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“Coward!” Euskal shouted at Aitor around his mouthful.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Aitor laughed at his own wit. “Vahly, buy the poor dragon a cider. He shouldn’t be talking down to himself like that.”

“I’ll buy that drink,” Vahly called out, “but don’t come crying to me when he’s off his head and clips you with that jab of his.”

The cider house filled with laughs. Euskal was well known to be terrible at boxing, a pastime dragons loved. The sport had all the fun of fighting but didn’t use up their dragonfire magic. They could box for hours on end.

“You’re kind of an arsehole, Vahly.” Euskal grinned and shook his head.

“But you love me.” Vahly gave him a toothy smile.

Small platters of venison sat beside the goodies covering the stone bar top.

Vahly took a bright yellow brazenberry, ready to enjoy the kick they gave to one’s energy levels.

The sour-sweet fruit exploded on her tongue.

Then, leaning over the bar, she grabbed the wooden mug she kept there.

Flashing a chip of lapis between two fingers, she ordered a pint of cider from Baww, who’d returned from filling Dramour’s mug.

Baww’s wings fluttered as he took payment for her drink and Euskal’s.

“I wouldn’t pay for that Blackwater-cursed fool’s drink.” Baww lifted his bronze pitcher and let a stream of cider flow into her mug. Little drops of the chilled drink fell onto Vahly’s forearms.

Euskal shoved his mug forward. “She didn’t ask your opinion about it, keep.”

“It’s not the best of times, my friend,” Vahly said. “No matter how many females he has stolen from you, we must stick together.”

The cider went down, nice and cold. Stones, she was glad the Breakers felt no need to open great pits of golden earthblood.

They rejuvenated themselves and their dragonfire magic by lounging near a crack in the ground where the Fire Marshes began—a far better system than the Lapis’s smoking pits of painful heat at the palace. Far better to the last human anyway.

Baww secured Vahly’s lapis lazuli chip inside the jewel box sitting beside a set of shelves. Crockery and glass jars of fermented eggplants crowded the space. “I know we’re all nigh on doomed, but is there something else wrong?” he asked.

Vahly had to keep the new developments quiet for now. A full-scale alarm wouldn’t help things. Not yet. “It’s nothing Nix can’t fix.”

“And here she is now.” Baww grinned, looking over Vahly’s head.

There was a shout of greeting, and Nix sauntered down the wide, stone steps from the second floor.

The room exploded into toasts to the cider house’s owner and operator.

Nix’s ample hips and bosom, the complete opposite to Vahly’s lean build, had most of the males drooling as she dramatically entered the common room where she pretty much ruled as Queen.

A red and gold brocade pouch fixed to her belt shifted as she walked.

The bag held precious stones for bribing members of the Lapis and Jade clans.

Nix never let laws get in the way of collecting secrets for this or that lord or lady.

“To Nix!” Dramour called out. His lean face drew up into a lopsided grin, his river-green scales shining. “The only matriarch we’d ever answer to!”

Nix’s laugh bubbled out of her throat as she slid gracefully to the bar top to take up her bookkeeping ledger. She wore a gold ring on every finger. “If I were your Matriarch, you’d all be hiding in Jade and Lapis treasure rooms waiting on my Call to clean those lofty lizards out.”

Laughter shook the stacked rock walls and mortar plumed from the larger cracks around the windows.

Body swaying, Nix winked at the crowd and they cheered for her again. “I’m sorry they’re being so ridiculous,” she said to Vahly while writing five quick tallies inside her ledger. Her long, white writing quill bobbed near her apple-shaped cheeks.

“They’re always like this for you, and you know it,” Vahly said. Nix deserved the adoration. She’d given these kynd a place to feel welcome no matter what. “You make this house a home. Plus, there’s the cider.” She held up her mug and Baww refilled it.

“Don’t let Amona hear you talk like that, calling this place a home. She might decide you have too much rebel in you.”

“No leader! No leash!” Ibai and Kemen shouted from the other side of the room.

The rest of the crew took up the chant.

“Speaking of Amona,” Vahly said, leaning over to whisper into Nix’s ear. “We need to talk. Can we go to your rooms?”

“Of course, gorgeous.”

“I’m not gorgeous. I’m human. And a plain one at that.” She’d seen enough illustrations of humans in scrolls to know.

“I’m not talking about looks, dear. I’m talking about soul. There is nothing plain about you in here.” She pointed her quill at Vahly’s heart.

Vahly rolled her eyes. Her soul was far from gorgeous. She’d broken as many laws as any dragon in here and she was younger, by decades, than almost all of them. “Beauty, in all its forms, is subjective.”

“Why can’t you just say Thank you ?”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s go to the storage room,” Nix said. “I have guests lounging in my upstairs room.”

“And by guests, you mean a crowd of male admirers ready for you to finish work.”

Nix gently tapped Vahly on the nose with one clawed fingertip. “You are quite correct, darling.”

The storage room had one narrow door Nix barely fit through and no windows.

Because of the protection from the sun, and the fact that it was partially underground on the backside of the cider house, it was chilly.

Vahly wished she had a room like this back at the Lapis palace.

It was glorious after feasting near the pits.

A while back, Nix had invited Vahly to live at the cider house. But Amona had railed, recounting the many reasons Vahly should remain in the Lapis palace. Being one of a kynd could be dangerous, Amona had stated, and Vahly was safer near the Lapis who had adopted her.

Well, Amona had been right. Vahly had been safe. But after her trouble tonight with Maur? Now, she wasn’t sure there was a safe place for her to live anywhere in the world.

“Today when I was climbing the sea cliffs there was a disturbance.”

Nix froze.

“The sea folk used their magic on the water and raised the largest wave I’ve seen yet.”

