Once again, Hazelmere and Vukasin went to the palace.

Once again, they were led to see the royal advisor first.

And once again, their request to see the Emperor was denied.

Hazelmere tried persuading the guards-commander to help her and reveal if there’s an alternative way of seeing his majesty, but he didn’t budge one bit. At first, she considered bribing him but, seeing his unwavering resolve, she decided against it.

So, once again, Hazelmere returned to her camp empty-handed. However, she had much more success with the transcendent priest. Even though no trace of demonic corruption was detected on the scrolls, he agreed to summon some of his astrologists.

And he was willing to do it immediately.

Of course, since a courier had to deliver his orders, it took some time for them to reach the camp.

But, once they’ve arrived, the transcendent priest organized a meeting right away, insisting he takes part in it. Wanting to show her gratitude for his eagerness to help, Hazelmere agreed.

However, the meeting started on the wrong foot, and it only got progressively worse.

At first, Hazelmere tried explaining the logic of the runes to the astrologists, but it was immediately obvious that they had no clue what she was talking about. As Hazelmere started getting into details, explaining how one scroll transfers its information to the other, the astrologists lost all interest in the presentation. Instead of her, they looked at each other with expressions of complete loss.

After much time has passed, Hazelmere finally finished her presentation.

“Do you think this strange movement has anything to do with the celestials and celestial planes?” She asked.

“No,” an old male responded. His dull voice emphasized the shortness of his response.

Hazelmere narrowed her eyes, mouth opening in agitation.

“Because …”

“Because that’s not how celestials or celestial planes work.”

“The celestials like Moon are the only round objects that fit the description,” Hazelmere retorted, “the worlds aren’t round. The fact that the people won’t start falling off of it, no matter how far they travel, is proof of that. Also, if that were the case, there would be no water on it. All the water would slide right off. The only huge, round things we can come up with are the celestials.”

“I don’t know what you have calculated and just how big of an error there is, but that’s not how celestials work.”

Hazelmere frowned, putting her hands on her hips as her tail started swishing left and right in agitation.

“Well then, can you please enlighten us on how it is that the celestials do work, mister?”

“You mages have been looking down on astrology since its inception. Not everything in life is logical, especially the divines.”

“Then, please, explain this illogical behavior to us! We would really like to know!”

“What’s the point? Even when I do explain it, you won’t believe me.”

“Can you please humor our royal archmage?” The transcendent priest politely involved himself. His gargantuan, dominating shape made it very easy for him to get the other people’s attention with a single move of his hand.

The astrologist sighed.

“Moon … she isn’t moving in circles. Nor is any other celestial moving in such a manner. When Sun has to rest, he retreats to his stronghold, giving Moon a little bit of his light to shine in the darkness. Then, once our Lord and savior is energized once again, he ascends back to the skies.”

“But, if that is the case, then why does our Lord Sun retreats to the west in the evening but rises in the east? Shouldn’t he rise and set down in the same place if he spends the nights at his stronghold?” Peratha asked.

The astrologist lowered his head, grabbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“That’s what I meant you wouldn’t believe. The logic of the mortal world doesn’t apply to the celestials. That’s why magic can’t help us understand the celestials or celestial planes, it’s limited by worldly logic! The heavenly logic has absolutely nothing to do with it!”

Peratha opened her mouth to continue the debate, but the transcendent priest raised his big hand to stop her:

“So … what you’re saying is that what our mages have described has nothing to do with the celestials or celestial planes?”

“Precisely! I don’t know what they’ve found, but it has nothing to do with the celestials! The celestials aren’t chaotic like that!”

The transcendent priest turned his head towards Hazelmere. He tried moving his body too but was unable to do so without putting more effort.

“You’ve tried reaching his majesty about this, but you’ve been denied an audience with him?”

“That is correct. That is why we had hoped your astrologists might provide us with some insight.”

The priest stared at the ground for a few moments.

“I can try arguing with his majesty, to get you the audience, but I think that would be useless. We disagree on many things … he wants to have absolute power in the realm and the church is in his way. He’ll only get more arguments against me if I question him once again. It’s clear that he intends to tarnish the church’s reputation, trying to present us as the power-hungry, selfish slobs to the people, and I don’t want to give him a single excuse to do that. Perhaps it’s for the best for him to reap what he has sown.”

Hazelmere’s ears twitched involuntarily: “Your excellence?”

The priest let out a huge sigh: “I do share your concerns, but if our Emperor doesn’t care then, perhaps, you should do as he commands. And, if the portal turns out to be a failure, if we can’t board the world for the reasons you’ve explained, then all of it will be his fault. If he tries blaming the mages for the failure, I’ll make sure everyone knows your hands were tied.”

“My lord?” The old astrologist looked quite taken by surprise.

The looks on mages’ faces were no different.

“Are you telling us the church will side with the mages? I thought you saw us as competition,” Peratha said.

Hazelmere turned towards her, looking ready to murder her on the spot.

But the priest just laughed in a deep yet low voice.

“Heh, heh … not me. Yes, I have many disagreements with the mages, and I do think magic is incredibly dangerous. But, you have your purpose and we have ours. Both the mages and the church serve the divines, the only difference is that the mages have taken a more selfish approach. Which, I must admit, is sometimes more effective.”

“Well, that is strange. I have never heard anyone from the clergy say anything similar,” Peratha continued, unconcerned with Hazelmere’s silent wrath.

“We all grow over time, someone of your age should know that. Weren’t you much more zealous, naïve, and close-minded when you were an inexperienced mage? It’s the same with the people of faith. Understanding comes with wisdom, and wisdom comes with age.”

