighed. "Sorry about being caught. I tried to delay them and didn't really expect them to attack me."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't suspect they would be here either." Looking over at Mage Valentius, I said. "Good work, Valentius."

"Thank you, sir, but could someone please explain what is going on? I don't think any mage have attacked our people here in Arcem ever, so it has to be serious."

"Oh, it is. The faction in the senate that wants to return Baylon have come out in force and is actively trying to make it happen. Unfortunately, that will destroy Baylon in the process." I said and explained the situation with the anchor and what had been going on.

He rubbed his face with his hands as he thought it over and then said. "Thank you, captain, that's even more serious than I thought. What can I do to help?"

"First of all, get someone to read the mind of those two." I ordered. "There's no reason for them to come here on their own and I want to know who ordered them here."

He hesitated for a moment. "How's the law on that one, sir?"

There was a short laugh from Verina. "On our side, Mage Valentius. Not only did they come here to provoke us, but they even tried to cast elemental magic on us."

"Very well," said Mage Valentius with a slight smile on his face and turned towards the Inquisitors. "You heard the captain. Get what you can from the magi."

"Yes, sir." They saluted and vent to work.

I took a moment to think it over. So far, we had been reacting to the plot the Cor family had set in motion, discovering new things along the way and in general trying to mess with their plans whenever we could. Perhaps it was time for a change.

"How many Inquisitors are at home?"

"Thirty-four, sir." He said without hesitation. "But you're the only captain here. Captain Gavia is in the Capitol with the Dominus Grande. Captain Cardida took off yesterday to give testimony in court, and Captain Leos and Vice-Captain Amata took off a few hours ago to investigate the anchors. The rest of the vice-captains are investigating incidents all over the Empire as usual."

I nodded. While I doubted it was a coincidence, that Gavia and Cardida was in the Capitol and thus locked down there, it didn't sound all that unusual.

Reaching out, I got hold of Sergeant Sibylla again. "< Sergeant, how many Feminae Bellum are available right now? >"

"< Seven squads, sir >"

"< Get them ready. I'll explain later >"

"< Yes, sir >"

I took a deep breath. "Mage Valentius. I want two Inquisitors, along with a squad of Feminae Bellum to take off to search the homes of Dianna Piso. Four Inquisitors and two squads goes to the home of Angus Nigrus Cor." I nodded in the direction of the unconscious senior mage. "And send two Inquisitors and yet another squad the home of Senior Mage Cossus Livia Cor to search it."

"Yes sir."

Looking at Tia, I asked. "Dominus Magnus, name three magi or mentats from the Cor family that're close to the Dominus Grande, but not among the assistants."

Tia looked thoughtful. "The Cors do not have any mentats, but Appia, Tulla and Nonus are all from the Angus Cor part of the family." She shrugged. "I don't know them well enough to say how close they are to the Dominus Grande, but they come from the same branch of the family."

"Verina. Get hold of Sabia Lartius and confirm it with her. If she has other and better suggestions, use those."

"Yes, sir."

Looking at Mage Valentius again, I said. "When we got those names, I want those people arrested and their homes searched. They're charged with Misuse of Powers, Conspiracy against the High King and Conspiracy against the Baylon Empire."

The mage widened his eyes. Both of the last two changes were serious crimes and carried serious punishments with them. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Well, if they're innocent, they will be acquitted by the courts." I informed him. "I just want them to be unavailable for the next couple of days and with the incident in Grove where Angus Nigrus Cor attacked me, and what happened here, we have a probable cause to suspect the Cor family as a whole."

"Slim, but it's there, sir." Said Valentinus, as a ghost of a smile showed on his face.

"Good. Make it happen, while I write up the arrest orders and do the rest of the paperwork. Then we'll see if the two magi can provide us with some answers."

"Yes, sir." He saluted and walked away.

-----------------------

I spent half a glass getting the paperwork in order and then reached out with my mind to contact Jia.

It took several tries, before she answered. "< Ivah! What's wrong? Is Verina hurt? >"

"< Verina is fine. I don't have time to explain, but we need to come get you. Can you send me a mind-image of your location? >"

To my surprise, there were some hesitations in her thought, as she replied "< Is it important? >"

"< Yes. Both Verina's and your life depends on it >"

There were still some reluctances in her thought, as she replied. "< Come then >" and sent me a mind-image.

"< Thank you. We'll be there within a glass >"

Wondering why, she was so hesitant, I walked back to Verina, Tia, and Mage Valentinus, who were waiting for me in front of the Inquisitors and the Feminae Bellum. Or perhaps I should say that Valentinus and Tia were waiting for me, because Tia had changed into the mage armor and it sat on her fabulous body like an extra layer of skin, and Verina was discreetly admiring her.

With a slight smile, I handed the papers to Valentinus, who passed them on to a runner, that took them to the squad leaders.

"Did we get anything from the magi?" I asked Valentinus.

The mage shook his head. "Nothing, sir. The order to go here came by powered communication and the permit was delivered by a runner. Aside from that, they don't know much, except that they want Baylon to return now."

I sighed. "They're better at keeping secrets than the Pulcher family."

"Which is why they're still alive." Said Tia drily.

Both Valentinus and I nodded at that.

As soon as the arrest orders was handed out, Verina lifted her voice. "Attention!"

Silence fell over the ranks and I raised my voice. "In a moment, you'll go to investigate several members of the Cor family and their associates. There's nothing special in that, but for once you need to know what's at stake here."

Switching to the much faster mental communication, I gave a very short version of the explanation I had given Mage Valentinus, using mental communication and mind-images to ensure they knew I wasn't lying. I finished with "< Inquisitors, we're threading a dangerous path here. If we act, we're going against the will of the Dominus Grande of the Ordo Presidium, which for the time being will make us rogues. However, if we stand and do nothing, there's a chance Baylon will be destroyed along with everybody on it, including your friends, family and loved ones >" I looked around at them. "< This time the need of the Empire outranks anybody short of the King of Kings. Remember, that these people have no qualms about trying to kill Inquisitors or Feminae Bellum, so take care out there. May the Goddesses watch over you all >"

There was a moment of silence, but then the squads saluted in perfect unison, followed by a "Yes, captain!" before they marched out.

"Nice speech." Commented Tia with a smile in her voice.

With a chuckle, I turned to look at her. "You don't go to the theatre much, do you? Just about every send-off speech ever written is better than what I just did."

She shrugged. "This is real life, not theatre."

"It was good." Said Verina firmly. "And now we need to go to Lescare."

"Agreed." I said and sent the mind-image to Tia, who took a moment to gather her thoughts and then cast the gate spell.

A shimmering door appeared in front of us, and we were about to go through, when we received an official mental communication. A very loud official mental communication, that was impossible to ignore.

"< ATTENTION! THE RETURN HAVE STARTED! ALL CITIZENS MUST RETURN TO BAYLON IMMIDIATELY! >"

"That was fast." Mumbled Verina, making Tia shake her head. "No, they need as much time as possible to get people home to Baylon and each hour counts."

"And it's our cue to leave." I said and walked through the gate.

As always, the magic made my skin tingle and then I was standing in a cosy looking living room, looking at Jia, who were dressed in the local Lescarian clothes. She looked beautiful as usual, but what caught my eyes were two kids, a boy and a girl, sitting by a table and watching me with huge eyes. Both clearly had a lot of Baylon blood in their veins, because like Jia, they had white hair and slanted blue eyes. There was something disturbingly familiar about them and I froze when I realized they looked a lot like the paintings of my sister and I, my mom had hanging on her wall.

Jia saw the direction I was looking and softly said, "Ivah... This is Ivanka and Kaeso."

For once I was stunned, even speechless, as I looked at the kids, who were looking back at me. Then their eyes shifted to something behind me, as Tia and Verina stepped through the gate as well.

