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'When was it lastseen?' Fyia asked again.

'No eggs have been seen for hundreds of years,' said Isa. 'It is time for you to leave.'

'Why?' said Fyia. 'We need to work out what happened to the egg … where it could be … if it's hatched …'

'Leave,' said Isa. She waved her hands slowly in front of her, palms up, fingers splayed.

Everything went dark, and when the world righted itself, Fyia, Adigos, Edu, and Rouel stood by the strange, closed portcullis, outside the mountain, surrounded by the belongings they'd taken inside. Fyia's guards gathered around them, giving them strange looks.

'They kicked us out,' said Edu, eyeing the height of the sun in the sky. 'Prepare the horses; it's time to go.'

The group was ready to leave in less than a quarter turn of the clock. The Fae’ch had healed Adigos' horse, and they rode as hard as they dared down the steep mountain path. They hoped to be out of Fae'ch lands by nightfall, and it was already past midday.

Fyia regretted not saying goodbye to her brother, and wished they'd had more time together. She dearly wanted to know about his new life: what he'd learned, if he'd made friends, all the wondrous things he'd surely seen during his time in the mountain. It was rumored many of the legendary sorcerers and fairies of old—those blessed with long life, anyway—called the mountain home.

They made it to the bottom of the mountain before nightfall, choosing a spot set back from the road as their camp for the night. Fyia's wolves slinked out of the woods, rubbing their heads against her legs, looking up at her with begging eyes. She scratched each of them behind the ear, and a missing part of her slotted back into place.

'The guards heard whispers of evil in the west,' said Edu quietly, coming up beside Fyia. 'There are rumors of a fight between the Emperor, and a group who have taken possession of his northern lands.'

'Do you think it's the Black Hoods?' said Fyia.

'I can't imagine why they would pick a fight with the Emperor, but it's possible,' said Edu.

'Maybe that's why they were at the mountain,' said Fyia, 'trying to secure an alliance with the Fae'ch …?'

'It doesn't seem likely. The Black Hoods have never tried to expand their territory before …'

'There's a first time for everything,' said Fyia. 'Maybe the Spider will know more.'

They ate, then sat around the campfire, Adigos fighting the wolves for space by Fyia's side. She eventually told them to move, and leaned into Adigos' warmth as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, her Cruaxee lying at her feet. Fyia ignored Edu's stern features, letting herself enjoy the comfort of Adigos' firm muscles, and the way his whole being focused on her. If Edu preferred to abstain, that was his choice, but she saw no good reason to punish herself.

Rouel, who'd been subdued since Isa had expelled them from the mountain, played a mournful song. Somehow the sad tune seemed appropriate to Fyia too.

The King gave his blood,

Every drop he could spare.

It wasn't enough,

The clocks needed more.

The King couldn't do it,

But no one could help.

He drowned in a bottle,

The dragons, they fled.

Oh, dragons of Asred,

No longer fly through the air.

Oh, dragons of Asred,

Fled in the depths of despair.

They cast out the magic,