Janilla's days were as boring as many others were and today was no different. The pages of the book flipped wildly off their origin and flew back to their source unable to escape the frigid winds cutting through this makeshift room.

  She exhaled onto the curved ridge of her neck. Her eyes wavered over the passing colors mixing into a mass of caustic energy breaking at the strands that swirl into the long white blast of light firing in front of me. Four thin pillars constructed of musothin sat at either end of the gate underneath this torrent of power.

  Out of those waves of energy Five and Valor crushed through and stopped on the ink-marked metal platform that surrounded the gate that was created for their transverse.

  Six minutes, there was so much time from the one hour and twenty minutes she waited on them for. Whereas their method of travel, It was one of many ways to travel, but it was possible, because of their Exalted Lady Carmine.

  Valor shook his head and subsequently narrowed his eyes at me. He pointed at her. "What are you doing here?"

  She smiled with fraudulent flair. "Lady Carmine sent me down here to carry news to the seal squad on guard of this spectral gate. Since I was here and your time to arrive was a few hours I decided to wait on you."

  His eyebrows raised as he stared at her. "I'm glad, you waited on us, thank you, I guess. At least I get to see a familiar face as soon as I come out."

  She wasn't here for Valor, so his 'thank you' was dirt to her. Five stepped down in the all-consuming black robe that spun around him like a mother's embrace.

  Janilla resisted the urge to shudder with the excitement that threatened to ripple through her.

  Five never had a smile on that young face of his. His constitution was as cold as the stone of the brittle North, but when those eyes touched hers, she melted.

  That was why she got Carmine to make her a Sector Bloom. Janilla dealt with Five’s cold disposition for a living. The last thing she needed was for Five to know her true feelings for him. So many times she choked her emotions and thoughts to prevent Five from seeing into the depths of her mind.

  She was mean to Five and cruel in her thoughts to avoid him seeing her real feelings.

  But he must have known right?

  Five loved her. Even though he never said it. Or was she crazy? No, it had to be that. That must be it, right? Or was it something else? Could it be somebody behind her? Janilla turned around. No, it wasn't.

  "Sister Janilla, it is good to see you again," Five said.

  Valor snorted and said, "Didn't she tell you to stop using those honorifics?"

  She, being Carmine, hated those Elam titles, but Janilla didn't mind them herself. It was endearing to her, though if Janilla truly wanted what she dreamed of, the title of brother and sister could never be spoken between them, it would be something, deeper.

  "Only Carmine gave me that instruction," Five said.

  Her cheeks gained so much color. Did he read her mind or was he going off on the prior prerogative? Janilla gasped her necklace. Her shoulders relaxed in relief and color left her face.

  This sector bloom should be working. The last thing Janilla wanted was for him to be in her mind and know her true feelings.

  The approaching thuds of the seal squad from inside here stopped their discussion. Spectral waves dissipated as they shrunk into derelict sparks flying off the dwindling top.

  Valor stepped off the platform. "Can I lay down an order?"

  Five said nothing.

  The seal master moved across from her carrying a bucket of water. All the members of the sealing squad were covered in thick shrouds, but their eyes were like San Rosa and Five, they shifted colors like the broken lights in the sky.

  Valor looked back at Five. "Don't call any of the Baskas that. It be strange for them. Even though you barely interact with them. You understand?"

  The waves dwindled further and soon became nothing as it left the ink painted on its surface. Janilla tingled from the charge of power against her skin when she reached for the book.

  Five closed his eyes momentarily. "Aye."

  The seal master washed the water across the platform. The olongoy in the ink reacted and bubbled up their discontent, but the nearby musothin pillars contained their fury.

  Janilla took up the book. "Well, the Elamnites still use them."

  Valor paused then sighed in exaggeration. "They're still holding onto that crippled empire. It's sad. I left Elam a long time ago. I'm glad, I left that purgatory."

  Five glanced around. The members of the seal squad were moving slower.

