“What do you mean?” Alex asked, concern plain in his tone.

Baelin turned back to his class with a grim look. “In short, my spell-marks cannot transfer you across planes.”

A heavy silence filled the air as Drestra raised her hand. “What are these spell-marks?”

“I shall show you. Do I have permission from each of you to cast spells upon you?” Baelin looked over the class, nodding when he found no dissent. With a wave of his hand and a word of power, the ancient wizard placed his spell-marks on them, the symbols manifesting on the backs of their hands.

Hart grunted, examining the spell-mark. “Great. Another mark from another powerful being. Hope this one comes with less responsibility.”

“It does,” Baelin smiled. “To those of you new to the class, these symbols represent a contingent teleportation spell. The instant any of you is struck by an attack or a hazard that would involve serious injury, these marks will transport you out of danger and to a place of…relative safety. As part of my class, my students explore the dangerous wilderness near Generasi. This spell automatically returns them to the school if they are injured or otherwise at the threshold of disaster and inescapable harm. Unfortunately, it cannot cross from the hells to the material world.”

He gestured to the portal conjured in the ruined doorway. “Hence, my solution. That is a one-way gateway between our world and a quiet little area within Cawarthin that is not frequented by many demons. It remains unmolested and undiscovered for the better part. When a spell-mark whisks you away from danger, you will be transported to the clearing directly in front of this gate.”

Baelin pointed to the ruined town square. “At that point, it will be up to you to simply come through the gate and bring yourself back to these ruins and safety. As I said, it is one-way, and I have keyed the gate to each of you. No other beings will be able to cross the line to our world. However, I shall summon a pair of guardians to defend the gate, but!”

His expression turned solemn. “Do make every effort to not let yourselves be tracked back to the portal. It would be most dangerous for you if the area around your escape route were to become a warzone. Anyone transported back by the spell-marks would appear—disoriented—in a pitched battle. I trust you all enough to ensure that this portal will remain undiscovered. Only you will be able to see it, so its discovery by the enemy would only occur from either carelesses or unseen factors.”

He glanced at the portal again. “I will be engaged in my own hunt and cannot guarantee my presence at the portal, particularly if you are sent back to it early in our mission.”

“Got it,” Alex said. “We’ll make sure we don’t set off fireworks or the like by the portal then.”

“Very good.” The chancellor took a deep breath. “Now, then. I shall be going into battle. I strongly suggest that you wait for at least five or ten minutes before you step through the portal. That should be more than enough time for me to get myself engaged. At that point, much of the realm will be focused on me, and you will have an easier time infiltrating Ikarrash’s Hold, or choosing to rush in and take the direct approach, as you see fit. You’ll have time to think of your battleplan when I leave. So, any questions before I go?”

“Yes, actually,” Drestra said. “How will we know when you’ve engaged the demons?”

Alex burst out laughing. “Oh, we’ll know.”

“We’ll know,” Khalik said dryly.

“We’ll know,” Theresa and Grimloch said together.

“Yeah, we’ll definitely know,” Thundar said emphatically.

“Indeed, I doubt we shall miss it, even on the other side of a portal such as this,” Isolde said.

The ancient wizard roared with laughter, throwing his head back and letting his mirth roll through the ruins. “Ah, my wonderful students, you know me well. In any case, one final thing to do.”

He waved a hand, uttering a short incantation and sending a wave of mana pouring over the young students. Alex felt warm energy blanketing him, seeping into his skin and disappearing.

‘Father…’ Claygon said. ‘It feels…warm.’

‘Yeah, it’s protecting us,’ Alex said. ‘From all the nasty energies of the place we’re going into.’

‘Good…and I will also protect you…’ Claygon said, gripping his war-spear.

“Alright, that is an Adapt to Plane spell,” Baelin said. “You should be safe from the worst effects of the domain itself, and some of the flora’s more dangerous effects will also be blunted. On one final note, on the other side, you will find something that will help you locate your prey, though you will still have to do much of the searching for yourselves. Now then, farewell for now, I shall see you all when we claim victory.”