"< Sorry >" sent Jia and as she spoke, the link was filled with regret. "< I should have told you earlier and before you ask... Yes, they're yours >"

Still shaken, the best question I could come up with was, "< When? >"

"< On the way to Hao's wedding >" She answered sadly "< I was so distraught, that I forgot that I didn't use herbs and well... >"

At least that explained why I haven't discovered it. After the wedding, I had taken off with Wukong in search of his bride and almost as soon as I got back, I had been sent to Mordcha to learn forging. All in all, that had taken more than a year and with the amount of time I'd spent afterwards helping Securitas Externa, I haven't had a chance to notice anything. Not even during sex, as power assisted healing would have brought thing back to exactly the same state as before.

Raising the kids in Lescare also made sense in a Lescarian way. As Jia's family were nobles, there would be no problem with housing or babysitters, while Jia was in Arcem.

Reaching out with my mind, I briefly examined the... my... kids' mental pattern and to my astonishment, they both detected as Baylon. That was a surprise, since the chances for a union between a Baylon and a human to produce offspring with a Centrum Potentia was about one in ten. What wasn't a surprise, was the fact that they were Twins. For some reason that happens quite often my family.

Remembering that I was wearing the Battle Armor, I pulled the hood back and removed the half mask from my face.

The two children stared at me with wide eyes for a heartbeat, but then they shouted. "Dad!" in unison and stormed towards me.

The feeling of recognition, wonder and longing emanating from them was so great, that I automatically went down on one knee and spread my arms to receive them in a hug. They rushed into my arms, just as I heard Tia say, "What the flaming fuck?" and the responding, "It looks like a private moment." from Verina before she dragged the mage into another room.

I shut them out and concentrated on the two kids in my arms. Kids are always a gift in Baylon, but after having been rendered infertile by the Peaches of Immortality, it was a gift I had never expected to receive and somehow, that made it twice as precious. I still had a lot of questions for Jia, like why she had kept them hidden, but at that moment, it mattered little.

"Have you come to take us home?" asked Ivanka in a calm whisper.

"Yes, I think I have." I answered after a moment, aware of the tears running down my face.

That caused Kaeso to ask. "Are our moms coming as well?"

"That's the plan, but we haven't had time to talk about it." I answered and looked at Jia. "You are coming along, right."

She sighed. "I don't know." She looked at the children. "Now, you two need to go help Mo Shufen pack your bags so your dad and I can talk without you listening."

I got a last hug from my kids and then they ran out of them room.

Drying my tears of my face, I stood, walked over to Jia and dragged her in for a hug. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

To my surprise, she started crying. "I just wanted them for myself for a few years. You Baylons live so long! You have centuries with them, I have just a few decades!"

For a moment, I stood in stunned silence.

Despite looking younger, Jia had to be around thirty-five years old by now and while that was young for a Baylon, she was middle-aged by human standards and if she had been like the other Lescarian in the area, she would only last a few decades more at the most.

Placing my hand gently on her chin, I turned her head and looked into her tear-filled slanted eyes, as I whispered. "Jia, my sweet. Any half-breed with enough Baylon blood in them to produce Baylon children, will live just as long as normal Baylons. You have lots of time!" She looked at me with a shocked expression, so I sent her a smile and continued. "Trust me. My father is half-Baylon and he just celebrated his 12th decade."

"What?!"

Giving her another kiss, I said. "You'll have at least two hundred years more with the kids."

Jia looked stunned, so I just held her, giving her time to absorb the information.

"I feel stupid." Mumbled Jia after a while. "All that secrecy for no reason." She looked up. "Are you angry at me?"

I slowly shook my head. "I was when I discovered it, but nobody was really hurt and if everything goes right, I'll have all the time in the world with them." I thought for a moment. "And with you for that matter. You need to come with us."

"I'm still no..." She started, but I interrupted her. "In ten years, you'll still look the same, while your friends here will start to look old. In thirty years, your friends and family will have died from old age and you'll look forty."

Her eyes grew wide as the words sank in. "Oh... People will think I'm an Immortal!"

I nodded. "And you will be treated like people treat the Queen Mother of the West. Some will try to gain your favour, others will try to steal the secret of long life from you, using any means possible."

Jia sighed. "And that will bring Ivanka and Kaeso in danger."

"Most likely, yes." I said and the thought of the kids made me ask. "How old are they? I mean, according to my memory, they should be around twelve years old by now, but they seem much younger."

Jia looked slightly shameful, as she replied. "I wasn't ready to have kids, or even talk about it, so I took a magic potion that delayed it some years." She shrugged lightly. "It gave me time to arrange everything, like housing, nannies and trainers."

That piqued my interest. "What kind of training did they get?"

"I knew that they eventually needed to go to Baylon, so they have a typical Baylon education, with martial arts and Vis thrown in." She smiled weakly. "I had planned on bringing them back with me this time and tell you about them, so your mind-contact about coming here took me by surprise."

"Was that how they recognized me?"

The weak smile turned into a chuckle. "I have never kept their father's identity hidden from them and they know just about everything about you." She stood on her toes to give me a kiss. "I'm proud of you being their father and I wanted them to be proud of you as well."

For some reason, that made my eyes flood with tears of emotion again. Thinking it over, I realized that the only way the kids could have gotten a 'typical Baylon education' was if they have had a Baylon teacher and there were few teachers as good and varied as Verina. "Verina taught them, right?"

"Yes, but don't blame her for not saying anything. I swore her to secrecy before I told her anything."

I nodded slowly. Verina would keep a promise almost no matter what and it wasn't like they were the only ones with secrets. I never told anybody about the events in the castle of Xi Wangmu aka. Queen Mother of the West. Mostly because some of the high-level magi was obsessed with immortality and if they knew that the Queen Mother of the West held the secret to prolong life by thousands of years, they would be all over the castle to figure out the secrets.

After having seen what the Cor and Pulchers had been, and still was, willing to do to reach their goal, it was a decision that I didn't regret.

There was silence in the room for a moment, but then Jia asked. "So, what was so important that you and Verina needed to come here?"

"Let's go join Verina and Tia, then we can explain what is going on."

--------------------------------

Four glass later, Verina and I had gotten out of the armors and we were all sitting outside, enjoying the last rays of the setting sun, while drinking tea and relaxing. Jia had gotten the whole story and was horrified that the whole planet was in danger. It had also made her determined to go to Baylon along with Ivanka and Kaeso to give them the best chance to survive.

The part she wasn't keen on, was Verina and I going to the Northern Anchor to destroy it, even after Verina, Tia and I had explained that it was impossible for the Cor's to place Baylon guards there.

"What if one of you die?" She sighed. "No matter who it is, I'll lose a loved one and the children will lose a parent."

"Jia," I said softly. "We don't have a choice. If we don't destroy the anchor, this world will be a flaming nightmare and there's an even chance that Baylon will be destroyed. Unfortunately, convincing people that have a chance to stop the plot in time is impossible, so it's up to us to stop it."

The beautiful Lescarian sighed and nodded. "I know. I even know that you have a good chance of pulling it off, but I'm still nervous."

Verina put her arms around her in a hug. "Look at the bright side. When we come back to Baylon, and the island have returned to its home dimension, I'll go back to training people, which is a peaceful job."

"And I'll take ten years off work at the very least." I added.

All three women looked at me. "What?"

I grinned and shrugged. "There's no need for a Securitas Externa agent once we get back and I bet I'll spend a year or so giving evidence in court. I have a house and money enough to last a very long time, so there's no rush to go back to work. Especially not when I want to see my kids grow up."

"Good choice." Said Tia approvingly, making Verina laugh. "Not gonna happen, Ivah. If we pull this off, they'll make you a Dominus in either the Securitas or the Ordo Mentalis."

"Not likely, but I can live with that." I chuckled. "Jia, I would like to talk with Ivanka and Kaeso before they have to go to sleep. Is that possible?"

She smiled widely. "Of cause."

"Ivah, use 'the playground' when you talk with them if you need more time." Suggested Verina.

"Excellent idea." I said as I stood.

