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She nods.
“Good,” he says. “Come.”
We follow him down the stone slope and into a great vaulted underground chamber where stone pillars rise to support the ceiling. He walks all the way to the far end, where he comes to a stop beside the farthest two pillars. Once there, he draws a velvet pouch from his pocket and takes out a portal keystone, which he presents to Melody.
“Place it around your neck, child.”
She does as he asks, tucking it under a coat.
“Do you remember the marker Mohr Fall? Can you call it, child?”
She nods, closes her fingers around the keystone now nestled against her throat, and begins to chant.
The hairs rise on the back of my neck. The words have a resonance to them that brings a sense of quickening to the air.
Apopaccompanies a portal opening between the two stone columns. It sparks and warbles like a black, oily sea.
Only now do I realize what this means.
I am to go through a portal for the first time in my life. Not only me, but Doug, Melody, Bard, and likely two full ships of orcs and our commanding general.
But Melody is not yet six years old. What happens if she gets it wrong?
I’m assaulted by such nerves that it is all I can do to try not to flee. Doug, perhaps sensing I’m a flight risk, places his big hand on the back of my neck, resting it over the harsh iron collar they fitted when we left Krug.
His touch calms me.
And the reality is that I am still a bondservant. I will be going through the portal whether I wish it or not.
The sounds of booted feet come from the left, and I turn to see rows of orcs marching down the slope. Two by two, they pass into the portal without apparent fear or concern. I watch the strange sparking surface welcome them into its embrace and I wonder what awaits us on the other side.
Somewhere new.
Somewhere I have never been before.
A home to innocent people we will soon war with.
As more orcs pass, Tulwin moves, and as if on a silent cue, we follow him, merging into the line, Bron and Doug forming their position of guard around us.
My heart thumps out an erratic tattoo in my chest as we draw closer to it. Ahead of me, Melody suddenly peers over her shoulder, not at me, but at the side of the room where the shadows linger between the tall columns.
I follow her line of sight… is that movement?
There is no time to look any further or try to make sense of what I think I’ve seen, for I’m at the portal. I balk. Doug closes his hand solidly over the back of my neck, propelling us both forward. His other hand reaches forward to clamp onto Bard’s shoulder. Without the chance to protest, I’m thrust into the slick black surface.
The only sensation I have of anything is the feel of Doug’s hand circling my neck. I scream into the nothingness, utterly terrified that he might let go.
Just as I convince myself we are lost forever in the void, I’m spat out the other side into a forest glen. The heat hits me like a blow. I stagger. Doug is there, keeping me up and moving, for my legs have turned to jelly, and I almost pitch to my knees.
“Mama!”
At Melody’s joyful squeal, my head whips around. We are still moving forward. Behind, the other side of the portal that we’ve just emerged from sparks as bondservants and orcs continue to pass through. We must move forward to give them space.
“Mama!”
Something is happening. Something wrong. Something terrible. The orderly line of orcs disintegrates into chaos as weapons are drawn and the sounds of engagement ring out.
“MAMA!”
