“We need to get out of here,” Sapphire said. “I’m working on it.” Drepal was using magic to cut thin strips of metal from the wristbands she wore to make lock picks. “How’s Dae doing? She’s been awfully quiet.” “Not good. Dragons and eta-vie,” Sapphire said. Drepal handed her the picks and set about removing her bonds. Sapphire worked on the door while Drepal worked on Dae’s bands. “Sapphire, let Chapado out too,” Drepal said. “Are you sure?” Sapphire asked. “We can trust her, and we need her information,” Drepal said. Dae recovered quickly, being out of the collar. They hurried out of the room following Chapado up the stairs. Right into a room filled with immortals led by none other than Mr. Creepy. **** “Are you okay, Nim?” Remtani asked. Nim nodded again. “I used shade magic to save my vial.” “Good. Let’s go.” He started to the city. “Where are we going?” Andy asked after a time. “I still can’t feel Ann.” “I was following Pt’this,” Nim said. “I can’t feel Jo either.” “I was following Remtani,” Pt’this said. “It’s this way,” Remtani said. “How do you know?” Pt’this asked. Remtani shrugged. “I don’t know. I just do.” He kept walking, not noticing the others had stopped. They looked at each other. “Remtani, how do you know?” Mishtali asked. Mishtali’s tone made Remtani stop. He turned to the others. “I don’t know. I just know it’s that way.” He pointed. “Rem, are you bonded with Jaidu?” Andy guessed. “What? No. We hardly touch. I’ve held her hand a few times. That’s all.” Remtani shook his head. “Is that all?” Kar asked. “That’s not enough for a bond.” “That’s it. No hugging or kissing, just holding hands and…” He stopped, looking stricken. Mishtali had him against the wall with his hands around his throat before anyone could blink. “And what?” Remtani tried to speak but couldn’t. “Mishtali, if they’re bonded, we need him to find your daughter,” Andy said. “You can kill him when the women are safe.” Mishtali’s grip loosened enough so Remtani could breathe a little. “Obviously, they’re blocking the bond but they wouldn’t expect a fourteen-year-old of having sex so they aren’t blocking hers,” Andy explained. “We didn’t have sex,” Remtani gasped. “Rem, what did you do… Mishtali let go of him,” Pt’this commanded. Mishtali released him. Thailyn healed Remtani’s throat. “Shades, Dad, you just about crushed his windpipe.” “Nothing. I wouldn’t. I held her hand a few times and I put an arm around her when that mating cry scared her,” Remtani explained, still gasping for air. “That’s all. I did not have sex with her. She’s a child for goodness sake.” “You’re telling me that’s all it took to start the bonding?” Mishtali looked skeptical. “It is possible, Dad. Desire plays as much a part as contact,” Thailyn said. “Sorry. But there is no desire. I care about Jaidu, but I’m not attracted to her physically. She’s just a kid.” “I don’t mean like that. It’s the love. If you don’t love each other, a bond will never form.” “I don’t know all about that. I just can tell you I have not taken advantage of her in any way. I was only trying to comfort her. She has almost as many nightmares as Ann.” “We can discuss this later. We need to find them first,” Andy said. “I just thought I felt Drepal and she felt like she was with Thilgat.” Remtani started walking again and they followed. “Does Drepal have feelings for Thilgat?” Ti asked. “Yeah. She wants to kill him, slowly,” Andy said. “How do you feel Drepal? You’re bonded to Ann,” Kar said. “I’m bonded to both,” Andy said. “You’ve slept with a monster and my niece?” “Didn’t we just get through saying you don’t have to sleep with someone to bond with them? I’ve never slept with Drepal. Ann just…” Andy’s voice trailed off. “What?” “There was someone else. Never mind. I don’t want to talk about it.” Kar looked confused. She took advantage of him when he was drunk and ended up pregnant. Then, she and the baby died. It’s not a pleasant thing for him to remember, Pt’this explained. “Then how are you bonded with Drepal? You can’t be bonded to more than one person at a time, can you?” He looked to Thailyn who shook his head. “How do you think?” Andy smiled. “Wait, are you saying Ann is…?” Kar’s voice trailed off. Andy nodded. “You all knew this?” Kar looked around. “Kar, Ann was hurt badly by Thilgat and Lyra. She did what she had to do to survive. Some of what you hear about Drepal is false, rumors spread to make people fear her. Most are true. I stand with her because I love her, just like Tor does despite what you’ve done.” “What I’ve done?” Kar sounded offended. “Guys, shh,” Remtani said. “This is it.” He stopped near an odd-looking building. “You know, without the roof, this place could hold dragons.” Ti grinned. “You’re sure they’re in there?” Andy asked. Remtani nodded. “They’re in there and I think Jaidu’s quite scared. Either that, or I am.” “You’ll learn to tell the difference,” Pt’this assured him. “Shall we do as Ti suggested?”Kar asked. Pt’this nodded. “Andy, Remtani, spell shields as strong as you can.” **** Drepal looked around desperately. She could take on an immortal, probably two or three, but there were at least a dozen. Chapado could help but Sapphire, Jo, Dae, and Jaidu would be vulnerable. “Jaidu, use your spell shield around you, Sapphire, and Jo as strong as you can.” Jaidu nodded and obeyed. Drepal was impressed with its strength. “Dae, that man is the one that burned Ti,” Drepal told the girl. Dae growled. “He caused Remmy to hurt Sapphire. He’s the reason Mirimar got hurt. He killed Ann’s mother. He had Mishtali held prisoner. He’s the reason you have to hide what you are.” Drepal smiled as she saw Dae sink into madness. The girl was too sweet to hurt someone intentionally. “Use your vial.” She reminded the girl. Dae changed. She reared up, breaking through the roof with a