Trillia had been happy to chat with the librarian for a couple of hours. Nothing important had been said, but swapping tales of their lives was pleasant. The woman had also pointed Trillia towards the Queen's personal library.

  It was a small, nondescript door at the end of an otherwise dead-end hallway. There were no guards stationed either.

  Trillia slowly reached out to the handle. As she grasped it, she braced for some unseen threat to pop up. Instead, the door silently swung up and revealed an inky blackness that permeated the doorway.

  With a deep breath, Trillia stepped through, followed by Ialu and Dire. It was evident the moment she had stepped through the door that magic was at play.

  She reached out and grabbed a tuft of fur on Ialu and Dire, who flanked her. There was no visible ground beneath her.

  Trillia stood perfectly still as she tried to make heads or tails of the space she was in.

  Below her looked like an ocean of leaves and branches. The distance made it hard to judge the size of the mighty trees below her, but they stretched out in every direction. The canopy only briefly broken up by brooks and lakes.

  Clouds meandered all around the space that she stood in. Thousands of bookshelves made of a rich dark red wood were filled with books. There was a half dozen large cloth-like blobs sitting in the center of the space.

  To Trillia's surprise, Queen Alliyah was lounging on one of the blobs. A book rested half against her face as the woman snoozed away.

  Ialu was the first of the three brave enough to take a step forward. The skoll found that as she did, the ground had a small pulse of magic beneath it that held her up. Trillia and Dire found their courage and slowly tip-toed forward.

  "You won't fall through. I use similar magic to the dragons and their flying citadels."

  Trillia's blood went cold, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when Alliyah spoke. She had been so focused on stepping onto nothing and waiting for each step to plunge them to their deaths that she had all but forgotten they weren't alone. "Right. So why isn't there a floor? Storm's Citadel had a floor."

  "I like looking down. This is a continent that is inhabited by a collection of giant magic beasts and small animalkin-like creatures. From what Kain told me, it is the result of a war long, long before I was ever born between a bunch of druids."

  Normally, Trillia would be interested in the tale and the lore. Currently, she was trying to convince her mind it was ok to just walk on the open air. Logically she knew the magic would hold her, but it didn't stop her stomach from churning with every step.

  "Would it help if I made it slightly opaque?"

  The little orc nodded furiously. With a thought from Alliyah, the floor turned mostly translucent with a dark grey shimmer. Trillia breathed a little easier.

  "What brings you here?"

  "I was at the other library, and the librarian there told me how to get here. She said the books here are more difficult to find and probably have what I'm after."

  Alliyah nodded as she stood. As she gently closed the book, it floated from her hands to one of the many bookshelves. "What are you after?"

  "Books on canine monsters. I'd like to find another canine-type creature that has a high vitality stat. Ialu gives me Agility, and Dire gives me Strength. I can have one more pact-bound. Ialu and I get bonuses if it's a canine-type creature."

  "Behemoths are easily the strongest of the canine-type creatures. Largely because they only barely count. But you aren't nearly strong enough to capture anything but a baby behemoth, and the food upkeep on a growing behemoth could drive a merchant lord to ruin. I should know, I tried to raise one once."

  Trillia was finally starting to feel a little more comfortable walking around on what seemed like a tinted glass floor. Her two loyal companions stayed very close to her. They were not very happy about being so high in the air.

  "What made you stop?"

  "The price. About three years in. I'd have to feed it a half dozen stags a day. Kain told me that it was irresponsible to try and raise the thing myself. As much as I didn't want to listen, I took it to the continent under us with Kain. He dropped it off with a druid who was pact-bound to him and asked the man to help raise the creature."

  "Sorry to hear that. Are there any other creatures that would fit what I'm after?" Trillia breathed yet another heavy sigh of relief once she had finally gotten to a bookshelf. She grabbed onto it as if the bookshelf wasn't also just floating in the middle of the sky.

  "I have a few bestiaries. But they are probably a couple centuries old. I haven't done a lot of exploring on Alirast in the past century. Most of my time has been spent on other realms or keeping Kadessa whole."

  "That's fine with me. It will give me an idea of what to look for."

  Alliyah gently grabbed Trillia's hand and slowly dragged the orc over to the lounging blobs. "These are filled with feathers and enchanted for comfort. Sit down before you give yourself a panic attack."

  As she took her seat, Trillia was surprised by how comfortable the things were. It felt a bit like sitting on a giant pile of loose comfortable sand. Alliyah snapped her fingers, and a fluffy carpet spread from around the seat that Trillia had taken. Ialu and Dire were happy to lie down and not be able to see a thousand-foot plummet to their death.

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  "Kids." Alliyah chuckled with a shake of her head. It wasn't long before a stack of three old leather-bound books sat next to Trillia. Each of them was written in the human language with great care. "Here. These are my most recent bestiaries. My handwriting isn't that bad."

  Trillia thanked her and took the first of the books, gently running her fingertips along the cover.

  'Viablie Mounts & Locations'

  A smile crept across her face as she opened the cover. A picture of a large cat-like creature was the first thing she saw. It had a rather scantily clad woman riding on it's back with a lance in hand. "Uhh..."

  "I like drawing. I spent a lot of years trying to find a mount that wouldn't hinder my speed."

  "This armor doesn't look very...protective."

  "That armor could take hits from a dragon's tail. I am very proud of my body, and I am happy to show it off in combat. Enchantments and illusions let me do that without sacrificing defense."

  "Is there a particular reason? Other than just being proud?"

  "Men are simple, stupid creatures. To be fair, most women are also simple, stupid creatures. It's quite easy to distract your opponent and gouge their eyes out when they aren't paying attention to your weapons."