The priest sighed once again: “Sadly, it looks as if the age came alone in the case of our Emperor. But that’s a different topic. The point is that, at the moment, we have the same goal, which is why I’m willing to forget about our differences and offer you my full support. But, the question is … will you take it?”

All the present mages looked at Hazelmere.

“Umm …”

“I’m not asking you to rebel against the Emperor, quite the contrary! I’m asking you to do what he wishes despite your reservations. And, when the Emperor’s plan fails due to his arrogance, when accusations start flying, we will watch each other’s back.”

Hazelmere hesitated some more before giving her answer.

---

There was some intense arguing among the archmages after that, but they managed to agree after a week. They have decided to summon the portal and hope for the best. Just like the transcendent priest had said, their hands were tied.

So, they got back to work. Since all the scrolls were deciphered way ahead of schedule, the archmages helped the other mages fill the crystals with magical energy.

And a few moons later, everything was ready.

There wasn’t some grand opening ceremony as one would expect. After all, the Empire was engaged in a costly war, so most of the nobles were busy leading their armies. Only three noble houses were called to join his majesty, to lead the expedition into the other world. In total, some two thousand soldiers of all types were gathered near the portal.

In front of the noble armies stood Heartwell’s legion. As the most distinguished legion in the Empire, it had the honor of going through the portal first.

The Emperor was nearby, sitting in his big, open carriage, accompanied by his favorite advisor and the trusted royal guards. Hazelmere and a few other archmages followed him closely.

“Are you well, Heartwell?” The Emperor asked, with a stupid grin on his face.

“I’m fine, your grace.”

“Has the royal archmage given you any trouble for your unfortunate skin complexion?”

“She never got in the way of my duties.”

The Emperor nodded, looking satisfied: “That’s good to hear! You’ve endured too much to be bullied by some pesky nobles. Speaking of which, you still don’t want your patch of land? How many battles has it been since we’ve met the first time? I appreciate what you and your legion are doing, but eventually, your luck will run out.”

“I’m perfectly satisfied with how things are at the moment. Although, I’d prefer fighting hosagians instead of babysitting the mages.”

That earned him a scornful glare from Hazelmere.

“As you wish!” The Emperor paid no attention to offense Heartwell gave, “But I need you here right now. Considering your legion is still operational, despite its combat record, I need you to ensure this excursion is a success. By the look of things, it’s undeniable that your name is serving you well! So I hope you will do well in the other world too.”

“My parents just wanted one of their newborn babies to survive, after four of my older siblings died right after birth.”

“Hmm … makes sense. And it’s a good thing it has actually worked! They say our names decide our destinies. I guess that’s true in your case.”

“Thank you, your majesty!”

“What about you, miss Hazelmere? Your name is also quite descriptive.”

“I don’t think that naming your child by the color of her eyes is very original.”

“You don’t like your name?” The Emperor’s voice betrayed his playfulness.

“It is not that I don’t like it, it is just that I don’t think it is something to be proud of.”

“Well then, let’s give you something to be proud of! Since we’re all here, you can start with the summoning! There’s no need to wait any longer!”

“At once, your majesty!” Hazelmere exclaimed as she, and the other accompanying archmages, bowed.

She left his majesty, joining the other archmages who have already arranged themselves in a circle around the huge plateau of the holy site, keeping a significant distance away from each other. The magical circle was already drawn on the ground, so all Hazalmere had to do was take her place in the middle of it. Each archmage was surrounded by several regular mages, also arranged in circles. Their purpose was to supply the archmages with the constant stream of mana so that the spell wouldn’t fail due to energy exhaustion. The archmages had to focus on their incantations’ timing and execution, so someone else had to drain the crystals for them.

As soon as all the archmages took their places in the circle, they started feeding it mana. They would use the staves in their hands to channel the mana while directing it into the drawn circle on the ground with their other hand. Slowly but surely, the circle started glowing in bright, bluish light. All of this made a gorgeous pattern, where the bluish traces of magical energy flowed from the archmages towards the center of the plateau where Hazelmere stood, while smaller magical currents traveled between them, connecting all the archmages into the magical circle.

However, after the circle was activated, nothing happened for a long time. The bright, blue, floating rivers of magical energy flowed along the circle as the archmages chanted the spells. All of them had tall stands in front of them, filled with the necessary scrolls. The spells had to be cast in a proper sequence to take effect, which is why each scroll received a number. As the spells were cast, Hazelmere would put the next number in sequence on display, so all the archmages would know when it was their turn to cast spells. Sometimes the summoning required several spells to be cast at once.

And that was all. The summoning started at dawn, with nothing changing even after Sun has started setting.

The Emperor got bored very quickly, retreating from the site for the time being. The assembled soldiers relaxed their posture, chatting with each other, and playing some games.

The first sign of something changing was the strange humming in the air. That got the soldier’s attention and made them get back on their feet, as if on command. The humming persisted, and after some time a small glow appeared high in the air. As the archmages’ chanting continued, the glow kept growing in size but started losing some of its intensity. It slowly grew bigger and bigger with each moment.

“Ok, it looks like we’re getting there,” the Emperor commanded loudly, “get ready lads!”

The soldiers reassembled quickly, but it took some time for the glow to grow enough to reach the ground. The archmages took no chances opting for slow but steady progress.

At one point, the glow disappeared entirely and was replaced by the ever-increasing darkness.

“Is it supposed to be like that?” The Emperor asked his advisor.

“I trust our mages know what they’re doing.”

By the time the spell grew enough to reach the ground, it had become as dark as the void. It was as if all the light nearby was swallowed by it.

And then, as it touched the ground, the portal opened.

Chilling everyone instantly.