"Is there a way that you can gather more elves?" asked Inyanga, looking at Haldir.

Haldir gasped. He shifted in his chair slightly. He couldn't speak for a fraction of a second as he stared at the young girl sitting in front of him. "No, I can't," he replied in an unnaturally quiet voice.

​​

"How can that be possible?" Inyanga frowned. "You are the master spy of all the realms combined."

Haldir's expression turned that to surprise and then shock. But once again those fleeted across his face so quickly that no one could notice. Inyanga raised her eyebrow. Haldir cleared his throat. He wondered how would this girl know anything about him?

"Your mental shields are too low. At the moment I can read almost anything about you," came a reply as soft as a caress he missed hundreds of years ago. His lips parted slightly. His knees felt shaky and there was a quiver in the stomach. How could this be possible? He looked at Adrianna. Even his Queen couldn't pass through those mental barriers. He was too strong for anyone to get past him. Immediately, he concentrated to create a stronger barrier around his mind but howsoever he tried, that gentle feeling that was as smooth as feathers remained.

Adrianna narrowed her eyes. She couldn't fathom the sudden changes in Haldir's expressions but what surprised her was "Master Spy."

"What do you mean 'master spy'? I've never heard that term."

Inyanga shifted her gaze to Adrianna. She didn't know that Adrianna did not know this thing about Haldir. Regretting her words, she had two options: One to tell her the truth or two, hide Haldir's secret. She went for the former.

"Haldir is the master spy of all the realms, although surprisingly he had been sitting dormant for a few hundred years now," she replied. "He has the sharpest spy-brain and has completed many successful missions. I am sure their are way too many people who would want him."

"How do you know that?" asked Adrianna fury rising inside her. Why did Haldir hide that information from her?

Inyanga realized that she had gotten inside Haldir's mind so easily. Embarrassed, she squirmed in her place. "I had heard about an elf entering the wizard realm from my queen who had ruled our kingdom for over a thousand years before retiring…" Inyanga had to lie.

Adrianna cocked her head towards Haldir. There was something not right about his expressions. She really wished to talk more about it, but she didn't have the time. Perhaps later, when one day they would all sit together…

"Let us hurry in that case," she insisted controlling her anger.

Inyanga breathed a sigh of relief. "Allow me to create the portal to your kingdom," she said and rose from her chair. She led them all to the garden outside the palace. Adrianna gave her the coordinates. Inyanga created a beautiful portal. As she brought her hand forward, the leaves and flowers from her garden flew towards her. They exploded softly into thousands of fragments. They swirled around in a circle, which became bigger by the second. The circle slowly formed a picture of a world unknown to them – it looked like a village, only too mythical.

Haldir's skin tingled, and his eyes bulged. This was impossible.

Suddenly, the circle was blasted with a splash of water and a hole was created in the center. The water traveled to the sides to generate waterfalls near the tiny homes.

Everyone in the group gasped. This was the most beautiful portal they had ever seen. The first one to walk through it was Mihr. He took his finger to touch the edge of the portal when Inyanga shouted, "Don't! You will get sucked in it."

Mihr withdrew his finger in shock and stepped in it. Mozias followed. Shang Kui, Adrianna and Enya went after them. Too numb to think anything else, Haldir kept on watching the portal.

"Let's go," said Inyanga. Haldir nodded slightly as though in a trance and stepped inside. Inyanga followed him. She stepped inside the portal as a queen in her gorgeous gown but stepped out as a teenager wearing her black jeans, orange shirt and sneakers.

Haldir stopped to turn back and look at the portal she had created. He watched it until the portal disappeared and then walked to the royal palace of his queen.

---

Niiya and Dr. Tanaka was sitting with the General in the study to discuss how to take the action forward.

"This is unfair," reasoned Niiya. "You cannot use modern day weaponry with the people from other realms. The treaty cannot be breached. And if you will use your armory against them, it is going to be catastrophic."

"It can't be more catastrophic than letting waste rot on our own lands when we know that we can use the vast oceans and that too for the next hundred years without any hindrance," replied the General as he swirled the wine in his glass. "And as for the people of the other realms—I don't have time to bother about them. We need to bother about us." His voice was as cold as a thousand shards of ice.

"What if they retaliate in ways you can't even think about? They are powerful people," said Niiya.

The General gave a piercing look to Niiya. "You forget one thing Niiya. Ziu is with us and so is every ally of Ziu."

"So?"

"So with strong allies like Ziu, we don't have to worry anything about the 'powerful' people you are talking about," said the General taking his hand up in the air to form an apostrophe on the word powerful.

The meeting with the General was interrupted by when the door of the room opened and Ziu entered. Niiya was stunned to look at him. He mentally berated Isidorus for not having any control or watch over Ziu.

Dressed in black pants and a black shirt, with golden hair combed back, he looked dangerous. "Good evening gentlemen," he said and extended his hand to the General. "I am Ziu."

The General kept his glass on the table, rose from his place and firmly shook Ziu's hand. "Welcome," he said with excitement.