'The playground' was a mental trick, where a Mentat created an area inside the mind, where two or more people could meet. It was like a shared dream, that followed the rules of the real world as understood by the Mentat, and the trick had been developed to enable students to train deadly techniques, without anybody getting hurt. Of cause, it had been used it for many other things over the years and I knew of at least four cases where my fellow students had used to share pleasure.

However, the thing that mattered, was that as a shared dream, everything went by the speed of thought and that would enable to do a lot more talking in the limited time we had. It would even enable the three of us to use mind-images and feelings to communicate, something that was always more effective than just words.

Ivanka and Kaeso found the concept wildly exciting and was more than willing to try it out, so we settled down in the soft grass, where I had them tell me about their life. I experienced their life, learning about their fears and sorrows, joy and happiness, likes and dislikes.

They took turns telling and showing me the things, they found important or fun, ranging from Kaeso's feeling of pride over a fish he had caught, to Ivanka's wonder the first time she held a sword in her hands.

Jia's worry about me or Verina dying had hit me harder than I realized and when it was my turn to show and tell, I made sure that they were introduced to the people in my life, even gran mother Ivanka, so my daughter could get an impression of the person I thought she was named after. It took even longer to explain about Kaeso Maximus and Kaeso was enthralled by the adventures the Dominus Grande had been through.

I told them about my family, my mother, father, and sister, and showed them mind-images with them. They also asked how I had met their mothers (They called Verina their mother as well), so I showed them images of that, along with tales of the daily life at Arcem when we were in training there. That led them to ask about the places I had been, and together we walked through my memories of Grove, Pi-Ramesses with my father's house, visited Mount Kunlun and the fortress belonging to Queen Mother of the West, sailed on the rivers of Bharat and Kemet, wandered through the streets of Alashiya, Kanchi and Wilusa, and looked at the Pyramids of Kemet, as well as the great temple in Ipet-isut.

It was a powerful trip through our memories. A trip that caused us to laugh and even cry from time to time, as memories were relived, shared, and explained.

It was a perfect time and I wished we could have gone on a lot longer, but eventually Ivanka and Kaeso began looking sleepy.

"We need to go out to the real world before you fall asleep." I chuckled, causing them to look slightly disappointed.

"Just one more thing." Begged Kaeso. "Our moms told us, that you have sailed the ocean. Can we see that?"

The area of Lescare where they live was far from the ocean and it was more than likely that they've never seen it, so I nodded and the world became a blur as it changed to the deck of Captain Pratipa's ship, as we sailed the open sea from Dvārakā to Dilmun, watching the glowing sun setting into the sea.

Sitting on the wooden planks, we admired the sight for a while, and I was acutely aware, that the kids were hugging me from each side.

Then Ivanka said. "Thanks, Dad. This was awesome."

"Yeah," said Kaeso from the other side. "Can we do it again some other day?"

Putting my arms around them, I hugged them back. "Yes, we can, but next time I want to see more of your life."

"But that's boring!"

"Not to me." I chuckled. "I missed out on so much already and I intend to catch up."

"You're here now." Said Ivanka. "That's all that matters."

I shook my head slightly. It sounded exactly like something my grandmother, also named Ivanka, could have said.

"Good, but now it's time for the two of you to go to bed." I said and with a last hug, I slowly and gently brought us out of the mental trick and back to the real world.

"That looked like a good experience." Said Jia's voice.

Turning my head, I saw her sitting along with Verina. Both were watching me with little smiles playing on their faces.

I nodded. "It was, but what makes you think that?"

Verina snorted. "Ivah, I have seen you go through some of the worst times imaginable, but never once have I seen you shed a tear. Yet, you did that now and as I assume that it's tears of joy, it had to be one flaming experience."

"It was." I said as I dried my eyes and looked over at Ivanka and Kaeso, that were coming out of the trance-like state they had been in. They sent me wide smiles, but as soon as they discovered Jia and Verina sitting there, they ran over to them.

I looked on as Jia and Verina flawlessly fell into the role as mothers, listening to the children eagerly telling them about their experiences. They listened to them for a while, but then told them to say good night.

Obediently, they ran over to me, gave me a hug, and said goodnight, before Jia and Verina followed them out of the room.

------------

I walked to the room I had been assigned for the night, undressed, and lay down on the bed to relax a little.

That plan was ruined a few moments later when Tia came into the room, closing the door behind her. I could feel my eyebrows lift in surprise as she took her dress off without saying a word, revealing her fabulous body to me, from her big round breasts, slim waist, and wide hips to her long legs.

"I want you." She informed me as she walked over to the bed. "We don't have long until Jia and Verina comes back, and I want you to fuck me like there's no tomorrow before they come back."

"Sounds fair." I replied with a chuckle.

"Good," She smiled, and cast a short spell, that I recognized as a silence spell, before she crawled unto the bed on hands and knees to give me a kiss, that sent shivers through my body and gave me a hard on. I returned the kiss, finding her perfect breasts with my hands and fondled them, ran my fingers over her hard, dark nipples and enjoying the way it made her groan.

A hand grabbed my cock while we kissed, gently stroking it, and I let a hand wander down between her spread leg. She was dripping wet, and I played with her lower lips, occasionally letting my fingers my fingers dip into the opening or take a turn on her love-pearl.

Tia broke the kiss to let out a long moan. "I missed this."

"Likewise." I said and kissed her elegant neck.

"Good," she chuckled and moved, so her knees were next to my head, turned around and straddled my face, before she lowered her pussy onto my face.

It smelled clean, aroused, and delicious at the same time and without hesitation, I began licking the lower lips, sneaking an arm around her, so I could caress her glorious ass, as I sucked on her lips, pulling them out, separating them with my tongue. Then I moved my tongue in between them, found her love-pearl and gently sucked the sensitive nerve cluster into my mouth, letting my tongue brush over it a few times.

Tia moaned at the treatment and she got louder when I slid my hand further down and slipped a finger into her, feeling her excitement build. The arousing sounds of pleasure came from her, and I enjoyed every sigh, moan, squeal and whimper I heard. She was getting close, so I moved my tongue from her love-pearl to her inner thighs and slipped another finger into her.

"Goddess, I missed that too!" She hissed with a shiver, as I went back to lick the top of her pussy with slow lazy licks, enjoying the feeling of her wet skin against my tongue.

Until that moment, Tia had been sitting upright, but now she leaned forward, resting her big soft tits on my stomach as she closed her lips around the head of my dick, while still stroking it. Removing the lips again, she began licking the head, her tongue gentle one moment, flicking out against me the next. Then she did a circular move with her tongue that sent shivers through my body and followed up by letting her lips slide down over the head again, taking more and more of me into her mouth, while using still her tongue on the head.

Groaning, I picked up the pace of my fingers as I focused my tongue on her love-pearl, making her shiver and shake. It also made her up the pace of both hand and head, making the blowjob even better. Curling my fingers, I found the internal pleasure center on the inside of the pubic bone and made sure to rub against it, as I moved my fingers back and forth in an ever-increasing rhythm.

Tia shook, moaned, and then let my cock go as she crawled forward towards my feet. Confused, I looked after, as she turned, sent me a smile, and swung a leg over my hips. Then she reached down, grabbed my cock, and placed in between the lips of her pussy. The smile turned wider, as she settled down on it, groaning loudly as she pushed down. I felt my cockhead spreading her walls as she descended, until at last she was impaled to the hilt.

"Fuck, I love you dick." She moaned and sat still for a moment, just squeezing it with her inner muscles. "It's perfect. No so long that it hurts, but thick enough to stretch me out."

Before I had a chance to answer to that, she lifted herself off me, massaging my dick all the way, and then let herself fall on it, moaning as it impaled her again. Her pussy felt amazing, tight, and warm around my cock.

Then it seemed like she lost her patience and began bouncing up and down on my cock as fast and hard as she could, looking down on me with a face masked by lust and desire, her big breasts bouncing and jingling with every move.

Reaching up, I grabbed her swinging breasts, fondling them for a moment before I pinched her nipples gently. That just made her moan louder and I got lost in the feeling of her tight pussy going up and down on my cock, her inner muscles clutching at me on the upstrokes.

