“Ah, you must be the infamous Neka I’ve heard so much about.” Tenn slammed the blade of Michael’s sword into the sand so it stood on its own. I glanced up at him just as he grinned and held his left hand up. “I’m Tennessee Wildes⁠—”

The dragon gasped, which was a strange sound that I couldn’t possibly ever describe. Then it sank to its belly on the sand, tucking his wings to his body.

"Sorry to startle you by arriving like this. We were following her angelic runes stones—oh, sorry.” Tenn gestured toward me. “This is my cousin Francelina Proctor, the Tower Card.”

Those white-blue eyes snapped to me, then he blinked, which somehow I interpreted as a sign of respect. I wasn’t really sure.

“You are Neka, right?”

The royal blue dragon nodded his head once.

“Nice to finally meet you, Neka.” Tenn stepped forward and pressed his palm to the spike on Neka’s head like it was a handshake or something. Tenn glanced around and scowled. “Wait, is this Issale?”

Neka nodded and a little growl slipped out.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea we’d entered Issale. I haven’t been over this area before. We were following her stones.” Tenn flicked his wrist, and my hand lifted into the air. My rune stones flashed with my blue and pink magic, then a pink arrow pointed straight down. “See? So, I apologize. I was watching the arrow closely while I flew us. I never would have entered Issale unannounced like this⁠—”

“The Emperor needs no invitation,” Koth’s deep voice rumbled from behind us.

Tenn jumped and turned his back to Neka, a wide grin on his face. “Man, this land really shields you, doesn’t it? Even I didn’t feel you coming.”

“Yeah, it does.” Koth chuckled and walked up to Tenn to shake his hand. Then he gestured to the dragon. “But mostly that’s the magic of Neka. His aura has that effect.”

Tenn nodded. “Tegan’s gonna love that.”

Koth threw his head back and laughed. “Neka, thank you as always. You can go now.”

Neka stood to full height, then bowed to Koth, then to Tenn, then even gave me a half-bow before he made a sharp U-turn and dove back into the depths of the lake, disappearing from sight completely.

“Wow. Wicked.” I stood up on shaky legs and stared at the lake’s surface to try and see him. “What lake is this?”

“Lake Champlain.” Koth glanced back and forth between us. “I’m not upset you snuck your way into Issale. I meant what I said: The Coven needs no invitation to enter my land, which is why our magical barrier did nothing to stop you. But I am curious . . .”

Tenn smirked. “I flew us here, watching the arrow from her angelic rune stones. We’re on a quest for sand from Holy Ground.”