Dorvin spat an ember. "The Abyss we will! I'm not walking. We fly in like the mighty dragons we are. We roar, blow fire, and—"

Maev grabbed his snout, stifling his words, and tugged him down toward the forest. He struggled but couldn't free himself. The three dragons descended, crashed through the treetops, and thumped down onto the forest floor.

"I'm not releasing you until you take human form," Maev said, still clutching the silver dragon's snout.

Smoke puffed out from his nostrils, and he gave her a deathly glare, but he obeyed. Back in human form, he crossed his arms, and his glare did not wane. Maev looked at him and sighed. The damn kid looked harmless enough—a shock of black hair, a bit of stubble on his face, sharp eyebrows, and a face tanned bronze. Maev might—might!—have even thought him handsome, had she not known how insufferable he was.

He slapped her scaly snout. "Well, Mammoth Arse, shift too! Back into a human with you."

She groaned but she too resumed human form. "Slap my snout again, and I'm going to knock your teeth so far down your throat, they'll bite your bullocks."

He groaned. "Lovely as always, you are. Be thankful I didn't slap your backside." He began to trudge through the forest, heading west. "Well, come on you two! While we're young."

Alina shifted too, returning to her human form—a woman with lavender eyes, clad in flowing druid robes, her auburn hair cascading from the shadows of her hood. She looked around the forest, closed her eyes, and clutched her wooden staff. "This place is dangerous." The druid touched her amulet, a silver circle inlaid with gemstones in the shape of the Draco constellation. "There is fear here. It is everywhere."

Maev narrowed her eyes, and her belly turned cold. She had never seen Alina look so frightened; the druid's face was even paler than usual, and her hand shook around her staff. "Demons?" Maev drew her sword. "I don't smell any."

"No." Alina shook her head. "A colder evil. Demons are hot and red and always moving. This fear is like blue ice, frozen, still, and very old." The druid shuddered. "Maybe even older than the Abyss. I don't know its source, but it permeates these trees. And it comes from the west. From Bar Luan."

The druid was trembling. Maev placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Whatever evil lurks here, we'll defeat it. I've fought many demons before; I slew dozens in Eteer. I fought Angel herself and lived. I'm not afraid of whatever creature might be here."

"Yet I am." Alina opened her eyes and stared at Maev; those eyes were deeper than starry skies, blue and purple flecked with gold. "We must be careful here. Our greatest challenge awaits us."