Calling this water would have been a stretch. It was too heavy and thick, slimy and oppressive to be water. As I sunk deeper I thought that it was like a swamp made of Jell-O. If the demon world had Jell-O. Or coffee... coffee would have been good right now.

  After another split second of sinking, I realized that I was in a daze. I tried to shake my head and prayed that I would not run out of breath. I was never a great swimmer and now was no different. Apparently becoming a demon came with many benefits, but swimming talent was not one of them. It didn't help that everything hurt. I was pretty sure that that last hit may have cracked a rib or two.

  I couldn't even tell if I was going up or not, but I put everything I had into it all the same. I couldn't give up. I would die never knowing if Rougier or Kieran were alright. Everything was heavy and my lungs were screaming for relief, chest tight. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes in the sludge. I hated opening my eyes in the water, but I needed every sense I had at my disposal to survive. Unfortunately it didn't help. The "water", a murky brown, that allowed for little depth perception, and the slime made my eyes burn fiercely.

  I nearly drowned when something sliced past me, water pressure shoving me forward into the murk, and almost making me gasp in the putrid liquid. Another blast and I realized that it was the monsters legs wreathing in the dark as it continued to attack. This information was of little help as I was still lost in the depths in a liquid that was so dense it was like trying to swim in pudding while a weight was strapped to my back. I didn't even have Rohime anymore, not that it could possibly help me in this current situation.

  What little light was filtered through the muck was narrowing as lack of oxygen had me on the verge of blacking out. My arms were heavy and I was about to take a gulp of sludge, even if it did kill me faster, when something heavy and hard came crashing against my back. Stars flashed in my darkening vision, and my muscles screamed as I was propelled swiftly through the water. For sure, I was about to die, as a broken and drowned fish.

  To say that, suddenly, being thrust into open air was the last thing I expected, would not be a stretch, yet that was exactly what happened. One second I was feeling goop rushing past my face, and the next I was free falling in the dark, the air stale and cool as I plummeted into gods only knew what.

  I screeched at such a high pitch that I even shocked myself. Once leaden limbs now cartwheeling in the air as I instinctively tried to grab hold of something. Weather because I was half drowned, shocked beyond belief, or I just was not used to having to think about it, but it was a whole second of thinking I was about to be a pancake before it occurred to me that I actually had wings. And wings may not have helped with drowning but they sure as hell would be of great use to a girl falling to her death.

  Two black leathery appendages burst forth from my back. It was so dark that had I bothered to look mid death drop, I would not have been able to see the feathered scales they bore. The wings may have just saved my life, but I had summoned them too late to completely break my fall. A split second later, with only a slight decrease in the speed of my decent, I slammed into the ground with a crunch, and a deep, painful, groan.

  "At least its sand..." I rasped out loud, chest on fire and now my left arm felt like it may have broke as well. I lay there for a good five seconds, thankful that I had air to breath and even a little life in what ever broken bones I had.

  Eventually, common sense and my ever present thirst for survival had me at least attempting to get my feet under me and figuring out what the hell happened. I could almost hear everything creak inside me as I managed to get one, then the other foot under me and my battered body in an upright position. Gently I tried flexing my fingers, then moving my arm. It hurt like hell but I was able to move it and not scream so I figured it was probably fractured and not broken. It would not be the first time I had to keep on keeping on with a fractured radius and I was sure that I could do it now too. Surly my demon bones were hardier than my previous human bones. I hoped.

  Deciding I was in one piece- barely- I decided to focus on where the hell I was. The dark. Not helpful. Okay, well I was standing on sand... I inched my feet forward and my toe touched a large rounded stone, then more sand. A few more feet of slow, sliding steps revealed sticks, crumbly plant like material, and I was pretty sure what was a fish skeleton given its brittleness and the small spiky bones. Was I in a strange air pocket at the bottom of the lake? Was I really so used to strange and insane things that my first thought was that I was walking around the lake bed in a magic bubble while a raging sea monster was slaughtering the masses above me?

