Maev took a deep breath and nodded. Despite Dorvin, and despite the ache in her wings, she had to keep flying. She had to find others, more dragons to blow fire and lash claws, to fight Raem and his demon host. She would not abandon this quest.

The three dragons kept flying: the green daughter of a king, a lavender druid with gleaming eyes, and a damn silver pest who wouldn't stop singing. The lands rolled endlessly below, mist floated, clouds roiled, and beams of light fell through the drizzle, gleaming with rainbows that appeared and vanished as quickly as winks. It was an empty land, an eternal wilderness, and Maev began to wonder if Jeid had sent her here not to find others but to protect her, to send her far from the demon threat.

They slept that night in the forest between the trees, maintaining their dragon forms, as animals scurried around them and distant wolves howled. When dawn rose, casting rays of light between the trees, they flew again.

The clouds were parting, and the noon sun shone, when Maev saw the city ahead and lost her breath.

She considered herself a gruff warrior, a woman with a heart of metal, but flying here, seeing the wonder ahead, tears filled her eyes.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

At her side, Alina wept as she flew. "The fabled kingdom of Bar Luan. The jewel of the west."

Dorvin puffed out smoke and flicked his tail about. "Not bad. Sure beats that shite-hole called Requiem." He only winked when Maev glared at him.

She returned her eyes to the city ahead, inhaled deeply, and let her eyes drink it all in. With every flap of her wings, she drew closer and more details appeared. Great triangular buildings rose from the trees; they reminded Maev of Laira's stories about pyramids that rose in the deserts south of Eteer. These structures seemed as tall as King's Column, maybe taller, and large enough to house thousands of people. Staircases rose along their facades, leading to archways flanked by statues of lions. Among the pyramids snaked lofty walls, and upon their facades stared stone faces the size of houses. Cobbled roads coiled between the trees, leading to courtyards where rose statues of robed, bearded men with their palms pressed together. Towers rose here too, some ten tiers tall like boxes stacked together. As Maev drew closer, she saw people too. They bustled along the streets, seeming as small as insects by the grand structures. Everything was built of the same rough bricks, a painting in green and gray, a marvel of architecture, sculpture, and civilization in the wilderness.

"They're here," Alina said, her voice barely more than a whisper, as if she spoke to a spirit rather than her companions. "More Vir Requis. I sense their light in this city."

Maev began to descend. "Land among the trees. We'll walk the rest of the distance. Safer."