"Oh, oh, oh, fuck!" She groaned every time it went all the way inside, and I could feel her orgasm approaching fast. She switched to a rotating motion and ground her love-pearl against me a few times. Then her body stiffened up and she came with a howl, that made me thankful for the silence spell, she had cast. She ran out of breath before her orgasm completed, and her mouth gaped openly as her body twitched over and again spastically before she collapsed on my chest.

I wasn't about to let her get off that easy. Raising my knees, I planted my feet firmly on the bed and moved my hand to her soft, yet firm, ass. That gave me some leverage and as I used that to thrust my dick deep inside her. Tia gave a yelp of pleasure, followed by a moan when I did it again.

Strengthening my hold on her butt, I started driving my dick into her wonderful warm wet pussy again and again. Her moans turned into groans before her body stiffened as an orgasm overtook her and the groans turned into another scream. Her pussy pulsed and tightened around my dick, adding to the pleasure.

With a smile, I increased the pace, making sure I withdrew almost completely each time, before slamming it back in. She moaned and started to shake all over, building up to a big orgasm, while her inner muscles clenched and released as I fucked her, squeezing, and caressing me.

I let go of her ass with one hand and slid it in between our bodies to play with her love-pearl. That pushed her over the edge and with a scream she came again, her inner muscles convulsing and squeezing my cock as she sat down hard, driving it even further into her, and mashing her breasts into my chest. Shivers ran through her body as she lay there with her eyes closed, gasping for air, while I caressed her back.

"Is this a private setting?" I suddenly heard Verina say. "Or can we join?"

Turning my head, I discovered that both she and Jia was standing in the doorway, looking at us.

The disadvantage of using power to stop sound, like Tia had done, was that it works both ways. They might not be able to hear us, but we weren't able to hear them either. I also didn't know how long they had been standing there, but from the amount of desire and lust emanating from them, I guess they had seen a lot.

Tis lifted her head from my chest and looked over at them as well. "You can take over. I'm all pleasured out for now." She turned her head back to me, gave me a quick kiss and then said. "If it's fine with you, that is."

Surprised, I managed to nod and with a smile, she rolled off me.

Verina and Jia both smiled at the sight of my hard cock and walked over to the bed.

Taking in the sight of the two beauties, I smiled back at them. No-matter what happened tomorrow, this would be an evening to remember.

--------------

The next day started with a flurry of activity. Verina and I dressed up in the Battle Armors, and Tia changed into the mage armor again, while Jia got both herself and the children ready with the help of some maids.

When everybody was ready, Tia took us back to Kemet, using the same sequence of Gates that had brought us to Arcem. The only difference was that, per my request, we ended up in my dad's house in Kemet, instead of Tia's house.

Due to the time difference, it was about midnight in Kemet when we arrived and as that meant that it was just after sunset on Baylon, I reached out with my mind and got hold of Chilli, to find out what was happening there.

The news was mostly good for Baylon. As soon as the Return had become official, there had been an influx of people from the colonies, as most people there had followed procedure, packed up their stuff and walked through gates created by the Ordo Vectio, while the Mentats were busy locating the ones that were missing.

On the downside, Baylon was in lockdown, meaning that only Ordo Vectio could create gates from Baylon to the human world. Fortunately, in order to allow people to get back to Baylon, it was still possible to Gate the other way, meaning that we could get Jia and the kids to safety.

I suddenly realised, that sending Jia and the kids to Chilli wouldn't be safe, as the Cor's knew of her involvement, so I thanked her and said goodbye, before I settled down to think. The Cor's had to know about Verina's involvement by now, so we couldn't use her family and the same went for Tia, Varro and Sabia.

All in all, I needed to find someone on Baylon the Cor's couldn't know about. Unfortunately, the Disease had kept us extremely busy, leaving us with little time to form friendships with people outside work and as they had access to all the reports I had made over the years, it wouldn't take much for them to skim through those reports and mark the people Verina and I knew.

I looked at Tia and Verina. "Do any of you happen to have any close Baylon friends that doesn't show up in reports?"

Tia sighed and said, "I do have friends, but being a mage, many of those friends are also friends with someone from the Cor family, and I guess that you want to avoid that."

Verina took a moment to think before she shook her head. "Sorry, Ivah. I've spent too much time in Arcem, Lescare and on missions to have had time for that."

"Yeah... same here." I said with a sigh.

"Wait a moment." Said Verina suddenly. "Junia... The anonymous mage you told me about. If you don't know who she is, the Cor's can't know either."

I nodded slowly. While I still didn't know her real name, Junia was the mage that had tried to kick me out of my parents' house, but instead ended up being spanked and fucked, while loving every second of it. Like my relationship with Tia, we had kept in contact over the years, with her contacting me on regular intervals when she felt like being spanked and taken. She had been a spoiled brat when I had first met her, but she had taken the lessons I had taught her to heart and over the years, she had developed into a well-educated young noble woman.

Despite her attitude back when I met her for the first time, she was an intelligent and smart young woman, and once she understood that someone had tried to sabotage her and her family, she quickly changed her ways. Then again, wielding power wasn't easy and stupid people normally don't become spell-casters.

More to the point, I had never told anyone but Jia and Verina about her, and Junia might be persuaded to let Jia and the kids stay with her for a few days. If, and that was the important part, she would answer truthfully on a few questions to insure that she wasn't in league with the Cor's.

Taking a deep breath, I reached out and contacted her. "< Junia? Do you have a moment? >"

"< Ivah!? >" came the surprised answer. "< Well, with the Return happening, you picked an odd time to get in touch, but I always have time for you >"

"< Thank you, but before I say more, I need you to answer a couple of questions with simple yes or no answers. Please do, it's really important >"

There was a stunned silence before she sent. "< That sounds serious >"

"< It doesn't get more serious than this >" I sent, making my mental voice dry. "< Are you willing to play along? >"

"< Yes >"

"< Good. Are you connected to the group that have forced the return? >"

"< No >"

"< Are you connected with anyone from the Cor family? >" I asked, being slightly fearful for the answer. If she said yes now, I was out of good options.

"< No. I do know a few of them, but I'm not personally involved with that family >"

I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding. One of the many advantages of mental communication, is that it's almost impossible to lie when sending thoughts and I nodded to myself. "< Thank you. I need someone to keep my lover and my two children safe until the Return have happened. Can you handle that? >"

"< No problem >" She answered immediately and then added. "< They'll be safe with me >"

An enormous sense of relief ran through me and Junia must have felt it through the link, because her mental voice changed and became softer. "< It feels like you've gotten yourself into a mess, Ivah. How can that happen in the middle of the Return and how're the Cor family involved? >"

"< Can I trust you to keep a secret for a few days? Even if that might place you in danger? >"

"< Yes >"

"< You might hear things you don't want to hear >" I warned.

"< I can handle it >" Junia sent back. "< I just hope it's not too illegal >"

I sent her a mental laugh. "< I'll let you judge for yourself >"

"< Sounds fair >" She chuckled. "< Send me your story and let's see >"

"< Remember, this stays a secret until the Return have finished. I'll get back to you shortly >" I sent and gathered my thoughts. Having explained it several times already made it easier and allowed me to add more background to the explanation, which to me made it feel more complete.

I started with the Pulcher family and the events in the human world, that had led to the discovery that the Pulcher family had several strongholds there. Then the raid on those strongholds and the arrest of the Pulcher family, followed by the spread of the Disease, my debriefing by the Master Vibius of Ordo Arbites and the conclusion, that the Pulcher family had to be working with someone else.

Then I could go on with the interrogation of Chuzara, with the mind-images I got from her, the tracking of the group, what I had overheard them talking about, and the fight with the Nequam before I was almost killed and woke up in the hospital. I continued with my talk with Verina, and the informed guess, that it was the group of half-blood that had breached the security of the Southern and western Anchors and attacked the High King, and that the reports I had made had been altered.

