Page 153

T hey landed at the base of the Dragon’s Back, a jagged ridge under a clearing sky and a powerful moon.

One of the very few Lapis younglings, a male named Xavier who’d gone to work for Nix at the ciderhouse, flew right into them.

He glanced off Arc’s shoulder, rolled into the snow, then popped up, eyes bright.

“A message from Mistress Nix,” he said, gasping as he tried to straighten Arc’s cloak and doing more damage than the crash had.

Arc gently detached the dragon’s small talons from his clothing and smiled. “She is home safe, then? Aitor and Cygnus too?”

“Yes, your majesty. But she, well, please just read this.” He stuck out a tiny, rolled parchment.

Vahly took it, and Arc spun some light for her to read by.

I still can’t shift. And Aitor can’t shift to this form. Please come if you have a minute.

“She needs us.” Vahly leapt back onto Kyril’s back as he bent low, and Arc followed her.

With Xavier flying behind them, they coasted on the winter wind past what had once been the city of thieves but was now empty of anything but scrub trees and thick ivy.

In the amber light pouring from the ciderhouse’s windows, Nix, Aitor, and Cygnus stood in a tight-knit group.

Aitor, still in full-sized dragon form, panted, and his sides heaved in and out like he’d been in a rough fight.

His nostrils flared, and smoke curled around his sharp, white teeth as he turned to look at Vahly, Arc, and Xavier.

Vahly’s heart stalled at the ferocious look of him in the moonlight, and her hand went to the hilt of her sword.

The urge to raise the ground and shield Cygnus from danger swelled inside her.

She had never lost the healthy fear of a dragon in distress.

Breathing slowly to calm herself, she held out a hand, and he blinked as Nix came forward.

Nix’s slender, scaled throat moved in a swallow, and she blinked a few times like she might have been fighting tears.

“I tried three more times and nothing, Vahly. Nothing. And Aitor too. We can’t be stuck this way though.

Tell me you have some clever plan in that head of yours.

Or you, King Elf. You have some experiment we might do to offset this change in our magic, right?

” She set a hand on her cocked hip, but Vahly wasn’t buying her casual attitude.

Nix was fully afraid, and Vahly didn’t blame her at all.

Cygnus approached Vahly and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

If Nix and Aitor couldn’t manage to shift into the same form, they’d have a terrible time continuing their long-standing relationship.

Arc rubbed his hands together and nodded. “We will approach this scientifically.”

Vahly touched Nix’s shaking fingers, then ran a hand over Aitor’s dragon jaw. “Yes. One step at a time.”

“Let’s go to the palace,” Arc said, “and see if the twins have any spirit agate. It seems to strengthen the magic one holds.”

Aitor shook his great head, his crystalline spikes reflecting the moonlight. His eyes squeezed shut, and citrus and charcoal rose in the snow-scented air. A faint ring of fire surrounded him for a brief moment, then he sighed, still in his dragon form.

In tense silence, they all flew down to the palace.

Frostlight was supposed to be the highlight of the year, but this one had been packed full of especially unhappy moments.

Worries gnawed Vahly’s confidence as they entered the warmth of the palace and walked down its smooth-floored corridors to the great hall.

What if her sword didn’t help the sea folk? The horror of all those deaths, right there in her hall, would be gutting. And Arrosa was so attached to that Dimitris…

As if life had taken dark inspiration from her worried thoughts, Arrosa bent over Dimitris. She wept as little Lyra pulled on her skirts.

“Not now, sister,” Arrosa mumbled.

“But Mother is here to help. Look!” Lyra pointed at Vahly. She had chocolate smeared on her face like a wee beard.

Vahly rushed over and unsheathed her sword as Arrosa stepped back, eyes wary. “The Watcher spoke to me,” she said, loud enough for those other sea folk nearby to hear. “She told me the oaken sword would complete your transformation.”

Dimitris was in no condition to fight it, lying limp and his chest hardly moving.

Vahly flipped the blade and held the hilt to his forehead, where her Touched mark was.

It felt like the right spot somehow. Magic soared through her bones and blood and rushed through her hand and into the sword.

Dimitris gasped and sat up suddenly, eyes flying open.

Arrosa pulled Vahly into a rough hug. “You did it!”

Vahly touched her daughter’s nose with a fingertip. “Make sure he learns the language. I deem that your duty.” She winked, and Arrosa grinned, face going pink.

Arc raised himself on a gusty whirlwind of air magic and spun light to illuminate the entire room. Vahly walked to each of the sea folk as he spoke above them, his words like an elixir.

“You are land kynd now. The past is the past. We move forward as one. The land and its power welcome you.”

Sadly, some of the sea folk had already died.

Ruda oversaw the group taking the bodies to the sea for burial.

Most of the sea kynd revived though, under the touch of the Sword of Oak.

Their gills faded fully, and their fins diminished.