  "hello!" I called out. I immediately figured I had just gotten myself killed. Why the hell would I just announce myself like that? So stupid. This was probably that Kataract thing the others were talking about where mister Creepy and his pet murder squid came from.

  To my ever loving surprise I was actually answered. "...Hello?" the voice was breathy and weak, and the word was slightly slurred. It was also coming from a head of me.

  Cursing under my breath and hoping I was not about to do something that would get me killed, I slowly made my way toward where the answer had come from. I was really pushing my luck at this point.

  I never really thought about what it would be like to be blind but I figured that I was good with this being the closest I ever got. I could see nothing. An experiment of waving my uninjured hand in front of my face revealed that I could just barely make out movement when it was right in my face, but that was about it. I hoped it was just a matter of my eyes needing to adjust, but I really doubted it. Even demon eyes needed a little light to see, and I was at the bottom of a deep lake whose water was a thick brown goo, rather than nice, clear, water.

  To my surprises I was starting to pick up something in front of me, about ten meters or so ahead. It was a faint glow, low to the ground. Steeling myself, I continued my slow sliding walk, not wanting to be so stupid as to be lured into stepping off a steep ledge or some such.

  Slowly, I saw that it was a woman sitting on the ground, hunched and curled tightly into herself, like it was hard to sit straight. I had never seen a woman this emaciated since coming to Demonia. Any male who came across such a woman and just left her in this state would be dead before he could come up with an excuse. I had been told that I was skin and bones more times than I would care to know, but this woman was that and more. I would bet that she had no fat on her at all, her limbs pale and ridged, her legs all knees and hip bones and her cheeks sunken and sharp. I had seen a picture of a mummy once and this woman was about that, but instead of being brown and dried out she was pale and sickly, like those fish who live at the very bottom of the ocean.

  As I got nearer she hesitantly unwound herself but made no effort to stand. I would have been shocked if she could to be honest. But her change in position made it clear, if it hadn't been obvious before, that she was a demon. Not just a demon but a queen judging by the black claws so similar to my own. What held my gaze was the four horns above her brow, small and looking like piercings...

  "Aura?" I asked, shocked and confused. Surely that style of horn was too unique to be shared with another line.

  "I do not know you..." She wheezes, thin, cracked lips barely opening as she spoke.

  I shook my head, still stunned. "No. I am Sin' Andra... I'm new, I guess you could say."

  She blinked slowly and painfully and did not say a word. It was then that I realized that she held something in her arms, as if she clutched a baby. What ever it was it was much smaller than a child. I could also see that it had long feathers that hung over her boney arms and dragged down past the queens thread bare robes and down to the sand. I could see it so well because it was this creature that was the source of the glow that had lead me here.

  "Um, how is it you are here? How are you alive? I was told that you had died two thousand years ago..."

  He eyes closed slowly, the red orbs disappearing behind pale lids, and stayed shut for a painful moment. "two thousand years?"

  I winced. I suppose that was a bad way to break it to the woman. "yes. There was a huge battle, several Queens were fighting the dragon Rougier in the skies over your lands. Some mishap of magic is believed to have caused a catastrophic explosion, killing you, three other Queens, and many of your people and theirs. It also spread a kind of magical poison across the land, making it a dead place all these years. Or so I am told at least."

  "I am Aura. My people are dead?" She asked, eyes still shut. It was actually a pretty good assumption. Without a queen for 2000 years, her line should have been dead, yet it wasn't. Maybe that could be excused due to their being so many females in the line... but it did make me wonder how Pasha could still be alive after 2000 years, still looking rather young. Clearly Aura's line was full of vitality if they were able to hang in so long after the disappearance of their queen. Perhaps it was because Aura was still alive after all.

  I shook my head but, she could not see it, so I spoke. "No. Not all of them. I just met a woman who is now the Reihee of your line, Pasha."

