Mine!

"I quite like being alone most of the time, thank you!" Polymedes said indignantly. "In fact if I were across the lake just now, I would happily be enjoying morning tea all by my lonesome."

"If you weren't being eaten by abominations, you mean," Eira mumbled.

"What about that falcon of yours?" Alaron remembered seeing it last time he had visited the satyr. It had called the eagles for a ride on behalf of Cafer and himself.

Even as a prisoner, Polymedes turned his nose up at the Guardian. "My bird?! Sunny isn't my bird. He's more of a free agent. It's not like we are joined at the hip or anything, and I certainly don't carry him around like a piece of jewelry or a lady's handbag."

"Speaking of ladies' handbags. I just realized I forgot to return Dania's…" Alaron rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling like a thief.

"Why do you have her bag?" Renat asked.

"She gave it to me to hold while we escaped," the Guardian explained quickly. "In all the excitement, it barely registered."

"Bag…cloak…Alaron…" Mairwen muttered. A flicker of recognition ignited in her blue eyes. She let the words turn over in her mind. "Dania was trying to tell me something right before she left. She said she had given you something, Alaron. Then there was the strange message about victory being in the bag and uncloaking the truth."

The princess felt a little bad about rifling through Dania's belongings, but it seemed that the scientist had given her permission and even encouraged her to do just that. Surely she had left it behind for a reason. It would be very strange for her to have forgotten her things even in the very tense situation.

"Give it here, Alaron. May as well see what we are dealing with."

"Wait until we get into the gate, at least. If any spies are watching, we will be out of their view behind the barrier." Nath did not want to alarm the people, but he could feel eyes watching them. It was why he and Lilith had covertly created a wind barrier around the group to block their conversation from listening ears.

It was less than an arrow shot to the gate, so they would not have to wait very long. With the goal being so close at hand, they quickened their pace.

The passage through the barrier was carved by elven hands centuries before. Even the oldest among the elves could only claim to know someone who was involved in its construction.

Defying the Fates in such a manner had taken no small amount of determination. In the end, Justum had brokered a deal with King Zoltan's great-grandfather that magical creatures would be forbidden from letting the humans see their magic.

In general that rule still held true. With the exception of the Fates, who had made their presence known, magical beings kept their magic use around mundane humans to a minimum.

With a small sense of wonder, Mairwen looked at the gate which had replaced the ice. Her mind momentarily drifted to all the fairy tales that she had read growing up. She wondered how many of them were actually fiction.

As she looked at the marvel of the magical world, the princess guessed that many had at least a grain of truth.

From afar, the alabaster doors melded perfectly with the barrier it had replaced. But upon closer inspection the marble doors had simply been fashioned such that the lines in the stone resembled the cracks and fissures of the ice around it.

It was so beautiful and strange that the princess would have stopped and sketched it to remember later if there had been time. But of course, that was not the priority just now. They were meant to pass through, not admire the gates.

Seeing Nath and Lilith, a sentry waited for the signal before appearing from a hidden watch point.

"None of those monsters made it to the gate," he told his superior. "I was diligent."

Nath nodded. "The rest of our soldiers are securing the shoreline. And I sent for reinforcements. If any lizard-like beings rear their heads, shoot them."

"Yes sir." The sentry saluted.

All three elves froze to listen to the air and scan the water. When they decided there was no imminent danger, Nath and the sentry went to access a series of cogs to begin the process of entry.

Long ago the gates were opened solely by brute force, but those days had since passed. Now two elves could open it using a wheel from either side of the gate.

After a moment, the two massive slabs of marble groaned and split into two parts. Before long, the princess got her first glimpse of the land of magic.

The grass on the far side was a mix of green and lavender rippling gently with the change in air pressure. Trees of gold and auburn held out branched arms of welcome.

The princess audibly gasped. Nothing, not even the many descriptions from Aurora, could prepare Mairwen for the beauty and grandeur before her eyes. Even the air hitting her face felt somehow fresher.

"It's like a dream." Eira echoed her mistress's thoughts.

"First time?" Polymedes asked with a smirk. "Go on in!"

"Wait!" Lilith reached out before Eira could act on the satyr's suggestion. "You need a magical creature to go through with you. The Fates enchanted it the same as the rest of the barrier."

"Oh...I must have forgotten." Polymedes shrugged and received a shove in return.

Once the gate was open, Nath and the sentry returned. "Are we ready?" the elven brother asked.

The others nodded.

Nath proceeded to dismiss the sentry, who disappeared as mysteriously as he came.

"Alright. Who wants to pair up with whom?" Nath tried to figure out what protocol would dictate. There was no particular rule for how these kind of things were done with a mix of humans and…wolves?

"I will go with you, if that's acceptable," Nath said to Renat.

Lilith turned to Alaron, "If you will escort the satyr, I will take both ladies with me."

The Guardian gripped Polymedes's arm and placed the other hand firmly on his shoulder. "I relish the opportunity."

"Go easy on me, Guardian," Polymedes whined. "I chafe easily!"

"Good," Alaron grinned fiercely.

Ignoring the satyr's complaints, Lilith offered her hands to the other women. "It might tickle a little, going through I mean."

Unsure exactly what she meant, Mairwen and Eira each took one of the she-elf's arms. Gingerly, Nath placed a hand on Renat's furry back.

"Follow me."

Although they could have all gone through at once, that would have been improper.

The Princess's presence demanded that the ladies should enter first. As Mairwen passed through the portal, her body became cold even through the Guardian's cloak. Her exposed skin tingled as if the air around her had a substance of its own that she was passing through.

Then as quickly the feeling came, it left. "That was strange. Almost as if I entered a different world," Mairwen said quietly.

"In a way, I suppose you have," Lilith chuckled softly.

In the middle of the pack, Alaron and Polymedes came through the gate without and issue. The only indication that anything had changed was a slight shiver from the Guardian.

"I never thought I would be back here so soon," Alaron had mixed feelings about his return.

When he had left for the human world with Justum, the Guardian had honestly never planned to return here unless summoned. The land held painful memories of greed and power that were better left behind.

"Feel free to leave, Guardian. I'll be happy to go with you…" Polymedes started to turn around but was forced to continue forward.

Last in the procession were Nath and Renat. By now the princess thought she knew what to expect. Renat would shiver as he came through and then they could move on.

But as he broached the gate, the wolf met with resistance. Nath continued forward while the wolf was stuck in place like a finger just about to burst a soap bubble.

"That's odd…" Lilith came to assist her brother, and together they were able to pull the creature through the gate. The air rippled slightly as they stumbled forward.

"What was that?" Mairwen asked the elves.

"The entrance does not like letting in non-magical creatures. That is why you feel the weird sensation that you do when you enter. It seems there was extra objection to you," Nath explained.

"No matter," Lilith assured him, "you are through now."

The elven siblings went and shut the gate from inside the land of magic. When all was safe and the gate secured, the humans were finally ready to peer into Dania's precious bag.

"Alright, let me see it," Mairwen prepared herself for anything that might come out of the Guardian's cloak.

Or so she thought.

For when the item that Dania gave the Guardian finally appeared, the princess's mouth hung open as she nearly fainted.

"That's not Dania's bag…that's mine!"