roar. “Dae! Shades, mad-dragon.” That sounded like Ti. The roof was torn off and six dragons appeared. Andy and Remtani came running in, swords drawn, spell shields at full. Andy used his magic to drain the shield from an immortal and Remtani slew him. Drepal felt the pain in her hand. Andy had burned himself. The block was wearing off. He repeated the process. Ready to do this, sis? She asked her other half. It’s about time. Ann came awake and the two merged. She debated the benefits of changing to dragon form. She’d have her fire breath and increased resistance to fire and scales were tough tougher than skin. But these were immortals. She’d seen what their fire had done Ti. And, would it be good to let them know a White Wyrm did exist? It might help to shock them. She changed. Half the immortals stood dumbfounded. She sent fire into the crowd. Several shields went down. She sent lightning bolts. “Your bloodline is strong in magic? I should have asked about that bloodline,” Chapado said as she sent a blast of magic into the room. “I said my father is the healer Thailyn, son of Mishtali.” Ann shrugged sending more lightning. “And your mother?” “A mage named Darina.” “I don’t recognize the name.” Her lie was as clear to Ann as it would have been to Drepal. She sent fire. “You could. She’s your great-granddaughter.” Ann sent a magic blast. Chapado looked at her and her shield flickered. Ann a blocked a blast coming at her. “Pay attention,” she said. “We’ll talk later,” Chapado said. “I’m sure.” Ann nodded. Fire came from behind her. Jaidu had changed form and was breathing fire. Andy had burns halfway up his arm from draining shields and absorbing or deflecting blasts. Nim, it seemed was doing the same. Ti and Mishtali were assisting Dae who had calmed upon seeing Ti. It appeared Drepal had been wrong about the little dragon’s temperament. They were providing her with energy to cast tremendous spells, most were forbidden spells guided by Mishtali. Pt’this and Kar fought together as if they’d never been apart. Thailyn used both regular magic to take down shields and healing magic to put them asleep. Remtani had made his way to Sapphire and Jo. He had given each of them knives to help defend themselves but blades weren’t much use against mages of this power. Several immortals had gone down but many remained. Those that stood, though, had several injuries. “How are we doing?” Ann asked Andy using a spell to send the question to Andy’s ears. “Getting weak.” Came the reply. Then Pt’this went down. Thailyn was right there to heal him while Kar used his wings as a shield. That was dangerous. Kar could be crippled if he took an injury to a wing. Ann cast the fire shield around him. She found it worked well against other attacks too. Kar looked at her in surprise. Kith had learned it from Tor. He in turn had taught Ann. Moments later, Pt’this was back up but the intensity of his attack was diminished. He wouldn’t last much longer. Ti went down. Judging by what happened, he was in a trance. Dae tried to help him but went down too. Fighting continued. Ann felt her strength starting to wane. Then, she saw Thailyn go down, hit in the back and Jaidu slipped into a trance. Seeing this, Mishtali went mad dragon, burning immortals left and right and shooting lightning bolts. Ann was surprised he had enough thought to cast. Most dragons lost that ability while mad. Andy put his shield around the humans but before he could close it, someone slipped inside and hit him on the head from behind. Ann took him out with fire the moment Andy’s shield failed. Pt’this went down again and Kar joined Mishtali burning everything. Ann didn’t know if he was mad or not. Jo was overcome by smoke. Most of the immortals were dead or fleeing. Ann saw Cramda slip out. She and Drepal warred between following and helping her friends. “You stay,” Chapado said. “He’s my brother. I’ll go after him.” She started after him but halfway across the room, she went down. Confused, Ann looked around. There was someone powerful still there draining them. They needed to leave. Kar do you hear me? I do. We need to get everyone out of here. Can you do a sleep spell on grandpa? I can. Then what? I’m working on it. She looked around. She saw Nim, covered in burns, make his way to her. “Pinhole there,” he said and collapsed. She didn’t have the strength for that. Perhaps, though, she was part immortal. Immortals were Augmenters and they could use other Augmenters. Did she have enough immortal blood for that? She took magic from every mage nearby and used Nim to magnify it. Then, she opened the gate. Kar, come on. She used a levitation spell and sent the unconscious through. Those who could, followed. She went through herself and closed the gate. She looked around in shock. It was Steve and Carla’s backyard. She had minor cuts but nothing too serious that she couldn’t transform. She did, collapsing herself. She was starting to feel the injuries she’d sustained. She looked around. Only Sapphire and Kar were conscious. Someone grabbed her from behind. She jerked, ready to attack. “Ann, it’s okay. It’s me. It’s Carla.” “I need a mirror,” she said. She didn’t know where she’d get the energy, but they needed help. “A mirror?” Carla asked. “A reflection, scry for help.” Steve pulled out a money clip from his pocket as Carla started treating injuries. Ann cast the scrying spell. Shunati appeared. “Ann, what happened?” He asked what he saw her. “Immortals. We need help. Thailyn will kill himself trying to heal us all. We’re on Earth, at Andy’s parents. Use the gate in Erilu. Please.” She felt herself going into a trance. She fought it. Then she realized she was pulling magic from the baby. The baby. The fighting, the changing, now this. How would the baby survive? She gave up fighting and collapsed.