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don’t know how to fight,” Jessica said. “I don’t want to.”

“No doubt you’ve been told that girls don’t fight, but should rather aspire to spend their days gathering flowers and serving tea.”

Jessica looked at Ranko, then Alanna.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Jessica said.

“What is your name?”

“Jessica Hoshi.”

“Would you carry food past a starving orphan child, Jessica Hoshi?”

Jessica hesitated, and looked at the ground. Then she shook her head.

“No.”

Reina turned to face Jessica and took a step forward.

“Would you give that orphan child your last three coins if you believed it would heal their sickness?”

“Of course I would.” Jessica stared into Reina’s eyes. The Vicereine noticed the blond girl did not break her gaze or look away as Reina approached.

“And would you cross a great distance if you believed it would help find that orphan child a home?”

“Yes,” Jessica nodded.

“Your heart knows much about kindness,” Reina said, drawing a vicious-looking dagger from an elaborately decorated scabbard attached to the iron chain around her waist. She raised the dagger to Jessica’s neck. The girl froze, dropping the golden Charm.

“And what is in your heart for the person who wishes to stop you from giving that orphan child food, medicine and shelter, Jessica Hoshi?” Reina hissed.

Jessica’s mind raced. She couldn’t think of anything to say. The other girls hesitated, shocked at the sudden change in Reina’s demeanor. Jessica opened her mouth as if to answer, but she could form no words.

“How many orphans will you allow to starve at your feet while you serve tea and arrange flowers?”

Tears gathered in Jessica’s eyes, and her hands trembled. She held her breath and felt the pressure of the icy metal edge against her neck. Reina did not move. She stared fiercely.

Jessica felt as if her muscles were locked. She knew she couldn’t back away or dodge to either side or the blade might injure her. There was only one direction she could go. It was a terrible risk, and she hesitated, desperately trying to think of another way.

Finally Jessica closed her eyes, and Reina’s eyebrows rose so slightly it was almost imperceptible. The girl’s hand snapped up and grabbed Reina’s wrist. The dagger’s blade was pushed away. Reina did not move or counter. Jessica’s eyes were now open, staring right back at Reina.

Reina held Jessica’s gaze, seeking the reason for the girl’s reaction, the slight frown on Jessica’s face, the deep breaths she inhaled. The Vicereine of Kulnas almost grinned.

“It seems your heart has courage to match your kindness. Do not therefore make your own mind your nemesis, Jessica Hoshi.”

“What was that all about?!” Ranko shouted. “Are you going to threaten us all with that knife if we don’t do what you want?” Ranko took a threatening step forward.

Jessica backed away from Reina quickly. The Vicereine turned and stopped Ranko in her tracks with a single glance.

“I am not your enemy.”

“Well it sure seems like it! You just threatened my friend!”

Jessica stood with her hands at her own throat, gulping breaths.

“Were I to wish any of you crippled, diseased or worse, there would be nowhere for you to run. I haven’t drawn Chrysalis since the days of the Iron Compact. Such weapons are clumsy and inelegant in the face of greater knowledge. I carry no weapon less harmful than this.”

Ranko calmed down, at least a little. The other girls listened. There is something about her voice…

“This dagger has certain sentimental value,” Reina said as she replaced the weapon in its gleaming blue scabbard. “It reminds me of a time when there were fewer people trying to kill me.”

Jessica’s expression blanched. In her eyes, concern for Reina replaced her fear of the dagger. The Vicereine turned to Jessica.

“I wish you no harm.”

Jessica’s eyebrows rose and narrowed in an expression of sadness. The tone of Reina’s voice had changed completely. Exhaustion and fatigue weighed on her words. She sounded lonely.

“I only wish for you to learn to call upon the strength you just demonstrated more often. Rarely does anyone summon their truest courage. But you have, and in the face of both danger and the unknown. There are men-at-arms in Kulnas whose courage I would trust far less.”

Jessica questioned herself. Did I really do something that serious?

“You have a unique gift, Jessica Hoshi. With it, you can establish a refuge for the starving and the sickened or any you wish to protect. You can bring peace to the afflicted, and the mighty weapon you now carry can enforce your wishes.”

Jessica listened intently. She had never heard words like these. They spoke courage directly to Jessica’s heart, and made her feel stronger, surer, more confident.

“You seem to know all about these Treasures,” Alanna said. “Why not use their power yourself?”