That was followed by my trip to Grove, the discovery that Angus Nigrus Cor was the unknown mage as well as the nephew to Dominus Grande Cor of the Ordo Presidium, which explained how the otherwise secure reports could have been altered. The calculation of the shield strength came next, showing how they had misjudged the amount of power coming from the planet, resulting in a best outcome, that gave Baylon an even chance of being destroyed, with the risk increasing along with the number of human deaths. I also explained why the Cor family would like to keep the anchor intact, as they thought it would make the transition through the rift smoother, saving the life of four high-ranking family members, the current head of the family among them.

The next part was the combat to get out of Grove, Tia's involvement in getting me to Lescare, the stand-off with Senior Mage Cossus Cor and Diana Pico, and my reason to send Inquisitors out to arrest members of the Cor family, before we took of to attempt to destroy the Northern Anchor before it was too late.

It was with a sense of dread, that I sent the story. With the exception of my sister, everybody who had gotten the explanation up to this point had been members of the Ordo Gladius and as I was a Captain, they would be much more inclined to believe everything I said. Junia didn't have the same inclinations and might be harder to convince. However, it was for that exact reason, that I needed to get the story out to people not connected to the Ordo Gladius. If it just became a matter of Ordo Gladius versus the Cor family, there was a chance that the Cor would get away with it, since they were sitting on all the important posts.

Looking at the others, I said. "Junia agreed to take them."

"Yes!" said Verina, waving a fist triumphantly.

Jia smiled weakly and nodded, but I could feel the uncertainty coming from her. Considering that she had just left her homeland forever and had to watch her two lovers go into combat for the sake of the world. Not an easy place to be in.

An idea struck me. "Jia, would you feel better if there was another person beside you there?"

She considered it for a moment and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice."

"What's on your devious mind?" Asked Verina, while Tia nodded slightly, obviously curious as well.

"Pandora is still hiding from the Cor's in Grove along with her lover Atia." I explained. "We could get her to come here and then send her to Junia along with Jia, Ivanka and Kaeso."

"Ah." Said Verina. "Good idea." She looked at Tia. "Does your item work for anywhere on Baylon?"

Tia nodded. "Yes. It was a gift from my father, and he got the best Ordo Architectus could make, so I can make a gate to anywhere on Baylon." She smiled a bit. "However, when I use it as a focus, only ten persons can go through the Gate before it closes."

"Standard safety measure." chuckled Verina. "Can't have Baylon invaded by ambitious rulers."

Ignoring them, I reached out to Chilli and told her about Ivanka and Kaeso, as well as the chance to get out of the hiding. She was floored by the news that I had kids but accepted the plan, provided that Atia could come too. I agreed to that and she sent me a mind-image of the destination.

That being solved, I returned to Junia. "< So, what do you say? >"

"< I would love to say that either you or the Cors are insane, but unfortunately this makes a lot of sense >" Junia sent back with a mental sigh. "< You need to get reinforcement from somewhere, Ivah. If your theory is right, the last anchor is going to be heavily guarded >"

"< Who do you suggest? >" I asked, reasonable sure my mental voice sounded as tired as I felt. "< With the positions they hold, the Cor family controls Ordo Presidium as well as the Ordo Magica. Even the army have to stay on Baylon during the Return and the only one that can overrule any of them is the High King, and as far as I know, he's still in a coma after the attack >"

She was silent for a long moment. "< Good point. Anyone personal friends that can help? >"

"< Not unless you can get hold of Decimus Varro and he's locked down in the Capitol >"

She went silent again for a few heartbeats and then sent me a mental image of a corner of a garden. "< Make a portal to this and send your lover and children through >"

"< Can I send my sister and her lover as well? The Cors are looking for them as well >"

"< Yes >" She said firmly.

"< Thank you. They'll be there shortly >"

"< I'll be waiting for them >"

Closing the link again, I sent the mind-image from Chilli to Tia, saying "Can you make a gate to this place?"

She smiled, cast a spell and a moment later the familiar shimmering door appeared in front of us. "There you go."

I opened my mouth to reply, but at the same time, Chilli and Atia came running through the Gate, looking like they were hunted.

"Close the Gate!" Chilli said as soon as she was through.

Tia waved a hand and the Gate disappeared.

"Thanks." Chilli said, shaking a little. "A moment after your Gate started to form, another one appeared next to it."

"They're still hunting us." Gasped Atia with tears running down her face.

"Not here." Said Tia firmly. "The gate is close to impossible to track and even if they could, very few magi can gate directly from Baylon to Kemet."

Chilli nodded, but whatever she was going to say was spoiled by Kaeso who asked. "You're our aunt Pandora, aren't you?"

Blinking a few times in surprise, Chilli nodded as she studied them. "Yes, I am."

"You're pretty!" He said with a little smile. "Can we hug you?"

"Yes!" Said Chilli and went down on one knee so she was in the same height. A moment later both Kaeso and Ivanka hugged her.

"< Goddess! >" Chilli sent, as she hugged them back. "< They're adorable! >" A mental laugh followed. "< You just made our parents they happiest and most surprised grandparents on Baylon... there's nothing like surprise grandchildren >"

"< Try surprise children >" I replied drily. "< Chili, we need to get this moving... especially with the Cors being right behind you. Tia might think they can't track us here, but they've surprised us too many times for me to take that risk >"

"< Agreed >"

I sent the mental image of the garden to Tia, who cast the spell again. A moment later a shimmering gate of magical energy appeared, with the corner of a garden on the other side.

With a sigh, I went over to my family to hug them goodbye.

"< Take care, brother... don't get killed >" sent Chilli as she kissed my cheek.

"< That's the plan >"

The small group walked through the gate, leaving Verina, Jia and I standing alone in the house.

"< One moment, Ivah >" Junia suddenly said in my head. "< Reinforcement is here >"

"< What!? >" I sent back, just as I saw Varro come walking in the garden on the other side of the gate, heading towards the opening.

"< That was the best I could do, and you owe me a good fuck for that >" Junia sent, sounding sad for some reason, while trying to lighten the mood. "< Go destroy that Anchor, Ivah, but for the love of the Goddesses, try not to get killed >"

"< I'll do my best >"

"< I know, but you need to hurry. The return is happening much faster than expected. I doubt that you have more than six glass before Baylon is so far into the rift, that Gates won't work anymore >" She paused and then added. "< And thank you for trying to save Baylon >"

"< Stare contra malum. Cur non mihi? >" I sent back with a mental grin, citing the motto of the Ordo Gladius, and then closed the link as Varro walked through the Gate, a grin evident on his face. "Hello there."

Verina gave him a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Easy! You're wearing armor!" He protested, as Tia made the gate dissolve behind him. "What is happening?"

"We'll explain in a moment, but first we need to get out here." I said. "Varro can you make a Gate to Albion, near the Northern Anchor?"

He dislodged himself from Verina. "Yes. Now?"

I nodded. "Now."

He started to cast a spell.

"Can he reach the Northern Anchor from here?" Asked Tia in a low voice filled with doubt.

"He's from the Varro family." Verina said, happiness in her voice.

Tia nodded slowly. "Good... then it'll go faster."

Just like Mutatur Tempus Mente ran in my bloodline along with the mental powers, some of the mage families had other abilities in their bloodlines. Most of them were, like Mutatur Tempus Mente, closely guarded secrets, but it was commonly known, that the magi of the Varro family had incredible range to their spells, easily double the range of most other spell users.

A moment later, a shimmering door appeared in the room.

"There you go." Said Varro, while looking into the semi-darkness beyond the gate for enemies. Finding none, he turned towards us. "The Anchor lays a league (5 miles or 8km) that way."

Verina flashed a smile. "Let's move."

Looking at Varro. "Don't dispel the gate. We might need it to get back."

"Right... I'll just spell it, so that nobody can go through from the other side."

I nodded. "Good. Then I'll explain the amount of trouble we're in as we walk."

A glass later, we had settled down behind some bushes on top of a low hill from where we could see the area with the Northern Anchor as the sun rose above the horizon.