  It was then that the feintest of smiles ghosted across the woman's lips. "She was one of my last daughters. I am glad she lives."

  Well, time to break the bad news. Wasn't it all bad news? "She may not live for long. As we speak there is a great battle raging on the surface. The Enemy has burst forth from the lake in unprecedented numbers and they have this massive squid monster. It just nearly ate me but then I sunk into your bubble here... so that begs the question: why is there a bubble down here and, why are you in it?"

  "I am quite sure that was actually two questions." She sighed and opened her eyes once again. "I know that the beast came forth. Though I do not know what a squid is." She took a breath. I was impressed she could talk at all given her state and the likely hood that she hadn't spoken in a millennium. "This attack has been two thousand years in the making, and Cinder-Fetch and I have been all that has stood between the enemy and the end of my race."

  Well, that was a statement. Groaning I set myself in the sand in front of the woman. I was hurt and had no clue how to help my friends at the moment. Besides, this was important. I could just feel that this was something I needed to know. "Please explain. I can hardly swim back to the surface at the moment so I may as well here your tale."

  She gave me an indecipherable look, but sighed and continued on. "Back, during this fight you mentioned, I had heard that the Death-Bringer was on a rampage, but I had not expected him to come my way. So when he and the queens flew over head I hurried to Cinder-Fetch, while telling my butlers to evacuate our people and assemble our forces. I had to be sure Cinder-Fetch was well before joining the fight, as this was my sacred duty, even over the protection of my children." Breathing heavily, she gazed down at her bundle and it was then that I realized that it was a monster, a bird to be exact. No doubt this grubby, half dead and faded thing was the Mythical monster Cinder-Fetch. It was as small as a parakeet but its tails, which had been described a vibrant and aethereal, were many times its size and now a lusterless, and a murky brown color, much like the water that I couldn't see surrounding us.

  "You may think that the death of these lands were the fault of the dragon, but I can tell you that they are not. Certainly his attack provided a good distraction, but this is the work of the enemy, though and through." Her words were low and slow, broken with small gasps for air, but they held me captivated all the same. "When I entered the nest of Cinder-Fetch I could tell immediately that there was something amiss. We may not be able to speak in words but as its care giver, we are connected to one another, as no demon is connected to a monster. It communicated to me its distress. And when I explained of the dragons attack it instead impressed upon me a greater threat.

  I followed it to the depths of the lake, following the grand path that was built in ages past, made of spelled glass, to this very location at the center of the lake. It is here that the Mana stone of the gods can be found, and it is here that the Kataract was beginning to form..."

  "Wait, what?" I asked now more confused than ever. So much so that I nearly forgot the horrors taking place above, as I sat listening to this woman chat about battles of the past. I scanned around me as best as I could. Admittedly it was too dark to see anything, but I was pretty sure there was no magical glass tunnel or dome. I would've noticed if I had crashed through that. I didn't even feel the tell tale hum of a mana stone though the soles of my feet. Now that I was touching solid ground I should be able to feel it.

  "It is a hard place to describe." She said with a slight smile. "It was beautiful however. It is gone now, as I am sure nearly everything on the surface is as well. Did the library survive at least?" I did not say anything but clearly my face said it all because she sighed sadly. "I thought as much. Such a waste. Just outside the dome I could just make out the Kataract forming and knew that it was this, and not the dragon that had agitated Cinder-Fetch. To the Guardian, a dragon attack, though unfortunate, would be a naturally thing, part of the comings and goings of life. But the Enemy is the antithesis of life in this plane."

  "But, why would the Kataract appear in the lake?" I asked, just more confused.

  She nodded briefly, looking like the movement pained her, before continuing. "I am old Miss Sin' Andra, even before my time down here, and as is common amongst those of our kind who are fortunate enough to reach an age that we get bored, I decided to learn new things. Luckily for me I had the largest library in the whole of the Demonia to study. One thing I looked into was the nature of our one true threat. And it is true that there are very few encounters on water. It is theorized that there is little or no water in their realm. Life for their kind is very different from ours. So I to was surprised to see the tear in the fabric of our world forming down here. I was not surprised that it was near a mana stone however. It has long been thought that larger mana stones draw in the Kataract, after all it is mana that the Enemy eats."

