Surprised, he now noticed there was something feminine about the rider’s figure. Anders could see that this rider wasn’t much larger than he was. After securing his helmet to the saddle horn and running a hand through his long brown ponytail, the mysterious rider turned to face them, revealing his face. Anders heard Maija inhale quickly when they saw that the rider they’d both assumed to be male was, in fact, a woman. All at once Anders saw that Maija’s surprise was not a reaction to the female rider’s gender but to her appearance. Anders stared at her in shock, clearly seeing his own face mirrored in the woman’s. She looked just like him, but female. He stared blankly, blinking at the young woman standing in front of them.
“Anders,” she said, thrusting her hand out to greet him like an old friend.
Anders took her grip and shook it firmly, unable to reply.
After a long moment during which they studied each other’s faces, the rider released her grip and shifted her attention to Maija. At first, she motioned to greet her in the same way she did Anders, holding out her hand. When Maija took it, however, the rider brought it up to her chin and gently kissed the back of her hand, saying, “It’s refreshing to see a fellow female rider, miss...?” she left the end of her greeting open for her to answer.
“Maija,” she said. “Just Maija.”
“And you are?” Anders asked, still trying to determine if they were somehow related.
“Hannah,” she said.
Anders eyes grew wide, that was my mother’s name. Could she be? No, she’s much too young, younger even than me. Anders snapped out of his shocked state of mind and focused on his irritation at having been flown so far from their objective. “Okay, Hannah. I don't know if you've noticed, but there is a war on and we can’t afford to waste any more time. So, maybe you could skip the pleasantries and tell us why in damnation you’ve brought us here?”
“I thought so,” she replied.
Frowning, Anders shook his head.
“Let me explain. I brought you here to work on a battle strategy.”
“All the way out here?” Ander asked. “If that’s all you wanted, we could’ve done this with all of our army's leaders.”
“I beg to differ. I have a small force, powerful, but small. I do not trust easily, which is why I waited so long to make this decision.”
“And what decision is that?” Maija interrupted.
Hannah’s eyes shifted to Maija, “To fight alongside you and your army.”
“But why exclude the humans, dwarfs and elves?” Anders asked.
“When the gates holding our people from crossing into the south were broken, I didn’t know who I could trust. My people are counting on me to bring them home, which is why we have been observing the goings on for some time. The politics of your lands have changed much since my ancestors were cast out to the North.”
“Norfolk,” Anders whispered to himself.
“Do you have something to say?” Hannah asked in an authoritative tone.
“I can’t believe I didn’t put this together sooner,” Ander said when he had connected the dots. Maija and Hannah eyed him with curiosity. “You’re the riders from Northland that Zorna told us about. She said the barrier Asmond created kept anyone who entered Northland from returning. Everyone but unbonded dragons,” he said speaking to Maija.
Maija’s forehead creased as she said, “But she just said it was her ancestors who were blocked. It’s only been, what, a hundred years?”
“Zorna?” Hannah asked. “How can that be? She went missing and her dragon returned, but that was thousands of years ago.”
“Merglan’s journal,” Anders said with a snap of his fingers. “He wrote that he’d been gone for two years but when he came back, he had really only been gone for two weeks.”
“The time paradox,” the rider who’d brought them to the rider’s camp said from behind them.
“What?” Maija asked.
“Zorna’s mentor, Magleen, prophesied many events in our history that have come true. She was there when the riders were cast out of the Southland. In her writings she stated she found a way through the wall. Each time she passed through, time passed much more slowly on the south side of the barrier.”
“If that is true, Merglan could’ve found the hole in the barrier and come back through. Didn’t Zorna tell us her instructor taught Merglan?” Maija said.
“There is no hole in the barrier. My father and grandfather dedicated their lives to finding a way though the barrier. Once someone came to Northland, they remained. Until a few weeks ago, that is, when the barrier fell,” Hannah said.
“Merglan could’ve broken the paradox?” Anders suggested.
“It makes no difference. We have come to fulfill one of Magleen’s prophecies,” Hannah said. “The barrier has been broken and I am here to claim my birthright to lead the good nations of this world to a time of peace.”
Anders glanced at Maija. She gave him a questioning look in return.
“What prophecy?” he asked.
“Thousands of years ago, Magleen predicted the barrier would fall and the child of the rightful King in the south would come on the back of a dragon to end the evil dragonrider’s reign.”
“But you’re not the son of a king?” Anders mumbled.
Hannah tilted her head, “You know of the prophecy?”
Anders nodded and asked, “What birthright have you come to claim?”
“My rightful place as Queen of humanity,” Hannah said seriously.
Anders stomach churned at the words and he felt a shock spread through his body, numbing all of his senses. He snapped out of his funk.
Aren’t you going to say something? Maija asked him.
Maija, no. We don’t know if she’s telling us the truth.
