Page 13 of A World Enough

“I wonder why that is,” Jhosa said with menace.

“Jhosa, stop.”

Margot led them over to an alehouse near her blacksmith’s and got them a table outside. A waitress brought over three jugs of beer and set them down.

“So, what happened on Danus?” Margot asked.

“I’ve been living, off and on, on a world called Earth. My brother Balor—”

“Balor?” Jhosa said.

Margot looked surprised. “I thought Vorka and her people had banished him to a realm where he’d never escape.”

Morrigan took a sip of her ale and nodded. “It was supposed to be a prison, but he had the help of a witch. But the paranormals of that world came together to stop him, and I was crucial to that plan.”

“Crucial?” Jhosa folded his arms.

“Well, maybe not crucial, but I helped. Anyway, when he was being banished, one of the wolves was caught in the crossfire and flung through the portal. I said I would help try to track her down.”

“Does she know about our realm and the portals?” Margot said.

Morrigan sighed. “No. Just that we were trying to stop Balor escaping from his.”

“I hope your friends know how hard that will be,” Jhosa said.

“I did explain, but I had to try. This is why Vorka sent me to you. When I came through the portal on Danus, Vorka and the monks’ temple had been attacked by the Abnobians.”

“Bastards.” All eight feet of Jhosa stood up and smashed his fist down on the table.

Margot scolded him. “Jhosa, we don’t know who is watching us.”

“Sorry,” he said quietly. “They just seem to be everywhere at the moment. We are supposed to be making their influence smaller, and all they do is continue to grow. Before long they’ll be—”

Margot pointed at her husband. “Don’t say it.”

“They’ll be running the whole realm like they used to.”

“Didn’t I say don’t even say it? No negativity here. We will prevail.”

Morrigan held up her hands. “As much as I like watching two married people fight in public, I had a reason for coming.”

“Sorry. Go ahead, Morrigan,” Margot said.

“Vorka sent the Map Keeper away as soon as they knew they were under attack. While I was with Vorka, they received intelligence that a werewolf, speaking in a language they didn’t understand, stepped in and saved Camber. The werewolf and Camber were last seen going through a portal, one after the other.”

“So your quarry has found the Map Keeper?” Jhosa said.

Morrigan nodded. “Vorka asked me to gather the portal guardians and for us to work together to find both of them. She couldn’t risk sending a signal, so she sent me with that token.”

“Okay,” Margot said, “we’re on board. We have to keep the Map Keeper safe. I don’t think we can ever afford to get other rebels involved.”

The rebellion was an organization of cells whose purpose was to attack and protest the Abnobian Empire. The portal guardians, the lead cell of the rebels, were led by Vorka, and she relied on the portal guardians to lead the rebels when needed.

“Where do we go to next?”

Jhosa rubbed his beard. “Thane? You haven’t offended him recently, have you?”

“Me? Never. I haven’t seen Thane in…a very long time, but he holds grudges,” Morrigan said.