  Aura sighed and, with as little movement as she could manage, stroked the feathers of her tiny burden. "Cinder-Fetch and the stone are connected since ancient times. In fact it can easily be said that without this monster and the stone, life could not exist here." Her hand stilled and she looked me dead in the eye. "No doubt that was why the enemy's attack was aimed here. I am sure it would have taken them a lot of power, time and effort to accomplish this. And it just so happens that the day the enemy made its move was also the day a rowdy upstart dragon decided to wreak havoc. I knew that there was no time to warn anyone. I needed to seal the tear immediately..."

  "What happened? It must have worked, what ever you did."

  "Yes and no." She said sadly. "This was to be an incursion the likes of which demon kind had never seen. Cinder-Fetch could sense it and though it I could sense the power as well. I tried all the magic at my disposal and nothing worked. Just as the forces of Anti-Mana began crossing the threshold of the Kataract there was a huge explosion on the surface, the magical shockwaves stalling the emergence just long enough for me to make a last, desperate play."

  Though I feared for those still fighting, I realized that this, too, was important. If she found a way to seal the Enemy back where they came from, maybe I could do the same. Or at least get the knowledge to someone else who could. I briefly thought about calling Shinra, and maybe with her aid swimming to the surface. But I really doubted she could swim in that muck any better than I could. Plus there was so little light that there were no shadows for her to emerge from.

  "What did you do?" I asked, my mind half on the battle taking place above and the other half desperate to learn anything that may save us from this dreadful circumstance.

  "Cinder fetch is needed in this world, but there could always be another guardian. Someone could replace me just as I once replaced the last queen who watched over this valley. I planned on sacrificing my life, as an exchange, to the god Thigila. She commands the laws of fair exchange, among other things, and it was to her I prayed."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "But you are not dead... mostly." I winced again. Wow that was another point for Sin's lack of tact. Go me.

  She raised an imperious eyebrow, but seemed mildly amused. "This is true. Before I was able to accomplish my exchange, the Enemy broke free and smashed through the dome. I was shocked as I had long since thought that an impossibility as it was constructed via the gods themselves. But it did mean that Cinder-Fetch and I were about to die. As magical and wonderous as this monster is, it is not invincible. It may live for ever if left to its own devices but it can be killed. And drowning is an effective method as any. And so the nature of my exchange needed to be changed."

  "Why?" I asked. "Was your life suddenly worthless?"

  "Yes, in fact, it was. Afterall, what worth is there in giving up a life that is about to end anyway. Besides, I needed to save Cinder-Fetch now, not just seal the hole. Instead I gave up all I was and ever would be, I gave up all of me so that I could save all of it."

  I found myself confused once again. What the hell did that even mean. Wasn't 'giving all that you are and all that you ever will be' the same as giving up your life?

  This time her small smile was one of patients and compassion. "You said you were new. I see that you must mean that you are young. There are far more valuable things than ones own life. Indeed, there are many things I would rather not loose over my own life. What I gave up was essential my own soul. I am forever tied to cinder-Fetch now. It is why I am still alive right now as a matter of fact, despite not having food or water in a millennium. So long as Cinder-Fetch lives, so do I. When it is ill, I am ill, if it is hurt, I too feel the pain. We are tied as tightly as any two souls could be.

  And in the nature of the exchange, I was able to have this magical bubble built around the greater mana stone. After all, Cinder-Fetch is as tied to it as I am to Cinder-Fetch. So, for it to live the stone needed to be protected, and for the stone to be protected the Kataract had to be closed. And that is exactly what happened."

  "Then why didn't you leave this place?" I asked somewhat irritated. Why would she hide herself down here, her line left to wither? Was that not a queen's duty, to protect and guide their lines?