“I cannot wield the weapons you now possess. I have neither the physical strength nor the skill to endure the combat training required. My study of arcane magic and other… more harmful proficiencies conflicts with the energies of the Ajan Treasures.”

Talitha knelt and picked up the Charm. She quietly handed it to Jessica.

“I was once their caretaker, but I have failed to protect them. If they and the people of Aventar are to survive, they will need new strength. The way of an Ajan Warrior is not my path. Yet that does not mean I cannot guide you.”

“How do we get home?” Shannon asked.

“It is my belief you traveled here through an astral portal: one which is unfamiliar to me. I do not know if you can return to your home. It will not be a simple matter of sailing back the way you came. The Treasures were carried away from Aventar by a vile treachery that my informants have only begun to unravel. If you wish to return to your homes, your immediate mission is survival, and to do so, you must learn to fight.”

The girls all looked back and forth at each other, wordlessly asking the obvious questions, and getting only confused looks for answers.

“I will leave you to your decisions,” Reina said. “You carry the combined hopes of an entire people in your treasures: power beyond all imagining. Your enemies cannot follow you into the Lockvern. But once you have unlocked the gate, and passed beyond it, you must each overcome the challenges you find before you will be able to face what lies beyond.”

The Vicereine replaced her cowl and turned away from the group. She walked deliberately, if slowly. Shannon and Alanna looked at each other as Reina crossed the road at an oblique angle, wondering why her course was leading her directly towards the nearest edge of the forest. She pushed past a few branches walking further away from the light of the Lantern and torch and into the shadows.

The sound of her steps faded until only the shadows remained.

“She forgot her purple torch,” Ranko said, still holding the quietly burning stick.

“Maybe that’s because she thinks we’re going to need it,” Alanna replied.

“What do we do now?” Shannon asked.

“Whatever we do, we’re still a team,” Jessica said. She fastened the Charm to her jacket again and spoke with a rare tone of assertiveness. “And I say we go into the Lockvern so we can help Reina.”

Ranko looked around. All of the others looked as if they agreed, or perhaps looked more like they didn’t disagree.

“Lockvern it is.”

“At least it should be safe, if what that lady says is true,” Talitha remarked.

“Stay together and be careful,” Alanna reminded them as they crossed the road. “I just hope we can find our way out again. We could easily get lost.”

Cici looked as if she were ready to stare down a stampeding herd of buffalo as the group reached the soft patch of grass before the locked black gates. The quiet sound of crickets surrounded the glen.

“Okay, Professor, you’ve got the key.”

Talitha placed the iron key into the lock where the two gates latched together. She turned the key and a heavy ‘clank’ sound told her the lock had opened. The sound of the crickets abruptly ceased. One of the gates slowly opened away from the girls, making an unpleasant creaking noise. A damp, cold wind floated past.

Jessica looked around at the others, and then carefully and slowly walked around the edge of the closed gate and past the open one.

One by one, the other girls followed.

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anko gently took the burning wooden baton very carefully with both hands, as if at any moment the flames would leap from its end and consume them all.

“I am Vicereine of the King’s Province of Kulnas.”

The woman used her free hand to pull back her cowl. All six girls were wide-eyed and silent. Reina’s long white hair rested on her shoulders. The golden irises of her eyes shocked Jessica, who held her breath.

She looked over the group, fixing on each of them with an unsettling gaze. Talitha was mystified: acutely aware of the presence of an immense intellect.

“That doesn’t help us very much,” Alanna said. “We have no idea where we are, or where Kulnas is.”

“You are in the Kingdom of Aventar. The relics you found are artifacts of knowledge belonging to an ancient people. They were stolen by a murderous renegade named Noret. He was responsible for the attack against you on Vuran’s Wharf.”

Each of the girls examined the treasure they were carrying, as if noticing it for the first time once again. Cici started spinning the Lantern, delighted by the pinwheel effect of the colors on the ground.

“Here.”

Jessica handed her Charm to Reina. She enjoyed wearing it, but she also knew it wasn’t hers to keep.

Reina’s expression seemed to soften just a little. It had been so long since she had seen genuine honesty. She closed Jessica’s fingers over the Charm with her own hand.

“I am here to instruct you. Not to reclaim them.”

Jessica’s expression brightened, and she cradled the golden treasure once again with a look of wonder in her eyes.

