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T he mountains called to Vahly, her magic tugging at her.

Arc nodded. “The others will argue about heading in the opposite direction.”

“I don’t blame them.” Vahly pulled her cloak more tightly around her body.

One of the Jade clan dragons had brought the garment.

“It won’t be delightful for any of us.” The mountain winds whistled.

“I’m as eager as any of them to get going.

The idea of going up there… It feels counterproductive, but for me, it also feels necessary. ”

She walked across the flat rock, and the entire group of survivors faced her, eyes expectant and wide.

A cold knife stabbed Vahly’s gut. If she failed them, the ocean would rise to swallow the last of the land kynd. “I have to journey farther into the mountains before we leave for Illumahrah.”

The Lapis-blue scales of Aitor’s scarred face twisted. “All respect, Earth Queen, but what in the name of the Blackwater is worth us freezing our tails off in that empty land of ice?”

“I can’t tell you that, unfortunately,” Vahly said, “but my magic is urging me to go.”

“We should move toward the oak and your final step in waking your earth magic, Queen Vahly. That,” he said, eyeing the mountains, “will be a waste of time.”

Nix smacked the back of Aitor’s head. “If Queenie wants to shake her arse at the earth’s last snow cat, we’ll support her and make no mistake!”

Aitor scowled amid everyone’s quiet chuckles, but he bowed his head. “Whatever you wish, Earth Queen.”

Nix grinned at Aitor, then winked at Vahly.

Kyril lifted his eyes, his blue-gray feathers ruffling. A clicking sound came from his beak, and he stretched his front lion paws, digging claws into the stone and sending debris sifting into the air as he showed Vahly an image of them flying above a cliff lined in sparkling icicles.

Amona stepped forward, Ruda and Helena the healer flanking her. A deep emerald-green cloak similar to Vahly’s fluttered around Amona’s shoulders, and she wore a simple dress hemmed in the Jade symbol, the dragon skull’s golden thread blinking in the sun. To see Amona in Jade clothing…

“Thus far,” Amona said, “your magic has led you to success. Follow your instincts, Daughter, and we’ll continue to follow you.”

Vahly bowed her head.

Eux grunted but nodded. She hadn’t changed out of her fire-blackened clothing. “Do you want the Jades with you, Earth Queen?”

Shaking her head, Vahly handed off her quiver and bow to Haldus, who gave her a sheepish smile. “I’ll be fine with just my sword. So I believe it would be best to travel with a small group. Can your Jades instead continue looking for survivors and hunting to feed the rest?”

“Of course.” Eux’s orange eyes shifted to look at Amona.

The air tasted like smoke.

Amona dipped her chin. “Thank you, Matriarch Eux.”

Nix handed a scorchpepper to young Ruda, who gobbled it down quickly. “Queenie,” Nix said, “Those peaks aren’t getting any less icy. I say we pack, eat a big meal, then move on.”

“Agreed,” Vahly said. “Arc, I mean, King Arcturus, Mistress Nix, Matriarch Amona, and Aitor, gather your supplies, if you will. And if you’ve decided you don’t wish to risk the mountains, let me know. I won’t force anyone.”

Most of the dragons flew off to hunt the surrounding chilly climes.

Arc helped Vahly tuck dried goat meat, skins heavy with fresh water, and burlap sacks of raisins into two large satchels that they then slung over their shoulders.

Over that, Arc slid the bow Haldus and Rigel had crafted for him from a stash of prepared wood the Jades had provided.

A leather quiver of arrows pressed with the elven symbol of a sun and moon hung at his wide belt beside a short sword.

Aitor had been unable to speak as he’d handed the weapons over that morning to her and to Arc.

Vahly hadn’t prodded him to find out whose swords they had been.

She’d kissed the hilt and promised to do her best to honor the weapon’s first wielder.

She missed her own sword, lost to the sea, another precious memory drowned.

The hunters brought back five speckled rams, a brace of hares, and a good haul of eggs in varying colors. They set to butchering so portions could be divvied out to every dragon as well as the elves.

The Jades didn’t bother roasting their meat even when in their human form. They sat on boulders and stumps, blood in their teeth. Vahly, shuddering at the sight, was plenty glad they were on her side now.

The Lapis and the Call Breakers gathered around fires and put their meat on spits the elves had fashioned. The meat cooked slowly to succulent perfection, seasoned with what appeared to be a local herb, bright green and with the scent of pepper.

Vahly’s mouth watered as she sat down to a wide leaf covered in strips of steaming rabbit and a mess of fried eggs. Her stomach rumbled. She felt like she could eat as much as a dragon.

Once they’d finished up all there was at hand, Vahly took her turn at the makeshift privy—a trench dug at the base of the high-altitude spot they’d claimed as their base for operations. With all basic needs taken care of, the group readied to leave.

The sun reached its zenith, and Kyril launched into the sky, Arc and Vahly on his lion’s back, his gray-blue eagle wings impossibly wide on either side of them.

Nix, Amona, and Aitor flew in an arrow-shape beside them, blue wings like rain-heavy clouds on the horizon.

They had bags of warm clothing and supplies clutched in their talons so they could transform into their human forms upon landing if they chose to do so.

Arc’s kynd—Haldus, Ursae, and Rigel—waved a farewell from below. Ruda lifted a hand toward Kyril, her eyes shining. Vahly smiled down at the young Lapis. Ruda was Kyril’s Sourceparent, and Vahly was glad that her familiar had another good soul to rely on if things went badly.

The wind went from stingingly chilly to bone-cracking cold as they soared above a high plateau of ice-slicked rock. In the distance, three craggy peaks speared steely clouds that swept in to cloak the sun. Magic pushed against Vahly’s heart.

“There!” she called to Arc and pointed to the rest. “I have to visit those peaks.”

Arc’s hands tightened on her waist, and she leaned back, soaking in the heat and power of his presence. His sun-warmed sap-and-mint scent teased her nose, and her muscles relaxed.

“This is a place of legends,” he said into her ear, the wind trying to snatch his beautifully accented words away.

A gust swept up and Kyril veered, his warm body moving expertly to use the drafts and slide under the air currents.

“I’m scared to ask which legends,” Vahly said.

“It is said the Blackwater takes a different form in the ice realms and affects wanderers in unique ways that other kynd rarely experience.”

Frowning, Vahly gripped the furry ruff that ringed Kyril’s neck, the feathers of his neck and head shifting in the wind.

Rare experiences were over-praised. She needed power to end this war with Astraea before more good kynd fell.

Even though magic urged her to travel into this white world, her spirit sagged as they flew closer to the three peaks.

The sun, battling the clouds, showed over half the day gone already.

Exhaling, Vahly closed her eyes only to see an image Kyril sent to her. The image showed Vahly with a glowing chest like her heart was on fire. A flame extended from her and into the peaks.

Smiling, she leaned forward. “I hope that means you think this is the right move, Kyril. Because I’m not entirely sure.”

Kyril lifted his head and gently bumped Vahly like he was trying to comfort her. Indeed, a surge of power flowed from her familiar’s pelt into her palms.

Amona flew forward in a rush and jerked her dragon head toward the east. The clouds had gone black over the peaks. Arc’s hands gripped Vahly’s waist in warning.

A storm was heading right for them.