When Sadie had entered the Primal Realm known as the Eternal War, she’d had ten thousand people behind her. Now, nearly half of those people were dead. At last count, they’d lost three thousand, nine hundred-and-eight-two people, and there were a few hundred who wouldn’t make it much longer without the attention of a talented Healer and quite a lot of luck.

Magic was a great tool, but there were some injuries it just couldn’t heal. Sometimes, the body just gave out. Or the individual refused to fight on. Either way, the casualties were not finished. There were still more to come.

As she watched the weary soldiers – heroes every one of them – filing through the portal and back into the real world, her mind dwelled on the past few weeks. When she’d beaten the ogre and hobgoblin champions, she’d hoped that victory would spell the end of the conflict.

She was wrong.

So, so very wrong. Certainly, it provided a window where her people could gain an advantage, but once the two opposing armies had recovered from the shock of seeing the best among them so summarily beaten, it had turned into a bloody affair.

Even now, weeks later, she had flashbacks of the immediate aftermath. The blood, the driving rain, the mud – it all coalesced into a nightmarish couple of hours that she desperately wished she could forget. The gurgling cries of dying men, hobgoblins, and ogres still hung in the air. She could almost hear it, even when she knew she’d left it all far behind.

The thought of so many dead twisted her stomach into knots. It had been her decision to attack. They could have simply left the two opposing armies alone, letting them tear one another to pieces. In a conventional war, that would have been the most viable option. However, when the system and levels were involved, that logic just didn’t track.

For every enemy they killed, they gained experience, and at a faster rate than a real person would have. Whoever came out of that melee intact would be far stronger than when the battle had started. And given that most of Sadie’s army were already outmatched, that would have been a recipe for disaster.

Or at least that was the idea at the time.

Looking back, Sadie believed that disaster was inevitable regardless of how she attacked the problem. There were issues with every approach. From guerilla tactics to a straightforward charge, every single plan had significant holes. Most were due to the disadvantage that came from fighting against a pair of armies comprised of long-extinct elder races, and ones known for their commitment to war.

In that way, the final battle had been like ripping off a Band-Aid. Unpleasant but necessary.

She shook her head and let out a groan.

“What is it?” asked Jari. She glanced in his direction, wincing at his injury. The man had lost the bottom third of his right leg, and the only reason he’d remained upright was because someone had affixed a crude prosthetic to the stump.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one who’d lost limbs. A full quarter of the survivors were going back home with less limbs than when’d they’d begun the war. The only solace was that with the increased strength and dexterity of their lofty attributes, that wasn’t nearly as debilitating as it once would have been.

Plus, Jari claimed that there were Tradesmen back in Svetogorsk who could make articulable prosthetics that could move almost as well as a real body part.

She doubted his optimism, but she didn’t gainsay his claim.

Indeed, she wished she felt some sliver of the hopefulness to which he so desperately clung.

“I need to leave this place,” she said softly. “It muddles the mind and darkens the heart.”

“It is war.”

Such a simple statement, but so much was said in only three words. Of all people, Jari knew war better than most. He’d been a soldier before the world’s transformation, and he’d continued in that role afterwards as well. His perspective had been valuable during the Primal Realm. Without him, they never would have succeeded.

“Thank you for your assistance,” she said, and not for the first time.

“It was my duty and a pleasure,” he replied, pounding his fist to his chest in their curious manner of salute.

“Go. I intend to be the last one through.”

“As is your right.”

The final group of soldiers passed through the portal, which stood in precisely the same place it had since they had entered the Primal Realm. The only difference was that it had been inactive until they’d killed every last ogre and hobgoblin in the realm. That task, simple though it was, had taken weeks to complete. The last holdout had been a hobgoblin who’d built a trap that ended up killing three people before the others could finish him off.

The war had been grueling and brutal to the very end, and now Sadie just wanted to go home.

The only problem was that she wasn’t entirely certain what that meant. Once, she might have unhesitatingly labeled the Heaven’s Bastion compound in Hong Kong her home. But now, after everything that had happened – her brother’s descent into petty scheming, her grandfather’s attitude, and Dat’s death – she couldn’t think of it that way. So, was the grove her home?

No. That was Elijah’s home. She was fine being a visitor, but she would always be that. Perhaps she could make her home in Ironshore, but she’d not had time to explore any of that before she’d been swept away and into another Primal Realm.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

In any case, her next stop was Svetogorsk, then the grove where she hoped to reunite with Elijah. A friendly face and a little comfort would go a long way toward improving her morose mood.

Those thoughts and more flitted through her mind as she watched the last of the army trudge through the portal. Rain continued to fall, heavier than normal, and the smell of blood still hung in the air. That just seemed like part of the atmosphere by that point. She couldn’t grow accustomed to it, though. The scent raised her hackles and put her in a heightened state where she expected violence at every turn.

Finally, the last of her soldiers went through. She was a slight girl with straw-colored hair that had long since lost its luster. One of the Rangers. Deadly in her own way, delicate in another. Just before the girl – no, the woman – went through, they locked eyes. An understanding passed between them. The knowledge of what they’d seen was buried in that single glance.

And then she was gone.

Sadie took one last look at her surroundings, noting the walls of the fortress they’d built immediately upon arrival. They seemed so quaint, now. So unnecessary. And they would disappear the second she left.

“Good,” was her only response to that thought.

