They were back on the Realm. Still inside the lighthouse, with only artificial light around, it felt like the Realm, if only from the gravity.

„I’m so cool!” Ulius jumped up like an excited rabbit. „I’ve managed to gain knowledge and make a magic weapon for Frey’r! How cool can that be?”

„He performed unexpectedly well,” agreed Frey’r. „Wouldn't ever imagine such a skinny little thing is a blacksmith?”

„I got transported in another reality and killed Dora,” said Vellantina placidly.

“WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO OBEY ORDERS? HOW COULD YOU KILL YOUR MOTHER!” yelled Estella.

“You’re not my boss, told you already. And she was not my mother. Would have ruined my other self’s life, so I chose for her.”

„That’s not fair! Not fair at all!”

Ulius was upset that his coolness had suffered a severe blow.

Estella could have used the opportunity to make fun of him, but she let it go despite her better judgment. She squeezed Sirinn’s hand softly; they looked at each other and nodded in reciprocity.

„Thank you!” she whispered.

„Let’s go up,” invited Frey’r, showing the stairs. „We have a job to do, after all.”

They were panting at the arrival, almost breathless from the long ascension. Fits, Fit’s, Khit’s, Schpit’s, and Sem were already there, looking at them like they were crazy.

„Why didn't you took the elevator?” asked Fits, showing the metal cage.

„Did...hah...n’t... hah... noticed... hah ... it.... we... hah .... fol...hah...lowed... Frey’r... hah...” explained an exhausted Estella, trying to breathe.

„My bad,” admitted Frey’r. „I’m not familiar with this civilized stuff.”

They all looked around through the windows that surrounded the room. Everywhere, only mountains. They had landed in the middle of a large valley, slightly narrower toward the south. The warbeasts and the beauhemians moved away to the north, with the imps starting to occupy strategical positions, using machines to dig trenches and mounting all sorts of strange contraptions, fortifications for the hill.

Inside the room were tables with screens and buttons with a dozen red imps working on them and ignoring their presence. A small coffee table sat aside, looking unimpressive. On it, a small crystal ball and a tray filled with sand in which strange characters were written.

“The sand tray is Alienor doing,” said Fits. “The spell for the tunnel. Quite elaborate. The other thing must be...”

„...the control device,” pointed Khit’s at the ball. „Go on, prince Ulius, touch it. Free us and take control of the rest of the army.”

„Not so fast!” asked Sem. „There are things to take into consideration.”

„I agree,” said Vellantina. „For starters, where are we?”

„27.59 East longitude and 47.52 North latitude, Ohst system of reference,” announced Khit’s after consulting a screen. „To the most eastern extreme of the Continent, and quite to the North too.”

„Why in Providence’s name would Alienor bring the army here?” asked Ulius, puzzled. „There is nothing here.”

„Exactly,” pointed out Fits. „It’s no man’s land. Ohst is at around three thousand miles, same or more for the Western Autarchy, d’Ornia is at almost two, likewise for the dwarves and the elves and irrelevant for the smaller states, they have no horse in the race. Who would risk a war here? Sea is treacherous, roads inexistent, our presence unknown. I have to give this to my daughter, her plan could work. She could start a country here, negotiate some arrangement for commerce, and so on.”

“Yeah, bravo, bravo…” feinted Sirinn applause. “Or manufacture weapons and armaments using the ores around and try to conquer the Continent. If she’s mad, I mean… you know… heredity?”

“Please, can you free us?” insisted Khit’s. “Let’s do it before Alienor arrives.”

“What can she do?” smirked Ulius, wanting to display manliness. “We beat her once; we’ll beat her twice.”

“Genius!” exclaimed Vellantina, rolling her eyes. “For one, those beasts are still set to obey her. For the second, have you noticed those beauhemians, in the tens of thousands? If she comes, you think they’ll do a sit on quietly?”

„Ulius, we must not take Alienor lightly," said Estella, almost over Vella. "She laid a trap for me during the Trials, and I barely escaped. This means she can project her spells at a considerable distance, like when she snatched us from d’Ornia. In the end, she failed on both occasions, but it is a feat that not even our father can achieve. Her power must have limits; otherwise, she’d shoot fireballs at us through that device as we speak, but we cannot sit idle. Let's take the army from her then find a way to notify our parents. And be careful, brother. I feel safe, for now, but there is still around a lot of fog, of incertitude, and this unnerves me.”

„Why should he do it?” protested Vellantina. „I have a lot more military knowledge.”

