Thisbe coughed and fanned the smoke away. She studied the dragon, wondering if just by thinking about them in conjunction with the images had been what brought them here. “The reason I called you is because I have a huge favor to ask. Will you take me to my world across the gorge?”

“Across the gorge,” said Gorgrun, a puzzled look on his face. “Seems to me I’ve been there before, a long time ago, but I can’t recall who I visited.”

“Could it have been Pan? The ruler of the sea?”

“Oh—” said Gorgrun with a start. “Oh my. Yes. It was definitely Pan.”

Thisbe frowned. “She’s not there anymore. She’s under the Revinir’s spell. I haven’t seen her, but she’s in this world.”

“That’s a pity. One of the finest dragons I know. We’ll have to do something about her being under the Revinir’s control.” He cleared his throat, making the dishes rattle in the cupboards. “Take you across the gorge, you say? Of course I can. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, if it helps you to someday reclaim this realm for the dragons, so I can die.”

Thisbe thought about the obliterate spells that Florence was working on and her desperate need to collect a few of them. “Yes,” she said. “I believe it will help significantly. Will you perhaps be willing to help us stop a civil war? Perchance?”

“I suppose I would,” said Gorgrun. “Quince and I both would be happy to go . . . where again?”

“To the seven islands. Across the gorge and halfway through that world. Not quite as far as the trip to Pan’s island.” She had more questions for him about how to defeat the Revinir, but she figured she’d have plenty of time to quiz him on the long ride.

“No problem,” Gorgrun assured her. He looked at the rest of the people in the house, most of whom had come out of hiding by now. “We’ll take you all if you like.”

“Oh, no—that’s not necessary,” said Thisbe hurriedly.

But Maiven interrupted. “Actually, Gorgrun, that would be nice.”

“What?” said Thisbe. “What are you saying? You need to stay here to train and fight!”

Maiven tapped her lips. “We can still do both of those things in transit—and isn’t it even better learning to fight on a moving object? Think of the balance skills we’ll acquire. With our weapons, books, and a few supplies, I believe we can do everything we need to do from a dragon’s back.” She paused. “And it sounds like your people can really use some help. It will be good training for our group.”

“But I don’t want anyone here to get hurt,” said Thisbe passionately. “There are so few of us left. We must all be very careful.”