“What happened to that Cryptic?” Cici asked suddenly and at a slightly higher than normal volume.

The Vicereine regarded the youngest member of the group with a certain approval. After all, Cici had succeeded in getting her friends, the Chronicler’s Lantern and the map all the way from Mudwood to the Lockvern.

“He timed his attack unfortunately. By shifting into another dimension, he also managed to strand and paralyze his minions, leaving him with no advantages. It seems that Jarthius prefers an unfair fight.”

Cici didn’t have the tiniest clue what Reina meant, but that didn’t dissuade her rapt attention to the Vicereine’s every word. Jessica noticed the patience in her voice: how Reina spoke evenly and slowly. She also noticed Cici’s expression and understood. The sound made Jessica less anxious too.

“Why are we all saying such stupid things?” Shannon asked, brushing her long hair back over her shouder and indicating her Ring. “What are these supposed to do for us besides drive us crazy? Am I going to be hearing wolves everywhere I go now?”

Reina didn’t answer right away. She looked as if she were just letting Shannon calm down.

“I have introduced myself. May I know your name?”

“Shannon.”

“There is no more noble pursuit than the reasoned study of wisdom, Shannon. But impatience such as yours clouds the mind and starves you of peace.”

Alanna noticed Shannon’s contemplative expression. Reina’s voice seemed to affect everyone similarly.

“Each of you will face great danger if you choose to enter the Lockvern and study the powers your weapons possess. There are beasts in Aventar that will make you believe you have confronted your own nightmares: monsters coughed forth from the most foul depths of soulless avarice. They will pursue you tirelessly.”

The expressions of the six girls were all the same: wide-eyed and silent.

“But the people of Aventar face danger greater than that of monsters. The Cryptics threaten to afflict them with the curse of despair. This must not be allowed to happen. To avoid their machinations, you must all learn leadership. You must acquire discernment. You must learn to fight for what you believe in. These are the ways of a warrior. When you emerge from the Lockvern, you will be prepared to seek the wisdom your weapons represent.”

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he four basic elements understood in ancient times were fire, earth, water and air,” Talitha said. “Apparently, we have a treasure that corresponds to Earth: Cici’s Lantern. Cici can detect the presence of minerals with it. We also have one that corresponds to water: Alanna’s Bracelet. Alanna can detect the presence of water, including bodies of water like Silvermint River. It is reasonable to believe at least one of these pieces of jewelry corresponds to air and another to fire.”

“I hope mine is air,” Jessica said, adoringly examining the little Golden Charm attached to her jacket. “Maybe it will make it so I can fly! Even if it doesn’t, it’s still pretty and I still want to wear it.”

“Well, then what about Shannon’s Ring?” Alanna asked. “Are animals part of the elements?”

“No, but if her ring corresponds to animals, perhaps another of the treasures corresponds to plants.”

“Okay, Professor, that’s got to be yours, then. You’ve got the green leaves and the gold edges, and we already know there’s some kind of ghost shield in it too, and a ghost sword in Goofy’s.”

“So my Lantern knows about minerals and rocks?” Cici asked.

“Yes, Cici. Shannon’s Ring corresponds to animals, my Barrette to plants, and Alanna’s Bracelet to water.”

“Leaving my Necklace and Goofy’s Charm, which are either air or fire, right?” Ranko asked.

“Don’t forget the Earrings!” Jessica announced.

Shannon nodded. “Those might be something too. Except we’ve only got two elements left.”

“And we’ve found the gate,” Talitha said, stopping and pointing across the road.

Sitting out in the middle of an open grassy area were twin iron gates each attached to a short column made of gray stone. They were fastened together with a large block of metal. There was nothing unusual around them. It looked as if someone had built a fence, and then taken it down, leaving only the gate behind.

The barrier was made of black metal bars. Beyond was empty grassland.

“So this deserted place is the Lockvern?” Ranko asked quietly.

“Reina said there would be a test and that we would learn about how to defeat evil,” Cici said with an assured tone.

“I wish only that you learn to trust your own strength,” a voice interrupted. The girls all whirled around. Reina stood several steps behind them holding a long torch burning with a purple flame.

“Reina!” Cici exclaimed. She hurried to greet the robed woman but Alanna held her arm across Cici’s path. The younger girl stopped and looked up at Alanna with a confused expression.

“Who are you?” Shannon asked boldly.

“One who is pleased to see there are at least a few people in Gacenar with the initiative to do something besides count their neighbor’s portion and bicker.”

