"Thousands of nephilim still fly in the south," Fin said, stuffing more mulberries into his mouth. "And real demons too! I saw some while flying north. Nasty creatures. They're all flowing out of Eteer. There's a gaping hole where the palace was, a pit leading right down into the Abyss. I flew over it." He shuddered. "And I looked down and . . . the Abyss seemed to look into me. Like a great black eye." His skin paled and he clutched Jeid's hand. "My king, she's going to fight him. Issari. She told me! She and Tanin and all the other dragons—they're going to fly right into that pit. Right into the Abyss. Issari said that's the only way to stop Raem." He wrapped his arms around Jeid and clung to him. "I told her not to. I told her it's too dangerous. But she won't listen. I had to come tell you so that maybe you can stop them." The boy's eyes gleamed with tears. "You can't let them fly into the Abyss. It would kill them."

The boy closed his eyes and fell silent, his cheek pressed against Jeid's chest.

Everyone else started talking at once.

"I'll fly into the Abyss right away!" Dorvin shouted and punched the air. "I'll slay a thousand demons while Tanin and Issari are wetting themselves with fear."

"Dorvin, you go fly into a gopher hole; that's more at your level." Maev flexed her muscles. "And Tanin wouldn't even be able to face gophers. I'll fly there to save my lump of a brother. We burn demons!"

Laira, meanwhile, was urging calm. The young queen leaped onto the throne and cried out, "Silence, everyone! This is foolishness. We must seal the Abyss, not fly into it. That's flying into a trap. We must travel south and stop Issari."

Other Vir Requis spoke too. Some called for an end to war. Others demanded vengeance against Raem. A few spoke of digging new tunnels and spending their lives hidden away from the evils in the world.

Throughout it all, Jeid remained silent, listening.

Finally all eyes turned toward him, and the Vir Requis fell silent—souls weary from war, thin, clad in only ragged furs, the seedlings of a kingdom.

Jeid spoke to them, his voice slow and deep. "For many years I thought that my family was alone—the only weredragons in the world, cursed, outcast souls. For many years I sought others—others with the same curse, others to stand proud and strong, to unite, to forge a kingdom. And we found others; others here in the north, and now others muster in the south across the sea. Now we call ourselves Vir Requis, and we call our magic a gift, not a curse. And we stand within the hall of a kingdom named Requiem, and we are proud. But we're not yet strong. Not while Raem, King of the Abyss, still lives."