„Anyone with a minimum of magic power can control the army, but only a High Ability Computer Knowledgeable Eminent Reprogrammer, meaning a HACKER, can selectively let us free and keep the monsters under control. The prince is the only one here will such talents,” explained Khit’s.

“Eh eh eh,” Ulius gloated, happy that his knowledge was finally acknowledged.

“I will advise...” begun Sem.

„But why should I not let the others free as well?” asked Ulius, ignoring him.

“If you let me...,” Sem tried again.

„They are barely intelligent.” objected Khit’s, ignored him in his turn. “Primitive beings. They might act erratically.”

„CAN I SPEAK?” yelled Sem. „IT’S IMPORTANT!”

„If you insist,” sighed Vellantina. „What do you want?”

„Every time the red engineers got free, they conquered the planet. They are nasty little monsters. Please don’t free them!”

„No way... they’re so cute! Guh guh guh... And I can read them!” said Estella, scratching the lady driver, Fit’s’s, head.

“Might be you read them three, but are you sure that all are friendly? They’re thousands, they have individual personalities, you know. I’m telling you, take army if you want, but keep those little monsters under control.”

“Please, can you free our comrades?” asked Khit’s with an imploring voice. “I vouch for them.”

“I vouch for them too,” said Estella. “In this deep fog, only a few things are certain, and one is they’ll do us no harm. If you want, we can put it to a vote.”

“No need,” said Vellantina. “We all trust you. Go, kid.”

Ulius approached the device on the tips of his toes and the tiptoes of his powers. He touched the crystal ball with his fingers and started probing it, caressing its technology with a feather of magic. Strange characters and images began to appear on the surface of the crystal but as well in his mind. He could see layers of meanings and purposes, but most of them were making no sense to him. It was an alien language, different in logic, different in shape, and most of its meanings he could only guess.

“Sirinn, can you put an ant translator on this thing, please?” he asked.

“Sure, kiddo. Here I go...”

“WAIT!” Estella asked, taking a few steps away to be as far as possible from the bug. “Now you can!” she continued, covering her eyes.

The beauhemian touched the crystal, and a small red ant appeared on his skin from nowhere. It melted in the glass immediately.

“Let it a few seconds to work its magic,” asked Sirinn.

“All right.”

And then Ulius continued. He went deeper, still careful.

“Err...” he said.

“Err what?” asked Vellantina.

“Khit’s might have misunderstood some things or stuff.”

“Or lied about!” Sem accused, immediately.

“Shut up!” ordered Vellantina. “I’ll ask your opinion when I’ll need it! What’s up, Ulius?”

“I can feel their minds, sorry, not feel, see. This thing has indicators, you know, like an automobile. This - he pointed in the air to an image only his brain saw - is like a FAQ for each species' characteristics, and this other measures the state of mind. I have good news and bad news. Wich one do...”

“The bad news,” asked Estella.

“The good news is they told the truth; the reds cannot use the controls. And that they truly hate slavery, their... satisfaction in obedience?... indicator is on the red. The others, on the other hand, is quite a deep green...”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning they love Alienor. Like very much. Like a trustworthy dog, his master, or something.”

“Shee feeds them very well,” said Khit’s. “And those are no geniuses.”

“Yes, well, I can see that now. I have to tread very carefully... to write some commands to let them think I’m she. It will take a few minutes.”

“Than trade carefully and wrote them,” Vella pushed him. “Let’s get it over with.”

Ulius plunged his mind into the contraption again, moving his thoughts and fingers around the ball as fast yet as gingerly as he could. After five minutes, gasps were heard from the red engineers in the room. They started to look at each other with big eyes and to chat in their tongue.”

“The Red People is free,” announced Ulius. “I almost finished, just a few more lines to wrote...”

“See, Sem, you worry for nothing!” said Frey’r, giving a hard pat on the other’s back.

“DON’T SAY THAT!” shouted Estella, panicking. “It’s always bad luck to say, don’t worry!”

Frey’r’s pat would have meant nothing for a Norse and little for Vellantina. For Sem, it was like a violent shove. He fell forward, and his head hit the table’s margin, which jerked it one inch further. The ball escaped Ulius fingertips and started rolling. Every single one of them jumped forward, trying to catch it; that was why no one managed. They stumbled upon each other, Fits tripped on Sem, Frey’r tripped on Fits, then Li-Hua on him, Estella on her, and the red engineers didn’t trip on anyone but had to jump away not to be crushed. The only ones who managed to reach the ball were Ulius and Vellantina, but their heads collided when their fingers touched the ball. As they fell to the floor at their turn, they could see the crystal ball descending with them and break into countless glass shards.

“Disaster!” exclaimed Khit’s.