When the day had finally come to leave, Pali stood in front of one of the school's larger levitating carriages that would take the new family to Fort Kein. Thankfully, all the children had somehow convinced their parents to let them go on this dangerous assignment, easing his last big concern.

Because the military would provide most of the supplies that they would need on their mission, including trade goods for them to sell, no one needed to pack much other than a change of clothes and some food for the journey.

"What is taking her so long?" Dario said, noting Ferra's absence. "Everyone else got here just fine…"

"Do you have to complain about Ferra even when she is not here?" Calren had long gotten sick of the constant fighting the two older children had been doing for who knows how long.

"If she were not so slow and stupid…"

"Enough Dario," Meric also having had her patience worn thin from the previous week.

"Yes, Mother," he replied irritably.

The four waiting family members were silent for the next few minutes before they started hearing signs of Ferra's arrival.

"I hear a flock of geese," Dario said with a bored look from where he was lying on the carriage floor.

"It sounds like geese, does it not?" Pali agreed with one of Dario's insults for once.

"I bet Fer's friends held a goodbye party for her."

"If they had good food, I am going to be mad I was not invited," Calren said.

"And be trapped with all of those girls?" Pali shivered.

"And be trapped with all those girls," Calren said dreamily.

"If they were not Fer's crazy friends, I would agree with you," Dario sat up, "Besides, you would break poor Helnion's heart if she saw you cheating on her like that…" He added, trying to sound disappointed.

Calren huffed at Dario but had long since stopped fighting back after an entire week of Dario making fun of him.

"There they are," A girl said, coming out of the girl's dorm.

Soon after, Ferra and a gaggle of thirteen girls flooded out after the first. Each hugged Ferra and said goodbye.

"I am sorry for being late," Ferra told Pali when she had finally torn herself away from her friends. "They held a surprise party for me and we lost track of time."

"If you even knew how to keep track of it in the first place," Dario said.

"Shush," Meric nearly slapped Dario on the back of the head.

"Yes Mother," Dario ducked away.

Some girls heard this and giggled. Meric blushed.

"Why did you not invite me?" Calren said.

"I had no idea my friends had planned this."

"Did you have good food?"

"Food? No, the maids would not part with any. We just sang and danced. I even played some Toa Mirr songs I learned, though they are too depressing for my tastes."

"Do you have everything?" Pali, wanted to leave already.

"Oh, yes, Papa," Ferra made sure her friends heard.

Pali still shivered whenever one of the children called him that.

He just hoped the long journey to Fort Kein would be a quiet one.

***

One would think a fort named after a city would be close to it. This was not the case for Fort Kein. While Fort Soli to the north and Fort Herth to the south were close to their respective cities, this was not true for their destination. It was almost as far of a journey to Stutra from Kein as it was to the fort.

Pali was just thankful he did not have to ride there in a normal carriage or even worse, walk. This was especially true now that he was riding with two children that seemed to hate each other. If it had not been because everyone slept most of the trip he imagined that he would have gone insane if there had been a lot of fighting.

One thing was becoming clear through all of this. Meric had slowly been becoming more accepting of her role as mother and had curbed a lot of the fighting before it got too bad, though he supposed that as teachers they should have been disciplining them properly, the whole time to begin with. It was just the whole family thing that had made everything feel different from what he was used to.

"We have arrived." The driver said as the carriage passed through the fort’s gates.

"Finally," Dario yawned, "I have slept so much sleeping is making me tired."

"Me too," Calren added his own yawn.

Ferra and Meric were still asleep.

"Get used to it boys," Pali said. "For tomorrow we will most likely be doing this every day, just with a regular carriage."

"Are you sure we cannot convince someone to get us a levitating carriage?" Dario returned Calren's yawn.

"Only the high nobility can own levitating carriages in Toa Mirr. If we had one we would get arrested."

"I would rather be a slave in a Flaern mine than be imprisoned in a Toa Mirr jail," Calren shivered, "Daily beatings and little food…"

"Maybe we should rethink this…" Dario looked back the way they had come.

"Better to fight and die today trying to stop Toa Mirr and their corrupt King Sembre than let them execute you in your house after they invade," Meric said, now awake.