The woman walked towards them. It was a prolonged affair. After each second step she momentarily rested her weight on the enormous staff she carried. Jessica watched the purple torch, wondering how anyone could make fire a different color.

Cici wondered where Enken was.

Reina handed the torch to Ranko, who hesitated.

“It is harmless.”

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ix girls ran along the damp, poorly marked road by the light of Cici’s crazily bouncing Lantern.

“So we sail all the way here on Goofy’s lit-up ship, get attacked by a bunch of guys with a magic rock, then we get put inside a Lantern, some wizard lady saves us and gives us a map to who knows where and now we’re on the lunch menu for a pack of wolves?” Ranko gestured with both hands as she ran and shouted. “I’ve just got one question!”

“Is this part of the museum tour?” Shannon shouted back with a sarcastic tone in her voice. Alanna was already grinning, as if expecting the question. Jessica started to giggle, then laugh, which made Cici laugh too. Ranko sputtered, trying to keep from laughing while trying to keep talking. She just shook her head.

“The creek is over that hill just ahead.” Alanna pointed.

“The map says it’s Silvermint River,” Talitha said as she ran along, clutching the map and key and trying to keep up with Jessica.

The road had straightened somewhat. The moonlight was no longer hidden by the tops of the trees. It shone through and illuminated the road much better. The girls hurried just a little faster as they approached the top of the hill.

This is such a nice place, Jessica thought. I wish we didn’t have to rush through it so fast.

Finally they crested the hill. The forest on the opposite side of Silvermint River stretched far into the distance. The dark trees were all roughly the same height, and had thick growths of leaves and branches. To Shannon, they looked like a beautiful painting of a nocturnal landscape. A tiny thread of road wound through them into the bluish hazy glow of the moonlit night.

“No bridge?” Ranko asked, noticing the road seemed to just end at the muddy edge of the stream. “Looks like we have to hop over on those rocks.”

Jessica heard something in the woods near the road and inhaled sharply. All she could see was clump after clump of wispy flowers growing around the roots of the trees. She was sure they were glowing, but she didn’t have time to stop. The girls raced down the other side of the hill towards the edge of the riverbank. The water gurgled past at a smart clip.

“Careful you don’t slip. This water is probably freezing,” Alanna warned, holding Cici by the shoulders and helping her guide her steps out on to the first wide platter-like rock. Cici gingerly stepped forward, holding her Lantern carefully.

Shannon looked back up the hill then she glanced up and down the river’s edge as Ranko and Talitha crossed. “If we get across the river, they probably won’t follow us.”

“I hope you’re right, Shannon-sama!” Jessica said, holding her hands out to either side as she lightly stepped from rock to rock.

Alanna was the last to cross. The moment her foot touched the opposite bank she noticed Cici’s wide eyed expression. Her face was almost white.

“Jessie…”

Jessica turned around. “What is it Cici-chan?”

“There’s a ghost.”

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hat is too cool!” Ranko held up the centerstone of her necklace to compare it to the tiny drawing. “That’s the necklace I’m wearing! And there’s Miss Shannon’s ring, and there’s the Boss’ ultra-rich bracelet.”

“They’re appearing by themselves?” Shannon reached out with her fingertips, but she was afraid to disturb the little drawings.

“This map must be able to sense where each of the treasures are, and then magically make each appear on the map in the right location.” Talitha said, straightening her glasses. Finding no place to put the glittering golden talisman she held, she attached it to her hair on one side of her head. “Look here. This northern village is called Thesia in the province of Kulnas. It’s near the King’s road. There’s another symbol here.”

Jessica looked where Talitha was pointing. Sure enough, a small drawing of two silver-colored birds with their wings spread was just being colored in. Each was suspended on a delicate hook. The symbol was surrounded by labels for different locations in a language even more confusing-looking than the first one they couldn’t read.

“What language is that?” Jessica asked.

“Thesian. This part of the map is written in a different language than the other parts. There seem to be seven provinces represented here. We’re in Gacenar. Our part of the map is written in Isian, which must be a language from the province of Isia here. Then there’s Rotensha, Varcarel, Ultan and Chaer. The furthest north is Kulnas.”

“Just keep your hands and feet away from her brain,” Ranko said. “The professor is in full-on library mode.”

“Hayashi, you’re reading words none of us understood five minutes ago,” Alanna said quietly.

