He lay down on the hard ground. The images lined his mind, easy enough to pull up now that he had time to focus on them. The most intriguing one was that of a glorious palace, with five bulb-topped towers, one in each corner of the structure and the largest in the middle. The palace was shimmering and colorful, like something out of a storybook. It was boldly painted, purple and orange and red, and it stood slightly raised on a hill with inviting roads and paths leading to it from all directions, and lush grass and flowers in between. People strolled along paths through an orchard from a village nearby, and carts hurried up and down the roads. The scene looked so pleasant, like a place without any cares. Where no one had to worry about being punished for someone else’s mistakes. Where friends were a normal part of life. Where food was abundant, and no one was excluded from eating it.

It seemed like a dreamland to Dev. Too good to be true. And certainly it was, for in the corner of the image, Dev could see a small flaming rock with a lengthy tail of fire in the sky, heading straight for the palace. One more thing that was too good to be true.

When Dev slept, he erased the meteor from the image in his dreams and wandered the land outside the palace, traversing the paths that led to the glorious entrance and waiting to be invited inside.

A Rough Landing

Gorgrun and Quince flew over Warbler during the second night and had the island of Quill and Artimé in their sights before dawn. They steered toward it. Their riders woke, having missed Warbler Island completely while they slept. Thisbe got up feeling agitated and anxious, with all of her worries multiplying the closer they got to Fifer in Artimé and the farther they got from Dev in Grimere.

But Thisbe had work to do, and soon she and Maiven had the others fueling up with breakfast and on their feet to practice breathing fire, work on their sword fighting techniques, and review the magical spells Thisbe had taught them. The former slaves were quick learners, and slowly but surely things were coming together. Thisbe’s confidence rose when she could see her home island. Her scales tingled in anticipation, and she wanted to urge Gorgrun and Quince to fly faster. Florence would be surprised and pleased to see the small army she was bringing. Thisbe hoped they weren’t too late to help.

As they approached the Island of Legends off the coast of Quill, everyone took a break to look down on the beautiful, living crab named Karkinos, who had a lush forest covering his shell. Thisbe, in a combination of both languages, described the scene before them. “There’s a shiny rooster on the top of the tallest tree at the center of the forest,” she explained, like a tour guide. “Do you see him glinting in the sunlight? His name is Vido. He shouts out weird wisdom quotes if you get close enough. And hidden in the trees are hundreds of drop bears. They are adorably cute but really dangerous. There’s a smelly hibagon, too, but he stays hidden, because if you catch his gaze, you’ll fall in love with him.”