Bronwyn loped easily through the trees and across the meadow leading to the eastern gate of First Landing. Quite a lot of activity buzzed around the entrance; people were going in with loads of timber and other bulging sacks and loads. A flock of weird little sheep-like creatures was being driven out into the meadow, and a regular crowd was waiting for the guards to allow them through into the town.

When she got to the back of the line to wait, she noticed that many of the people going in and out were of the native races, and she felt some comfort seeing that the locals seemed to be accepting the new human settlement. She stood head and shoulders above most of the people in line, and as the line shrank, one of the guards caught sight of her and shouted, “Is that you, Bronwyn?” She recognized him but couldn’t remember his name.

“Yes,” she replied, smiling broadly.

“Shit, come in! The council will want to see you! Where have you been?” Bronwyn pushed up past the others in the line. Some grumbled and muttered, but they let her past when they got a good look at her. She wasn’t wearing her spiked armor, but she had a sense of confidence and an aura of Energy that, when added to her natural size and her beautiful face, gave people pause when their first instinct was to be unpleasant.

“I had to take care of some far-away business, it seems. I would’ve let the council know, but it kind of took me by surprise. What’s going on? What’s with the airship?”

“Oh, this crowd at the gate is typical; we’ve got a lot of trade going with nearby communities, but the airship is new. Some explorer or traders or something came out of the north on it and made contact. They’re Ardeni but also have little painted people called Bogoli on board.

“Huh! Any idea where I can find Arthur Ballard?”

“Yeah, the new council building; follow the road to the hill. You can see it from the Stone.”

“Right, thanks,” Bronwyn said, pushing through the gate. When she laid eyes on the interior of First Landing, Bronwyn had her first clue that she might have been gone a little longer than she’d subjectively felt. Nothing terribly drastic had changed, but there were enough new things that she wondered if she’d been gone longer than the few weeks it seemed to her. Shops lined both sides of the boulevard, and the crowds, while still predominantly human, were quite diverse.

She passed by an alchemist’s shop, a tailor, a butcher, and an actual inn called “The Sleepy Hare,” which had sprung up across from the bathhouse. Terraced flower gardens had been installed on the Colony Stone hill, wrapping it in tiered layers of vibrant color. Quite a few people called out greetings to her as she climbed up the steps to the top of the hill. Queues delineated with polished wooden handrails had been installed on each side of the Stone, and quite a few people were in line to interact with it.

She looked down the hill toward the original tavern, saw that it was swarming with activity, then looked beyond it to a large, square, stone block building with an actual, honest-to-goodness clock tower rising out of the steepled roof. She could see from where she stood that it was 1:35 in the afternoon.

She strode down the steps, followed the cobbled path around the pond next to the inn, and then approached the stone building with the clock. Another sign of growth or progress that had a more negative connotation was the rifle-wielding guard standing next to the big wooden door. He wore neat uniform pants with a matching button-up, navy shirt, and a conical metal helmet. “What’s your business?” he asked, barely glancing at her.

“I need to talk to Arthur or any other council members here. I’m Bronwyn Tallow.” That woke him up, his eyes snapped in her direction, and he cleared his throat, moving to pull the door open.

“Sorry, ma’am! Welcome home!”

“Thanks,” she said, walking through the open door. She’d been welcomed home to two different places today, and it felt kind of good. The inside of the administrative building was cool, with high ceilings and big banks of windows letting in plenty of light. There was no secretary or receptionist, at least not yet; the foyer opened into a large room with a big meeting table at its center. Several people sat around chatting. Bronwyn saw Arthur, Maria, and Alec Green talking to a tall woman with long black hair and a gorgeous gray and silver robe. She could only see the woman’s back, but she swore little blue flames were flickering along her shoulders.

Arthur’s eyes turned toward her, and his face broke into a huge smile, “Bronwyn! We were so worried about you!”

“Heya, Arthur. Hi everyone,” just then, the tall woman turned, and Bronwyn just about fell over; it was Olivia, and she looked amazing. Her red lips spread in a bright smile, lighting up her face, and Bronwyn immediately noticed that her eyes were different; they were both blue now, but they seemed to smolder with flickering light. Her scar was nearly gone, as well, though Bronwyn could see it, knowing what to look for.