Then, without further ado, she followed her army through the portal and into the bright light of a noonday sun. She almost let out a gasp as she felt the warmth wash over her.

The temperature wasn’t much different than within the Primal Realm she’d just left behind, but that wasn’t what she felt anyway. It had been so long since she’d experienced real, undiluted sunlight that she had forgotten what it really felt like. Now, she remembered, and she appreciated it all the more for its lack over the past year.

Or the better part of one.

Time was difficult to track in the Eternal War. Not because they lacked a day-night cycle. The days came and went the same as they did on Earth. But with constant battle, those days had begun to blend together.

She thought it’d been close to a year, though. Maybe as few as nine months.

Either way, she was ready to go somewhere – anywhere – else.

But she couldn’t abandon her soldiers. Not yet. The area surrounding the Primal Realm wasn’t nearly as dangerous as the Eternal War itself, but that didn’t mean they could travel entirely unmolested. So, they formed up into their squads and swept across the landscape.

Fortunately, they only met with a few ogres along the way, and those fell with frightening quickness. But it still took the better part of eight hours for Svetogorsk, in all its fortess-like glory, to come into view.

When it did, many of the soldiers wept openly. Others laughed. Still others just stared ahead with that same numbness that had characterized so many expressions over the past few months. Jari said, “Home sweet home.”

“Not for me.”

“It could be,” he said. “You would be welcome here. The soldiers, they all respect you. The people will too. You could rule. Ivanka would step down for you.”

“Really?” Sadie asked, looking at the big Finn. He wasn’t prone to joking, but his claim was a little too wild to be anything else. “She would just step down?”

“Ivanka does not love having authority over others. If anyone else could have done it, she would have ceded control long ago,” he answered. “You are someone else.”

“What about you?”

“I am a soldier. Not a leader.”

That much was true enough. As much as Sadie had relied on Jari during the Primal Realm, it had quickly become apparent that he didn’t really do well when he was forced to think on his feet. However, if he had a task before him and clear instructions on how to accomplish it, he was a battering ram of reliability.

Of course, everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. Jari was just aware of his own.

“I can’t,” she said. She really meant that she wouldn’t. She had come to Svetogorsk for a purpose, and now that it was finished, she had no interest in staying. When even the atmosphere prompted conflict, she could never be comfortable. Still, Sadie did appreciate that Jari thought so highly of her.

“ I see. I expected as much, but I hoped for a different response,” he said. “Will you come inside? Have a meal? Ivanka makes very good karjalanpiirakat. Very tasty with egg butter.”

Sadie shook her head. “I think it’s best if I leave sooner rather than later,” she answered. In addition to her desire to return home, she didn’t want to give the other soldiers false hope that she might stay. In a place like Svetogorsk, that could be dangerous.

“Very well,” Jari said. He placed his hands on her shoulders, then looked down on her. “You are a mighty fighter and a good woman. Those two sides are constantly in conflict. Do not let either win.”

Then, without another word, he released her and started toward Svetogorsk. The other soldiers followed, though a few lingered to say their goodbyes as well. They were halfhearted and weak, though. As much as they admired and respected her, she still wasn’t one of them. And she’d just proven as much, which brought a few sullen reactions to the fore.

Sadie ignored those.

And when the last of the soldiers entered the fortress city, she turned around and headed in the direction of the Conclave Spires.

Then it hit her.

For the first time in months, she was alone. Truly and unequivocally alone. She’d almost forgotten what it was like, not having someone constantly looking over her shoulder. In the Primal Realm, there was always someone around. Even when she was bathing – on those rare occasions when it was possible – there was a soldier there. To go it alone was to risk death, and she was so important that nobody would think to allow that.

Rather than feel elated at her freedom, she suddenly felt lonely. Her steps faltered and, for the briefest of moments, she considered going back into Svetogorsk where she could enjoy the psychological safety that came with being part of a whole.

It didn’t last long, though, and after only a little while, she caught sight of her destination. The curved spires that didn’t quite meet at their apex made for an impressive sight, but she was far more interested in what they represented.

So, it was with some impatience that she explained to the local Space Mage where she wanted to go, paid her fee, then settled in to wait for her turn. It took almost an hour, largely because there were two other groups that had arrived before her. But when it came time for her to go home, she eagerly stepped within the circle at the center.

“Please do not cross the line. Teleportation in ten seconds. Nine. Eight…”

Down he counted until, at last, he reached one. A second later, Sadie appeared in the forest just outside Ironshore. The ethera hit her like she’d stumbled into a solid wall. The atmosphere around and inside the Primal Realm had been dense, but the air outside Ironshore practically crackled with energy.

Sadie breathed deep, sucking in the vitality alongside the smell of dense foliage. It felt almost like home, even if she knew it wasn’t. But she was welcome there, and that was all she really cared about.

The trip through Ironshore and across the strait was blurry. She barely noticed the people of Ironshore or the state of the city itself. Instead, she strode through town and rowed the little boat in a daze, losing track of time as she drew closer.

When she got to the dock, she was a little surprised that no one was there to greet her.

And then she saw him.

He strode from the tree line, and then broke into a run. Sadie was moving before she even knew what she was doing. When they met only a couple of seconds later, she practically leaped into his arms. Burying her face in his shoulder, she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.

“Welcome home,” Elijah said, his voice wavering.