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V ahly stood still as Arc used his royal elven blood to paint a circle on each of her temples and one down her nose. He drew a line of his blood across her collarbone. Her lungs reacted immediately, and she took the most satisfying deep breath of her life.

“Not bad, elf. I wonder what kind of magic I’d be able to do if I shoved your spleen up my nose.”

“Perhaps it would filter out foul odors.” Arc’s lips twitched.

“That would be such a blessing at the cider house during the winter when Nix keeps the doors shut.”

Arc took up the paste he’d made of the eyewort and smoothed it over Vahly’s closed lids.

“I’m guessing I look like some mysterious creature from another time.” Vahly wiggled her eyebrows.

A band of sticky plant juice ran across her eyelids and the bridge of her nose.

She could feel Arc’s blood tingling under her skin, the magic spreading through her body.

She had to admit to herself that she liked the idea of his power in her blood and bones.

The thought of his power with spellwork and his air element breathing through her, well, it made her breathless in more than one way.

She swallowed and forced herself to look away from the ferocity in his black eyes and the defined edges of his cheekbones. He was cleaning his hands in the grass and whispering spells in the elven tongue, his full lips moving quickly.

Amona had flown one complete circle above the ruins. She landed and spoke into Vahly’s mind. Are you prepared, Daughter?

I’m covered in elf blood and plant guts.

Is that a Yes ?

I suppose in this instance it is.

Amona’s lip curled into what might have been a smile had she been in her other form. She glanced at Arc, then took off, her wing beats blowing Vahly’s hair back.

A thousand fears assaulted Vahly as she and Arc maneuvered over the rocks toward the deep water.

Arc had said the magic would hold even if the sea washed the blood away.

But the plant that was meant to help Vahly see wasn’t magic.

Though rare and new to her, it was obviously a simple healing arts paste.

Surely the ocean would clean the mixture from her eyes and she would be lost, the watery world going blurry around her.

And were those terrifying creatures with black fins and pointed teeth in this area?

Even if she and Arc managed to evade sea folk, they could still be ripped to shreds by one of those enormous, carnivorous fish.

“My hair will be a disaster after all of this,” Vahly joked, covering her fear.

“You are strong and your magic has led you to this. I’m confident we’ll be successful.

” Arc jumped from the last of the coast’s rocks into the water.

Bobbing back to the surface, he looked up.

His black hair clung to his head, highlighting the proud shape of his warrior’s face.

The small scar beside his nose. Tiny scratches along his jawline and cheekbones that made Vahly think of a bronze statue that had been roughly polished over a great span of time.

His eyes showed the alchemist side—darting gaze, taking in information, always analyzing.

Vahly gathered her courage, and with one last glance at Nix on shore and Amona flying above, she dove into the water.

Arc submerged alongside her, gave her a once-over, then held out a hand.

Lead the way, my queen.

The ocean’s filtered sunlight possessed the sky’s hue and the pale jade of the seaweed growing far below. The water chilled Vahly’s skin. Her linen shirt and trousers clung to her as she kicked and spread her arms wide, then pulled them back.

Shapes the color of charcoal, fog, and obsidian rose before them.

Vahly’s heart surged.

Here it was. The ruins of the great city of Bihotzetik.

Arc’s plant and blood magic seemed to be working.

She could see clearly and breathe normally.

A tentative smile slid over her mouth, her heart lifting, but the gnawing sensation in her stomach only grew stronger to overcome her struggling hope.

Water extended for miles upon miles. This was very different from swimming in the Silver River.

Of course, the salt water bit at her and there was the magic she had to have to function down here, but it was so much more than that.

At any moment, the sea folk could rush through the blurred and foreign world and kill her, also destroying any chance for Nix, Amona, and Arc to live a full, long life.

The Sea Queen had made her declaration of war, her announcement that she and her army would smother the world in water.

And there would be no changing her mind.

Not after eons of feuding. Queen Astraea’s vehemence for achieving ultimate power and control hadn’t wavered.

Vahly had to survive this quest into the sea and make the risk they were all taking worthwhile.

The earth’s heartbeat drummed dully here, its strength lessened by the water.