“Holy shit!” She strode forward, and Olivia met her halfway, and they grabbed each other up in a tight embrace. She was so much bigger! Olivia felt substantial and tall, and incredibly warm. She tucked her chin down into the crook of Olivia’s neck, savoring the scent of her, then she pushed her out to arm's length and took a good look at her face, “What happened? You look amazing!”

“You too, Bron! You seem lighter, happier; where have you been?”

“Hey, I asked first!”

“Well, we have a lot of catching up to do! I’m here for a week!”

“Yeah, we definitely do. Um, I hate to bring bad news to a happy reunion, but I have some information about Morgan.” She let go of Olivia’s shoulders and turned to the other council members, “You guys know where Morgan’s been?”

“Last we heard, he was traveling to Tarn’s Crossing to speak with an alchemist about something to do with his arm,” Arthur said.

“His arm?”

“Oh, hmm, yes, he had one of his arms cut off in a fight.”

“Oh, jeez,” Olivia said.

“Well, I have information that he was pulled into a fight with some people invading from another world. I guess there was a portal, and he managed to get it closed, but he got stuck on the other side somehow.”

“What?” Maria gasped. “Another world? Invaders?”

“Yeah, I guess with portals and teleportation and whatnot, things like that happen. From what I gather, the invaders were kidnapping people near Tarn’s Crossing.” Bronwyn shrugged.

“What can we do?” Arthur asked, almost at the same time as Olivia.

“I might have a way to open a portal to where Morgan is. I think we need to help him.”

“Of course we do!” Olivia blurted. “What about Issa? Is she with him?”

“I don’t know. What I know, I’ve told you, other than how we can get a portal open, which is with this,” Bronwyn pulled the portal stone out of her necklace and held it up. “We need to put it into one of the portals in Morgan’s tower, and it should work.” Olivia reached out for the stone, and Bronwyn handed it to her, though she felt reluctant to let go. What was that about? If she could trust anyone, it was Olivia, right? She shook her head, realizing she’d missed what Olivia said. “What?”

“I said, where did you get this? Who told you about Morgan?”

“I,” she paused—how much should she share about the Fae? Did the Queen want her to mention their relationship? She hadn’t said anything to the contrary; still, Bronwyn felt some hesitation. “I made friends with a very powerful being, a member of an Elder Race. She gave me the information and made this stone.”

“Hmm,” Olivia ran a thumb along the silvery runes. “You trust her?”

“Yeah, but we can be careful; we should bring some soldiers with your new rifles. We’ll take some through and leave some to guard this end of the portal.”

“An excellent idea,” Arthur said. “I don’t like the idea of opening a portal to a hostile world from inside the walls of First Landing, but I can’t condone leaving Morgan and perhaps Issa stranded. Not after all they did during the Urghat invasion.”

“Right,” Maria added.

“Well, we have five council votes here,” Alec piped in, finally joining the conversation. If we’re all in agreement, I think you should act sooner rather than later.”

“Yes, go make your preparations. I’ll pick some militia with the new rifles and send them to the tower.” Maria started walking to the door.

“Let’s go get this portal working, Bron,” Olivia said, also starting toward the door.

“Wait! You don’t have to come, Olivia! It’s going to be dangerous.” She reached out a hand to grab Olivia’s arm, but the other woman took another step, pulling away.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she turned and grinned at Bronwyn, fire dancing in her eyes, “I’ve learned a thing or two that might be helpful.”

“Right…” Bronwyn trailed off as Olivia continued through the door, striding purposefully in her shiny, ankle-high black boots. Bronwyn followed after, throwing a final glance at Arthur and Alec.

“Good luck! Please keep us informed of developments,” Arthur said in parting. Bronwyn nodded and slipped through the door, hustling to catch up to Olivia’s long strides.

“Hey, wait up!” she called as she came up behind her. “Damn, Olivia, what’s with all the flames flickering behind you?”

“Oh, they’re not hot, don’t worry. They seem to spring up more when I’m agitated or hurrying.”

“Yeah, but, like, what’s the deal with them?”

“I absorbed part of a primal elemental’s spirit. Plus, I have a class that enhances my elemental affinities.”

“Well, shit. That’s cool. You’re still you, though, right?”

