The hair framing Tess’s face turned red. “If they aren’t held to the land they already infest, they’ll swarm the continent and consume everything.”

“No, they won’t.” Simon looked at Vlad. “Show them the letter.”

“I’ll read it.” Vlad took the paper out of his back pocket, unfolded it, and read Jean’s prophecy about the human cities in Thaisia.

“Fools,” Henry said. He looked at Erebus and Stavros. “If the humans aren’t driving the terra indigene out of Toland, who is?”

“While the terra indigene were distracted by the bison being killed, and while humans were distracted by the vandalism of stores not affiliated with the HFL, a dozen ships left three human-controlled cities on the East Coast. Five of those ships left from Toland; the other ships sailed from the other two cities. I don’t know what cargo they carried, but we think it must have been some kind of contraband because each ship carried barrels of poison that they dumped into the water, killing all the fish that came in contact with the stuff.”

“Sharkgard?” Simon asked.

Stavros nodded. “Oh, yes. The poison killed sharks and Sharks. It killed dolphins. It killed the schools of fish sought by fishing boats. Some of the Sharkgard survived long enough to send a warning. The ships were avoided to prevent further deaths, but they were followed until they reached the Mediterran Sea and Cel-Romano.”

“What happens now?” Tess asked.

Stavros laughed, a bitter sound. “Ocean is going to vomit the dead fish onto the shores of those three human cities. She will vomit the poisoned water into the streets of the cities responsible for killing the terra indigene who live in her domain. And then she will give the humans a taste of her wrath.”

“That is why the Sanguinati are leaving Toland—why all the terra indigene are leaving Toland,” Erebus said.

“We’re going quietly,” Stavros said. “Most of the Wolves have already left. They’re heading up the northern coast or toward the Addirondak Mountains. The Hawks, Owls, and Crows leave the Courtyard as usual, flying over Toland. But not as many return to the Courtyard as leave each morning or evening. Since the Sanguinati were the dominant form there and the least vulnerable to the Elementals’ wrath, we’re packing up what possessions we can and using earth native trucks late at night to move items to other locations, or we’re sending a trunk of smaller items with someone who is traveling.”

“It sounds like we should order as many books as we can from the Toland publishers,” Vlad said.

Stavros nodded. “I’ve made that suggestion to several Courtyards.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Not much. Dead fish are starting to wash ashore.”

“One last order, then,” Simon said. “After that, there are Intuit and terra indigene companies that publish books and print books. We’ll buy from them.”