But she could still hear it in her ears and feel it in her chest. Magic tugged at that one spot near her heart, telling her to push forward, to strive onward, to uncover whatever it was she needed to fully wake her powers and become a true Earth Queen.

Shops and homes with tiled roofs crowded in circles and along roads. The juxtaposition of a dwelling developed for ground travel set into this watery place made her head spin. It was disorienting to think that she was basically flying over a city that her ancestors had built.

A few strokes ahead of Arc, Vahly swam deeper into the city.

Every house boasted what she guessed was a sigil for the family who had lived there. The house to her right showed a boar on a green field. Next door, the owners had used a hawk as their symbol. Across the street, three houses in a row showed the same sigil—a stag with a wide set of antlers.

They must have had a great many children, Arc said inside Vahly’s head.

An invisible knife sliced through Vahly’s chest. Human sisters. Brothers. A father and a mother. The sea folk had killed her mother during the flooding of the Lost Valley. Amona had told Vahly the tale.

Arc was looking through the window of the three stag-marked homes.

Vahly swam inside, and Arc followed her.

Wide shelves seemed to have served as beds for the humans.

They were stacked one on top of the other by way of tree trunks.

Vahly ran a hand over the long-submerged wood.

The grain was coarse and slimy. Perhaps the salt water had somehow petrified the trunks, turning the wood to stone.

Nothing was left of any blankets or pillows that might have been here during the city’s life.

Barnacles and emerald sea moss covered the surface of the nearest bed. Vahly touched the spot where a head would have rested at night and wondered who had slept there.

Vahly assumed that her father had died the same day as her mother.

That was logical. But what of her siblings?

It was likely her mother and father had borne more children.

What had they been like? Perhaps they’d slept in beds such as these, their heads turned so they could talk and joke late into the night.

Had they been forced to watch as their mother saved Vahly on that fateful day and not them?

Vahly covered her ears, their imagined shrieks echoing in her mind, their faces twisted in horror as Amona lifted Vahly into the sky. What had their deaths been like?

Vahly. Arc gripped her arm, his solemn face coming into view and wiping her manic imaginings away. Breathe. You’re shaking badly. Do we need to go back? We can try again later. You may need time to absorb the intensity of the situation here.

She took a breath, feeling like she’d been gored by a boar’s tusk. I’m fine, she lied. Let’s keep going. Sorry for the dramatics.

No apologies. This must be very difficult. I cannot imagine the pain in your heart at seeing this, at seeing what you lost.

Putting a fist against her churning stomach, Vahly pressed onward.

The tattered remains of a basket lay in a rough circle beside the last of the stacked beds.

Several ruined scrolls sat inside. Fish had eaten away most of the vellum; the wooden rods of the scroll Vahly lifted crumbled into the water.

The copper knobs that had been on the ends of the wooden rods sat in the mess on the floor, their metal green with age.

She’d get no information from scrolls here.

With a nod to Arc, she swam out of the large home and into the wide avenue.

A chill shook her as pale-bellied fish—as large as Xabier or Helena the healer in dragon form—drifted overhead like ghosts.

She shivered. This was far more eerie than she’d thought it would be.

She’d been so focused on following her magic that she hadn’t considered the emotional impact this place would have on her.

Steeling herself and remembering her human mother’s courage, she moved forward.

Beyond the houses, five shops with faded red walls made a circle around a mosaic of smoky-gray and ivory tiles.

The mosaic showed interlocking oak leaves and the face of a woman with a narrow jaw and full, pink lips.

Was this an Earth Queen? Perhaps touching the image would somehow help her own magic rise…

But when her fingers brushed the tiles, no insight or vision materialized, no deep awareness. No hunch on what this person might mean to the history of who and what Vahly was. Sighing, she swam on.

The nearest shop stocked the remains of what must have been rugs. Only patches of the wool and cotton remained, strings of ruby, emerald, and onyx. Most of the color had gone gray from the salt water. Vahly swam around the shop.

A great black spire rose in the distance.

Energy rushed over Vahly’s scalp and down to her chest. She grabbed Arc’s arm. Earth magic drummed through her bones as if it wanted to speak to her.

As if the magic wanted to say, Yes. There.