However, I have since transcribed the words on these panels into a journal – the only one I took with me when I begged for your mother's aid.

❂❂❂

The first bombs hit the gate around Fort Ammeer. From aboard Queen Morgause's ship, Nell could almost convince himself that the specks he saw were fleas, or those pillbugs Micah sometimes ate after a foraging session in the woods. He could almost convince himself he wasn't complicit in the destruction of those people.

He wore heavy-duty wax in his ears so the sound of the cannons wouldn't deafen him, but they didn't help much. Screams echoed nearby, screams of people who had been conquered and forced to fight for the Horde's brutal regime. Alura's voice joined them. The screams of a woman who wanted to end the war before it began, who tried to help and was punished for her plan to stop the Horde. Mystacor claimed that she had changed in the end, that she was hungry for power – even Micah acknowledged that.

Nell rocked back and forth, feeling an episode come on. One of his professors suggested Nell should see someone about his issues. They'd said uncontrollable crying, trembling under stress, and mental shutdowns weren't normal.

But all Nell could hear was the echo of his father. Grow the hell up! You'll never know real pain! I nearly died due to that damn Delvalian, and now you're whimpering because of a little discipline!

Someday, Nell would grow up. But he had to be a child first. So he took off his glasses and wept silently into his hands, as the symphony of murder still resounded from afar.

"Master Nellith," a hard voice called. "Come."

Nell snapped up from where he'd been lying on his cot and pulled a wet cloth off his eyes. Princess Talyn stood at the entrance to his cabin, her mousy brown hair trailing down her chest. She inhaled. "I need you to help me take the main control unit."

Oh, no. "I...I'm Vernish, Princess," he said. "I can't fight."

"We're not fighting. You're not, anyway. But I need help in case I'm injured – and I need someone who can cloak us in invisibility while we make it up. Her Majesty of Salineas is ready to deploy her soldiers beyond the gate. There's no time to spare!"

Can I help? Nell knew basic illusionary spells, as all sorcerers did. Standing, he pushed his spectacles up on his nose. You can do this. You've got to.

Nell took two extra bottles of moondust for when he got strained. Queen Morgause stood at the ready; Nell got Talyn to the other side of the captain's cabin, then cloaked them and teleported to the shore.

The effort left him weak, and he took a moment to get his bearings. According to Micah, Light Spinner fought in the Battle of Illuras to save one of the villages. But she had almost died of magic strain in the process. Nell had more stamina than her, but he couldn't match her experience and intellect. Thus, he had always considered her more powerful.

He inhaled softly, taking Talyn by the arm. Nell still trembled from the episode. It was time to grow up. The soldiers marched ahead, and he gave them a wide berth as Queen Morgause's general, the Flounder, shouted orders at the troops. They split down the hallways of the open base, and Talyn inhaled. "Follow the group to our left," she whispered in his ear.

Shaking, Nell obeyed. Don't worry. As long as they don't touch you, they won't even know you're there.

The soldiers got in a clash with the Horde's forces; spearmen parried the enemy's green electric rods. Horde soldiers shocked several in the heart, and they slumped over on the floor, dead. Other spearmen were able to land shots on the chinks of the enemy's armor, stabbing them through the shoulder or neck.

Nell turned his eyes away from the bloodshed, wishing he could help the Horde troopers. He was a doctor. It was his duty to help those in need – not to decide who deserved to live. The war was so real now that he was here. The shouts of the innocent as they gutted one another...

"Nell," Talyn whispered harshly, "we need to go now. The main control unit is ahead." Twenty-five soldiers led the way, another ten dead on the floor. Nell followed them up the stairs to the door.

The soldiers took quick care of the guard at the door, and Talyn opened the computer as Nell dropped the cloak, exhausted. "Damn it," she cursed. "It's in Kriesges."

"Are you able to read it?"

"Of course not, you idiot," she snapped. "We can barely even translate it. So many sounds...so many characters..."

She gritted her teeth, and Nell shared her frustration. Kriesges was unlike any Etherian language, and Meyan scholars had a devil of a time trying to decipher it. "Can you alter the settings from here?" he suggested.

Talyn shook her head, continuing to type. "They don't even have the same writing system, but I at least know the phonetics. Perhaps..." she bit her lip, sighing in frustration. "Call my sister. She has a governess at home who can get us to her."

"I can only open channels of people I've met," he said, exhausted. "Might I contact your father?"

"Ata is busy overseeing affairs at the palace."

"What about your holo-pad?"

"I don't have one!" Talyn cried in frustration. "And if I can't get that power source back, if I fail..."

"We're not going to panic," Nell said firmly. "And you will not fail. Ground yourself, Princess. Please."

Talyn took deep breaths, her dark hair twitching of its own accord. "Perhaps..." she said softly, "perhaps I can get to the communication channel by myself."

Nell nodded. "All languages are about patterns. I learned Standard at school, and I grew up speaking Meyan and Florian. What patterns can you crack with Kriesges?"

"The nouns have genders," Talyn said, her voice shaking. Nell was used to the immovable rock of a woman; it was strange to see the princess so ruffled. "The articles also change based on whether they're the subject or object."

"Good. Do you know any vocabulary?"

Talyn took a deep breath. "Yes," she said. "Danışmaq in Rjali is sprechen in Kriesges. Kanal is a cognate."

Strange. Why would Kriesges have any cognates with an Etherian language? "And those words in Meyan?"

"Parlar and canal," Talyn said. "Speak and channel."

"Try those," Nell suggested. "Does the entrypoint still work?"

She nodded, typing in sprechen on the holo-pad. There was no reply. "Sprechen is the infinitive, I reckon," Nell said.

Talyn massaged her temples. "We don't know how to conjugate the verbs yet. Perhaps..." she typed in kanal, and multiple options came up.

Biting her lip, she shook her head. Nell spoke. "Read to me all the ones you do know. Quickly." There were sounds at the door; the enemy would find their way in soon, surely...

"Bewachen," Talyn said. "Guard. Verschiebungen – shifts. Taktik – it means taktika in Rjali, or tactics in Meyan..."

"Keep going," Nell said. "We'll review these later. Are you able to open the door?"

"The word is açıq in Rjali, but I don't know the word in Kriesges."

"In Meyan, it's obert," Nell offered. "Maybe it's similar?"

The pounding from behind the door grew louder. Talyn's mouth was set in a determined line as the Flounder bellowed, "Hold the line, men! Guard the Princess of Dryl and the good doctor!"

"Öffnen?" she tried. "Moons, this language is difficult." She opened the channel, and it asked for a passcode.

She shut her eyes. "I'm hacking it – these are numbers."

Scarcely had she said that when the door burst open, and Horde soldiers began to pour through.

❂❂❂

Did you know...

- This chapter was definitely an opportunity to show off my linguistics nerdiness. I'm fascinated by how different languages work and borrow from one another.

Tell me what you think...

- Do you think Nell should engage in combat more often? Why or why not?