  "Because I had only made the exchange for Cinder-Fetch's life. We are stuck down here. I have none of the magical abilities that being a queen once afforded me. I am, essentially, just an average demon female at this point, and my line is gifted in physical strength and very deficit in the magical arts, I am afraid. And as integral as Cinder-Fetch is to the life and fertility of our lands, it is not a creature of power. Its magic is a passive one that promotes fertility and the growth of mana and life. All we can to is exist and hope that is enough for the world to keep turning."

  "Clearly not. You both, I am really sorry to say, look awful..."

  At that she actually did chuckle. "Yes. Well, the enemy has had another two thousand years to make its way back into this world I am afraid. Already the path was made, they needed only to wait for the defenses to erode away. And their chosen method was the slow consumption of mana in the area. Cinder-Fetch is a large part of that source, and so they have, essentially, been slowly siphoning the life out of us."

  Frustrated, I cursed. We needed a solution! I needed to get back to my dragon and kill a squid!

  "Could I exchange something with this Thigila? Maybe I have something that can get us out of here and back up topside to help the others?"

  "Maybe you could get back that way, yes. It is here, at the eternal Lake, that it is easiest to make contact with Thigila, as it is her stone that rests here. But getting to the surface will not save the day. I am sorry Sin, but I think that there is no saving any of us now..."

  "No, I do not accept that." I growled, and gingerly got to my feet, needing to pace no matter weather or not I could see where I was walking. "Why cant we? I- I don't want to die, but maybe if I trade my life-"

  Aura shook her head. "You are in the same position as I was all those years ago, Sin. Your life is about to end and so what value is there in it? Even if we got to the surface and, by some insane miracle, we managed to defeat an army of the Enemy led by this 'squid' beast you mentioned, we would all die." Her eyes settled back on the sickly bird in her arms. "Cinder-Fetch is dying, Sin. It is how the Enemy was able to break though at last. Finally, their slow poisoning has worked. And without Cinder-Fetch this world will eventually die. A corruption will spread from here and slowly spread across this land weather the Enemy stands upon it or not..."

  I shook my head in stubborn defiance, yet I knew she spoke the truth. I had seen it with my own eyes after all. The wastelands were growing, and that was while this tiny little bird monster was still alive. How fast would the wastes expand when it died. It was a land basically devoid of life. The demons could not live in such lands. Maybe we would not die instantly, but die we would.

  A small voice inside said that I did not have to die. I could go back to Hearth. I could round up what people I cared about here and take them there. They may get home sick and not like that they lost eighty percent of their power, but they would be alive. But I knew that that would not work. Felicity would never just abandon her mother's line like that, and there was no way I could just migrate an entire world into Hearth.

  I could just leave on my own, but would I be able to live with myself? I had done plenty of horrible and selfish things in my life, especially in my last life, an I almost never regretted any of those choices. But I think that this would be a choice I would regret. I wasn't sure I could live with that regret.

  "There has to be something..." It was not in my nature to just roll over and die. Besides, I finally had something to live for and it would just be cruel for me to have obtained that, only for it to be taken away while I rotted down here at the bottom of a dirty lake.

  "This is a world of magic, and so there is aways a way." Said a new voice, causing me to spin on my heel, raise my claws and let out a very animal like hiss. I winced a the pull on my injured arm.

  I could not see who had spoken, but I could hear foot steps. The sound of soft and small feet brushing through sand and silt. I squinted into the dark where I thought the voice had come from. I did not expect to see a little girl walk into the faint light.

  I watched as a small child of maybe six years walked confidently up to me and the emaciated queen. One thing I was certain about was that this was not a demon. If I had to pick a race it would either be human or elf. The ears were hidden by long golden locks but she was beautiful enough to be an elf, that was for sure. Barely over two feet tall, and with ivory skin and bright blue eyes, she was the definition of a porcelain doll. She even wore a frilly, white dress complete with lace ribbons. But I had no doubt, despite her looks, that this was not a child. There was an age and jadedness to her stare that screamed that all was not as it seemed with this apparent child.

