Quinnestri’s flaming head had turned to ice then dripped down back into the basin.

  Steven turned to Nefri. I saw the sand sculptures. The Ohkreela turned on each other, didn’t they?

  The dark elf thrust the phone into Pru’s hands and walked away from the fire and tent to the edge of the surf.

  Steven chased after her.

  Waves crashed onto the beach in white lines that were dragged back into the ocean.

  Nefri, talk to me.

  The dark elf knew she couldn’t run from him. He grabbed her hand.

  Yes. Her voice was the barest whisper in his mind. The Morta turned them into monsters. The Lyra were gone. The light walkers. Only the dark walkers remained. Vandrus Dree thought he should rule over all. He wanted to conquer the world. He wasn’t alone. Every one of the seven kings thought they should rule. Every mage thought they should rule. The war was never going to end. Some of us dealt with the Morta well. Others were perverted by it.

  Her breath hitched in a sob. Inneesia and I, we thought to escape. But we couldn’t stay on this world. Not with how it was. We stole the jeweled flower from a mage in the Carrib. He found us. He killed Inneesia. He cut my throat. He thought I was dead. I wasn’t. We had hidden the flower. I found it. I traveled to your world. Alone. So alone. All these years. Alone.

  She flung his hand away. She marched farther into the ocean.

  Steven wasn’t going to leave her. The water was cold—they probably shouldn’t have called it the Warm Sea.

  A wave swept her into his arms. She clung to him. I cannot love you. You will die like Inneesia. I will not love you. I will not love like that again.

  She wept in his arms. He held her. This was a familiar situation. Over and over, women had resisted joining his Escort because they didn’t want to be hurt again. He’d fenced with Mouse over her doubts. While Chazzie knew Steven was her best chance at victory, Pru hadn’t been so convinced. It had taken weeks to win her over.

  I know your fear, Steven sent. I know you think we don’t have a chance. But you must’ve seen my rise to power on Gaia Alpha. You know I should’ve died a hundred times. I didn’t. I won’t. What happened to Aqualyra was tragic, but you and I, all of us together, can end the evil.

  Nefri quieted. She let him lead her up onto the beach. Her thoughts grew calm. When I first arrived on your Earth, I saw the Dragonsouls fighting for Primacies, slaughtering each other, and I thought you all were as corrupt as the Ohkreela. When I first heard you wanted to change things, I didn’t believe it. The dark walkers, the dark elves, as you call us, could spin such lies. Vandrus Dree thought he would bring peace. All he brought was war.

  Steven saw the similarities immediately. That’s why you didn’t join us. That’s why you kept in the shadows.

  I was the Shadow Archer, after all. Nefri laughed a little. It was a healing sound. I saw the darkness in Tessa. You would’ve sacrificed yourself for her.

  Just as I would give up my life for you. He was serious. He’d spent years working for the good of his mother. He knew about giving up what he wanted for others.

  Nefri pushed against his chest. You cannot sacrifice yourself. You and I together, we’ll use Icharaam’s Orb and the Hellstring, and we will kill the bug bitch.

  Before he could ask what she meant, his magic faded.

  Nefri felt it. Instead of tapping her temple, she pulled him close for another kiss, as sweet, as full of lust, as the one before it. She was falling in love with him. That was okay. He had strong feelings for this blue-skinned elf maiden as well.

  He thought of the name, Vandrus Dree. It was close to Ven Dro. Was it a coincidence? Only time would tell.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  UCHIKO CLUNG TO MOUSE’S back. Her wings worked as they spiraled down. The ninja was trying not to be jealous of the dark elf. She got to ride on Steven. The two were swapping Morta back and forth. She was afraid that Steven would grow even closer to Nefri. It was clear her people were not good. What had she said? Yes, they were the dark walkers, not like Quinnestri.

  The wind screamed around Uchiko. Her nose was full of Mouse’s almond smell, which should’ve been comforting, but with the speeds they were reaching, there was no way Uchiko could relax. An amber-colored shield covered her, keeping her relatively warm. Regardless, she wore every piece of clothing she had, along with Chazzie’s coat.

