Chapter 2
Mirror, Mirror.

Jordanis stood next to the empty arch. Early morning sunlight streamed down into the castle courtyard. The seven members of the Queen's Own had rested and prepared that night, but time was ticking past and they couldn't delay any more than that.

"We were very lucky in the time flow on that last world," said Jordanis. "But this next one won't be so kind. I've checked, and it runs at a straight one to one ratio, so we'll get no such gifts this time." Aidan nodded. They'd all been surprised to find that they had returned the day after they left, though they had spent ten days to find the first shard. "You have more time than we'd feared, but... if you don't return within two months, things are going to be bad, very, very bad here. So don't delay. The sooner you come back, the less damage the chaos will do."

There were solemn nods all around. "I've set the spell exactly the same as before, you need only touch the crystal to be returned here with it. Good luck."

One by one they went through the portal. When the by-now familiar queasy feeling faded, Aidan looked around. He blinked. They seemed to have merely been moved from inside the courtyard to outside the castle gates. They stood on the cropped grass next to the familiar road, the Tower looming above them.

"What the heck?" Aidan said out loud what the whole group was obviously thinking. Had the portal gone wrong? "Why are we still on Aretha?"

"I'm not sure we are," said Brianna. "Look!" She pointed down the road. There was a group of soldiers moving along it. They marched with an easy confidence that suggested they belonged there, but their uniforms were unfamiliar. The few soldiers that Tara maintained wore blue and silver, but these soldiers wore red and black, with a golden dragon emblem on their shields. As the marching men drew nearer, Aidan could see that they were encircling a small group of people who didn't wear uniforms, probably prisoners. He couldn't make out the rest of them, but one was a head taller than any of the soldiers. He was dark skinned, with short-cropped curly black hair, and despite the fact that he was obviously a prisoner, he carried himself like a king, proud and unbowed by his circumstances.

Suddenly Seymore let out a blood-curdling yell like Aidan had never heard, and charged at the soldiers, spear drawn.

Belak swore, and the rest of the group looked at him with stunned incomprehension. What was he doing? The soldiers' neat formation fell apart, for one of the prisoners apparently took the little goblin's attack as a chance, and made a break for it. And then everything erupted into chaos. Seymore went down, how exactly Aidan didn't see, and some of the soldiers attacked Aidan and the others, while some were busy trying to keep the suddenly fighting prisoners in line. There were three, and they all had their hands tied before them, but that wasn't keeping one of them, a fair-skinned human man, from fighting. He was kicking and swinging his bound fists with startling ferocity. Aidan had to duck a soldier's sword, but not before recognizing the fighting human, with a kind of stunned shock. It was Lon. Except that Lon was anything but a fighter, and he was still standing next to Aidan!

He lost sight of the three for a moment in the chaos of the battle. There were a dozen or so soldiers attacking, but Flame, Brianna and Lavasida were all giving good account of themselves. Aidan wanted to take to the sky, but there wasn't room to get his wings open, there were people all around him. He caught another glimpse of the prisoners. The tall, dark man had gotten his hands free somehow, and had picked up the sword of a fallen soldier, and he was fighting with a skill that equaled anything Aidan had ever seen. Then he saw the third prisoner, and had another shock of recognition. It was Brianna. But she wasn't fighting. She untied Lon's hands, and then retreated, trying to get away from the fighting. Meanwhile Lon dived in with enthusiasm. And behind Aidan the Lon he knew was trying to keep clear of the fight, his healing skills were far better than his fighting skills.

But Aidan didn't have time to think about what he'd seen, he had all he could do to fend off the soldier attacking him. The man's sword gave him a much longer reach, but Aidan was fast, and managed to dodge or block his blows. When he saw an opening he threw one of his belt daggers, but he didn't manage to do any damage, it glanced off of the soldier's leather armor. Aidan dodged again, and then tripped over the body of a fallen soldier. He wasn't quite quick enough to get up, and the soldier he was fighting simply kicked him in the head.

He felt the impact, and a flare of pain, but he felt nothing else, for the world went dark around him.