  It was best to change the subject. "Oh, I assume since you guys are back the task is complete, yes?"

  Valor smirked. "Of course, I'm me."

  She rolled my eyes. "And?"

  Valor walked off. "Five assisted too."

  It still befuddled her what Carmine saw in this man. Janilla never trusted him then, and still would never trust him now.

  She frowned, but Five's hand laid on her shoulder. Color raised up the back of her neck.

  "A job done is still a job done," Five said.

  True, yet it coming from Five made it questionable to her. Was he saying that, because he wanted to say that or was he saying it, because that was in his code?

  Sometimes, Janilla asked herself if the way she thought about his words were because she wanted more than words written off the paper, but crafted with so much heart within its divine curves and strokes.

  Janilla was a scribe, so as a writer of Carmine's story, and the stories of all these people; her responsibility was to set their future into the hands of the immortal.

  The seal master took out their instruments and started cleaning off the ink, while the other members of the squad helped to dismantle the pillars for the gate. They couldn't leave any trace of their visit, least their enemies could track them with their mistakes.

  "Are you guys coming?" Valor stopped and looked back at them.

  They needed to go. The seal squad could find their way back home. They followed strict rules coming in and out of the camp. Any mistakes would lead to deaths and Carmine hated that more than she hated blood on her skin.

  Five's hand left her shoulder as he stepped forward. "We will wait on the sealers. It will only be a short time, no?"

  The sounds of the sealers hard at work were absent and sweat careened down her face too unnerved to even look around at them.

  Valor shrugged. "Aye, I'll be outside."

  Janilla exhaled a breath she never knew she held. It was great to hear Five speak up, which was rare, but when he did, it gave her a little bit of hope. Maybe he wasn't a mindless soldier.

  The seal squad scrubbed the ink clean off the metal. Once, the other remnants of their presence were packed up they didn't have to wait long before they astride their horse and left the abandoned stone building.

  Sand consumed and enveloped them. Janilla pulled up her shawl to block its grasp, but one thing never lost its grip; Carmine's truth.

  That was a daunting day and her ears combusted from the words that man said. Carmine’s feelings were written down as follows through Janilla’s hand.

  "Your will." His harsh voice spat out notwithstanding his erotic appearance with those stones hanging off the tied bands of his hair.

  I blinked. Valor, Five, Sandream, and Janilla stood behind me.

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  It was a large room as I remembered and the man, a respected seer sat surrounded by thin rock columns shaped in the erotic forms of snakes. I admired the lovely craftsmanship. It was also made of musothin to limit the power of his benefactors from Elam if not himself.

  I inhaled and air rushed pass my ears like a distant whistle and looked so stalwart in her sitting akimbo position. That position was built upon the open palm below me, for the chair was shaped like a large monster's hand.

  "I figured as much." My head raised. The tied strands in my hair shook with vanity as my chin raised. "If I don't want to die. I won't die. I felt it when I heard of Riana's story. It reminded me of myself and in a way, I didn't want it to be true. No one would want that to be true."

  The seer spoke, "This doesn't stop you from dying of old age or deterioration. It just means that anything outside of your own body cannot touch you."

  "So, essentially as long as my will to live is high… What about if I was to take on a different shell, will any external threats affect me?" I asked.

  "Other singularities have tried that and died trying. Only in this body of your birth are you precious, if you are in any other body, your ability is lost."

  What was this theory? It sounded worse than what San Rosa said.

  She liked numbers and could understand that.

  This, Janilla couldn't understand this at all.

  Even now, no one could confirm what a singularity was. All they knew was that Carmine was special and she was destined to achieve great things.

  That was her fate.

  But was her fate so simple?

  Was it truly as simple as her desire to live?

  What about, everyone, her mother, Ascus, Baska, the troops, or even Janilla?

  Was that even worth thinking about? Was Janilla important when she was a simple girl under the gaze of a great person such as Carmine?