  Mouse fired her speed with SerpentGrace and spun out of the clouds, racing across the ocean. To her right were cliffs and pines; that would be the California coast on Earth. Here, the ruins of several Lyra cities clung to the rocks. Despite being dead places, they were still so beautiful, archways leading to gardens full of strange purple and blue flowers, not the ice flowers of the plains, but flowers with leafy petals. Several of the cities had massive redwoods growing next to their spires, a dance of forest and spires.

  Uchiko wanted to come back once the Zothoric had been taken care of. She wanted to meet the elves, learn their language, and live there. The ruins had once been peaceful cities. That changed with what Steven referred to as the Fall.

  The Ohkreela hadn’t been peaceful. They’d been power-hungry, full of treachery, and quick to murder. They fought for their kingdoms as savagely as the Dragonlords had warred for their Primacies.

  Mouse swept her wings back and soared across the ocean.

  Steven flew ahead of them, Nefri obscured by a dark shield spell. The dark elf was a bit of shadow on his back.

  Behind them soared the twins. This dragon flight was not going to put them in a good mood. At least Pru was dealing better with Aqualyra. Uchiko had been surprised at the Texan’s reaction. And that she couldn’t hide her weakness? That certainly was troubling. Steven needed strong wives.

  Steven, though, was kind, and had led Pru out of her doubts and fears. He’d done the same thing with Uchiko, many times, loving her when she couldn’t love herself.

  The ninja thought of all the bizarre things she’d seen on Aqualyra. Yes, they were difficult to comprehend, and yet, Uchiko wasn’t a stranger to discovering hidden worlds. When she was young, she’d been sent to live with a new daimyo, and she’d had to learn the customs of his clan. That had required her to change her perceptions. Then, she’d met Niwashi, the gardener, who turned out to be Paanga Komang. He’d initiated her into the ways of the Dragonsouls. Before she knew it, she was living in a different world. Being on Aqualyra was just another change, a new place with new rules she was learning.

  Death wasn’t as permanent as it seemed. Uchiko had worshipped her ancestors when she was young. She’d seen the blurred lines between the living and the dead.

  Fighting against an unbeatable enemy? That wasn’t new either. She remembered taking her Onari Guard into the fight against Rahaab. They’d won then. They would win now. Or they would die, and she would find rest.

  She thought of Haru, his love of Taco Bell, and every kind of fast food. Poor Haru had eaten himself fat. She missed him and her other friends in the Onari Guard. She longed to be home for a second, then she chided herself. She’d been weak before. She wouldn’t be weak again.

  Mouse was losing speed. Shapes streaked below them near the surface of the ocean. Then, a dolphin broke from the surface. It leapt into the air and splashed back down. The animals were like the ones on Earth, only they had far longer pectoral fins. Another dolphin leapt out of the Warm Sea. This one spread out long membranes connecting his front fins to his tail.

  The animal caught a breeze and swept upward, chittering at Uchiko.

  The ninja found herself laughing.

  More winged dolphins broke out of the water to fly alongside them before diving back down into the drink.

  Mouse slowed more, letting the creatures keep up the chase.

  Those dolphins seemed happy to share the air with them. The game continued until Mouse took off upward, into more clouds. Her shield spell winked off.

  Uchiko winced against the cold wet mist.

  Higher and higher Mouse flew until she muttered another shield spell. Then it was more spiraling, gaining speed, using the gravity to increase her velocity.

  They stopped at the Aqualyra equivalent of San Francisco. More spires, more bridges that created a network of stone latticework around the peninsula and the islands around it. The city stretched into the distance.

  They found a grove of redwoods on the north side of the bay.

  The dragons shifted human. Steven sat down, cast a Divination spell, and was lost in his visions. He would be checking on their enemy racing them to find the clues to where the Lyra kept themselves hidden.

  Uchiko gave Mouse a quick embrace. Then the ninja left them, to make sure they were safe. She climbed up a spire and found a balcony. Inside, she checked the room and found an ornate bed, a gorgeous mirror, and a dressing table, where combs and brushes lay. Uchiko checked her hair in the mirror and smoothed down a few stray wisps. She chanced a smile.

  She was pretty now, not the half-dragon thing she’d been. She touched her face and felt skin. Not too long ago, the left side of her face would’ve been scales.