"I know that. There is no way I have not realized that considering how close my home is to the border." Dario looked at Ferra as if expecting her to say something. She was still asleep.

"So you finally admit to your reason for coming," Pali chuckled.

"Even I am not so stupid to pass up a chance to protect my family's lands when I see one," Dario sounded offended.

"So you do not want any money or glory now? I will have to tell…"

"Of course I am doing it for those too," Dario cut Pali off and looked at Ferra with worry.

"Greedy greedy Dario," Ferra mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"Ferra even can argue in her sleep…" Meric almost looked amused.

Pali felt the carriage thump as it settled on the ground.

"Looks like it is time to get out," Pali stood up, "Meric, if you will wake Ferra up."

"Yes, Pali," Meric turned to Ferra.

Pali opened the door, jumped out onto the ground, and stretched.

"Finally," Dario said when he and Calren jumped out. "That was almost as bad as sitting through math lectures."

"Especially after those two left," Calren added.

"Those two certainly did make things interesting," Dario got a look of nostalgia on his face.

"Out," Meric said from the direction of the carriage.

Pali then heard a loud THUMP and looked over to see that Ferra had fallen out of the carriage.

"If you are going to be my daughter, you will need to be much more motivated about waking up than that," Meric jumped down after Ferra.

Dario laughed, "Go, Mom!"

"Ouch... Momma. You did not need to push me out," Ferra got up and rubbed some nice new scratches on her hands and face.

"I do not know how soft Instructor Benc was on you but do not think I will be soft just because I teach archery," Meric then turned to Dario and Calren, "The same goes for you two as well."

The two boys gulped and looked at each other fearfully.

"As for my husband," Meric looked Pali over. "You too will need a bit more toughening up." She poked Pali in the stomach. "At least you are not as soft as the two boys.“ Meric looked over everyone one last time. "Come. We have a briefing to attend to."

"I think she was looking forward to that moment," Pali rubbed the spot Meric had poked him.

"Yeah…" Everyone else said in agreement.

"But who would have thought it was the girls in the group that are the toughest," Ferra said, and then quickly jumped away and ran to catch up to Meric before anyone could react. She looked back when she was with the safety of Meric and giggled when she saw the dumbfounded looks the boys were giving her.

"I am so glad right now that I started some mild training for this mission," Pali said.

"Is it too late to go back now?" Calren said.

"Yes. Is it too late?" Dario looked at Pali hopefully.

"Go ask Meric. I think she is in charge now…" Pali slumped his shoulders.

"I think I will take my chances in Toa Mirr," Dario sighed.

"There is no way she is as bad as what we will find in Toa Mirr," Calren added.

"We better not let them get too far ahead," Pali looked to the two women and started to jog.

Dario and Calren looked at each other uncertainly and then followed Pali.

* * *

No matter how many times Pali had come to Fort Kein he was never got used to the sight. Not only was the fortress as old as Kein itself, but its size and scope were even more impressive. This was because the nobility knew what kind of beast they lived next to.

The massive walls were built from large stones hewn in a quarry in the mountains to the north and had been levitated here by countless mages because no machine or crystal had been big enough to carry them. They had built three layers of walls despite this.

Outside each of these walls was a moat. Not only were the moats extremely wide but were also deep so that no matter how tall a person was they had no hope of touching the bottom. At one point a commander had even attempted to fill the waters with all manners of carnivorous beasts, common and exotic, but they had either been too hard to take care of or to effective and had gone after anyone and everything.

As Pali stepped onto the stone and metal bridge, it being the only entrance to the center of the fort, that allowed them to cross over that long drop into the water and gain access to the fortress he once again found himself in awe. The bridge he was now on was another marvel. It, like the walls of the fort was made of large pieces of stone. Unlike the walls, they had reinforced the stone bridges with iron beams. If the fort was attacked this bridge would be levitated into place by thirty or so of the strongest mages.

These mages were not hard to come by considering that the three border forts contained roughly half of Kein's standing army at any one time and also held a large Temple of Sorris. The sight inside the fortress, and outside, confirmed this. Men were everywhere and Pali could see no place that did not contain some activity or another. From the men on top of the walls either patrolling or at lookout, to more men on patrol or simply training on the large grounds outside or between the walls.

