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one who could provide them. He followed the older man out of the bedroom and down a narrow hallway that led into a large room with a hearth, a stove, and a roughly crafted table with several matching chairs. The walls were bare aside from a few hanging pots and pans, and the floor was covered with a frayed rug that spanned most of the room.
    On the table was a wooden bowl containing what looked like porridge, together with a clay cup filled with water. Jonas waited until Ethan had taken a seat, then sat across from him.
    “I understand how confusing this must be for you,” he began.
    Ethan ate a spoonful of the porridge and frowned. “Not very tasty.”
    “I don’t doubt it,” said Jonas. “The people here are simple farmers and unable to afford much in the way of delicacies.”
    After washing the porridge down with some water, Ethan pushed himself to try some more. All things considered, it wasn’t as bad as what he’d been eating since D-Day.
    Jonas leaned in. “As I told you before, you are in Lumnia now. You were sent to Earth by your mother, Lady Illyrian, when you were a baby. I was sent along to protect you.”
    Ethan frowned. “If you’re supposed to protect me, why did you wait seventeen years before showing up?”
    “I didn’t. I passed through the portal only seconds after you did. But it’s unpredictable and dangerous. That’s the very reason why it’s so rarely used. I was fortunate in that your mother had the foresight to tether you magically to the amulet, otherwise I may never have found you. It must have brought me to your location.”
    “Magically?” Ethan couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not a kid. There’s no such thing as magic.”
    Jonas fixed him with a hard stare. “If that is so, then how did you get here?”
    “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But you can’t expect me to believe in magic.”
    “From the little I know of Earth, magic doesn’t exist there. Why is a question for a scholar. And I am just a servant.”
    “Okay.” Ethan pushed back the bowl. “Let’s say for a minute I believe you. Why did my mother send me away in the first place?”
    Jonas drew a long breath. “Trust me when I say she did not want to. But she had no other choice. Had you remained with her you would have certainly been killed.”
    “Killed by who?”
    “By the Eternal Emperor Shinzan,” he replied darkly. “To him, all who wield magic are a threat to his power.”
    “But I don’t wield magic.”
    Jonas chuckled. “Not yet. But I suspect you’ll learn soon enough.”
    “I’m not going to be learning anything,” Ethan told him. “I’m going to find Markus and then get us back home.”
    “And just how do you intend to do this? How will you find him? Considering what I’ve learned about the portal, he probably arrived many years ago and is long dead.”
    Ethan sprang up from his chair. “He’s not dead! And I will find him.”
    Jonas held up a hand. “There’s no reason to get angry. I’m only telling you the truth.”
    He waited until Ethan had sat back down. “Let’s just suppose that he is still alive. How will you find him? I had the amulet to help me locate you, but you have nothing that connects you to your friend. Lumnia is a vast land. It would take years, and you don’t have the faintest idea where to begin.”
    “I don’t care,” Ethan said stubbornly. “Markus would look for me.”
    Jonas sighed. “Very well. If you are determined to go on a fool’s errand, I can’t stop you. But first you must learn how to stay alive. I’ve only spoken briefly to the farmer who lives here, but from what I can tell, things are now very different from when we left. How different remains to be seen.”
    “Different in what way?”
    “Back then, Lumnia was divided into the five great kingdoms – Kytain, Malacar, Al’Theona, Ralmaria, and Traxis. All of these had sworn fealty to the Emperor ever since the war was lost and the Council of Volnar destroyed.” He noticed