  She left the room and leaned over the stone railing. She had a clear view of the forest and her friends. She had the Hellstring ready. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the weapon’s mysteries. For now, it was a sturdy bow, and it allowed her to fire her arrows. That was enough.

  If only this world had Oreos. Uchiko missed them.

  Her eyes went to movement below. Nefri walked to the base of the tower. She used her BlackBlood ability to climb up the spire until she stood with Uchiko on the balcony.

  “What do you want?” Uchiko asked, annoyed. What was this creature doing?

  Nefri fluttered her eyelashes at Uchiko. She smiled. Then she pointed at the Hellstring.

  “No, the bow is mine,” Uchiko insisted.

  The dark elf offered up her black bow.

  “We are not going to trade.” Uchiko added a glare to her frown.

  Nefri set her bow down. She approached Uchiko, palms up. The spicy musk of the Ohkreela filled Uchiko’s senses. She could feel Nefri’s heat.

  The dark elf touched her chest, over her heart, and then she pointed to the others below.

  Uchiko took a step back. “I don’t understand. I don’t need to understand. You and I can never be friends. Ever.” The words were true enough at the moment. Yet, she’d fought back to back with the dark elf. They’d kept each other safe during their first fight with the undead.

  Nefri grinned at the words. She walked into the room, rummaged around, and came back out with a piece of parchment, an inkwell, and a pen. The feathers of the pen were made from emeralds. Steven had a similar pen, made of topaz. It had been key in his early adventures with Aria and Tessa.

  Nefri sat and wrote. Her beautiful face was focused and tense. A red tongue licked her blue lips. She patted the stone floor.

  “I have to keep watch,” Uchiko insisted.

  Nefri rolled her eyes. She held up the parchment. In a rough scratch, in an uncertain hand, were the words, I think I love Steven. I think I am falling in love.

  “That is fine for you.” Uchiko didn’t know where this was headed. “We do not have to be friends.”

  Nefri furrowed her brows, wrote some more, and raised the paper. It will be better if we are.

  Uchiko couldn’t help but laugh meanly. “Better for who? You? Perhaps. I have enough friends.”

  More writing. Sabina?

  “Yes, her, and Tessa, and Aria. I also have my friends in the Onari Guard. You tried to kill me, more than once, and I cannot forgive you for that.”

  Nefri closed her eyes tightly. She then scrawled furiously. It was business.

  She wasn’t wrong. And yet, Uchiko felt the hardness in her heart. “That is a poor excuse.”

  Nefri made a grunting noise. Her pen scratched across the paper. You want an apology. I am sorry for being better than you.

  Uchiko’s temper boiled. “You were not better than me. And if you want to be my friend, you had better be nicer.”

  That will not help. You like hating me.

  “I have reasons to hate you!” Uchiko thought of mentioning the Congo. If she did, and if Nefri didn’t give her a real apology, Uchiko would lose control. What if the dark elf had forgotten all she did that night? It would hurt.

  The dark elf dipped the pen in the well. She didn’t write more. She sat, thinking.

  Then she wrote something surprising. Were you lonely?

  “That is none of your concern.”

  You found friends. The Onari Guard. Steven and his Escort. I was lonely. No one was like me. I had to hide. I was hidden for a long time.

  Uchiko didn’t know what to say. She’d rather fight a thousand undead, a million Shaze, than have this conversation.

  Nefri’s white hair hung in her face as she scrawled more. I didn’t dare use my Morta. I was afraid the demons would find me. I was afraid of Rahaab. He couldn’t know what I was. Or he would’ve killed me.

  “He would’ve without a doubt. He would’ve sent me. In all the long years in the underground, he never did. We never knew who you worked for, you and Bruno Illick. All that we really knew is that you were like me, a hired killer.”

  The dark elf grinned. I could’ve killed you. I never did. I knew you were like me. Different. An outcast. Her pen stopped for several long moments. Then she used more ink to complete her thought. I thought you and I might be friends. Maybe that is not possible. Prudence likes me. I like her. But she has known comforts I never will. After seeing the Under Cities, I think maybe I might be last of the Ohkreela. It is a relief. It is sad. You might be my last sister. Bruno is dead. You might be the only family I have left.

