Chapter 27

“What now?” Sol asked Archer.

“Now we need to return to Arkonia and find out what happened,” the Painter said.

“What?” Anka exclaimed. “Isn’t it obvious what happened?

“Kronveld attacked us!

“Even the police said he’s the primary suspect.”

“Maybe,” Archer said. “Or maybe we simply don’t have all the information yet.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“Archer!” Anka said. “Kronveld is dangerous!

“We can’t just go back to Arkonia as though nothing happened. Kronveld will be waiting for us!

“And this time, he might not make the same mistakes he made the first time.”

“Mistakes?” Archer asked.

“Yes!” Anka said. “I managed to teleport away, and you died and teleported back.

“I don’t think Kronveld expected that.

“I think he meant to kill all four of us.

“And now that he knows we can teleport away, his next attack could be even more dangerous.

“You and Sol are one thing—you’re practically immortal.

“But if he destroys me, I might not get another chance.”

“You’re right,” Archer said. “We almost lost you.

“Once was enough.

“We’re not putting you at that kind of risk again.”

“We need to proceed on the assumption that Kronveld is the primary suspect,” Anka said.

“All right,” Archer replied. “But let’s go through everything in order, from the beginning.

“Sol, I saw that the portal to Arkonia was closed. What happened?”

“The diplomatic mission to Arkonia failed,” Sol said.

“A few hours after the incident involving Kronveld, our diplomats were expelled from Pogrimar and sent back to Ankarian without explanation.

“Then an Arkonian mage came through the portal, closed it with a spell, and disappeared.

“I assume he teleported back to Pogrimar.

“The Arkonian diplomats are still here in City O, and they have no idea why the diplomatic mission was terminated.

“They don’t know how to get home.”

“Very suspicious,” Archer said. “The order to break off diplomatic relations could only have come from King Akbert.”

“I’m sure Kronveld fed him some story,” Anka said.

“It seems we’re no longer welcome in Arkonia,” Archer said, thinking aloud.

“I think it would be reckless to return to Pogrimar expecting them to receive us and explain what happened.

“So either we send a neutral intermediary to Pogrimar...

“Or we teleport somewhere other than Arkonia. The fourth continent, for example.”

“Frinian,” Sol said.

“Yes. Frinian,” Archer replied. “Akbert told us there are dozens of kingdoms there.

“I’m sure they have contact with him.

“We can probably find out what happened from one of those kingdoms.”

“Archer. Anka,” Sol said. “Let me ask you a broader question.

“Are we sure we want to keep pursuing this?”

“What choice do we have?” Archer asked. “Are you suggesting we just leave everything as it is?”

“The brush opened a portal to a world that needed us,” Sol said.

“But there was never any guarantee that it opened a portal to a problem we were capable of solving.

“Perhaps we simply aren’t powerful enough for this challenge.”

Archer thought for a moment.

Then he said:

“That’s true.”

“And what now?” Anka demanded. “We just abandon Arkonia?

“Abandon Akbert?

“Abandon Dola Ray and Vidya?

“Leave Galsius’s death unavenged?

“No!

“We have to go back!”

Archer remained silent.

“Perhaps there’s a way to approach the problem indirectly,” Sol said.

“What do you mean?” Anka asked.

“We could teleport to Frinian instead of Arkonia.

“We could try to learn their magic.

“We could disguise ourselves and conceal who we are.

“We could try to organize a resistance.

“And we could seek support from Trinity and the Four Crowns.”

“That makes sense,” Archer said.

“Yes,” Anka agreed. “I like the idea of an armed invasion.”

“Then we need to work through official channels,” Sol said.

“I have contacts within Trinity’s government. I can speak with key political figures and find out how willing they would be to launch a military operation in another world.

“At the same time, we can contact the authorities of the Four Crowns.

“I suspect they may be more willing to enter the conflict, since Kronveld allegedly killed their most famous scientist—a national hero and historic figure.”

“But first we need to establish Kronveld’s guilt,” Archer said.

“Yes,” Sol replied. “First we establish all the facts.

“Then we decide what action to take.”

Not long afterward, Archer received notice that his trial would take place the following day.

The trial was held in a virtual space, with Archer seated in the defendant’s chair.

The judge was an artificial person from Trinity.

Archer’s attorney was also an artificial person.

The prosecution was led by representatives of Trinity’s government.

Archer was charged with endangering the lives of citizens of Trinity and the Four Crowns.

Since all the Trinity citizens harmed in the incident were still alive and had spoken in Archer’s defense, the prosecution sought only two penalties:

a public apology from Archer,

and the confiscation of his magic brush for one year.

The centerpiece of the trial was Archer’s testimony during questioning by the prosecution.

“You were the leader of the group, correct?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” Archer replied.