Activating a spell in the armor, that allowed me to see further, I studied the area. The sight I saw wasn't encouraging.

Dimensional anchors consisted of pure power and were invisible, but they were placed on powerful energy nodes and in the case of the Northers Anchor, the local humans used the site as a place of worship complete with a huge stone structure surrounding the energy node.

Now the stone structure was filled with human soldiers in the same type of dark red armors, as the ones I had encountered in Grove. To make matters worse, there were also persons in dark red robes of the style magi preferred, and I guessed they were human magi. Less powerful than their Baylon counter parts, but undoubtedly still deadly.

Their equipment also bothered me. As far as I could see from this distance, it was Baylon style steel armor, shields and weapons, like spears and swords. While a few steel weapons have been given to various rulers, I had never heard about an entire human company being equipped like that and it violated quite a few Baylon laws, as the possession of such equipment could severely change the balance of power in an area.

It made sense. The Cor's wouldn't think twice about equipping humans with Baylon weapons. Especially not when said humans were going to die anyway.

When the last energy line broke and fully returned to this dimension, it would hit right here with an enormous force. Enough to disintegrate the soldiers and most of the surrounding area. In effect, the people in the stone structure were guarding the device meant to kill them.

"Killed by the very object they're guarding. Ruthless, but efficient." Said Verina, clearly having reached the same conclusion. "When we're done, we need to get away as soon as possible. The backlash is not going to be pretty."

"That's saying it mildly." Something caught my eye, and I snorted, when I saw Chuzara, Kruse and Piler standing together, talking. "Can you see the red-head down there? That's Chuzara, the one I interrogated in Drusus."

"Pretty, but what's the point?"

"Before we go in, I'll try explaining to Chuzara, that this is a death-trap. She might be able to order the soldiers away."

"Good idea. There's a lot of well-equipped soldiers over there."

"Yeah, I'll rather avoid combat if I can, but I doubt it'll work, and we need a plan for what to do if it doesn't."

I watched the scene in silence, as options ran through my head. At some point we would have to get inside the stone structure and that meant an attack. It was the only way to place the anti-magic device and ensure it stayed there until the Anchor was destroyed. So, the question became how to survive against an enemy that vastly outnumbered us, had steel weapons and armor and even some spellcasters.

"We need to even out the numbers." I said slowly. "Varro, how much of the structure can you cover with area spells?

"Depends on the spell." He said. "Do you just want to kill as many as possible?"

"Kill or wound."

He studied the area and then slowly nodded. "I need to get closer, but some powerful elemental spells will make them regret being here. I'll burn through almost all the power I have, but I think I can kill or injure most of them."

"Do that but keep some power for the return trip." He nodded and I looked at Tia. "You?"

She shook her head. "As I've said before, I'm not an elemental- or combat mage. I deal with magical items and Artificial creatures."

I blinked a few times, as an idea struck me. "Can you control Nequam?"

"Yes, but they're not used here."

"I know, but have Ordo Architectus had time to remove them from the Western Anchor?"

Tia shook her head. "No, and before you ask, I am sure about it, because that would be my job to get the Nequams back from both the Southern and Western Anchor along with the magi from Ordo Mechanicus and I'm not there to do it."

"Excellent. Let's make sure you do your job." I said with a grin. "Varro, can you and Tia gate to the Western Anchor, gather the Nequam there and get back here?"

"Not a problem."

"Good. Go now."

Varro nodded and walked down the hill to make sure he was out of sight, before making the gate and a moment later both he and Tia was gone.

Verina and I used the wait-time to scout the area, looking for a place where we could hide, while Varro unleashed his magic on them. We found one in a little grove a little more than halfway between the hill we were on and the Anchor, but both Verina and I judged it to be just a little too obvious, so we circled around until we were at the south side of the Anchor where a patch of bushes provided enough cover to hide us. Once there, I sent the location to Varro and settled down to wait again.

About half a glass later, a gate opened behind us and Varro and Tia came walking out of it, followed by ten Nequam. As the last time I had seen them, they were black, a head taller than me and had long white hair growing only from the back of their heads. A huge mouth filled with sharp teeth dominated the head and they had no eyes, nose, or ears. Their powerful bodies were humanoid, but the long arms ended in a hand with three deadly claws.

I shuddered. It had only been a week since I had fought them on the island of the Western Anchor, and I was glad they were on my side this time.

Varro made the Gate disappear again. "Is it show time?"

"Not quite yet." I said and explained. "First, I'll contact one of what I think are the leaders to see if we can make them leave without combat. If that doesn't work out, then it's time for your magic show. After that, Tia orders the Nequam to attack them, and when they're done or destroyed, I want you to take Tia and go back to Baylon. Verina and I will take it from there. There's no reason to put more lives at risk than we have to."

"How will you get back." He asked with a frown.

"Portal makers." I answered and held up one of the items. "It goes to the Hospital in the Capitol."

The frown disappeared from his face. "Good plan."

"Thank you. Get to a place from where you can cast your spells, while I talk with the leader."

Taking a deep breath, Varro nodded and walked into the bushes.

I followed him until I reached a place from where I could see Chuzara. Then I reached out with my mind and contacted her, using the nickname she told me last time we talked. "< Hello again, Cerasis >"

"< Doctor Ivah? >" came the startled response and I could see her starting to look around. Smart girl. With their powers, they were almost impossible to contact mentally unless they were in line of sight and Chuzara clearly knew that as well.

"< Yes... Before I say more, if you have an item that allows you to communicate with the people helping you, please take it off. What I'm about to tell you, could not only save your life, but also get them to kill you... oh... and remember, that it is almost impossible to lie while using mental communication >"

She had been speaking quickly to the others, while she listened to me and I could see soldiers starting to leave the Stone Structure.

However, when I had finished speaking, she removed a neckless and handed it to Mags. "< Okay Doc, what's so important you want to risk your life here? >"

"< You are aware of, what you're guarding, right? >"

"< Yes. One of the Dimensional Anchors, that have been used to keep Baylon from disappearing >"

"< Well, if you want Baylon to disappear, why haven't you guys destroyed it like the two other anchors? >"

"< Well, because as long as at least one anchor is active, you guys can't make four new ones and keep Baylon here where it doesn't belong >"

For a moment, I was silent as I thought it over. Angus Nigrus Cor had obviously been smart enough to use the truth to give a false impression. While it was technically correct that new anchors couldn't be made as long as one of the old ones were still working, it was also beside the point: As long as the planets didn't align right, the magic wouldn't work anyway.

"< Anyway, Doc >" continued Chuzara, "< You didn't answer the question. What are you doing here? >"

"< Trying to save both our asses >" I replied and explained the situation to her, how the world would be destroyed and how Angus Nigrus Cor had told the truth, but not all of it. "< So, unless that anchor is wrecked, both this world and Baylon will be destroyed >"

Now it was her turn to be silent. Mentally at least, because I could see her talking with the other three. Then I saw something I had feared from the start. Despite my warning, the big guy named Piler, reached up and touched his neckless as he closed his eyes.

"< No! Don't contact the mage! >" I sent to Chuzara, but it was too late. There were three small explosions as the magical necklaces blew up, decapitating Kruse and Piler in the process.

Chuzara was stunned for a moment but recovered when the soldiers drew their weapons and advanced on her. Stumbling from the shock, she turned around and ran. She didn't make it far before a previously invisible mage suddenly appeared near one of the stones as he cast a bolt of Ice at her. It hit her in the back, and I was sure she would fall, but she doubled her speed and ran away in a zig-zag pattern until she disappeared into the trees in the grove we had scouted earlier.

"Varro, you're up!"

He cast a spell that made the hairs on my neck prickle and stand up. I didn't recognize it, but from the feel of it, it was a powerful elemental spell. I felt a gust of wind and a heartbeat later, clouds came rolling in with impossible speed, covering the whole area in semi darkness. Then lightning lit it up again, striking down from the sky accompanied by terrifying booms of thunder.

