They arrived in the Green Vale late in the afternoon. The bronze dragons met them like before. They were much friendlier this time, offering to fly with Jarn on their own until they left the valley. Peter explained they were visiting their friends from before. “Glad to see all of you again, to,” he added. When they landed at High Hill, the Thornwoods came out to greet them.

  “To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?” Lord Arden asked.

  “We’re on our way to the monastery of Vulcuo,” Anna explained. “We were hoping to stop by and say hello on the way.”

  “We hope that’s alright,” Andrew said.

  “Of course!” Hannah said. “We’re happy to have you.”

  “It’s good timing, too,” Jeremy said. “I’ll be heading out in the next few days for Borac.”

  “Oh, that’ll be great!” Peter said. “I’ll be great to duel you again. Especially now that I’ve got another one as well,” he added, tapping the pommel of his second sword.”

  Jeremy blinked, looking at Peter for a moment. “Wait, did you learn to dual wield? And… You’re going to the tournament, too? I thought you’d be busy!”

  “We sort of will be,” Andrew said. “But we’ll be there.”

  “Will you be participating?” Jeremy asked.

  “I hope so,” Peter said, grinning.

  Then Andrew cut in. “I doubt we’ll have time during the meeting.”

  “What meeting would this be?” Lord Arden asked.

  “A lot has happened since we left,” Anna said.

  The lord nodded and invited them to come inside. Jarnvaror stayed outside with the bronze dragons, which seemed to comfort the noble family’s entourage. “You can tell us about your journeys over supper,” Arden told them. “I’ll have the cooks prepare extra settings for you.”

  “Thank you,” Andrew said.

  “Yeah, sounds great,” Peter agreed. Even in the great hall he caught the scents wafting out of the kitchens. “Smells great, too.”

  Jeremy came up next to Peter and put a hand on his shoulder. “Supper won’t be ready for another hour or so. Can you fight with that second sword? Or are you just copying me?”

  Peter grinned. “A bit of both,” he said. “When I picked it up, it just seemed natural to use both.” He took a seat at the foot of the table.

  “That was probably the Wisp,” Anna pointed out. She and Andrew took the seats to his left. Hannah sat down at his right.

  “What Wisp?” Jeremy asked, moving to sit next to his sister.

  “The one that lives in the sword,” Peter said. “It never wanted to move over to Anna’s bracelet, even after Halcyon calmed it down.” Jeremy looked back at the sword like it was an animal that might bite him, which Peter thought was a little unfair since Halcyon’s the one who made him better, too.

  “How’d you get it, then?” Hannah asked.

  “That was pretty much right after we left here,” Peter said. He described their journey up to Frost Lake, how they’d seen signs of the Mottled, and how they’d been warned about the monsters before going into the ruins.

  “You just went in anyway, didn’t you?” said Jeremy.

  “Pretty much,” Andrew sighed in response.

  “It’s a good thing we did, or we never would have found that old tome,” Anna said.

  “A tome?” Jeremy asked. “Like… what? A spell book in the ruins?”

  “Dunno,” Peter said. “That’s what our current mission is about.”

  “Ah!” Hannah said. “You’re taking it to the Monastery?”

  “Lady Thalia wasn’t very happy with us getting it on our own, actually,” Peter said. “She made us send it there a while ago.”

  “We’re hoping the monks have been able to translate it already,” Andrew said. “If not, Anna has some other materials that may help them.”

  Jermey turned back to Peter. “So how did this get you a sword?” he asked.

  “Ah, right,” Peter said, grinning. “Well, while Anna was breaking into the ruins to get the tome, the mottled attacked us.” Hannah gasped, and even Jeremy’s grin disappeared. He glanced between the three of them, then his smile returned.

  “Jarn must have burned them up for you, huh?” he asked.

  “Most of them,” Peter said nodding. “But a bunch made it past him, too. Andrew and I had to fight them off. Andrew was great with his bow. Kept shooting into them, arrow after arrow until they’d drop.”