  Still on edge, I shifted my gaze to Aura. She had gotten to her feet as well, having taken a couple steps back and holding the bird tight to her skeletal rib cage. But given the confusion on her face, she also had no clue what to make of this girl either.

  "Greetings Aura of the Lake and Sin, Queen of Dragons." Sang the child, her voice pure and sweet, if a little cold. "I am Thigila, and I have heard your prayers."

  Had I prayed? I didn't recall doing that. Maybe wishes counted as prayers to these freaking gods, as I was definitely doing a lot of that. And what the hell was with these gods just showing up as little kids?

  "I see your confusion as to my appearance. I assure you that is all down to you, young Sin. We take the form based on those we interact with, and this is the shape you made for me." Said the girl, her tone calm and controlled. Almost robotic, really.

  "Yeah... I apparently do do that." I said somewhat apologetically. I really did not see how an unconscious projection could be blamed on me though. Maybe if these gods announced themselves before scaring the life out of me I would have enough time to conjure a better image of them.

  "We, the gods as your kind and others refer to us, also wish for this world to continue." She said, just standing there, hands folded in front of her, and bare feet half buried in the grey sand. "But, as powerful as we are, we do have limitations. For each of us those limitations are different. I can only act in sense of a fair exchange. The universe must be kept balanced or it would all topple to despair and ruin. I can not just fix the issues for you I am afraid."

  "What would happen if we did nothing?" I asked, throat dry and my anxiety high. "What if I just left this bubble, did all I could to get back to the surface, and helped the others fight this enemy?"

  "It is possible. You could make it to the surface alive, with great difficulty, and rejoin those who are fighting. You may even defeat the Enemy that you face right now."

  "But?" There was always a 'but'. It was a pretty well known fact at this point.

  "Cinder-Fetch would still die. It is dying as we speak, in fact. And without Cinder-Fetch, this world will also fade away. Left to its own devices, that process may take several dozen years, and maybe a solution could be found. But it is very doubtful that the Enemy will give you that leeway. They will keep coming, and without Cinder-Fetch, they could come faster and in much greater numbers. This world would be consumed in months, if not less than that."

  Voice nearly a whisper and chest heavy I said "And if I were to give up my life to save cinder fetch? You said I could live, there fore it must have value."

  A small emotion flickered over the girls placid face for a split second. "Can you honestly say that you find value in your life? How can you exchange something that you, yourself, think is worthless." Her words were delivered with a gentleness and I knew then that she spoke the truth. I could not ever remember a time that I thought my life had value, and these last few months had been making strides to change that self deprecating view, but it was not there yet.

  "Then what can I do...?" I asked, my words tight and my hope dying. I realized then that I may not have value in my own life but I had found others that I put great worth in. people that I would give just about anything to be sure they could keep on living.

  "You are a rare and special being Sin. One that fate itself had not anticipated. Kradiff's absentmindedness has been a bane to us gods for time immemorial, but this time he really went above and beyond. Perhaps there is something you hold dear that can be exchanged?"

  I was under the impression that this god would be a little more clear headed compared to the last one I met, but I suppose that was just a lot of wishful thinking on my part. The only thing I could think of was Kieran or my tames, and I would let this world rot before I just turned them into sacrificial victims to this god, no matter how cute she looked.

  She sighed and then continued to speak to me like I was a emotionally damaged child. Which was pretty insulting. I was, clearly, an emotionally damaged adult, I thank you kindly!

  "Perhaps, in your last life, you had little in the way of hopes and aspirations. But you can not hide them from one such as I, even if you can hide them from yourself. I am truly sorry Sin, but if you wish to save a giver of life, then I must have the gift of life in exchange."

