He’d acquired schematics when he retrieved the information on Zylar’s new domicile but seeing it in three dimensions was quite different. They climbed steep stone stairs with Aevi racing ahead and doubling back, smelling everything, until at last they reached the heavy door that had been carved with the following: Home of Zylar and Precious Gem of Kith B’alak.

A thousand thoughts teemed in his brain, but he didn’t let nerves get the best of him. Mustering all his courage, Helix activated the mechanical signal that would alert them to the fact they had visitors. From within, even through the thick walls, he heard Snaps shouting, “Hey! Beryl! Hey! Someone’s here! Hey!”

Aevi perked immediately, smelling the area around the door. “Is that Snaps? The one you said might want to play? Will he show me everything that’s fun? Can he do calculus?”

Before he could answer, the door ground open, revealing Beryl Bowman. She was a different shade than he remembered, or maybe it was more accurate to say he’d had no real sense of color before. The small fur person frolicked around her feet, his tail lashing furiously as he caught sight of the Pherzul. Aevi stilled, and they smelled the air near one another.

Beryl tilted her head. “I’m sorry, do you have the right dwelling?”

It seemed that the message he’d sent from Qalu’s residence never reached them. Either it wasn’t forwarded from the old Kith B’alak habitat or the data was lost on one of multiple transmissions. Such issues did occur when information was sent over long distances, bounced through multiple nodes.

“I do,” he said quietly. “You see…I’m Helix.”

Qalu followed Beryl Bowman into a spacious residence.

Despite the heavy building materials, the place was inviting with external lamps glazing the stone with warmth. Fabric had been placed on the floor to soften it, and currently Aevi was sniffing every inch of it while she circled another quadruped, likely the one who had been yelling before. This one had a pointed face and was covered in hair, no feathers or scales, and it wriggled from head to toe, seeming quite excited to have visitors.

“I’m Snaps! I’m a dog! Who are you? What are you?”

“Aevi. I’m a Pherzul. From Tiralan. You smell strange. Where do you come from?”

“Beryl Bowman’s house!”

To her eyes, this human didn’t much resemble the other, the one from Volant’s Fabulous Spectacle, but she understood why Helix hadn’t known. She waited politely for an introduction as Helix explained to a startled Beryl how he’d come to his present, much-altered state. He finished with, “This is Qalu, the scientist who saved my life and accompanied me on a series of occasionally terrifying adventures.”