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“Nope.” He tossed another piece of fish up in the air, catching it on the way back down on his tongue. “The Earth chooses for you.”

I watched as he swallowed.

“If we want unrestricted access to our element,” he continued, “or the chance to wield magic for those who don’t naturally possess it, we must go through a test where the Earth determines if we’re worthy of her powers or not. We call it Delirium. You must be at least twenty-five before you can attempt it. That’s when a person of One is at their strongest physically. But not many people attempt it.”

“Why not?”

“Because you can die during it. Most people think access to more magic, or access to magic at all, isn’t worth the risk.”

I’d have to agree with most people.

I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway, “Did you go through Delirium?”

He winked at me. “Of course I did.”

I rolled my eyes at his smugness.

“But,” he added, “I had a fair amount of magic to begin with because of my bloodline. Most royals enter Delirium and come out on the other side alive and well because that’s what is needed. It’s our responsibility to keep the people of One safe.”

I’d only seen Leo use his magic to cloak. I had a feeling that was a parlor trick compared to what he was capable of.

Sigrid’s laugh echoed throughout the clearing from where she sat with Cal and Simon on the other side of the fire.

Cal smiled, watching Sigrid’s head thrown back in happiness as she continued to laugh, his teeth biting his lower lip before looking away.

Simon smiled, too, gazing at the fire. His size was still baffling to me even while he sat. The man was ginormous.

“Simon comes from a long line of giants. His clan’s territory is in the far west,” Leo explained, seeing where my eyes had wandered to. “He came to Castle Esme years ago to train in our armies. The Esmereldean people tend to think giants are unintelligent beings, but they’re wrong. They’re just as human as you or me. And lethal in battle. I wish more of them would join our troops. But the giants are just as put off by people as people are by them.”

I glanced at Simon again. A giant.

What other storybook characters existed in this world?

Leo stood, taking my empty plate from my lap as he tidied up, while I listened to Cal and Simon squabble over some bet they had going; Sigrid interjecting now and then as the voice of reason.

I smiled at the camaraderie, missing my friends.

“Get some sleep,” Leo said quietly, returning to his bed. “We’ve got another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Another full day of riding.

I pictured myself straddling Holly and clamped my sore thighs together. I hadn’t gotten used to the whole riding thing yet.

Lying back on my pack, I listened to the conversation slowly die out. Simon’s proud laugh lingering after Sigrid ruled he’d won the bet and Cal had lost.

As I lay there, I thought about what it would be like to live in this world where giants lived, while having the ability to wield magic. Sigrid had said back at the stables that technology was the quickest way to destroy an Earth’s magic. I wondered if that was what had happened back home. Had magic existed once upon a time on Six? Had our world’s true self been ripped away by the flaws of mankind?

I looked over to where Leo rested on his back, his feet crossed and hands relaxed behind his head. His eyes were already closed, his chest rising and falling peacefully.

Did he know the truth about the history of my world? Would he share it with me if I asked?

Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply, exhaling away all the things I didn’t have answers for. Instead, I thought of things I knew, renewing some of my self-confidence.

I am Bryn Evans.

I am a soldier.

I am far from home, but I am not alone.