Javic moved his hands as if he was drawing in the air. The runic patterns on his skin began to glow, a dramatic effect in the near darkness.
"See you on the other side," Gio told Max. "I'd better get moving."
The portal began to open, showing snow-covered rocks.
"Good luck," Max said quietly.
"You too," Gio said.
He shifted and sank into the stone under his feet.
Somehow the entire process seemed faster and easier this time. Being able to see the valley on the other side of the portal to target it had helped a lot. But also, he couldn't help feeling as if Max's presence was part of it as well. Her presence seemed to ease the transition in a way he had never experienced before.
Gio put these thoughts aside as he emerged on a windswept, rocky plateau. He was looking down into the valley, and immediately recognized it from his previous glimpses through Javic's portals.
He was surprised to discover that there was fighting already happening below him. At first he thought that they must have come out in the middle of the cultists fighting someone else. Then he saw a flash of fire, which was definitely Javic, and realized that what had happened was a time delay. The portal was instantaneous, but stonewalking wasn't. While Gio was underground, Javic and Max had come through and already engaged the cultists. He hadn't even thought of that.
He felt an overwhelming urge to go help Max.Soon, he promised himself. His job was to get Elina.
He only realized that he had never shifted back after stonewalking when he started to run.
Running as a stone lion was an unexpected delight. He couldn't feel the cold, and his legs covered the ground in huge bounds. He didn't tire. Based on his earlier experience, he knew all of this was likely to catch up with him eventually, but right now he felt invulnerable. He charged up the side of the mountain.
Javic had said his sister was in the room with a balcony. Gio saw it immediately. It was crafted to appear to be part of the mountainside, but from this close it was obviously not natural. Behind it was a door.
Gio hit the door going full force. Stone shattered and flew inward.
Inside, what he found was a girl's room—actually not too different from a young girl's bedroom anywhere. There was a canopy bed with pink lace curtains, shelves of stuffed animals, and a beanbag chair shaped like a unicorn.
Gio pulled up short. He had expected a prison cell, not this.
There was movement in the bed, and a girl with long blond braids, dressed in a white nightgown, sat up and looked at him.
"Who are you?" she asked, and then, hesitantly, "Javic?"
This was a curious question to ask a giant stone lion who had just barged into your room. Clearly she was used to dealing with magic. Gio concentrated, and—with far less than the usual effort—shifted to his normal shape.
The girl gave a startled cry.
"Hi, Elina," Gio said. He smiled at her in his warmest and friendliest way. "You are Elina, right? I'm Gio, a friend of your brother's. I'm here to get you out. Do you want to leave?"
"Yes," Elina said fervently. "Yes, more than anything." She stepped down from the bed and shivered. She was wearing nothing but the nightgown, and her feet were bare. "Is Javic here?"
"Yes, he's just outside. My friend Max is here too. We're going to take you away from here. Do you have something warm to wear? A coat?"
"I'm not allowed to go outside, so they haven't given me anything like that," Elina said.
The fluffy pink room seemed more prison-like all the time. "Here," Gio said. He pulled a warm-looking blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her.
There was a sudden pounding on the door. Gio moved swiftly in front of the girl just as the door burst open to reveal a Black Robe on the other side.
Gio shifted to a lion, so swiftly that he hadn't even realized he had done it until it was accomplished. Elina stumbled back, and so did the cultist. Gio snarled and slapped the door shut with a massive stone paw.
Now they know I'm here. Gotta move.
He turned back to the girl and tried to suggest by pointing with his muzzle that she should get on his back. He crouched down to make it easier for her.
After a moment's confusion, Elina seemed to understand what he wanted and climbed on, clutching the blanket around herself. Gio stood up carefully.