The chant changed and the wind began moving in a circle around the stone structure, preventing the defenders from getting out, while hail and lightning hammered down on the people inside it. Most of soldiers were covering their heads with their shields as they ran into cover under the horizontal stones. Some didn't make it as they were hit by lightning before they could even move.

Another change in the chant and the hail grew bigger, pelting the defenders with egg size hails, killing some and wounding many more.

Balls of magical fire left the stone structure, hitting random patches of plant growth that could hide a mage and one landed a few cubits left of Varro, missing him narrowly.

The chant grew harsher and all of the sudden, the hail turned into flame, raining down on the stone structure, setting fire to whatever it landed on, while lightning continued to strike down from the sky.

I swallowed something. It was spells like that that had allowed the insane victims of the Disease to lay waste to many cities on Baylon. Especially considered that Varro was still young and weak in power compared to the full elemental Dominus and Dominus Grande out there.

"Goddess!" Breathed Verina at the sight. "Glad I'm not in there."

I didn't answer, as I heard somebody walking through the bushes to my right.

Drawing Shadow Fang, I took a few steps in that direction, just as a group of red armored soldiers came charging out of the bushes, followed by a mage, who were already casting a spell.

He went down a moment later with two knives in him as both Verina and I hit him.

Activating Pugnando Mico Gradus (Baylon: "Combat Flash Step") Vis Power, that allowed me to move incredible fast for a short distance, while still being able to react to my surroundings, I dashed between the soldiers, hitting each as I passed them, slashing through armor, flesh and bone with each hit, wounding or killing them.

Verina followed up, killing two of the wounded soldiers, and a moment later we were alone again.

"Goddess!" breathed Tia as she looked at the dead soldiers with wide eyes and I suddenly realized that the mage had no idea about our combat capabilities. "That was insanely fast!"

"Don't look at me." Said Verina and blew me a kiss. "Ivah is way faster and stronger than I am. That's why he's a captain and I'm not."

I ignored it as I looked over at Varro, that was casting another spell. This one was shorter and a moment later, a small ball of fire left his hand, streaked in between the stones, and exploded in a gigantic ball of fire, large enough to encompass the whole structure.

That was followed by one more a few heartbeats later and even from this distance, I could hear the scream of those hit. Unfortunately, the plate armor would protect the defenders from serious damage even from such massive spells. Yes, some would die, but there was a lot of them.

Four more elemental balls left Varro's hands in rapid succession, but this time they were Balls of Ice, each one engulfing the whole structure in a powerful blast of freezing cold when they exploded.

Then he relaxed his shoulders and walked over to us. "I'm almost out of power. The storm will continue for a little while, but then it will disappear."

"Thank you and good work." I looked at Tia. "Are the Nequams ready?"

She looked pale, but determined, as she nodded. "Yes, I just need to conjure some darkness, so they can move in without being ripped apart from a distance."

With the speed Nequams moved in, I highly doubted that would happen, but it was a good idea, so I just nodded and turned to look at the swirling storm surrounding the stone structure. There was no going inside now, so I hoped that the Return didn't speed up even more.

"By the way, Varro." Said Verina behind me. "How did Junia get hold of you so fast?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking puzzled. "Who's Junia?"

"It's the cover name for the young noble woman who asked you to come." I explained, as I looked at him. "She never told me her real name."

Varro looked at be in disbelief for a few heartbeats. Then he burst out laughing, almost doubling over with amusement.

Verina and I exchanged glances, with Verina shrugging her shoulders lightly, signalling that she didn't get the joke either.

We waited a few moments, until Varro got himself under control. Then he dried the tears off his eyes. "You seriously don't know who she is?"

I shook my head. "No."

"My friend, that young lady is Loreia Malla Rex, eldest daughter of the High King and more commonly known as Princess Loreia of Baylon." Varro informed us with a huge grin on his face.

"You're kidding me." I said flatly.

Varro shook his head, but the grin was still on his face. "No. Princess Loreia was the one that contacted me and demanded that I gated to the Palace Garden as soon as possible. She even greeted me there and directed me to the gate." He tilted his head a bit. "I know her because I'm noble and attend Royal Balls, but you don't... so the question is, where do you know her from?"

I glanced over at Verina who was laughing so hard that she had tears in her eyes, and then looked back at Varro again. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

His eyes grew wide. "Oh no, you didn't!"

For some reasons, that made Verina laugh even harder, while Tia just chuckled, looking a lot less pale than she had done a moment ago.

I was at loss for words, but fortunately the magical storm Varro had created, stopped as suddenly as it had started.

Without hesitation Tia said something in a language I didn't understand and pointed at the structure. Darkness arose from the ground, obscuring vision, and cloaking the whole structure.

More strange words and the Nequams ran towards the structure and disappeared into the darkness. A moment later the sound of combat reached my ears.

"I can't see anything!" Complained Varro.

"No worries." Said Tia without taking her eyes off the structure. "I'll know if anything happens to them."

"Thank you."

Instead of answering, Tia grimaced. "First Nequam down."

I raised my eyebrows. "That was fast."

She shrugged her shoulder. "Lucky hit, I guess."

"I guess so. Let's move to another place." I suggested. "I doubt that we have gotten all of the scouts."

We changed position and had just arrived in another patch of bushes when Tia said. "Second Nequam down."

"They're good." Mumbled Varro, making Verina nod. "Very good. Not many people, be it Baylon or human can manage to take down a Nequam."

"It's the shields." Explained Tia. "Like most things that fight with tooth and claws, Nequam have a hard time breaking through shield formations."

I nodded. Shield formations with interlocking shields would be the best way to protect against a whirlwind of claw attacks. Especially if the defenders had spears.

"Another one." Sighed Tia.

We stood in silence, looking at the darkness engulfing the structure, listening to the sound of combat, and trying to guess what was going on inside, while the Nequams fell one by one.

Reaching out with my mind, I tried to detect mind-patterns to get a sense of how many that was left. Somewhat to my surprise, there was only about thirty remaining and none of them were exactly shining brightly.

Suddenly, I could feel the humming of Baylon magic in the air.

"Flaming shit!" Varro cursed. "I feel a Gate."

"Yes, but where?" Verina asked.

More and more human mind-patterns appeared inside the structure. "They're inside. I guess whomever Piler tried to call, have decided to send in some reinforcements. Either that, or this have been the plan all along."

"Baylon or humans?" Asked Verina.

"Humans."

"That's a comfort."

I nodded as I considered our options again. Unfortunately, there weren't many, as the anti-device needed time to work and we needed to protect it, while it worked. Otherwise, one of the soldiers could simply pick it up and throw it out of range of the anchor.

Calculating the odds, I sighed. Going up against overwhelming forces wasn't exactly a recipe for long life and I needed to live long enough for the anti-magic device to do its job. On the bright side, the soldiers didn't have any ranged weapons, limiting their range to how far they could throw their knives and axes, but on the other hand, we didn't have time to use that advantage to use the bow to kill some of the soldiers from a safe distance. At least not as the only option.

Verina heard the sigh. "Yeah, we're out of options. Time to dance with the Goddess of Death again."

"Yeah, just don't let her lead." I replied and looked at Varro. "Are you still good with a bow?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Good, we're going to need it." I said and handed him my bow and quiver. "Here you go."

He shook his head and a glowing bow of Vis energy materialized in his hand. "No thanks, this is my size, and I haven't used any Vis today."

"Smart ass." I said with a chuckle and gave Verina the quiver instead. "Change of plans. There're not that many remaining, so when the last Nequam falls, I'll go inside and place the device. You two stay on the outside and kill those who comes out."

"Deal. I'll take the north side, then Varro can take this side along with Tia." Verina said as she took the quiver and walked away from me. "Do your Captain magic, while we get ready."

"Two Nequams left." Announced Tia.

The Nequams might be destroyed, but they took a lot of soldiers with them and by the time Tia said, "One left.", there was 'only' about forty soldiers remaining.