  Janilla shut down her thoughts as dust hits her face and pulled her back to reality.

  Their horses came out into the rolling hot dust of the hard landscape near Elam's border. Elam was much harder than this, so this was nothing. Even as her throat choked on its burn and it nauseated her nose, whereas they should tough it out as Carmine did.

  They didn't take long to reach hundreds of yards away from the camp, but the camp broke into a mass of organized disorder. Janilla couldn’t believe it.

  People were moving to the center of the camp with its hastily settled tents which would soon be lifted off the earth. Continuous travel was how they lived. They couldn't settle anywhere, for they harbored no country to call home, especially with their enemies.

  "She's there," Valor said.

  "They are also leaving," I said.

  "A little fast too."

  Horses moved and some were being carried by ropes. Many rain mosh spiders were already unlatched from their binds and that told her plans have changed.

  Valor made a grumbling groan. "We'll run ahead of them."

  As the camp moved, so did Janilla and the others, for they ran their horses up an incline of cascading hills and down a dark valley. The only thing separating them was a sparse cluster of trees and rocky grounds, but they were closing in on the moving column of their brethren.

  Everything was fine until Valor spun his horse around and blocked Five's horse. Valor said, "You sense an enemy?"

  Janilla’s heart skipped a beat. Was there a threat?

  Five said, "No."

  Janilla’s shoulders relaxed, but her horse stomped its legs in a patter at the sudden stop.

  Five continued, "However, lifeforms are moving from a path two hundred yards southeast away from us."

  The sealers looked around and Janilla was too scared to. Valor turned his head and gazed across the landscape into the clutches of a large group of trees. The unsettled horse made it hard to focus, but she was able to pick out shadows moving from trees to bushes.

  Janilla’s horse pulled back as her moist fingers tightened on the reins.

  These new entrants moved behind the advent of rocks on the edge of the horizon above the valley they tread.

  Janilla’s heart pounded, but Five's horse came next to hers. "Be at ease sister."

  Those words were all she needed to hear and if she fell within that sanctuary it would be too soon.

  If they already knew Valor were on to them, they made it clear as their dark shapes became bright in their colored mess of brown and green clothing.

  Five turned to Valor. "I sense them now."

  Valor smiled. "I can see that my friend."

  Janilla swallowed. "Aren't you going to—"

  "Control your horse." Valor was pointing at her horse constantly moving around and bouncing into Five's horse.

  She fidgeted, but recovered enough to pull on those reins and it solicited a fierce neigh from the horse.

  Valor and Five stared without making a word. The sealing squad was quiet even if the gloom radiated off of them. Was she the only one who was shaking in her boots?

  Janilla said, "Ah, aren't you going to fight or—"

  "Nay, best to let them come to us," Valor replied.

  That put them at more risk! Why did she get into these situations? Janilla’s life wasn't supposed to end like this! She hadn't even touched the stars or graced the love of a life-defining kiss.

  Why me?!

  No, Carmine would be braver than this.

  Think.

  Think.

  Something.

  Think.

  What did Carmine say about calling her?

  Oh, yes, there was the crystal.

  As she pulled out the crystal ball to call for Carmine to send aid, clouds of dust raised behind them as the image rippled into a deep vortex from an imaginary water drop.

  The core of its base thrust out into a torrent of dust and stones as a spider forced itself out of its spatial warping and onto the earth in front of them.

  My hair's roots tickled to the rustic charge that rocked the air. She reeled back as the spider reared up its massive hairy legs in an empowered prowl forward. Baska horsemen galloped around the valley.

  Janilla took too long to think.

  No, I saw you. Carmine spoke in her head.

  Janilla shuddered in fright. Carmine? How?

  I made that sector bloom, so I put a backdoor in it. You’re welcome.

  Aye. Her chest descended as she realized the figures ran away.

