He had faith in me. Far more than I probably deserved, but it was the confidence boost I needed to close my eyes and reach for a doorway to the island we’d been on. I pictured it in my mind, threw some power at it in the hopes that would work, and when I opened my eyes again, there was a swirling portal. Well, fuck. It seemed my new energy was going to baby me through these early skills, filling in the blanks itself when I fell short on knowledge.

It was a nice change from my usual bumbling through life approach.

“I need to check with the locals first,” I said to Shadow, moving closer to my portal. He stayed right on my ass so we stepped through together.

The locals appeared in an instant, bowing down to us. “We need your help,” I said softly, having no time to sugarcoat it. “We have many creatures, royals and freilds. Not to mention other realm inhabitants who need somewhere safe to stay while we fight the final battle. Will you take them in?”

No one answered for a beat, and I wondered if they were going to refuse us. I wouldn’t blame them after the way the royals had treated them, but it would make the situation a touch harder.

A being with the greenest skin I’d seen so far stepped forward. “We will. We’ve never been their enemy, even if we chose to live a different way of life. If they can accept that way here, they are welcome to stay as long as they need.”

Relief and gratefulness for their gracious attitude had my voice wavering. “I will let them know, and thank you.”

We moved back to our portal, which remained strong and unwavering. I felt no strain in my power from what I’d done, and I had the sense that I could leave the portal there forever and it wouldn’t overtly affect me. It was damn impressive, but there was no time to give myself a pat on the back. I had to get my creatures and all the others to safety.

I called the shadow creatures through first, and they were somewhat orderly as they journeyed from the royal compound into the island. All too soon, they filled that field the original creatures had gone into, but the locals found more space for them, looking absolutely delighted by all their new friends.

“Which outlier is this?” I asked Shadow, having wondered but not asked until now.

Shadow took a second to look around again, like he’d not even given it a second thought until I asked. “I aimed for the largest that was away from Trinity,” he said, his brow wrinkled. “Samsan Grove, possibly.”