  Uchiko collected up her weapons in a rush. Tears threatened to fall, and she’d be damned if she’d show them to this blue-skinned creature in front of her. This was all wrong. She couldn’t give herself over to the enemy. She couldn’t forgive the Shadow Archer.

  Uchiko fled from the perch. Diving out, she found a limb near the top of a redwood. Using a combination of SerpentGrace and DarkArmor, she reached the ground.

  She was breathing hard, bent over, trying to catch her breath. Her mind spun out of control. She far preferred Nefri’s teasing than those words, reaching out to her from the page.

  She hurried back to the dragons. Mouse was already in the air, circling them.

  As for Steven, he and the twins were naked. He lay on his back on a patch of soft grass while Chazzie rode him. Pru knelt over him, kissing him as her big freckled breasts dangled.

  Uchiko stripped.

  Pru turned, grinning. “Well, now, things have become a bit more interesting.”

  “Almost there,” Chazzie gasped. Then she shuddered, a pink glow licking her skin. She sighed. “Oh, I’m there. Just in time I think.”

  “I need him.” Uchiko pushed Chazzie off him. The ninja pulled Steven on top of her. The grass tickled Uchiko’s ass, and then, she only the felt the intensity of Steven entering her.

  Pru touched Uchiko’s face. “You’re lucky I’m used to sharing. I was going to be next.”

  “Kiss me,” the ninja urged.

  Pru hesitated for a moment. Then she pressed her lips to Uchiko’s.

  Pru tasted wonderful. Steven kissed the twin. Back and forth they went, their hungry mouths on each other. Steven thrust harder, faster, already slickened by Chazzie’s sex.

  Uchiko gave herself to the passion. After the chaos of her thoughts, the simple act of lovemaking was a relief. Then an intrusive image filled her mind. Nefri, watching them, the dark elf naked. Uchiko and the Shadow Archer did have a bond that defied logic. They had been sisters in the underground, on opposite sides, but still connected.

  Steven sank deep into Uchiko. He let out a bark and then he was giving her Animus. She took every drop.

  Pru wasn’t upset at all. Not when Nefri appeared, already taking off her robes.

  The Texan went off with the dark elf, and they found a place under the redwoods, just the two of them.

  As Uchiko dressed, she couldn’t believe she was jealous, and bit curious, about the troublesome dark elf. Things were changing once again. Uchiko was about to enter a brand-new world. A part of her was scared. Another part longed for the adventure.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  STEVEN AND HIS ESCORT made it to Vancouver Island before sunset.

  He wasn’t immune to cold; his scales and his inner fire kept him warm, and yet, the wet cold of the northern island had a way of getting into his blood. He didn’t grow up a dragon, just a normal Colorado kid, on the poor side, with a dirtbag father and an enduring mother, so his initial reactions were human. And humans got cold.

  Steven and his Escort camped among tall pine trees that edged a rocky beach. Surf-battered rocky pinnacles broke up the rolling waves as they came surging in to smash onto the stones. The rocks clattered as the ocean receded.

  The Warm Sea was misnamed; it gave everything a damp mist, and yet, it smelled good, along with the pollen leaking out of the trees. Everything glowed as the sun started its descent toward the gray horizon.

  Clouds leaked a few snowflakes. The ocean kept the temperature from dipping too low. If only the air wasn’t so wet. Colorado was as dry as a dehydrated mummy’s ass. Steven wasn’t sure who had made the joke, either Tessa or Mouse, surely, but it was true enough.

  Another Lyra city stood at the tip of the island. Mouse thought it might be called Victoria back on their Earth. She wasn’t sure. And she wasn’t complaining. She was loath to leave the crackling bonfire, however. Nefri referred to both the city and the island as Vankeevra.

  Chazzie and Pru had gotten to be experts at setting up the camp. They had everything thrown together in seconds. They had some leftover elk meat for dinner and plenty of freeze-dried food.

  Steven swore once they beat the Zothoric, he was going to eat out for at least a year. He missed restaurants, waitresses, and normal life. And yet, the beauty and lush life of Aqualyra wasn’t lost on him. Flying in, they’d seen flying wolves chasing down deer. The deer had horns curling from their heads down in front of their mouths. Other horns rose from their front shoulders.