Their skin grew darker or more peach in tone like Vahly’s flesh and the flesh of the other humans she’d seen in images the Spirit of the River had shown her so long ago.

They became a myriad of beautiful, healthy humans with the odd touch of teal fin or bright hair here and there.

When all had been cared for or buried and mourned, Vahly and Arc met Nix and Aitor in the royal chambers.

On one side, an oak’s trunk made up the walls, shelves for scrolls, and even a bed, canopied with velvet.

The other portion of the large chamber was stone and housed a fireplace, which flickered with bright light.

Beeswax candles sweetened the air, and their flames danced in Nix’s eyes.

Vahly hated the dark circles under those eyes she knew so well.

And poor Aitor seemed hardly able to stand, his head and spikes nearly brushing the ceiling of the massive, domed room.

Vahly’s heart thudded dully. Her dearest friends were fading like the sea folk nearly had.

She couldn’t stand the thought of losing them.

Not during all this wild upheaval. Perhaps her sword could help them too?

“Let me try this.” She held the blade’s hilt to each of their heads, but she felt no rush of magic.

“It’s all right,” Nix said, waving off Vahly’s distress. “This is our trouble. I suppose we’ll have to work it out with our own dragon magic.”

The twins and Lyra burst through the double doors.

“Here’s the agate you wanted, Father,” the twins said in unison, their black horns peeking through their thick hair and their outstretched hands filled with rocks that shimmered obsidian, ruby, emerald, and lapis blue in the torchlight.

Lyra grinned at Nix, who winked back. “How is your night going, little pepper?”

“We fixed Dimitris.” She pronounced Arrosa’s new friend’s name with a few too many syllables.

“Well done, pepper,” Nix said. “You’ve made your sister rather happy, so I hear.”

“They are in loooooove.” Lyra made kissing noises and spun in a circle.

Arc took two of the stones from the twins and handed them to Nix. “Hold one in each hand.” He ran a hand over Lyra’s head. “Younglings, return to Cygnus and Arrosa. We will be down shortly.”

The twins immediately began shouting. “Don’t miss the Frostlight cake! Aye! And you promised another game of Trap. Where is Zuzan?”

Vahly’s stomach turned. She looked from the younglings to Nix and Aitor. “Zuzan and Euskal left us. They wanted to explore the new land formed by the earthblood explosions.”

Nix snorted. “Glad to the see the backs of both of them, if I’m honest. Sorry, Queenie.”

Vahly shrugged. “They’ve earned the sentiment. I don’t know if they’ll come back anytime soon. The game of Trap will have to be filled in with Dimitris and our new friends.”

“We’ll teach them!” Lyra shouted as she followed the twins out of the doors.

Nix set the spirit agate on Vahly’s nightstand, then readied to shift, tucking her things into her bag. “It’s a proud moment when the young take up the gambling.” She laughed, but fear tainted the sound.

She stood beside Aitor in the very center of the room while Vahly and Arc moved their reading chairs to the sides of the room.

Nix took a breath, holding an agate in each of her hands. “Ooo.” She opened one eye and looked at Arc. “These do have a nice zing.”

Dragon magic flared around Nix’s body in a pale yellow circle, but it dissolved like salt in water, and Nix remained unshifted.

She closed her eyes and her shoulders sagged.

“Well, Aitor, I have the luck with dice, but maybe you’ll be the winner in this disturbing game. ” She set the agates on his snout.

He held still and shut his eyes.

A tingling wind shot through the room and buffeted the fire and the candles. “That felt like air magic,” Vahly said to Arc.

“It did indeed. I wonder—”

A blaze of bright fire burst into life around Aitor, and in a blinding white flash, he stood beside Nix, grinning widely.

Vahly felt a rush of relief and fell against Arc.

Nix laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh, good! I didn’t know what I was going to do with you taking up all the room.”

Aitor grabbed Nix and swept her into a kiss. “Should we both try to shift into dragon form again?” he asked.

“Oh, no,” Nix said. “We’re not risking that. I prefer this form if forced to choose. I’ve grown ridiculously fond of this human, this elf, and their little wildlings.”

Aitor kissed her again. “Agreed.”

“I’m just glad those stones didn’t fry you both. Lately, I have no clue what to expect around here.” Vahly gave Nix a quick hug.

“Thanks, friend,” Nix whispered. “Thank you so much for standing by with all the tumult going on.”

“You will never get rid of me.” Vahly gave her one last hug, then dragged Arc out of the doors before he could begin asking scientific questions. “They need some alone time, darling.”

“In our room?”

Vahly smacked him. “Desperate times. We’ll relocate if we need to.” She gave him a smile, and they started toward what sounded like a pack of wild piglets ravaging the great hall.

“I think the festivities have begun.” Arc’s eyes shone.

Vahly linked her arm in his. “I hope we survive this final trial.”