  I was silent for a handful of seconds before I spoke. "I don't under stand. Are you saying you need a pregnant woman. I can tell you right now that I am not pregnant. I I never wish to be either."

  At that denial the girl smiled, eyes sad and knowing where they once appeared cold and emotionless. "Is that really true though?"

  "You can not mean what I think you mean Lady Thigila!" Gasped Aura. She was keeping her composure fairly well, given that ninety percent of the conversation between myself and the goddess would have been beyond her understanding. After all, Aura had no clue of my origins. Maybe she was burning with curiosity but was better at keeping her lips sealed than I ever was. "To take this from a queen-!"

  "Would it not be lost in the event of her death. It only holds such value now because of the inherent value of life and that she herself may live long enough to have a child or two before the world completely collapses."

  My eyes widened and chest tightened. So tight I almost thought I was drowning again. Unconsciously, my black clawed hands slid to my stomach. "You- you want to sterilize me?" It was a remarkably calm question considering the swirl of unexpected and confusing thoughts tumbling though my mind.

  "Yes, the potential line that you would create would be a fair trade to restore life back to the bird who would then return the magic of life back to this world. I wish I could defeat this enemy for you as well, but I can not. I am afraid that that task would still lie in the hands of the denizens of this world. I could ensure that you all made it to the surface, however."

  My fingers tightened around my belly. I never wanted kids. Never. I never wanted to risk bringing some thing to life only for it to suffer and struggle as I had done. Besides, motherhood scared the shit out of me. How was I supposed to make sure a tiny life survived and prospered when I could not even assure myself that I could do that, day to day? I had no reference for what a good mother was, had no trust that a man would care enough to help, and feared that the whole world would be against my child.

  But it was true that since coming to Demonia, my view points on children had been changing. I saw a life where I would have the means to feed my child, cloth and shelter it. I saw a world where every being would treasure this new life and that I could be sure it lacked for nothing. Hell, my babies' would have a freaking dragon for a bodyguard!

  An image of a little girl, maybe five years old, with dark hair fading to blood red, little nubs for horns, and a whip like tail flashed through my mind and I think I may have let out a small pained sound.

  "Sin." Breathed Aura. "There must be another way. Any other way! It is the most integral part of a demon queen, the ability to have young and create a line! Lady Thigila asks for too much."

  The goddess did not comment on the withered queens words, she simply waited for my answer. But as we all waited for me to make sense of my emotions, people were dying, the very people I had hoped could be saved.

  Could I do this? Could I give up what was apparently my sole reason for living in this body? It had never been my intention, not even close, when I chose this life as a demon. I just wanted to be a bad ass bitch that no one would dare mess with, while I had a good time taming a bunch of cool magical monsters. I did not want to be in the war between worlds, I did not want a family, I did not want to love.

  But I did. I did love. I loved my tames, I loved Kieran, Felicity and Garris. I loved my tames both here and in Hearth! And it was this enemy that threatened them and so I had to fight. Tears threatened to come forth because I knew what I had to do, knew that I was about to give up something that I was just realizing that I had wanted all along.

  "Please," I croaked, throat tight with suppressed emotion. "Make the exchange. I will give up my future children so that the rest of this world can continue to have them." Despite my best efforts, hot tears leaked down my pale cheeks, my tail lay limp in the sand, and my claws were dug into my flesh, in a strange attempt to keep what lay withing where it was.

  "I accept this exchange."

  I gasped as the bubble was suddenly flooded with light. We stood on the sandy lake bottom strewn with bits of debris and dead plants. I could see chunks of bricks scattered about and what may even have been a shard of the old glass dome. Behind us, surprisingly close, given I could not see it in the dark nor sense the mana of it, was a massive mana stone, its pearlescent sheen dull and faded. The water around us was almost a mustard yellow in the bright light that was emanating from now a single direction, and casting no shadows. It was eerie, yet also a comfort.

