PROLOGUE
JULY 794 A.E.
EARTH GATE
The air was thick with tension. A procession of uniformed soldiers, like a river of red, streamed out of the glassy portal en masse, throwing the desert city’s residents into a panic as they thundered down the sandy roads. Families fled for the shelter of their clay and mud-brick homes, and the cries of adults and children alike filled the squares. The city’s police and military swarmed out to round up the stragglers and stop the invading forces’ advance.
The ground rumbled and roiled, launching sand, dust and rocks into the air, and streaks of flame lit the debris in eerie yellows and oranges.
The enemy general’s serpentine smile curled up toward his thick, dark mustache as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and narrowed his almond eyes. “It won’t be long now,” he said. “We will have the rest of the Keys.” Raising his arm like an orchestra conductor, he directed his elite platoon forward. The earth beneath them rumbled again, the parched ground split open, and chunks of super-heated rock spit out toward the city’s defenders. Sharp boulders erupted from the rock and shielded the men from their onslaught. His vanguard continued to advance and melted the stone. “Surrender and bring out the Key Guardian.”
A woman with an escort of two men came out to meet the army. Decked out in a long, airy dress, with silver and gold bangles around her wrists, the woman stood with a regal air and unflinchingly held the general’s gaze. She spoke to the city army first, in their own tongue. “Enough. Dharmísh needn’t be leveled for my sake.” The soldiers stood down but stayed close.
The general’s eyes glistened with hungry anticipation as he stepped forward to meet her, his soldiers still at the ready. “Hand over the Keys, woman.”
“You’ll find none of them here,” she answered in thickly-accented Japanese.
“You bluff.” The general burned into her with a hard stare, but she still did not falter. He turned to his men. “Search her. Search the city, and find them.”
His men dispersed. Soon, one returned shouting, “General Tetsuyama!”
“Report.”
“A vendor outside the city gates saw a woman leaving in a hurry. Said she disappeared in a flash of light. Could it be a Key?”
The general scowled. “She used herself as a decoy and sent the Keys ahead to another Guardian?” He brushed his hand along his chin, thinking. “If her aim is the Water Gate, this will just accelerate our plans. Tell the portal controller to reset the location to the Kaita Village.”
WATER GATE
Alarm bells rang through the evening air as the clouds of billowing grey smoke drew closer and closer, and the light of the flames became visible over the trees. The young woman and several older men who made up the Council directed crowds of people out of the village. “That woman has brought them here!” one of the elders cried. The Councilwoman glanced briefly at the bronze-skinned foreigner who waited nearby.
“Mizuki-sensei!”
A small, teen-aged boy hurried toward them, and the Councilwoman motioned for the woman to come forward. As the Councilwoman continued to herd the villagers away, she told the boy, “Takeshi, take Miko to Night’s Sea. The Llanian army must not get their hands on her Key!” She quickly tossed him a glittering, aqua-colored gemstone. “Go!”
Takeshi nodded determinedly. “Follow me, Mrs. Shimizu!” he called to the foreigner. She hurried after him as he took off through the woods that spread between the village and their destination. The trees and thick underbrush finally gave way to an open field of grass. An oriental castle with a sprawling staircase leading up to its entrance loomed not too far ahead. As they reached the staircase and started upward, they could hear voices at their rear.
“They’re catching up to us!” Miko panted.
“Don’t worry,” Takeshi assured her, “We’re going to make it!”
The stairs seemed unending until Miko and Takeshi finally reached the top, pulled the heavy iron doors open and let them slam shut on their heels as they stepped inside. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see a glassy distortion, like a ring of dimly-glowing water, hanging in the middle of the wide room. “There,” Takeshi said, pointing. “You need to hurry!” Miko cast a glance over her shoulder, bade him farewell with a brief bow and vanished through the rippling portal.
Takeshi clutched the crystal that the Councilwoman had given him in his hand. Please hurry, he pleaded inwardly, staring worriedly at the portal where Miko had stood only seconds before.
Five men wearing red army uniforms burst through the castle doors behind him. Their leader roared, “Where is the Earth Gate woman?!”
Takeshi slipped the gemstone into his pocket as he turned to face the Fire Gate invaders. “She’s already gone,” he replied calmly.
