Tam, Eli, and Harris stood in awe in the gigantic cavern the golden dragon had led them to.

  As it turned out, the lair hadn’t been far from where they had clambered out of the river. It had appeared less than a quarter of a league into the woods, in the base of what had seemed like a solid rocky wall of a mountain. The entrance had been a discrete lopsided triangle of blackness amongst thick foliage, and it had been quite narrow when Eli, Tam, and Harris had entered. They weren’t even sure how the dragon was going to follow in behind them.

  However, that mystery was solved when they stepped out into the massive open space where several holes in the rocky walls let in pale streams of daylight, illuminating the space, and also providing a perfect dragon sized entrance to the cave.

  Speaking of the scaly ancient beast, a great flapping of air sounded from above a moment before a swath of light disappeared during the dragon’s entrance into the cave, where he glided in a neat circle before landing before the trio.

  The dragon stared at them.

  They stared back.

  “I don’t think he can talk unless I’m in my beast form,” Eli guessed slowly.

  Tam nodded in understanding, his face still pale and grim from the events of the day.

  Stepping forward, Eli shifted back into her own beastly form and approached the dragon.

  “You are correct. I can only speak with you in this form,” the dragon confirmed.

  Seating herself down, Eli lifted her furry chin expectantly. “You said I am an ancient beast?”

  The dragon let out a rumbling chuckle. “You carry the blood of one, yes. Yet that is not all you are.”

  “I quit being a familiar. So you were wrong about that.”

  “Little one, you cannot quit being a familiar. To quit is to die. You are soul bound to your witch. If you are perhaps worried that you will be enslaved to them, or that this somehow takes from your free will, you could not be more wrong.”

  Eli felt iciness course through her blood at the dragon’s words; he had guessed her fear so quickly and astutely.

  “You have a witness and an ally for your life, and one who is incapable of being someone that you do not trust.”

  Her gut roiled.

  “I see my words are not easing your concerns.” The dragon let out a warm huff of air while settling down onto his haunches, and wrapping his long tail around his body.

  The gold of his scales glinted in the sunbeam he had placed himself, the winking rainbow of lights that shone off of him occasionally made Eli wince from its brightness.

  “You also said I’m a human. How can I be a beast and a familiar as well as a human?”

  “It seems you shift into each role.”

  “But I’m also an ancient beast?”

  “Yes.”

  Eli’s head was starting to hurt. “How can you know all this?”

  “Your scent and from watching you shift from one figure to the next.”

  “So am I only an ancient beast when I shift into this form?”

  The dragon tilted his great head and then extended his neck, his nostrils flaring.

  “No. You always have the blood. The smell is only stronger when you shift. It is as though you have extra veins in your being. You are fully human, but your connection to the ancient beast is never far.”

  “I suppose I should be relieved that I’m only a familiar in this form.”

  “I am less certain on that. It is still possible for you to feel the echoes of such a powerful status in your human state. It is a connection and power that rivals even the greatest of ancient beasts such as myself. To be both? I must confess, you are nothing short of a mighty wonder.”

  Swallowing proved to be a more difficult move that called Eli’s full attention in order for her to do so successfully.

  “Why are you willing to tell me this? What do you want?” she managed, her overwhelming emotions making the words taste bitter in the back of her throat, even though she did not speak them aloud.

  “Ancient beasts are loyal to each other. We help one another. Even if we are on the opposing sides of the feud between the children of the Gods, we will still offer some help, barring a battle, of course. Though even during a war, we do our utmost to avoid opposing each other and focus on threats more human or witch centered.”

  “You still haven’t said what you want in return,” Eli pointed out sharply.

  “I want nothing, but should I need help, and you able to give it, you will.”

  Eli thought back to the reports she had read on Troivack’s civil war. The only time ancient beasts actively fought one another was when Katarina Reyes’s familiar had become involved and somehow charmed a stone golem.

