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Feet planted inside her house, mind somewhere else, Truly moved with precision, barricading mental doors, battling to turn the locks and beat back the flames.

A crack rippled through the quiet. Something shattered. As the splintering sound echoed, a latch on one of the doors gave away. A vicious roar pulsed against her temples. Tearing her hand away from the wall, she stumbled down the remaining steps. As she hit her knees at the bottom, the house hummed. “Finally, a Turnbolt.”

A thump.

A twist.

A snarl rolled into a hair-raising howl.

The door she fought to keep closed flew open. A second one followed, then a third, heavy panels swinging wide, falling like dominoes in the dark. Gossamer threads pushed through the frames. Like sheets blowing in the wind, the frayed mist billowed toward her, glowing so bright white wisps obliterated the black. Her vision sheeted. Something unnatural stepped through the undulating flow.

Her mind took a snapshot and recoiled.

A monster. One that had stalked her at night, in her dreams, as a child.

Gripped by the nightmare, Truly drew a choked breath. She tried to scream. Nothing but a wheeze came out instead, as yellow eyes with vertical pupils locked onto her through the mist. Sharp fangs flashed in the gloom. A hulking silhouette reared, then charged through the doorway, sending her spinning as the beast escaped its world and came crashing into hers.

4

REALM OF AZLANDIA – BEYOND THE ECOTONE

The shockwave sent Queen Lyonesse stumbling backward. From her perch high on the cliffs, she looked out across the flatlands to the swath of blue beyond. Her gaze narrowed. The pulse had come from somewhere on the shelf, along the coastline rimming the southeast corner of her realm.

The ocean seethed in the distance.

The current turned, grew, whipping across her senses.

Another rumble shook the ground beneath her feet.

She felt the tear in theEcotonewiden, opening a doorway between worlds.

With a curse, she unfolded her wings and took flight. Five of her personal guard followed, the ruffling of feathers a symphony behind her as she rocketed into the warm, dark night. Her focus on the horizon, she flew fast, heading for the breach, already smelling the filth — the toxic swill of pollution — spilling in from Earth Realm.

Twenty-seven years.

Twenty-seven long, peaceful yearswithout incident. Without the threat of Earthlings and their poisonous slop — breathing fresh air, enjoying clean water, surrounded by abundance and the diversity nature offered.

She’d ensured it. Had spent decades hunting to eliminate the last Door Master.

Executing the Turnbolt ancestral line had been her duty, but also a privilege. She’d done it to protect her home. To help her people. To ensure humanity’s slow poisoning of their world stopped affecting hers.

Exiting the flatlands, she reached the water’s edge, then blew past the island tower. The light at its apex still glowed green, washing over the chop of whitecaps, but if she didn’t act fast, that would change. Without her intervention, the doorway into Earth Realm would widen, allowing more toxic air to spill into Azlandia. The lamp would shift from green to yellow, and finally to red, sending panic through those she ruled.

Lyonesse clenched her teeth. It shouldn’t be happening — or even possible. All the doorways between worlds had been sealed tight. In truth, the magical portals should never have been created in the first place.

Her predecessor hadn’t agreed. He’d been foolish. A truly terrible king. Always benevolent, forever intrigued by humanity, Leonidas had taken pity, opening theEcotone, mating their world with Earth Realm, using the magic in Azlandia to filter the toxicity Earthlings excelled at creating. Once clean, the magical weave sent fresh air back through a system of cosmic vents, ensuring humans breathed easy and their planet survived.

Leonidas had been an idiot. Trusting in ways she would never understand. In doing what he’d done, her father had jeopardized their welfare, enabling the slow poisoning of his own people.

Earthlings were vultures, taking more than their fair share.

No matter how many lessons the human race was given, their leaders refused to learn, squabbling like children, nation pitted against nation, raping their own world of natural resources in an attempt to gain more riches. Never a thought to the consequences. Stupid. Selfish. Lacking in vision. Earth Realmought to be self-sufficient, an instrument for good, a balancing force in the universe, instead of a plague upon it.

Soon, however, it would be too late.

Over.

Done.