“Well, except for Hoshi,” Shannon pointed out.

“Yeah, but I didn’t know all of this,” Jessica indicated the other 7/8ths of the map by waving her hand across them. “I just know that word Nolem and stuff.”

“We have to go to the Lockvern,” Cici interrupted. “Reina said so.”

“There,” Talitha followed the sketchy road down the map with her finger until she found sharply drawn letters. “It’s south of here. Not far.”

“Guys, we’re out of time,” Shannon said, raising her chin as if she were hearing a sound nobody else could hear. She listened carefully for a few moments then knelt by Cici.

“Cici, listen to me very carefully,” Shannon said. “Did you see a river or lake between here and the ship?”

Cici shook her head.

Shannon stood up and looked back and forth with a worried expression.

“There’s some water over there, though. It’s not very much,” Cici pointed up the ravine.

“No. That’s not a natural waterway. The closest river is south of here. It crosses the road.”

Talitha noted without speaking that Alanna had correctly described Silvermint River without looking at the map. She straightened her glasses and was about to say something.

“Shh!” Shannon put her finger up to her lips.

In the dappled moonlight, Jessica could just see the edge of the dirt slope beyond the huge nearby fallen tree that blocked their path. A rustling sound preceded the snap of a broken branch and the flapping of unseen wings.

“What’s going on, Miss Shannon?” Ranko whispered.

“Wolves.”

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he inside of the jewelry box was lined with a deep purple fabric, and it contained five sparkling pieces of jewelry worked in so many different kinds of precious stones and metals that Jessica couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The other girls gathered around.

“They’re beautiful…” Shannon whispered.

“Where did they come from?” Talitha asked.

“There’s another alto clef,” Jessica said, pointing at one of the pieces of jewelry. It was a Golden Charm in the shape of an alto clef with tiny red jewels set around its edges. It was the center setting, and seemed to glow very softly.

It’s right under the carved symbol on the outside, Jessica thought.

“Can we pick them up?” Shannon asked, kneeling by the jewelry box and looking at Jessica hopefully.

Jessica nodded. “I guess.”

“Careful. Don’t break anything,” Ranko cautioned as Shannon reached for a black Ring circled with glittering bluish-colored jewels around its edges.

Talitha picked up a bronzed Talisman decorated with translucent green leaves.

Alanna gently picked up a Bracelet decorated with jewels cut in the shape of chalices.

Ranko used both of her hands to gather up a Necklace made of tiny ocean wave shapes linked together with pearls. Jessica picked up the Golden Alto Clef Charm.

“At least now we know why those guys are all after this stuff.” Ranko pulled the Necklace around her neck to see if it fit. The weight of the silver and aquamarine stones was surprisingly heavy.

“There’s some missing,” Talitha noted, pointing at an empty fitting in the jewelry case for two items shaped like miniature birds with their wings spread. There was another disc-shaped fitting on the opposite side that was also empty.

“Earrings?” Shannon said absently as she fitted the ring on her right hand. “I can’t think of any jewelry that’s disc-shaped though.”

“I think it’s earrings too, Shannon-sama. It’s the only kind we don’t got here,” Jessica said. “Here’s a charm, bracelet, necklace and ring.” She pointed at each item as she counted it. “I wonder if these all belong to the same person?”

“My guess is that shadow lady,” Ranko said.

“That’s obsidian!” Cici almost shouted.

Ranko looked up. “What is?”

“That Ring is made out of obsidian and it’s got sapphires too!”

Talitha adjusted her glasses. “You mean that all of those stones are sapphires? Real ones?”

Cici nodded, and Talitha stared for a moment.

“What is it, Talitha-chan?”

“That many real sapphires would be worth a fortune.”

“What’s this made of, Cici?” Alanna turned the Bracelet over in her hands, asking Cici’s opinion even though none of them understood how a fourth-grader could possibly accurately identify precious gems and volcanic rocks by name just by looking at them.

“Platinum. Those little things all over it are diamonds.”

Alanna gasped and almost dropped the Bracelet.

“Diamonds?” Ranko stood up, pointing. “There’s a hundred of ‘em!”

“Reina said the treasures would protect us if we go to the Lockvern place.” Cici said.

“Now we really have to get out of here,” Alanna looked around. “We have a fortune in jewelry and we already know some bad people like those guys on the dock are after it. Which way?”