  The fact that Pina was a familiar and somehow overrode these ancient rules became all the more impressive, Eli thought to herself silently. Her ears twitched and she allowed her mind to increase the scope of her questions.

  “You’re the rumored dragon of Zinfera. Why have you appeared?”

  The dragon before had seemed elegant, and wise. Not really emoting much outside of a sort of weary fondness for Eli, but at this question, he seemed even older. Grief made his eyes seem to droop, and pain filled their brilliant green depths.

  “I heard of the death of one of our kind. An ancient beast was killed at the hands of the coven here in Zinfera. Not in self-defense, but for greed, and cruelty. I know Aradia has only just recently come to Zinfera and it is not her fault, but the people must know their leaders,Tte royalty they exalt, are being punished for this sin. For one such sin shall come thrice the consequence. I wield my presence as the threat of pending doom that awaits them.”

  A shiver ran down Eli’s spine, and some uneasy part of her started to wonder if she would play a part in this vengeance for the ancient beast’s.

  “Can you help us?” she ventured quietly.

  The dragon’s gaze moved over to Tam, then Harris, who looked on the verge of soiling himself. “I cannot help you save the devil.”

  Shock rocked through Eli, followed by potent dread. “The… The devil?”

  “Yes. I can smell him all over the three of you.”

  “The little boy with us. Was he— Does that mean he is-”

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  “I do not know what stage of life the devil is in now. Only that Aradia searches for him. She is about to set the world to rights, then send him home to serve his penance.”

  “We were traveling with a boy. He had a letter from one of Tam’s former lovers, claiming to be his son. Is it possible–”

  “The devil’s followers arrange for his safe upbringing in each of his lives. Aradia thought she had dealt with all of his contacts, but I believe she discovered an imp that managed to convince a raccoon of all things to save some ash from the devil’s last death to be safely reborn. The imp most likely threatened or bribed the human to claim the devil as his own and name—Tam, you called him—the father.” The dragon cut Eli off, staring gravely at her. He seemed to be able to sense her distress. “I am aligned with Aradia, and therefore cannot help you retrieve the devil.”

  “But he isn’t like a devil! He’s a normal little boy! He’s happy, and sweet, and–”

  “Happy?” This second interruption from the dragon would’ve irked Eli, were it not for the quiet surprise tinged with emotion in his voice. “This boy you know, is… Happy?”

  Eli managed to nod.

  The dragon lifted his head, his eyes shining. “He… Our devil… Has not been happy in centuries. Even with his many rebirths, he is never truly happy. There is an otherness about him that alienates him from others. A power that humankind senses. It turns them from him, even though he does not regain his abilities or memories until he is older.”

  “So he himself wouldn’t know he is the devil?”

  “Not if he is a child.”

  Eli’s heart ached in her chest.

  So Luca really was the devil.

  How could she tell Tam?

  Should she even tell him at all?

  He had claimed he didn’t want to know.

  “If the devil is happy as you say, then you have my greatest thanks. While I serve the first witch, it does not mean I do not love the devil. I side with Aradia merely because I believe our devil has suffered enough here on earth, when all he wanted to do was defend us. To keep this world safe for us ancient beasts. I believe he should go home to the Forest of the Afterlife to at long last be at peace.”

  Eli felt numbness overtaking her being as the weight of the knowledge she had just been given settled in her bones.

  “If he is happy, then this Tam witch,” the dragon nodded his head toward Tam who was watching the golden dragon keenly. “Is remarkable, and I can see why a remarkable ancient beast like yourself would be loyal to him.”

  Unable to say anything, Eli’s head lowered.

  “What is your name, child?”

  “Elisara. Eli. For short.”

  “That is your human name. What is your beast name? If you wish to rise in your power, you will need a name gifted to you by your witch.”

  Conflicting emotions ranging from ire to grief continued to thrum against the protective barrier Eli had erected in her heart during the conversation.