“Were you responsible for the group’s safety?”

“Yes and no,” Archer said.

“Please explain.”

“We don’t have any specific safety rules,” Archer admitted. “There are no protocols we follow before entering an unknown world.

“Everyone in the group is responsible for their own safety and for the safety of the others.

“We use common sense.

“Beyond that, we improvise.”

“Before your journey to Arkonia, you spent a month working on an apple farm, correct?”

“Yes,” Archer replied.

“Were you given safety instructions for working on the apple farm?”

“Yes,” Archer said.

“So let me understand this,” the prosecutor said. “Even picking apples from trees requires safety procedures...

“Yet somehow, expeditions into unknown worlds do not?”

“Those are two different situations,” Archer said.

“Yes, we had no specific safety protocol for entering the magical dimension, but we took substantial precautions before going inside.”

“What precautions did you take?” the prosecutor asked.

“First, our group was accompanied by Arkonia’s archmage—the most powerful mage in the kingdom, and possibly in the entire world,” Archer said.

“He was supposed to serve as our guide through the magical dimension and protect us while we were there.

“Second, the archmage gave us special rings designed to protect us against attacks within the magical dimension.

“Third, the archmage and I made a short preliminary expedition into the magical dimension to make sure it was safe.

“Fourth, every member of our group wore full space armor, which provides substantial protection.”

“Did you test those rings in any way before entering the magical dimension?” the prosecutor asked.

“No,” Archer replied.

“And how long did you spend in the magical dimension during your preliminary expedition?”

“A few minutes,” Archer said.

“And you believe that was enough time to assess every possible danger?”

“I’ll say it again,” Archer replied. “Archmage Kronveld was with me.

“I relied on his judgment.

“If he believed those few minutes were enough, I wasn’t going to argue with him.”

“Knowing what you know now, what would you do differently if you had to return to the magical dimension?” the prosecutor asked.

Archer thought for a moment.

“I think I would send only Sol and our guide in first,” he said.

“Explain.”

“Sol is the only one of us whose loss can be compensated for almost immediately by a backup copy,” Archer said.

“When I die, I resurrect at the place where I last rested, but my resurrection takes some time—usually until the following day.

“There’s also a risk in sending me into an unknown dimension, because something there could take possession of our magic brush.

“Although we did take precautions against that possibility,” Archer added.

“Anka may be impervious to ordinary attacks, but if she is destroyed, we have no way to bring her back to life.

“Galsius only had one life as well.

“So sending Sol—who can easily make a copy of himself—would have been the most sensible choice.

“If he didn’t return from the expedition, we would know that something had gone wrong. We would know the dimension was more dangerous than we had thought.

“And if he did return, he could tell us about whatever dangers he encountered.”

“So you admit that not every possible precaution was taken?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” Archer said.

After hearing all the testimony, the judge ruled that Archer had taken sufficient precautions.

He was therefore found not guilty and would not be required to issue a public apology or surrender the magic brush.

The restriction preventing Archer from leaving the country was lifted.

The media carried news of Archer’s trial to every corner of virtual and physical space:

the founder of civilization had been found not guilty!

Anka ordered a robotic prosthesis for her left arm.

Before long, a doctor arrived with the prosthesis and attached it.

Following the doctor’s instructions, Anka tested her new arm.

After some additional calibration, everything worked properly. The robotic arm responded perfectly to her commands.

When the doctor left, Anka slowly moved the fingers of her new mechanical hand, studying them thoughtfully.

Then she took off her clothes and spent a long time looking at herself in the mirror.

Her left arm was the only part of her body she had lost completely, but several other areas were blackened by burns.

If Anka had not been undead, she probably would not have survived injuries that severe.

Then the three companions gathered to prepare for the continuation of their mission to save Arkonia.

Sol brought out three new sets of space armor and weapons, a special exosuit fitted to Galsius’s measurements, and four new flying motorcycles.

Archer created a new Scroll of Universal Translation and a new Amulet of Return for Sol.

“What’s our plan?” Archer asked.

“A portal to Frinian,” Sol said. “We establish contact with one of their kingdoms.

“From there, we investigate what happened in the magical dimension without returning to Arkonia directly.

“After that, we adapt to whatever we learn.

“And we try to find Galsius.”

“Agreed,” Anka said.

“All right,” Archer said. “If anything goes wrong, we grab our Amulets of Return and meet back here, in my living room.

“No unnecessary risks, okay?”

“Yes,” Anka said.

Sol nodded.

“Good,” Archer said.

They went to the spaceport, where the Painter used his brush to open a new portal within the stone arch.

This time, as he painted it, he held a specific destination in his mind:

A portal to Frinian.

The portal opened.

The three companions mounted their flying motorcycles and, one after another, flew through.