In the center of the fortress, Pali saw what looked like a small town. Aside from the two large structures that dominated the very center, there were several large barracks for the troops for use in case of a siege. There were also several large warehouses and granaries each with several guards near each entrance.

It was the largest of the two central buildings that Pali and his group were heading to, the smaller being the Temple of Sorris. This building was where the command of the fortress took place and was a fortress in of itself just without the triple walls and moats.

Inside this building was where the wonders of construction were much less noticeable. Since the military types were never known for their love of beautifying things, the walls, ceiling, and floor were barren of any decoration. Aside from windows, lamps, and guards there was nothing to be seen.

* * *

"Welcome Pali." Said the general's assistant when the group arrived at their destination. "General Hani wants you to meet him straight away."

"Thank you, Major," Pali said to the man and motioned for everyone to follow him inside the room where the General was waiting.

"Welcome back Pali." General Hani said as soon as everyone had entered the room. "I must say I have been looking forward to seeing what kind of family you put together."

"I did the best I could in the time given, Sir," Pali saluted and then introduced everyone.

General Hani approached the group and looked over each person. "I hope you do not intend to pass off the younger boy for your son." He motioned towards Calren.

"I am the family slave. Um, Sir." Calren said nervously.

"I see." The general raised an eyebrow. "Going out of your way to show you are a somewhat successful Toa Mirr family, Pali?"

"I did not intend to bring the boy because of his appearance but he insisted on coming."

"And you are fine with this… Calren?"

"Sir, I would not have come if I did not want to," Calren said.

"And what about you two?" The General looked to Dario and Ferra.

"I have a friend I want to help Pali look for," Ferra said.

The General nodded at Ferra.

"And I want to help my country," Dario puffed his chest out. Ferra rolled her eyes at this and Calren looked as if he wanted to snicker.

"And what about you Instructor Meric?"

"Sir! It is an honor to serve the country." Meric sounded much much much more sincere than Dario had.

"Good. That is what I like to hear." General Hani said and then looked over the group again. "Your family is not perfect but I believe you did well in the time given."

"Thank you, Sir," Pali said. "I have even taken the opportunity to brief them on all the mission details given to me."

"Good. That will save us some time." General Hani turned towards a large table in the middle of the room with an equally large map on it. "Since your group has a secondary objective, I have prepared a list of targets in places that you will most likely find your… friend." He pointed to several cities, including Toa Mirr's capital Eto. "Considering most of these are in more populated areas your risk of being discovered will be much greater."

"We understand, Sir," Pali said, the rest of the group nodding in support.

"Good. Since you already understand your mission I will not keep you and as soon as night falls you will cross the border into Toa Mirr and head for Millis, where an agent will wait with your supplies."

"Understood, Sir," Pali nodded.

"I hope you are well-rested. It is a long walk to Millis." General Hani said.

"We had plenty of rest on the way here, Sir."

The General nodded. "Dismissed."

* * *

As Pali's group left Fort Kein, a certain man watched them from one of its many towers. No one from this country, aside from the Terran girl Salis or the "Lady" Helnion, would have known any better that he was someone more than a major in the Flaern army assigned as the General's assistant, but it had been necessary for his experiments.

He wanted Salis reunited with those close to her even if their reunion would not be exactly the way they were hoping it would be. The girl's emotions were just too hard to shake than what he needed so he hoped her seeing them would provoke some reactions.

Even if things did not work out and his subjects got themselves killed earlier than expected he at least had the satisfaction of the look that simple teacher had given when he heard he had such a ridiculous requirement for the mission, but it had been the best way to assemble such a group. The look that stupid general had given him when he had suggested the idea had almost made him lose his composure and laugh.

The man just hoped this little side experiment was worth it. He decided it would not hurt to help things along, at least for this group.

Salis, on the other hand, would be on her own and he did not envy what she would go through. He almost wanted to spare her, she had already been through more than anyone person deserved, but the experiment needed to go on. His master's unconscious wish would be fulfilled.