Luke closed the door behind him. The moment it clicked shut, the world outside felt distant, muted. The only sound left was the gentle whisper of fabric sliding through her hair.

  “I’ve been through this city before,” Allison said, settling a towel across her lap. “Back when I used to travel with my adoptive mother.”

  She meant Camlann, the city just a few miles away. For most people, it was the gateway to the New World. For her, it seemed to hold pieces of a life long gone.

  “Maybe you can show me around,” Luke suggested. “We could grab lunch there with everyone.”

  “The reunion we planned happened earlier than expected,” she teased.

  A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  “Yeah. We could celebrate in a restaurant somewhere.”

  As they talked, Allison began brushing her hair. Long, golden strands fell over her shoulders like a shimmering waterfall. Unlike Luke and the others, she hadn’t cut hers, whether out of attachment, habit, or because it was one of the last remnants of the identity she was trying to abandon, he didn’t know.

  “In the interview, I didn’t identify myself as Allison Rhiannon,” she said, eyes drifting to the small mirror propped against the wall.

  “Good,” Luke replied, dry but sincere.

  It made sense. Announcing her real name or alerting her family would trigger complications none of them were ready for. Allison wanted to vanish. Start from zero. He understood that completely.

  “I told them my name is Henry,” she added. “I took it from one of the people who died in that cave where we fought the Ant Queen. Now I’m just a nineteen-year-old boy from Maine. Henry.”

  And from now on, she would live with him and the Baumanns. That would be strange. They had grown used to the medieval world, and now they would return to a place where you could take a bus, ride the subway, and use a cellphone.

  “And the Guide?” Luke asked. “Did you get offers for Divine Orders?”

  “A few. I turned them all down.” She glanced at the slim bracelet on her wrist. “My Guide was an ice elemental. He, or she, was helpful. I managed to buy a few things. Like this ring that boosts my ice spells.”

  She raised her hand, showing the silver ring resting on her thumb. It caught the dim light, gleaming softly. Her nails were neatly trimmed now, different from before, a small sign she was trying to adapt to the new world, at least on the outside.

  “I bought something for my new class too,” Luke said, pulling his own ring from the inventory to show her.

  Allison already knew he had chosen a second class, but everything had been so hectic she hadn’t asked what exactly he had picked up.

  “Your nails are still long and sharp like claws,” she noted. “Want me to cut them with my katana?”

  “No, thanks.” He took a step back. “I’ll trim them later.”

  Allison extended her arm then, revealing a thin silver bracelet, even slimmer than the last, almost like a ring stretched to fit her wrist.

  “And this bracelet too.”

  Luke leaned in to get a closer look.

  “And what does that one do?”

  “Secret,” she replied with a short laugh. “And I hope you never find out.”

  Luke lifted both hands, blue circles glowing to life across his palms. It was his teleportation skill.

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  “Oh, really? Miss Secrets over here… you see this in my hand? It’s an amazing skill I bought, but… you’re not gonna find out what it is.”

  Allison raised her eyebrows but kept the playful tone. “Mine has a reason. I’ll tell you when we get to Maine.”

  She resumed combing her hair with an almost meditative calm, as if the motion helped her line up her thoughts.

  “And don’t stall on the interview,” she added. “The sooner you finish, the sooner we get to your house.”

  “I know, I’m going,” Luke said. “I was just waiting for Jack to come back.”

  He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him.

  “Luke…”

  He faced her again.

  She hesitated. Her fingers still held the comb, but her eyes stayed low. A curtain of blond hair fell forward, hiding part of her face and giving her a rare, fragile look.

  “Do you think… your family… will really… accept me?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

  The air seemed to thicken for a moment.

  Luke stepped back toward her.

  “Of course they’ll accept you,” he replied, steady and sure. “You’re part of my family now.”

  “Right…” she murmured, slowly returning to combing her hair, though the tension hadn’t fully left her shoulders.

  “Don’t worry. They’re just a normal, regular, very kind family. Believe me, I’m nervous to see them too. It’s been a year. At least we’ll have plenty of stories to tell.”

  He tried to sound upbeat, but the truth pressed against his chest. Anxiety, longing, and a touch of shame tangled inside him, especially the shame of having run away from home. But the longing was stronger than anything else. And he wouldn’t be returning alone. Besides Allison, the Baumanns would suddenly find themselves hosting a skeletal knight woman and a stone angel. The family was about to grow in every possible sense.

  Not to mention the chatty, gluttonous soul tagging along.

  As he stepped out of the room, Luke touched the necklace he carried and peered into his pocket dimension. Inside, the wyvern core where Franky hibernated pulsed faintly.

  I’ll also have to explain the grumpy snake, he thought. Until I go back to the New World, that guy’s going to be living with me temporarily.

  ***

  Luke had left the house a while ago for his interview, and the moment the door closed behind him, the entire place fell into a deeper stillness. Allison remained seated on the bed, studying the thin silver bracelet around her wrist. The metal gave off a soft sheen, reflecting the light instead of absorbing it. A second one rested on her other hand. She turned the band between her fingers before making it vanish with a small flick.

  She knew the map of the New World better than most, especially this region. She knew exactly where Camlann lay: the starter city, the arrival point for everyone crossing over from the modern world. Beyond it stretched the other kingdoms, their borders marked by distinct architecture, unique cultures, and histories woven together since the first ships docked centuries before.

  Camlann was the most developed point on the continent. It was there that humanity had set foot for the first time in this new land, guided by the Orders and the World Kings. According to the old reports, the planet had undergone a massive transformation back then, opening passages to continents that seemed to appear overnight — and Camlann became the first stable foundation when everything changed.

  No king ruled that city. It was managed jointly by kingdom representatives, a place of reception, organization, and triage. From there, newcomers were sent to other realms, recruited, trained, or simply sheltered until they found their path.

  Allison rose from the bed and walked to the window. The curtains were shut, but she opened a narrow gap to peek outside. The village was calm, its rooftops simple, its narrow streets brushed with a thin layer of dust. A peaceful scene, a stark contrast to the storm building inside her.

  Then she felt it.

  A breath of frost escaped her lips in a small, visible plume. It wasn’t the cold that came from her own ice magic. It didn’t originate from the dragon heart inside her.

  This was something else. Something external. Powerful. Close.

  The room’s temperature dropped instantly. The wooden walls groaned as if contracting. The still air thickened into something sharp. Outside, snowflakes drifted into view — first tentative, then falling steadily.

  “No…” she whispered, her stomach plunging.

  The snowfall swelled far too quickly to be natural. This wasn’t weather.

  It was a presence. Familiar. Ancient.

  Unwanted.

  The storm swept over the village like a heavy cloak, covering rooftops, swallowing colors, drowning everything in white. The wind carried a distant murmur, something between a greeting and a warning.

  Then she saw it.

  Silhouetted against the gray sky, a colossal shape emerged. A massive wooden ship — but not one built for water. It hovered above the rooftops, gliding slowly through the very blizzard it had summoned. Trails of frozen air spiraled in its wake.

  It was descending.

  “They found me.” Her voice cracked despite her attempt to hold it steady.

  The Rhiannon family had arrived.

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