She looked at her side. Dorvin and Alina were praying to the tree too, eyes closed, palms pressed together. When they opened their eyes, they breathed out in relief. Their prayers seemed to have been answered. Dorvin patted his groin and whispered feverish thank-yous to the tree, while Alina gratefully stroked her robes.

Maev took the two by the hands. "Come, friends. To the pyramid."

They stepped out from the swirling crowd, walked down a road, and approached the towering structure. Statues shaped as men with reptilian heads rose from grass, flanking the way to a staircase that ran up the pyramid. The stairs led to a gilded archway hundreds of feet above. Maev began to climb, leading the way. Dorvin and Alina walked close behind. As they climbed, leaving the city below, the air grew cooler, easier to breathe. After a hundred steps, Maev found the fog in her mind lifting; clarity filled her as after a good, long sleep. She indeed felt as if she were waking up from sleep, leaving stifling blankets and the strange whispers of her mind. When she looked back down at the city, she still found a place of wonder—of many streets, towers, and walls—but it had become again a physical place, untouched by the surreal edges she had seen while walking through it. There was no labyrinth below, only simple streets. There were no wolves, only birds that fluttered between the trees. The great god Shenhavan no longer towered over the world but grew no taller than any other tree; its leaves were still blue but no longer invaded her like staring eyes.

She looked back up toward the archway upon the pyramid's crest. As she drew closer, she saw two guards stand there. They wore tortoise-shell breastplates, and tiger pelts hung across their shoulders. They held long clubs, the round heads spiked. When the three Vir Requis reached the archway, winded after the long climb, the guards stepped closer together, blocking the entrance.

Maev did not speak their language, but she thumped her chest and said, "Maev! Maev of Requiem." The guards remained stone-faced, and she took a step closer. "Let me through. I've come to see your leader. I've come seeking dragons."

At that last word, the guards' eyes widened. They spoke in urgent tones. "Draco! Draco!"

Maev nodded. "Yes, dracos." She raised her chin. "I myself am one among them. Let me through."

The guards sucked in breath and turned toward Alina. They stared at the druid with wide eyes. One reached out, lifted her amulet, and stared at the jewels shaped as the dragon constellation. The man dropped the talisman as if it burned him. The guards raced around the Vir Requis, blocking their descent, and unstrapped copper-tipped spears from their backs. They goaded the Vir Requis toward the archway.