Talitha hadn’t been paying much attention to the map, but she turned back as Cici walked over to retrieve the Lantern that was acting as a weight to hold it down on the ground. What she saw fascinated her.

“Look!” Talitha pointed.

All around the tiny colorful symbol of the Chronicler’s Lantern drawn on the map, tiny representations of the other treasures were appearing as if they were being drawn and painted by an invisible hand.

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ike some serious painting that took a whole lot of time to draw too,” Ranko added. “Put it down here next to Little Bit’s Lantern so we can all see what we’re doing here.”

Talitha and Jessica spread the map out on the ground, anchoring one corner of it with the heavy golden treasure. The colorful light from the Chronicler’s Lantern caused the thick vellum to glow slightly, making it much easier to read.

“What’s this writing?” Shannon pointed at what looked like labels for some of the places on the map.

“Weird letters,” Alanna said.

“I think it says ‘Aventar in the something of His something, N–No–lam? Nolem? Nolem the First?” Jessica said, reading from the map’s elaborately decorated legend in the corner, replacing words she didn’t know with ’something,’ and slowly sounding out the name.

“Sounds like a king,” Alanna said. “His Majesty Nolem the First maybe?”

“She said it was on the road south.” Cici pointed at one of the lines. “Are the black lines the roads? Which ones are the roads?”

“How can Hoshi read this? How does she know what any of this says? It looks like nonsense to me.” Shannon pointed at the legend drawn on the soft vellum. Jessica shrugged.

“I think this is the wharf where our ship docked,” Talitha said, pointing at a marked spot along the western edge of the largest land area. Painted next to it was a tiny ship. Not exactly the same as the one they had left behind, but similar.

“Vuran’s Wharf,” Jessica said. “Right?”

“Looks like there’s a town up here,” Alanna said, indicating a location along the coast above the dock. “Up is north on most maps I’ve seen.”

Talitha nodded, laying on her stomach and putting her elbows on the lower edge of the parchment. She was enthralled by all there was to see in the intricately painted map. Jessica was a little surprised Talitha didn’t seem to be concerned about the dirt and twigs on the ravine floor. She was also relieved the dirt wasn’t damp or muddy either.

“That’s my Lantern!” Cici punched the map with her finger. Sure enough, a very small symbol resembling the Chronicler’s Lantern was painted on the map not far from Vuran’s Wharf.

“It doesn’t have a label,” Ranko said. “But it kinda looks like it should, doesn’t it? Is that Lantern supposed to be a place? Maybe that’s some kind of clue to how it works.”

Jessica nodded. “I wonder why it’s out in the middle of the forest like that, though? Shouldn’t it be a little closer to a town or something?”

“Whatever it is, it looks like it’s southeast of the dock.” Alanna looked up, scanning the trees.

Talitha turned to Cici. “Which side was the ocean on when you left the dock?”

Cici didn’t answer. She stared at Talitha.

“Right or left, Cici-chan?” Jessica asked, smiling. “Was the ocean on your right side or your left side when you first left the ship and got to the forest?”

“It was the right side at first, but then I ran away from the water.”

“So we’re already southeast of the dock if this is the wharf,” Talitha muttered, looking closer at the Lantern symbol.

Ranko put her hand on her own forehead. “I’m telling you the Professor’s brain works on a whole different frequency. She knows what direction someone ran an hour ago just by where the ocean was.”

Jessica snickered.

Ranko stood up. “Wait, which way is the water from here again?”

Jessica wandered over to pick up the jewelry box. The moment her hand touched it, a flash of silent light popped and a bolt of energy leapt from the lock to her fingers.

It snapped open.

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ici stood in the middle of the dark, chilly Mudwood forest, holding the clasped roll of parchment. Only the light of the Chronicler’s Lantern made it possible for her to see climbing back up the steep slope of the ravine was impossible.

She turned the golden treasure around and sat it down again. The violet-colored lens faced her.

That’s the Amethyst Lens, she thought, although she had no idea how she knew which was which. Until only a few minutes ago, she had never heard of amethyst.

“Amethyst Lens of Time” she said absently.

The light from all eight sides of the Lantern shifted to a purple-violet color and began to brighten, casting a mysterious royal glow across the dark forest. Five girls slowly appeared in the same poses as before.

The light faded to its normal intensity.

Ranko spun around, looking for the dock.

“Where’d he go?!”

