“This world is almost like the old Mysteria, but the sphere that houses it is more fragile. We never feared for it, for who would want to crack the world’s shell? They would suffer as much from the resulting destruction as any. Unfortunately Drago, the Vampire Lord, isn’t exactly wise.”

Lavasida gave a harsh laugh. “Every great master of darkness seems to go through a stage where their ambition exceeds their wisdom. But I fear that Drago will not come to his senses as readily as I did.”

“No, he will not. He cracked the world in order to hold it for ransom, thinking he will be safe in his shadow realm. I have already received a sneering letter from him telling me that if I do not hand over my crown and make him the ruler he will never restore the sky.”

There was another murmur, this time of disbelief and anger at the Vampire Lord. “Can he do it?” asked Flame Song. “Could Drago really put the sky back together?”

“He would have to collect all the pieces,” said the queen. “It is possible, but not likely.”

“And what of us then?” said Brianna. “Can we simply fix it ourselves?”

“Yes,” said Tara, nodding. “Yurik was among those who created this world. He has the ability to heal the sky, in concert with other mages of power. But as with Drago, he cannot unless he holds all the pieces. So that is what we must do. No doubt Drago has gotten his hands on a few of them already, meaning to hold them hostage if nothing else. But there are hundreds of them, and there are two that have gone utterly beyond the Dark Lord’s reach.” The queen turned to the sage Yurik. “I will have Yurik tell you what he has seen.”

The elderly robed sage stepped forward. “I cast a simple scrying spell to look back and watch what exactly happened when the sky cracked. The pieces mostly fell down to Mysteria itself. I can use that same scrying spell to track them easily enough. There are perhaps three hundred. It’s a lot, but with all the people in the world to help, we can do it. And they will help, for everyone’s life depends on it.”

“I don’t understand,” said Lon, Brianna’s husband. “I mean the crack in the sky is disturbing to look at, but nothing else seems to have changed. We’re all still fine.”

“For now,” said Yurik. “But the world is open to the chaos beyond. Even now it’s streaming in. It will be days before any effect is felt, and weeks yet before there’s any serious harm. But by the time half a year is up primal chaos will have dissolved the world back into itself.”

Aidan shuddered. He had come to love his adoptive homeland. The last thing he wanted was to see it dissolved into nothing. “We have to gather the shards as quickly as w can then,” he said.

Yurik nodded. “Yes. But it will not be that simple. There are two shards, as I said, that have gone beyond Drago’s reach. They didn’t go inward, they went outward, into the chaos.”

“How do we get those back then? Aren’t they beyond our reach as well?” asked Brianna. “Won’t they be dissolved into nothing?”

“No. They did not remain in the formless void. I followed them in the scrying glass. They have reached other worlds, worlds not far removed from this world. And,” added Yurik with a smile, “if there is one kind of spell I know well, it is a world-traveling spell. I can send a few of you out after the shards. You can find them, bring them back, and then I can restore the sky.”

“What about Drago?” said Lon.

“Somebody will have to get back any shards he holds from him. That too will be difficult, but possible. We know very well where his castle is, even if it is hard to reach.”

“Well then,” said Brianna, “we know what we have to do. Now all we need is to decide who will search for shards here, who will go to the other worlds, and who will deal with Drago.”

The whole group broke up into knots of conversation as the Clan members worked out who would go where. “I don’t know where I’d rather go,” said Flame. “I mean all three groups are needed.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. But I want to go world-hopping. Searching for shards here isn’t all that interesting and I really don’t want to deal with Drago. But my skills could be very handy on other worlds. And so could yours. You could blend in wherever we went with your shape-shifting abilities.”

“Very true. I’ll tell Brianna that we’d rather go with the world travelers.”

When everything was sorted out seven Clan members were going to Drago’s castle, seven were going world traveling, and the remainder would coordinate the search for the shards on Mysteria.

The group going to other worlds consisted of Brianna, her husband Lon, the Dark Lord Lavasida, the goblin Seymore, the dwarf Belak, and lastly Flame Song and Aidan. The seven of them gathered in the center of the courtyard that fronted Queen Tara’s tower. Yurik stood in front of them, hands raised in preparation to cast the spell that would send them to the first world.

“I’ve given Brianna a talisman that will track the shards. She’ll be able to at least point you in the right direction. I wish I could send you to the precise spot, but portal travel is an art, not a science. It’s very hard to fix where the other end will come out. Find the shard as fast as you can. I’m keying the portal spell to it. As soon as Brianna touches it, you’ll find yourselves sent onward to the second world. Are you all ready?”

They all nodded their assent, and Yurik began the spell. Aidan felt a twisting, twirling sensation surround him. He felt as if he were being tugged on from every direction, and everything around him swirled. He clung to Flame Song’s hand as the swirling increased and then gradually died away. When at last the world stilled again they were no longer standing in the bright sunlight of Mysteria. Instead they were on a cobblestone street with the stars twinkling and a full moon bright above.