“Yes, silly. I’m still me, though I should maybe ask you the same question. Seems like you have a few secrets of your own.”

“Right, well, like I said, we need to spend some time chatting. Right now, I think we should hurry, though.”

“Why do you think I’m walking so fast?” Olivia laughed, and Bronwyn grinned along, happy to hear the sound again.

When they arrived at Morgan’s tower, the door opened easily for them, and Tiladia was waiting inside, her twinkling lights bouncing agitatedly. Her voice, sounding like falling glass on a metal floor, came across as strained, “Lady Olivia, Lady Bronwyn, welcome to Morgan’s tower. Have you word of him?”

“Actually, yes,” Olivia said, “we do. We need to visit the portal hub he has in this tower because he’s been trapped on another world.” She hefted the portal key that she still held, “Does this look like it will work with his portals?”

“Hmm,” Tiladia swished through the air to the outstretched stone, swirling around it. “Yes, it looks much like the ones that Vormendion used. Is Morgan alright?”

“We don’t know,” Bronwyn said, moving past the other two toward the stairs. “Is there a trick to getting to the portal hub on these steps?”

“It’s the fourth floor. Just think of it as you mount the steps, and you should arrive where you desire. If not, I’ll find you.” Bronwyn nodded and started up the steps, trusting that Olivia would be close behind. She took three steps, and then her fourth brought her out onto a landing. Looking around, she saw that she was in the right place; six stone archways lined the round room around the stairwell, each densely covered in runes. When she finished looking around the room, Olivia stepped onto the landing next to her and immediately approached the archway directly ahead of them.

“Let’s see here, Tiladia; where’s the keystone fit?”

“Directly in the center of the arch; do you see that gap between the stones?” Tiladia’s voice answered immediately, and Bronwyn turned to see her floating, flickering form hovering at the top of the stairs. “Do be careful, though; the portal will require a large influx of Energy to activate, and I’ll have to close it if hostiles come through.”

“You can do that?” Olivia turned to regard Tiladia.

“Oh yes.”

“Alright, well, we’re waiting for some militia to come and help out,” Bronwyn said.

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry, but Morgan has not extended guest privileges to any of the militia. The only other person, other than Issa, who has permission is Maria Rios so she can tutor Ykleedra.”

“And we can’t give anyone else permission?” Bronwyn asked with a sigh.

“No, I’m sorry; Morgan hasn’t extended those rights.”

“Alright, Tiladia, what about through the portal? If we rescue others, can they come through? You mentioned ‘hostiles’ coming through,” Olivia asked.

“The portals are unable to distinguish friend from foe, which is why they’re not to be left unattended while active.” Tiladia’s tone had grown higher and higher during their conversation, and Bronwyn realized that she was experiencing something like panic.

“Relax, Tiladia. It’s okay! Olivia and I will go through and find Morgan, but if we send other people we rescue through this portal, I need you to let them through the tower to the outside. Maria will be coming along; tell her what’s happened and that she’s in charge of anyone that comes through before Morgan or us.”

“I will, but there’s one more concern, ladies,” Tiladia spun about between the two of them.

“Yes?” Olivia asked.

“Though I sense you have enough Energy to open the portal, if you go through, it will only remain open for a few dozen minutes. I can guarantee that Maria does not have the Energy stores to re-open it.”

“Alright, so if we don’t find Morgan right away, we need to keep our explorations short; we can come back through, wait, and then reopen it, right?” Olivia rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she spoke.

“That should work, yes,” Tiladia said, sounding calmer. Olivia nodded, then reached up with the stone between her hands, slipping it into the gap at the top of the arch. It sank in with a satisfying *snick*, and she took a step back.

“Any tips on how to activate it, Tiladia?” Olivia asked.

“Simply channel Energy into the stone you just placed. Once you’ve reached the threshold, the portal will open.”

“Give me your hand, Bron; here goes nothing,” Olivia said, holding one hand back for Bronwyn and the other out toward the stone. Bronwyn reached forward to hold onto Olivia’s warm hand, and then her friend suddenly flared with bright blue flames. The stone at the center of the arch began to glow with an orange luminescence, and a vibrating hum emanated from the arch. Olivia only concentrated for a few seconds before a red, swirling pane of Energy sprang to life in the archway, opening a window into nothing and everything all at once.