A reverberating thud followed as the ancient wizard tapped his staff against the earth, he spoke a smattering of words of power, raised an enormous wave of mana then abruptly disappeared.

“Well, that’s bloody impressive.” Cedric raised his hand, letting his quicksilver glove run down his skin until it formed what looked like a bubble near his fingers. “Sword? Shield? No, spear.”

With a snap, his morphic weapon changed, forming a long spear. “So, then… seems we’ll be needin’ a plan.”

Drestra looked at the others. “You’re a team and you have experience fighting in…these kinds of situations…” She glanced at the portal. “It might make more sense if you came up with the plan.”

“Aye, we’re supposed t’be learnin’ how to work together from all o’ you,” Cedric agreed, “I’m happy t’let y’steer the ship.”

“Same.” Hart drew his enormous sword and added, “I’m just here for the fight.”

Grimloch looked down at the Champion, giving him a toothy grin. “I like you.”

“Same here.” Hart grinned back.

“You should meet a friend of mine. His name’s Kybas. He has a crocodile that he sics on people. Named him Harmless.”

“Bwahahahaha!” Hart roared with laughter. “That’s amazing. And hilarious.”

‘Oh, by the Traveller, the maniacs are coming together,’ Alex thought.

“Aaaaanyway,” Thundar cut in. “Alright, it’s plan time.” He immediately looked at Khalik and Alex. “You two wanna start us off? You’re usually the ones that get the ball rolling with respect to plans.”

Several sets of eyes fell on the prince and the Fool, who looked at each other and shrugged.

“I have some ideas,” Khalik said. “You?”

“Yeah, same. You wanna go first?” Alex offered.

“After you.” The prince gestured as though he were holding a door open for Alex.

“Okay, then,” the Thamemish wizard looked through the portal. “So, I’m thinking it’s a terrible idea to go in loud. We’re a big group and we’re going to be breaking some heads at some point, but it’d be a pretty shit idea to run up to a fortress full of demons, screaming and blasting.”

He scanned the jungle. “There’ll be poisonous plants in there no doubt, but Baelin’s spell will protect us from some of that. If we keep to clear paths…use some flight spells to get above the undergrowth…we should be able to move silently through the bush. Anything to add, Khalik?”

“Only that we will have to fly low,” the prince said. “And I would suggest we keep spellcasting to a minimum on our way to the castle. Remember, certain demons can sense mana quite well, after all.”

“Yeah, good point,” Alex said. “So let’s get our defensive magic up now…Isolde, here’s your chance to try out your new invisibility spells.”

“That is true,” she said. “Though it would drain a lot of my mana casting it on a group this large.”

“That’s alright, I think we just need it for Claygon, Grimloch…and maybe Brutus and Thundar.” He looked at the group’s giants, including Hart. “You’re enormous too…but you know how to move silently without being seen.”

“That I do,” the Champion said. “I learned how to sneak into an enemy camp without anyone seeing me when I was about eight or nine to slit someone’s throat.”

“And…” Alex paused. “That’s…er, a valuable skill. But the point is, I think we can spare putting an invisibility spell on you. Cedric, Drestra, you two know how to move quietly, obviously.”

“Aye,” Cedric said. “I was huntin’ since I was seven.”

“I’ve been hunting since I was six,” Drestra’s voice crackled with pride.

“Well, I was hunting since I was—” Theresa started.

“For the love of the Traveller, it’s not a contest,” Alex sighed. “We get it, you’re all sneaky and that means less invisibility spells for Isolde to cast…now…there’s our approach and formation to talk about.”

“I have some thoughts on that,” Khalik said. “Theresa and Najyah could take up the front, alongside Brutus. They have the best senses of all of us. In the back, we position Grimloch since his senses are also excellent, and with him, Thundar who can use his powerful nose and skill with illusion to detect enemies coming from the rear.”

