The harbour came into view. I felt my stomach flip at the sight of my home. My home. I hadn't seen Andahavn for over a year and so much had happened. I rubbed my upper arm, my skin slightly sensitive still from the new tattoo.

"Are you ready?" Barr asked.

"I think so."

"And are you ready for it not going the way we are hoping?"

"No matter what, you need to connect with Quinn. Nothing else matters, really. Right?"

"Right," Barr muttered.

"I hope it doesn't go that way," Huck said and slipped his hand into Barr's. "I'd rather not leave you here."

"I need to get to Quinn, Huqqa," Barr said softly and turned to Huck, draping his arm around the smaller boy.

"I know. But it'd be better if we could all stay together."

"It might not turn out that way," Dy chimed in, gripping hard around the metal railing. We stood outside on the small balcony that stretched around the blimp. "Our main objective is getting Quinn and Barr."

"He is so... Close to breaking. Huqqa, I have to save him," Barr said and pressed his lips to Huck's hair.

"I know but..." Huck trailed off and hugged Barr closely. "Don't die!"

Barr snorted. "As long as Quinn lives, so do I. But if we lose him, I will be lost too."

Huck didn't look any happier with that response.

I glanced up at Dy. She looked fierce with half her hair missing and the tattoos stretching over her forehead, side of her head, down her throat and across her chest. The remainder of her hair was pulled up in a bun with strands hanging down from it.

"Barr?" I asked.

"Yes?" He perked up a little, clenching Huck closer.

"If I died, would Nila die too?"

"No, Nila has other souls too. I only have Quinn so far. So I am in charge of his soul only. We are connected to the souls we take care of. Nila has some of your great-great-grandparents to look out for too in the spirit world." He hesitated a little. "Besides, if you died today, you would go to the spirit world. You know the way. Quinn... He is lost. He needs a guide."

I nodded a little and bit down on my lip. "Right."

"I will guide him though. I will be staying for as long as he needs me. Which might be his entire life."

I was about to say something but was interrupted by the explosion. One of many in the harbour, effectively destroying it, and cutting Andahavn off from Skyen. We'd be able to take over Skyen this way.

Dy put her arm around me and pulled me close. "You hanging in there?"

"Yeah," I said with a bit of a gruff voice. I was still here. I was still present. I didn't feel like coughing, but my throat was burning.

"Do you wanna go inside?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

"Al, we don't have to stay here and watch."

"I... I have to look for Quinn."

"Yeah and I'll make sure to tell you when we're close to the stronghold."

I shook my head again. "No, I have to watch this."

She nodded but kept her arm around me, which I was thankful for. My legs were growing weaker and I needed the support. Loud noises still did weird things to my head, but I had to get over them at some point. I couldn't keep cowering over a sound. It was ridiculous.

The stronghold finally came into view. It was perched upon a hill in the middle of the city, serving as a mark for the centre of everything. I could see people crowding the square in front of it. I could see the poles that had held the bodies of the Aatskina tribe members. And on the top of the stairs, a white dot was jumping up and down.

I grabbed the binoculars from Huck and looked through them. Quinn was waving his hands over his head and my heart jumped. My brother.

"Barr, he's there," I said almost breathlessly. "Top of the stairs."

Barr perched up and took the binoculars from me. He nodded and handed them back. He turned to Huck and took his face in his hands.

"Huqqa, I want you to take care of Baby. A city is no place for a dragon." He took Baby down from his head and handed the small dragon to Huck. Huck bit down on his lip and cradled the dragon to his chest.

"I won't have to take care of her, we're not leaving without you."

Barr just smiled as everything exploded around him. As aeroplanes came flying towards us. As a blimp crashed not far from us.

And then everything stopped. Even the birds the in sky. The fire and the smoke. Everything stopped.

"I have to go now," Barr said very softly and calmly.

"No," Huck said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"We will meet again." Barr leaned forward and kissed Huck's forehead and then simply disappeared.

"We have to get away from here," Dy said and let go of me. She stepped inside, probably to talk to the captain.

My eyes were fixed on my brother. He had his arms stretched out towards us, but we were the only thing moving. Nothing else moved.

I looked through the binoculars again, seeing another person next to Quinn, dressed like the servants. How Barr knew how the servants dressed was a mystery. Quinn though... He didn't look well. He was skinny. Black veins stretched over his face and even his eyes looked darker than they ever had before. The white in one had turned blue.

"Did we fail?" Huck whispered.

"No, Barr is with Quinn. We have more time now."

Huck nodded and ran a finger over Baby's head. "He has to come back though, right? He's not gonna always be with Quinn."

I glanced at Huck but didn't reply. Huck would probably have to move to wherever Barr was. And Barr would have to follow Quinn.

We were moving away from the stronghold again. I had been so close. So very close but we had already lost. We couldn't fight their much faster aeroplanes. We thought we had the advantage of the sky, but obviously we were not alone up here.

Someone must've told them of the blimps.

"We have a mole," Halla said to the crowd gathered around the table. "Because of this mole, we lost sixty good people. The Kabiran army has taken Skyen but we lost the city of Andahavn. We have cut off Andaheim and Bursaaq though. This is the last stretch."

I looked down at the map, frowning at it. "We should take Bursaaq next then."

"Impossible. The weapons they have is far stronger than anything we have to offer."

"No," Huck chimed in, Baby squawking from her position on his head. "The battle suits. We have mass produced them. Nothing compares to their firepower."

Halle nodded and rubbed her chin. "Right. They'll expect us to hit there next."

"But this time it'll be different," I said.

"Why?"

"Because it will. We're closer to the spirit world. That'll help us."

Halla shared a look with one of her commanders. "Your Highness, I am not so sure."

"Al is right," Dy chimed in and tipped her head to the side, folding her arms over her chest. "We might not have Barr with us anymore, but we have Al. You haven't seen what she can do."

"I'm sure it's quite impressive, but we need more than promises. Why didn't you turn the battle in Andahavn?"

"Because the spiritual energy wasn't as strong as it is up here. You have actual spiritual energy flowing from Bursaaq to Aatskina and Paamut. Something is blocking it in Andaheim. Why do you think neither me nor the rest of my family have been able to contact the spirits for so long? My oldest brother is the only one who has been granted access to the spirit world for generations. He died in Bursaaq and the spirits found him. Quinn is the first to break through the barrier on his own but it was killing him. That's why we had to leave Barr in Andahavn with Quinn. That's why we need to destroy whatever is blocking the spiritual energy. And I think we need to start in Bursaaq."

"We'll invade Bursaaq then. But you will find the block. If this can turn the war, we can't sit around and wait for Andahavn to fall. Especially not for the next two years. We don't have the resources for it and who knows how long the Kabiran forces can hold Skyen."

"I guess we're going on another adventure," Dy muttered and looked down at me.

"I guess we are."