Using Ars Mentalis, I affected the air around the structure, causing a thick fog to form, blocking the vision of those inside, but not for me, as the Battle Armor was enchanted with both fog- and dark- vision spells. Then I used the Ars Mentalis trick that made me stronger, before I drew my sword and finished off with a trick called Alis nigro ignem (Baylon: Wings of Black Fire).

Flames of reddish blackness appeared around me, clinging to the blade of my sword, and slowly solidifying on my back, where they wouldn't be in the way of any weapons. A few heartbeats later, it looked like wings of black fire had appeared on my back, giving the trick its name. Around me, the bushes started wilting and burst into flames, as the heat from the black wings hit them. More mental power ran through me, this time making me faster.

I infused mental energy into the sword, feeling it getting sharper, as I activated the power that enabled me to parry or dodge attacks I couldn't even see coming,

"That was the last." Said Tia in a shaking voice.

With all the deaths in the area, there was no way I could use Vis to get in there as it would be blocked by all the Negative Vis. Instead, I used an Ars Mentalis trick to teleport myself to where the Anchor was, appearing in a fog-filled half-circle of stones. Several soldiers started to scream, as the Wings of Black Fire set them ablaze.

There were soldiers everywhere and most of them had drawn weapons, while protecting themselves from the heat of the wings with their shields.

A wave of mental energy stunned the soldiers around me just long enough for me to activate the anti-magic device and drop it between a stone pillar and a dead soldier, where it wouldn't accidently get hit or kicked away. A scream from behind told me, that at least one soldier had fled the wings, just to be hit by an arrow the moment he left the fog and the cover of the stone structure.

I took a quick step to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit by two thrown axes, and activated Mutatur Tempus Mente. Time slowed to a crawl, as the soldiers attacked.

I don't remember much after that. The world was a blur of black flames and flashing adamant, of Ars Mentalis and Vis Vitae, of screams and blood, as I moved within the slow, secure world of Mutatur Tempus Mente, using the pillars to avoid getting surrounded, while dealing death to everyone that came near the anti-magic device and avoiding entering the anti-magical field myself.

Lines of power started to radiate from the centre of the node, causing the remaining soldiers to rush towards it. I was there in a heartbeat, swords and black flames cutting down anybody coming close to the anti-magic device as the lines of power grew.

The last soldier turned, ran outside, and died a moment later, as Verina and Varro took him out.

That brought me back to reality with shocking speed.

Without a portal maker Verina couldn't get away before the Dimensional Anchor released its energy.

"< Varro, take Tia and get out NOW! >" I sent to all of them. "< Verina, I'll come to you >"

"< Got it >" Replied Varro and Verina in unison.

Cancelling the Alis nigro ignem, I ran to the north side, moving so fast the pillars around me became a blur, while plucking one of the Portal Makers I had taken at Arcem Discendi from my belt and activating it. Like all portal makers, the magical device would make a magical portal to Baylon and it was the fastest and most secure way home.

Verina sent me a smile as she saw me and held out her arms, so I could get a good hold of her, which I did as the portal started to form a few paces away from us.

"We did it!" She said excited and kissed me.

Then everything went white, as the magic that created the dimensional anchor was dispelled, releasing the energy it had held for millennia.

A wave of power washed over us, so intense that it caused the magical armors to disintegrate and blow away as dust in the wind, leaving us dressed in black dragon leather, while we desperately held on to each other against the wave. I even saw Verina's sword being ripped from her belt as the scabbard turned to dust. The weapon spun away from us, carried by the wave of power, until it embedded itself blade first in a rock.

By the grace of the Goddess of Luck, the portal device survived despite having blown further away from us, and when the wave was past us, I could see the courtyard at the hospital on the other side, proving that it worked.

We ran towards it just as a glow appeared in the horizon, moving towards us at extreme speed. That could only mean, that the energy from the disintegrated anchor had travelled up the lines until it reached Baylon, where the protection magic would cause the lines to snap before they could damage the shield. That left the energy with only one way to travel and that was right back to the power node here.

However, since it was a node with several lines connected to it, that glow would only be the first of the numerous lines of magical power that had connected Baylon to the dimensional anchor, and we were in its path as they whipped back to the power node.

Even worse was that the lines of magical power would reach us before we reached the portal and being hit with that much power would plain out disintegrate us both.

Reacting on instinct, I used a telekinetic push to throw Verina through the portal, while dodging to the side, narrowly escaping being hit as the line of power flew past me, burning grass and setting bushes ablaze as it went.

Landing on my feet, I turned to run to the portal, but as I watched Verina getting to her feet in the courtyard and look towards me, the portal blinked out of existence, leaving only the crumbling ruins of the portal maker. It had survived the energy wave, but the line of power had smashed it to pieces.

It wasn't all that it had done as I discovered as a searing pain ran over my skin. Even the near miss had disintegrated the leather armor and every other magical item I had on me, leaving standing only in my loincloth with the equipment harness still on my naked upper body, and the left side of my body covered with burn wounds, though I could feel the Ars Mentalis healing starting by itself, as it was designed to do.

Blocking the pain, I froze for a heartbeat, when I realized that the extra portal maker was gone along with the rest of the magical items.

Several glows appeared in the horizon and for a moment, I was certain the Goddess of Death had called me to her but remembered the Gate that had brought us here.

Using an Ars Mentalis trick, I teleported to the Gate, grabbed the bags we had stashed there and threw myself through it just as I felt an enormous power wash over me. I had barely gotten all the way through before the portal winked out of existence, obviously having been hit by the force from the returning power lines.

Rolling to my feet, I looked around in the room. It looked peaceful with one notable exception: Chuzara, the redheaded half-breed was laying in a pool of blood on the tiles by the outer wall, looking like she had passed out from blood loss judging from the amount of blood surrounding her. She must have found the portal during the escape and simply opted to take it to get away.

Reaching out with my mind, I contacted Varro. "< Portal to Kemet! >"

"< Casting now >" came the immediate reply, but before anything could happen, a wave of magical ripped through me as the few magical items in the office exploded or simply crumbled to dust. Blood ran from my nose as I staggered and almost fell from the sheer power in the wave.

"< Sorry, Ivah >" Varro's mental voice said through the link, followed by a sense of frustration. "< But the wards are up. I can't make a portal out of Baylon and that last wave of power is causing a mess. I need to get hold of Ordo Vectio >"

"< Do it >" I ordered and got hold of Verina. "< Verina, my love. There's a chance I can't get to Baylon >"

"< NO! >"

"< Listen! If that happens, use my house, and live there with Jia and the kids. My family will help. >"

"< I will >" she said calmly. "< But they'll get yo... >"

Another wave of power hit me and while this one rolled over me without affecting me, the Ars Mentalis link between Verina and me was torn asunder.

Cursing loudly, I tried to open the link again, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get hold of her. With a sigh, I tried Varro and Tia, but with the same result. One the positive side, it felt like running into a wall and not the emptiness of trying to contact a dead person, indicating that the mental communication had been blocked when the shields of Baylon had been activated.

Reality twitched and screamed for a few heartbeats, before everything went silent and I knew that Baylon had entered the dimensional rift, making it impossible for them to make a Gate or even contact me or for me to contact them.

Cursing, I turned to look at Chuzara, but she seemed to have escaped with no additional wounds. I didn't dare leave the room in case I had misjudged the last wave of power and Varro, or someone else, managed to make a Gate from Baylon, but at least I could use the time to close her wounds. So, I placed her on a sofa and closed the bleeding wounds with some bandages from the bags. Ars Mentalis or Vis would have been better, but with what I had just felt, I didn't risk use any powers.

That done, I sat down in a chair and took a deep breath. I was sure there would be a bigger reaction later, but for now I was satisfied we had accomplice what we had set out to do. The last anchor was gone, securing Baylon and with that, my kids, family, my lovers, and everything else I held dear. Compared to that, everything else was secondary, even getting stuck alone on Earth.

The dream blurred, flickered, and disappeared as the darkness came back.