Shannon stumbled as she seemed to land on the ground from a short height.

Cici ran to Jessica, throwing her arms around her waist and closing her eyes tightly.

“Cici-chan? What’s the matter?”

“He was right over…” Alanna was pointing into a stand of slender trees. Then she noticed the jewelry box at her feet.

Jessica knelt to face Cici at eye-level. She could tell the younger girl was petrified. Her face was smudged with dirt and grime. Her hands trembled, and her lips were white. Jessica brushed some of the orange hair from Cici’s eyes.

“The lady that talked to us on the ship said we have to run to the Lockvern. She said the treasures would protect us from the Cryptic.” Cici spoke very quietly, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “She gave me this.”

Jessica took the roll, then looked around at the other girls for help in understanding what all of this meant. Talitha walked over, immediately curious about the parchment.

“What’s a Cryptic?” Alanna finally asked. “For that matter, what’s a Lockvern?”

“Perhaps that’s what that woman meant by ‘grave danger,’” Talitha pointed out. Jessica handed her the scroll of heavy paper. Talitha carefully slid the silver band off of it and caught the iron key as it fell out. The band and key clanked against each other with a dense sound.

“He was going to fight the lady and then they disappeared!” Cici announced.

“Who?” Ranko asked. “Who was going to fight the lady?”

Cici explained how Sai Jarthius had appeared, and how the Vicereine had challenged him.

Talitha unrolled the vellum, producing a beautifully illuminated map nearly three feet on a side. The lines were drawn in sharp black ink, shaded in a soft violet color. The trees were lightly colored in browns and greens and the rivers were a pale blue. Jessica and the others gathered around to get a better look.

“Wow…” Shannon whispered. “It looks like an artist’s painting.”

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efore them stood a slender man. Straight white hair covered one eye and a huge wickedly sharp pauldron sat upon the shoulder of one metal-encased arm. He was dressed in shades of purple and gray and wore a scabbard across his back which contained a massive sword. A blood-red amulet consisting of a single cut gem hung from his neck, glowing faintly.

“The sudden arrival of such powerful artifacts in Aventar was quite noticeable, but then I suppose you of all people would never miss a chance for attention, Vicereine Reina.”

He paused, raising an eyebrow.

“Jarthius, Legion Cryptic of the Ghost Rune,” the man directed his introduction to Cici with a gentlemanly flourish of his gloved left hand. “Pleased to make your acquiantance.”

Cici’s pale expression was motionless. She dared not even take a breath. Her instincts screamed “flee.”

“You won’t find what you’re looking for here.”

“Come now, Excellency. You and I both know differently. You may have spent generations secluded in Kulnas, but learning to lie well was obviously not among your studies. All that stands between the Ajan Myths and the obscurity of history is your surrender.”

“Sai Jarthius,” Reina replied. “Do you wish to do battle this day?”

White crystals began to gather on the ground. Cici felt frosty air on her arms. She backed away as Reina’s robes faded to a shade so black that Cici was certain she could see them absorbing the light from her Lantern.

Jarthius did not appear nervous or suprised. He simply regarded the wraith before him as if such encounters were an everyday occurrence.

“I prefer my battles to present me with some form of challenge, Excellency.”

“And the Legionnaires you’ve summoned lurking behind the stand of maple?” the Vicereine snarled, her voice twisting into a menacing hiss. “So help me, Cryptic, if you order one of those foul abominations into my presence I will plot my vengeance for a hundred years.”

“I would not presume to burden you,” Jarthius said, holding out his left hand, fingers spread as far apart as his strength would allow. He closed them into a fist abruptly, and darkened blood escaped from between his fingers, coating his hand and dripping. Glowing white sigils appeared on the ground around him, brightening until they formed long shadows through the trees.

And then the two opponents were gone.

Continue to Chapter Seventeen

Chapter List

eina placed the shining gold lantern upright next to Shadebane. The light from the Lantern illuminated the side of the gully nicely. By now Cici was sitting up and rubbing her face with her hand, only succeeding in adding another layer of dirt.

“I am called Reina. What is your name?”

“I’m Cici. How come you wear so many rings?” Cici asked quietly, pointing at Reina’s hand while still rubbing her nose. Then she sniffled again.