  Janilla looked up at Five's stalwart face and he gazed at her. "Come Janilla." He grasped her reins and pulled her horse to the side.

  Lead me my fair champion! If life continued to be like this she could lose herself in those moments.

  Valor said, "Leaches." They as a group pulled out of the valley and met up with Savilly-Agifihion Mores, but they called him S'Mores.

  He was a short man in the moss green jacket over his jeweled layered gown that covered much of his thigh, but he was not short of precious stones from each finger to his neckline.

  "Well, well, need assistance?" S'Mores asked. A glimmering flicker in his eyes complimented his swindle-proud grin.

  Valor said, "Thank you, ah…"

  The smile disappeared. "S'Mores."

  "Aye, yes, got to remember that. Yes, after you, my good sir."

  They turned their back on those enemies as if they were mere pests and nothing more. To some extent they were, but even if the threat was small, she still struggled to be okay with these brief peeks into their fragile mortality.

  They came around and S'Mores went off once his escort duty was finished. Their horses made a lot of anxious noise, but that got drowned out by the rowdy excitement rising into the icy air.

  She glanced around in an attempt to see her carriage amongst the marching crowd. They stood there as the waves of horses and dire wolves flowed around them like a bulging river.

  That was when Janilla saw her. It was their precious almighty great leader, Carmine. She looked so majestic in her armor emblazoned by the embossed seals burnt into the sides. This didn't include the various flowers and pins attached to the groove of her neckline. The newest thing was the thick red-bordered fabric with an interesting coat of arms spun over her pauldron and ending over the edge of her hips. To add more regal to it, it connected to a ring with a smooth-cut gem in the center and a slanted cape rolled behind her and over her upper arm. The cape hid her sealed scrolls, so it had its utility.

  Carmine grinned once she reached them. "Aye."

  Valor tilted his head as he stared at the new addition. "You became S'Mores' Jeweler?"

  Carmine's eyebrows scrunched together. "Who?"

  "Nevermind. What's all of this?"

  Carmine looked at either shoulder. "Oh, yes, looks good don't it?"

  Valor smiled wider. "An armor is not supposed to look good."

  Carmine whipped her head back and her underbite flattened in scorn. "Sorry, if I am going to be covered in blood; I gotta look while I'm doing it."

  He opened his mouth, but closed it in defeat. The sealing squad bowed in reverence and she permitted them to leave.

  Carmine asked, "You did well?"

  Valor said, "He's dead."

  Carmine laid each arm over the other as she leaned forward. "Fantastic, we shall kill all of my mother's allies and keep up the pressure."

  Janilla knew what their future Queen wanted to do and it was good to get the direction.

  Valor gestured around him. "Why the hurry though? Was it those ones that almost snuck up on us?"

  Carmine leaned back and balled up the reins in her hands. "Someone tried to poison me. I—"

  "When?!" Valor said.

  Janilla froze and her fingers balled up. Even if Carmine couldn’t die Janilla’s stomach clenched up from every time Carmine got targeted.

  Carmine waved her hand in a downward gesture. "It's not that serious. But it doesn't kill. It would only paralyze me. The guard that took it in my place is currently under treatment, so I was thinking about it and I asked myself why they would paralyze me. Must be because they want to capture me, obviously, they must be nearby. So I placed that bet."

  Valor's face became dark in its portrayal. "And this is why I said we should kill them."

  Carmine shook her head. "No. Leave them. Attacking them would spill too much blood. Since they're cowards, I'll take advantage of that as long as possible."

  "You cannot be too afraid of fighting."

  "Yes, about that, remember the guards you picked? I'm getting rid of them." She passed him. "Janilla, come here."

  "Why?" Valor asked.

  "I don't like them. They lack creativity. If the other one lives through his paralysis, I'll keep him."

  "Creativity? Since when does that ma

  tter in war and blood? By Gods, you're too picky," Valor said.

  Carmine laughed as Janilla came beside her in stride and rode into the falling sun.