“Sounds good to me,” Thundar said. “I’ll watch our backs…or well, smell our backs. No wait, that didn’t come out like I wanted—”

“Hart, you have sharp eyes,” Alex said. “I think you’d do well on our left flank, while Claygon and I can be on our right.”

“Hm, good formation,” Hart said.

‘I will protect all of us…father…” Claygon said.

“That will leave myself,” Khalik said, “Isolde, Cedric and Drestra to form our centre. Does that sound reasonable to everyone?”

“I see no problems,” the young noblewoman said. “It is a formation that ensures we have a hard shell on all sides and can detect enemies coming from a good distance away. I approve.”

“I don’t have no quarrel with havin’ Khalik, Drestra an’ Isolde in the middle—makes sense t’protect ‘em—but why me?” Cedric frowned. “No offence but—next to Hart—I might be the best frontline fighter we’ve got. M’place is in the front, protectin’ all o’ yous.”

“You’re not wrong, Cedric,” Alex said. “But you’re also a spellcaster. From the middle, you can throw your magic at anything coming at us from all sides, and your weapon’s got a lot of reach. You’re fast: you can fly to any side and reinforce anyone who needs help.”

“Aye…” Cedric nodded slowly. “I sees that now, but then why’re you on a flank wit’ Claygon? Wouldn’t it make more sense for ya t’be in the middle?”

“You’d think that, but my senses are sharper now thanks to a little magical method I used on myself. Same one I’ll be using on Hart after we finish up today.” He nodded to the Champion. “It’s best having our scouts on the outside of our formation.”

“Actually, I think Cedric brings up a good point, Alex,” Theresa said. “Having you on our flank doesn’t really make a lot of sense. If you’re in the middle, you can still watch our flank. You usually call out our tactics during battle, so I think it’s better if you’re in the middle where you can see everything and also direct us.”

“Huh…that’s actually a good point,” Alex said, glancing at Claygon. “You think you can defend that side on your own?”

The golem banged the butt of his war-spear against the earth emulating Baelin’s earlier move, but now, the sound of metal on rock was magnitudes louder. ‘I will be enough.’

“Well, if you think you’re enough, I won’t argue with you,” Alex said, turning to the others. “Alright, time for some defensive and empowering spells. Let me handle a lot of it. My staff—” He waved the aeld staff about. “—doesn’t have unlimited mana, but it has a lot of it, and it recharges pretty fast too, so I can handle a lot of that stuff. If there’s anything the staff can’t do, then you can fill in the gaps, but it’s better if everyone walks into this with as much mana as we can.”

“Sounds good to me,” Hart said. “Cast away.”

With that, Alex raised his staff, pouring his mana into it. Its aura flared with light and power as he layered magic on himself and his companions. Everyone received the power of flight as well as a number of physical enhancements: strength, speed, agility, sensory and more.

He girded them in greater force armour, sheathing them in invisible protection. Upon himself, he cast force shield and deflective force rectangle.

As the others were casting spells on each other—including Isolde’s invisibility magic—he began summoning a group of air elementals. One after the other, he conjured them, until a full flight of ten were hovering before him.

“Hello friends,” he greeted them enthusiastically in an elemental tongue of air. “Surprise! We’re going to the hells today, and we have to be stealthy about it. I’d like all of you to surround us and fly silently. If you sense anything coming our way, let me know with a light gust of wind. If a fight starts, I want your focus on any flyers attacking us. Buffet their wings, blow them down and we’ll take care of the rest.”

One of the air elementals crackled out a question, and Alex shook his head in response. “I’d avoid lightning. We’ll be moving as quietly as we can for awhile, and lightning isn’t exactly…stealthy—”

His words were cut off by a massive boom coming from the gate.

Through the portal, an explosion ripped through the sky, stinging the eye as though a second brilliant sun had suddenly appeared.

“Well,” Alex said, straightening his cloak. “I think it’s safe to say that’s our signal. Baelin’s not subtle when he doesn’t want to be.” He glanced toward a gawking Cedric. “Told you we wouldn’t miss it. Alright, folks, let’s go. We’ve got hells to invade.”