  “You actually fought Mottled?” Hannah said. Even Jeremy was looking suitably impressed.

  Peter nodded. “Well as I could,” he said. He patted the second sword at his waist. “One of the first ones that got through on his own had this sword. I beat him and took it. The Wisp helped us win the fight from there.”

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  “Oh, you just beat a Mottled, did you?” Jeremy said.

  Peter shrugged. “Andrew helped,” he explained, remembering the shot that had saved him. He described how he’d taken advantage of the opening to kill the monster, then picked up the sword to fight the others. Jeremy and Hannah listened in silence until he’d finished talking about the fight and told them Anna had managed to break through the magical door in the ruins.

  “I don’t know much about magic,” Hannah said. “But isn’t that supposed to be really dangerous.”

  “I was careful,” Anna said. Her face had turned red and she looked away. Peter grinned

  “That’s why we fought the Mottled in the first place. To give her time to crack the lock.”

  “Really?” Andrew said. “Because it seemed like we’d just left to investigate Jarnvaror’s call and got ambushed.”

  Peter shrugged. “It worked out that way, at least,” Peter said. “Then we went back and found the weird book.”

  “How was it weird?” Hannah asked.

  Peter shrugged and looked at Anna. “Pages normally aren’t made out of metal, right?” he asked.

  Anna shook her head. “I don’t know what that was made from,” she said. “I don’t think it was metal, but it definitely wasn’t paper.”

  “I’m guessing the writing in it was the same sort as the ruins,” Jeremy said. Anna nodded confirmation. Jeremy crossed his arms. “Do you think the book was important? Like, originally, I mean. What do you think it was.”

  “I’m not sure,” Anna admitted.

  “It could be a spell book,” Peter said. “Why else use those materials?”

  Anna shrugged. “Hopefully we’ll find that out in a couple of days,” she said. the subject turned to what the Thornwoods had been up to the past few months. Jeremy talked about his recovery and training for the tournament. Hannah explained how she’d been keeping an eye on him, hoping to go as well, though she was still having trouble convincing their father to let her. Finally, the dinner itself was ready. They ate together with Lord Arden, while Andrew described their journey to the Frost Lake Ruins once more, this time including details of their encounter with Captain Yamada.

  “Yamada?” Jeremy said. “Was it Yamada Shigeru? You’re sure that was his name?”

  “Yes,” Andrew said. “Why?”

  “I decided to learn how to duel wield after watching him at Borac a few years ago,” Jeremy said.

  Peter grinned. “Seeing him is what reminded me to try,” Peter said. “And he’s going to be there again, this time, too.”

  “He is?” Jeremy asked. “You talked to him about it?”

  “Oh yeah,” Peter said. “We were asked to make sure he goes.”

  “That’s for the meeting, not necessarily for the tournament. He may not have time to participate,” Andrew pointed out.

  “We know Prince Lief wants to do both, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be arriving together,” Peter said.

  Lord Arden’s eyebrows shot up. “That name,” he muttered. “Isn’t that the Nordarin Prince?” When the three Wisp Seekers nodded, he asked, “What on earth is this meeting you’re talking about? Does it still have to do with the Wisps?”

  “Oh yeah,” Peter said. “We’ve been all over the place since the last time we were here.”

  Andrew nodded. He skipped over their misadventure in Nuidia to describe their trip to Selasem and explain Queen Talitha’s idea. Peter cut in to point out that they’d also managed to capture the mage who’d been collecting Wisps while they were there.

  “Did you fight her, too?” Hannah asked.

  “We mostly overwhelmed her with numbers,” Peter said. “And with Jarn.”

  Jeremy nodded. “That sounds like it would work.”

  “Worked pretty well,” Peter agreed. “Afterward, Queen Talitha suggested a meeting between us and the other royals to try and solve this problem with the Wisps.”

  “During the tournament!” Hannah realized. She spun to face Lord Arden. “That’s another reason I should go, Father! I haven’t seen Henry and Emily in ages!”