  "Ahh..." Trillia scanned the picture again before flipping the page. The amount of information was staggering. It had the continent name and the average size of both the male and female of any species. Their stat distribution at various levels. As well as some of the skills they had available. Even in what way their body parts could be used for enchanting and crafting. "This must have taken a very long time."

  Alliyah nodded. "Every entrance was six months to a year of studying and testing. One must be thorough when finding a suitable companion."

  Trillia noticed the distinct lack of said companion. "Were you unsuccessful?"

  "No. I was too successful. I've had three mounts, and all three of them have ascended. When Kain was able to directly interact with Alirast, I would visit them often in the ascended realms. I look forward to reuniting with them once I feel comfortable ascending myself."

  Ialu lifted her head as the Queen spoke and let out a little whimper. The Queen bent over and gently ran a hand along the skoll's snout. "Don't fret, little one. They stood at my side for decades at a time. But I had a fervor for battle that is rarely seen from mortals. So they leveled rapidly, and eventually, there was no choice but for them to ascend. I have no doubt they've continued fighting and training in my absence so that they can stand at my side again."

  Ialu whimpered again but seemed a little more at ease, the skoll leaned against Trillia. Trillia reached over and was happy to give her friend some reassurance pets.

  "If it's primarily a high vitality stat you're after. I'd suggest...uhhh..." The Queen had lifted another of the journals and was flipping through the pages. "Ah-ha! This one. If it still exists."

  Trillia reached out to grab the new journal. The picture for this one took up both pages.

  It depicted what looked like a two-headed dog. Trillia ran her fingers gently along the page and realized that Alliyah was standing next to one of the creature's legs and didn't even come to the thing's underbelly. "This thing is huge. How am I supposed to feed it?!"

  She had to admit, the thing did look intimidating. What looked like corded muscle hidden beneath molten silver. Its fangs were drawn with some mysterious liquid dripping from them. Each of the heads had different eye colors.

  "It's a Moon-Silver Elemental Hound. They don't actually fight. They have no natural predators and survive entirely off of mana."

  Confusion found its way to Trillia's face as she looked up at the Queen. "How can that be?"

  The Queen reached down and flipped two pages. The information on these creatures had been even more thorough than the others. She tapped a paragraph.

  "Moonie has been a tremendous help in the exploration of the Forsaken Grove continent. Before, I was constantly at risk of being attacked. Even with Kain standing at my side, many of the larger beasts here were happy to attempt to make us both lunch. For some reason, Moonie seems to scare all of them away. She seems to shy away from battle, and it makes me wonder why things are scared of her. Neither she nor Kain will tell me. They find my befuddlement amusing."

  Trillia re-read the passage before moving on to the next paragraph. "I've figured out why things are terrified of Moonie. An enraged behemoth tried to attack me. As it did, Moonie intercepted the attack. Half of the thing's paw was melted off before the swipe was finished. It seems the Moon-Silver hound is a quasi-elemental of some kind. Its body is some molten alloy. If you don't have harmful intent, it feels like running your hands along warm clay. Evidently, if you do intend it harm, it stops protecting you. I'm still trying to figure out what she eats. She is being an unreasonable brat and finds my constant questions amusing."

  "Moonie doesn't eat. Rather, she doesn't have the same physiology that most living creatures do. From what little my research has turned up, her physiology is closer to that of a dragon. Anything she consumes is turned into raw mana, and her body operates like one of the complex mana engines the gnomes use. She and Kain had a good laugh at my expense after I angrily wasted a perfectly good biscuit by throwing it at her side."

  "You can tame a creature like this?" Trillia looked over at the Queen with a new level of respect. The Queen had resumed her lounging with a different book.

  "I could tame a creature like that three hundred years ago. In any case, the Moon-Silver hounds won't ever go on the offensive. Even in pitched battles. Moonie would defend me if she felt my life was in danger, but otherwise just sat on the sidelines and watched with a rather disinterested look on her face."

  "That seems odd. Even though you tamed her, she wouldn't battle?"

  Alliyah answered with a nod.

  "Still, that's on yet another continent that is apparently well beyond my current skill level."

  "For now. But when I first tamed her, Moonie had nearly twenty-thousand Vitality. By the time she ascended, it was well into six digits. Most of her skills were simple passives that made my life easier. Well, that, and terrifying anything that came closer to her. To me, she just showed up as a Moon-Silver hound, but from what Kain said, when other creatures tried to scan or identify, it was different. If you only have space for one more pact-bound, I'd make it count."

  "What was it?"

  "Monsters have a different system. If you'd like, I can show Ialu, and she can try to translate?"

  Trillia glanced down to Ialu, who had also taken an interest in the creature. Ialu mentally connected to Trillia and the Queen. As the information crossed the mental link, Trillia could feel the apprehension from Ialu. The skoll's body physically braced.

  "It's... It basically says death. Rather, it's the system warning for a creature that we stand no chance of facing. It is normally reserved for dragons and leviathans." Ialu severed the connection with the Queen and laid down behind Trillia.

  "Did you meet any dragons or leviathans while I was away?"

  Ialu gave a short mental nod.

  Trillia kept the connection, she was happy to share her mental space with her friend. "You've seen so much." That she said aloud.

  "I never wanted to rule. I don't think any of us ever wanted to rule, But we wouldn't abandon our people either. It's why I have spent so many years away from Kadessa. I enjoy exploring and seeing all the world has to offer. Once my kids are secure and safe, and I can find a suitable heir for Kadessa. I plan to ascend and go on more adventures."

  Trillia leaned back against Ialu with a smile. "I'd like to go on adventures with my friends as well. It's the whole reason I want to train and put an end to all the threats facing us."

  The Queen offered her a smile, and the two sat in silence reading.