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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