  “King Henry and Queen Emily,” Lord Arden reminded her. His expression seemed stern, but Hannah only shrugged. The lord sighed. “I’ll consider it.” He glanced at the Wisp Seekers. “That is right, though? The meeting is in Borac?”

  “Yes,” Andrew replied. “Queen Talitha thought it was a convenient time and location.”

  “And she invited the Nordarins?” Lord Arden asked.

  Peter chuckled. “No. Prince Lief sort of invited himself.”

  “How’d he even learn about it?” Arden asked.

  Grinning, Peter described their journey to Ryukyuu. He rushed through meeting with their king. It wasn’t like they’d spent much time with him, but Arden and Hannah both seemed surprised by it. Jeremy only laughed. Then he described flying north again to meet with Captain Yamada, and how the Nordarins had attacked while they were there.

  “The Ryukyuujin were prepared and their force overall was a lot stronger, but no one could touch Lief while he was fighting.”

  “He was using Wisps,” Anna explained. “It was hard to notice from the sky.”

  “How’d he get them?” Jeremy asked.

  “Apparently the Wisp Steelers tried to recruit him.” Peter said. “He said no, but took the Wisps anyway.”

  “That’s what he says at least,” Andrew muttered.

  “You talked with him?” Arden asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Peter said. Andrew groaned next him. “He was pretty talkative after our duel.”

  “Another duel?” Jeremy said.

  Peter nodded. “He wanted to fight me and Jarn in… It isn’t single combat is it?”

  “He challenged you and the dragon,” Arden said. “No wonder you beat him.”

  “Actually it was a standstill,” Peter said. “Neither of us were able to move at the end of it.”

  Silence spread over the table for a moment as the three nobles stared dumbfounded at Peter. Then Jeremy started to laugh, and Hannah leaned in. “How could he have fought off Jarnvaror?” Hannah asked.

  “The Wisps,” Peter said. “I had one helping me, too, though.”

  “Do they really make you that much stronger?” Jeremy asked. Everyone turned to him and nodded in unison.

  “They made you even stronger than that,” Peter said.

  Jeremy raised his hands in defense. “It’s not like I remember any of that.”

  “I don’t know how Lief remained sane,” Anna muttered.

  “I’m not sure he was entirely sane to begin with,” Andrew pointed out.

  Peter shrugged. “He seemed alright to me.”

  “More evidence of his instability,” Andrew replied.

  “That sounds like a good sign to me,” Hannah said. “Seems like we need a bit of that to deal with the Wisps.” She flashed a smile between the two brothers.

  “That’s my point!” Peter said, returning the smile.

  “Well, I’m glad to know the other countries are taking the Wisps more seriously now,” Lord Arden said. “I assume your goal is to learn as much as possible at the Monastery to help during this meeting.”

  Andrew nodded. “We’re sure there’s some connection. We’re hoping the book will tell us what it is.”

  Arden nodded. “Then I expect you’ll be heading out early in the morning.”

  “That’s the plan,” Anna said.

  The lord nodded. “I see. Well, I’m grateful to be able to see you again, and for the update on this issue. But I’m sure you’re tired, so let’s not talk anymore of business this evening.”

  “Don’t worry about me, I’m not tired at all!” Peter said.

  “I am,” Andrew said. “And it would be nice to hear about something other than Wisps for once.” The conversation turned to other things. Arden mentioned a deal he’d been working on with some Dwarven traders, which seemed to grab Anna’s attention, but wasn’t of much interest to Peter. He turned his attention to his food, which had cooled while he was talking.

  A few moments later, though, Hannah caught his eye. He raised an eyebrow in question. “I want to hear the details of that fight with Prince Lief,” she said. “So I’m going to make sure my father lets me go to the tournament.”

  Jeremy nodded his agreement on the other side of her. “Make sure you guys keep an eye out for us there, alright.”

  Peter smiled. “Wouldn’t miss you,” Peter said. “Especially not with Jarn helping me pick you out of a crowd.”