  “I am Wixim, and my hope is that one day perhaps we may speak again, and at that time you will have embraced all of your magnificence, and will be able to see it as the gift it is rather than a burden.”

  “Can you help us return to Gondol? Or at the very least help us get closer?”

  The dragon’s magnanimous countenance fell flat. “No. That’d be helping the devil. Not Aradia. I feel I’ve been very clear.”

  “You also said you have to help fellow ancient beasts,” Eli argued.

  “I have answered your questions and helped you realize your potential and the worth of your uniqueness. You are not in danger. You can return on foot. Or fly yourself. Your wings look large enough.”

  “I haven’t been able to fly yet,” Eli grumbled.

  Wixim stared at her for a long, thoughtful moment. “I will help you learn to fly. That is all. By that time, if you have been given a name, I imagine you should be able to carry these other two on your back.”

  Pausing, Eli considered such an offer.

  Would it be more expedient to spend time learning to fly and not traveling?

  “How long will it take to learn to fly?”

  Wixim lowered his head, his eyelids closing slowly. “That depends on you. I’ve never seen a beast like you before. It takes dragon hatchlings a week to a month once their wings have fully grown.”

  Eli considered the fact that they were already most likely two weeks from Gondol on foot…

  She shifted back into her human form and turned to Harris and Tam. Harris jolted when she did this; caught off guard by the abruptness of it.

  “He can teach me to fly and I can take us back to Gondol, or we continue on foot. What do you think?” Eli looked first at Tam, then at Harris.

  Tam’s arms were folded over his chest, and his eyes moved to the dragon studiosly. “He won’t take us himself?”

  “No. I’ll explain why later.”

  “I imagine it might cause some distress if he’s seen,” Harris speculated with forced casualness. The duke was quite obviously still petrified of the dragon.

  Ignoring this, Eli kept her eyes fixed on Tam. “What do you want to do?”

  The future duke continued staring at Wixim, who, upon sensing Tam’s gaze, had cracked open an eyelid to stare back.

  “Do you think you can learn to fly quickly?”

  “I’m going to try my absolute best.”

  Tam locked eyes with Eli, and she could tell that he read her sincerity.

  “Alright. You’ll learn how to fly. Then we’re going to go find out where that woman took the kids.”

  Eli twitched her chin down in understanding, then in the same movement of her turning to face the dragon again, she returned to her beast form.

  “If you are willing to teach me, I will greatly appreciate you teaching me to fly.”

  Wixim made a low noise of approval, then, his slitted eye swiveled up to stare intently at Eli.

  “Your witch is powerful. His power may even rival that of the children of the Gods themselves. I’m afraid I will have to forewarn Aradia of this should I see her, but I confess… I hope we never will have to cross paths as enemies in a battle.”

  As though Eli hadn’t had enough distressing news for the day, this new tidbit made her glance over her shoulder at Tam.

  He was strong, sure, but was he really as powerful as Wixim said?

  “I see now how the devil could be happy. He was put in the care of a being who would never become afraid of him. Only for him. The Goddess truly does work in wondrous ways. May his good heart never bring out his power in the name of destruction.”

  Eli leaned forward, wanting clarity, and yet already sensing the reason for such a comment, when the dragon closed his eyes.

  It would seem even the greatest of beasts required naps.

  Moving back into her human form, Eli staggered, only to have Tam reach out and steady her.

  “Well? What’s going to happen?” Harris asked after Tam had checked and ensured Eli was alright from changing back and forth so much in a day.

  “I’m going to learn to fly. Probably once he wakes up I’ll start my lessons,” Eli explained, her voice a croak.

  The worry in Tam’s eyes tripled when he spotted the tears rising in her eyes.

  Eli almost couldn’t tell him the truth about Luca. He had said he didn’t need to know! But in her heart, in her gut… She knew she had to tell him. Especially if it meant they had to battle the first witch to get him back.

  “Tam there’s… There’s something I have to tell you.”