Nix’s gaze roamed Vahly’s face. Her pupils shrinking, then expanding. Nix clicked her blue tongue against her teeth, a common dragon habit. Their tongues weren’t quite forked, but the end was less rounded than Vahly’s. “How bad is it? Your face says it is dire.”

“I won’t lie.”

“Please don’t.” Nix set her ledger on a shelf beside a crock of butter and lit a large candle.

Vahly explained what had happened in detail as Nix listened. “And now, the Lapis are evacuating their lower two floors. I think you’re safe up here on this ridge, what with how the land lies now, but our time is running out. My time. I have to figure out how to get my powers going, Nix.”

Nix took a moment to absorb the idea that the sea folk seemed ready to strike. She pressed her red lips together and took a slow breath. Then she opened her bright yellow eyes. “What’s the plan?”

The scroll slid easily from Vahly’s vest. “I stole this from the hidden chamber you told me about.”

“Nicely done, thief.” From Nix, that was a compliment.

“It talks about the Sacred Oak, mentions earth kynd’s birthplaces, and even has a line about humans and elves working together.”

Nix’s eyes widened. “Now, that is interesting.” She held out her hands. “Don’t hold out on me, woman. Let me see this shocking text.”

Vahly watched her carefully unroll the delicate strip of vellum. Nix read it over, her tongue clicking again.

“Can you read the elvish at the bottom?” Vahly pointed at the darker ink near the elf holding the daggers. “It would be fantastic if it said something along the lines of Here’s how earth kynd gains magic. Step one, and so forth,” Vahly said wryly.

Nix snorted. “Right next to the line about the exact location of Matriarch Elixane’s lost hoard of cursed gold coins.”

“Yes, exactly. Considering she stole them from my kynd—the first and only crime committed by a Lapis matriarch—there should be mention of them in every important document.”

Nix shook her head. “Humans stole the gold to make the coins.”

“No, no. I think you are mistaken, friend. The legends say the people of Bihotzetik mined that gold all on their own, eons before Elixane was even alive.”

“You have only read that in one single scroll. It is a lie. And you know it.”

This was their favorite argument. There wasn’t a meeting that went by when they didn’t badger one another about the lost hoard.

“And this is just one single scroll. But still, it says something important, doesn’t it? Please say yes .” Vahly’s joking tone slipped as hope sizzled around her heart.

Nix raised one eyebrow. “I knew an elf once. A long time ago. He was a wonderful kynd. Honorable. Wise. Quick as a wink. I like elves. Well, I’ve only met the one, but he sealed the deal.

I like them. I don’t care that everyone else claims they’re pretentious.

They have cause for their arrogance. They have kept their secrets for all of time. Impressive.”

Nix dealt in secrets so that was no surprise. Vahly had witnessed countless such exchanges during her two years of friendship with the vivacious female. The first exchange she’d witnessed dealt with Vahly’s clan.

The Lapis carvers’ guild had needed to know the new drilling methods of the Jade carver’s guild, and Nix had provided the information.

Now, where she’d gained the knowledge, Vahly wasn’t sure.

But she’d never ask. Nix protected her spies like a mother hen did her chicks.

And so, Vahly would not dare question Nix about befriending an elf nor how she’d made contact with a kynd so reclusive most believed they were extinct.

“This,” Nix said, pointing, “this says that earth kynd, humans, visited the Forest of Illumahrah. I’m almost certain.”

Fire rushed through Vahly’s veins. The forest was the home of the elves, high on the plateau, beyond the Fire Marshes’ long stretch of uninhabitable land. “Was the visit tied to the ritual?”

“That, I can’t tell. I only know the words for visit and the phrase the elves use for their forest.”

Vahly’s fists clenched in frustration. “This is going to sound obnoxiously pert, but I don’t understand how you and many other dragons could have lived alongside the human clans for so long and not picked up anything about their power ritual.”

Nix touched Vahly’s arm gently. “The humans did a good job keeping secrets. Not as good as elves, but still, good.”

Nix studied Vahly’s face, and Vahly ignored the look of pity in her friend's eyes. Normally, she would leave off this type of talk, but the time for pride was long past. She had to find answers now.

“Did you ever have someone search the Jade library?” Nix asked. “Probably a waste of time, but you never know.”

“Amona tried that years ago. She says they only have one set of scrolls anyway. They’re all battle histories. Nothing in depth.”

Nix carefully closed the writing and handed it back. “What are you going to do, Vahly? Because I can see those wheels turning in that head of yours.”

She needed more information. Elven information.

But she couldn’t seek them, could she? Amona would never allow it.

They might not even exist anymore. It could lead to death through the Fire Marshes or by elves if they were indeed still around.

They might decide Vahly’s head looked best on one of their enchanted platters.

“I should try to visit the elves. If I don’t take risks and gain information soon, we’ll all be dead.”

“If it helps,” Nix said. “I’ll go with you.”

Pressure built in Vahly’s chest like her heart wanted to shout. “You would?”

“I could use an adventure.” Nix shooed Vahly back through the narrow door. “I need more stories to tell while I pour cider.”

“Nix.” Vahly put a hand over her heart. “Thank you.” Vahly was honestly shocked.

Nix had a love for sleeping in and for the first fruits of any hunts her employees went on.

A trip through the Fire Marshes would be the furthest thing from pleasurable.

“But what will the other Call Breakers think when you tell them you’re off to visit elves? ”

“Hush, please. They don’t need to know what we’re up to. We could just be on our way to scour the western lands for early cave paintings near the ruins of Bihotzenik.”

“Amona herself ran a full search of the area years ago, then again two seasons ago.”

“The Breakers won’t know all of that. They won’t care. It’ll be enough to have an interesting lie for them to chew on while I’m gone. Now, let’s have a meal and talk on the balcony upstairs.”