  I swallowed hard when I saw a large shadow brush past the bubble, its size and length clearly pegging it as one of the Squids many arms. It was visible for only a second but It reminded me that what I was doing was necessary for all that I loved in the now, to survive. Determined, I set my eyes back on the goddess.

  She stood before us, illuminated and looking every bit an angle without wings. Her eyes were closed and her hair was whipping about in a wind that just was not there. Suddenly I felt a tug at my middle. That was it, a brief pull of mild discomfort. But I knew it was done. A pain that was not in my body, but in my heart swelled up and I grunted at the loss. It hurt so much more than I ever would have suspected.

  Movement caught my eye and I saw that it was Aura. She was watching her burden and I saw what she saw: color was returning to the bird. Its plumage changing from a muddy brown to a vibrant mix of reds and oranges, its tails also splashed with streaks of cerulean blue though-out. As if life really had returned to it, it suddenly stood up in the hands of its care taker and I saw that it sported a small but vibrant fringe on its head, like a blue and gold mini mohawk. It blinked small, sky blue eyes before lifting its short, sparrow, beak and let out a trill that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

  "Cinder-Fetch." Choked Aura, gazing down at the bird that I suddenly felt comfortable calling a phoenix, even if, before now, I would have guessed such a bird to be more along the size of a swan than a pigeon- at best. But it was vibrant and the once dull glow was now a glorious, almost fiery light without the flame.

  "All that is left is to get you up to the surface, then our contract will be complete." Said the small child god. She smiled sweetly at the bird, like they were old friends before turning emotionless eyes on me once again. "Take heart, I know that, at the very least, your dragon and butler are alive, they are both on the shore, and I will attempt to get you near them."

  I felt a thin hand on my arm and looked round to see that Aura had come up to me, her eyes wet with tears of joy but the look she gave me was a mix of gratitude and pity that made me a little uncomfortable. But what was really shocking was that I could see her face filling out before my eyes. Pale and pasty skin was slowly gaining color and her limp and tangled hair was getting back its golden sheen. Her return to health was not as sudden as Cinder-Fetch's had been, but it was clear that she had told the truth when she told me that she and the birds fates were as one.

  "Thank you Sin." She said softly. "You are a hero to our whole race, and your sacrifice will never be forgotten."

  A familiar feeling of distain hit me, pushing the grief and melancholy back just enough to get my head back on straight. I felt my nose wrinkle and my eyes narrow. "I am not a hero." I heard myself say in a tight voice, my emotions still to raw.

  I was about to say something more but instead I let out a rather embarrassing yelp. My sole redemption was that Aura also released a squawk of surprise. Suddenly, we were both about four inches off the sand-beach bottom and hovering.

  "I must not spend too much time on this plane. It does bad things to the mana flows." Stated Thigila, and I saw with some confusion, that she was now hovering at eye level to me. "I will take you to the surface, the out come of this conflict is up to you and the others currently fighting. Good luck. Oh!" She added, eyeing us critically. We were both holding hands as it was hard to balance in thin air. Why could this god lift us off the ground yet not keep us steady, I did not know. "I suggest you take a deep breath and hold on tight. This will not be a comfortable trip, though it will be short."

  I felt Aura's fingers tighten around my own and saw her clutch Cinder-Fetch closer to her breast. Then we were speeding up ward. As we climbed I realized that the bubble was covering a larger area than I had originally thought, maybe roughly the size of a football field. And at its center the mana stone was now shining a brilliant pearlescent color as it should have done.

  "Look!" Gasped Aura and I followed her gaze to the edge of the bubble only to see that there were streams of water breaking though. As I watched the streams turned to torrents, then waterfalls of sludge began raining down around us. I cursed as a torrent broke though right above us and suddenly we were submerged in dirty water yet our upward climb did not stop.

  Despite knowing it would sting I could not resist opening my eyes to see what the god was doing. She was still right in front of me, her face turned up ward, but no indication that the water or filth affected her in any way. In fact, despite the nasty quality of the water she was clearly visible to me and her white dress was still clean and neat.