“Because I like to collect beautiful things,” Reina replied, impressed by Cici’s inquisitiveness. “Do you like this ring, Cecilia?” she asked. Cici nodded, eyes wide. Reina indicated a heavy gold ring on her right hand set with a nearly transparent delicately faceted blue stone and decorated with a dozen smaller white gems.

“This ring is called the Soaring Chime. It was given to me long ago by a Scribe named Giho skilled in the arts of gemcutting. He lives on an island in a place called the Princesses Crowns far away in the Eastern Sea. There are men there who dig deep into the mountains to find raw stones such as this one. Giho spends years cutting and shaping them into Chimes. Chime stones can make sounds with magical properties.”

“What’s magical properties?” Cici asked, enthralled.

“It means this stone can ring, and the sound from it can heal your injury,” Reina replied. “Will you help me make the Soaring Chime ring?”

“Can I?” Cici asked.

“Look carefully at the stone,” Reina said, offering her hand so Cici could see. “Do you see the upper edge? Where the tiny symbol is carved into the gold?”

Cici looked carefully and saw that the edge of the setting just above the oval-shaped sky-blue stone had a tiny symbol carved into the polished gold. If Reina hadn’t mentioned it, Cici would never have noticed.

“All you must do is tap that symbol with your finger as if you are trying to make a bell ring,” Reina said. “Then, listen for the sound.”

Cici peered at the stone and the tiny symbol, then reached up with her hand and held her finger over the ring for a moment. Then she flicked her hand, tapping the edge of the ring with her finger as if testing something she had been told was very hot.

A soft and faint glow appeared in the center of the stone and Cici began to hear the sounds of chimes and bells all around her. First one, then a second. They began to play cascades of three tones, then five. Then ten. It sounded like someone drawing a stick along a series of bells, each one larger than the one before it, making a luxurious sound like the playing of all the strings of a harp from smallest to largest.

Cici looked at her foot and was startled by the greenish swirl of energy around her ankle. She saw a pale blue glow along the outer edge of her hand where she had been cut, and a silver shower of sparkling energy around the bruise on her knee. Her ankle felt much better. The music was so beautiful that Cici didn’t want it to end. All of her wounds and bruises were healed, and the music faded peacefully along with the glow of the ring’s power.

“It’s magic just like my Lantern! Are you a magician?” Cici asked.

Reina looked away. The sudden movement frightened Cici, who looked apprehensively into the darkness of the damp forest and saw nothing. Just as suddenly, Reina turned back and spoke in an urgent, whispery tone.

“When I have gone, you and your sisters will have these treasures to protect you. The Amethyst Lens of Time will release the others. Speak the phrase ‘Spectrum Deflect’ to call upon the power of the Chronicler’s Lantern in times of danger.”

Cici’s heart pounded.

“This is a map to the Lockvern. You will find an iron gate in a deserted vale along the road south. The key to the gate is inside. In the Lockvern, you will be tested. Examine all things. Do not be foolishly brave. Trust your knowledge. When you gather again, you will know what you must to defeat evil.”

Reina desperately pulled at her staff, shaking as she attempted to stand. She whimpered as she reacted to what must have been a wracking spasm of pain as she placed one foot flat underneath her. She exhausted herself rising to a point where she could shakily stand on both feet. Cici watched her with a concerned expression.

Her eyes looked so strong. What’s the matter with her?

“Excellency!” a voice called. “Excellency!”

Reina did not look. Cici stood. A moment later a young man appeared at the top edge of the gully carrying his own lantern.

“Do not follow, Enken!” Reina shouted. “Ride for Branven and wait for word!”

“But Vicereine– I..”

“Do as I say!”

The sharpness and authority in Reina’s voice made both Enken and Cici jump in shock. The Vicereine turned away from them both. Her robes billowed as a cool breeze drifted past, carrying tiny ice crystals. Cici shivered. Reina pushed a rolled piece of leathery fine parchment backwards into Cici’s hand as if trying to hide it. It was bound with a gleaming silver circular band emblazoned with the symbol of a fanged skull.

“I suppose you have a melancholy anecdote for us?” Reina asked, appearing to speak into the darkness to no one.

“A caterpillar was crawling through a wood, entertaining thoughts of becoming a butterfly, until a spider blocked her way.” The low velvety sound of a man’s voice floated from the darkness as he stepped out of the shadows.

Cici froze, looking out from behind Reina’s robes. The rattling and galloping sounds of a speeding horse-drawn carriage clattered through the darkness above.

Continue to Chapter Sixteen