“I barely caught a glimpse,” she told him. “It was transparent, like you might expect a ghost to look on a TV show.” That sounded lame, and she scowled as she struggled to find the right words. “It was as tall as you are, only more slender, and it had radiant eyes. And I think… I think it had wings. Dragos, I don’t think we’re alone here like we had first thought.”

The foreman of the construction crew rushed up. He looked deeply distressed. “My lord, I am so very sorry this happened again. I don’t know what we’re doing wrong—we’ve tried everything we can think of—”

“You’re going to stop building,” Dragos told him.

The man stammered, “Of course, if that’s what you think best—”

Dragos cut him off again. “Instead, I want you to clear this area and start digging. Something doesn’t appear to want us building here, and I want to know if there’s anything underneath this site.”

“Yes, my lord. I think we can have it cleared enough to start digging this afternoon.”

After that, they toured the rest of the settlement, inspecting each site where the reports indicated that incidents had occurred, but they didn’t discover anything else. Finally, they returned to Graydon and Bel’s.

Tiago and Niniane had been taking babysitting duty, and after the six had gathered Dragos and Pia told the others what had happened. “Have any of you heard of a creature like this?” Dragos asked. “And why is Pia the only one who can see it?”

Bel leaned forward, her beautiful face alight with fascination. “You don’t know that yet,” she said. “The only thing we know for certain is that Pia is the first to see it.”

“Fair enough,” he growled. “But there are a lot of experienced magic users here, and several of them have been looking into the anomalies.”

“That’s true,” the Elf murmured, her speculative gaze resting on Pia. Thoughtfully, she tapped one of her front teeth with a fingernail.

“And as it turns out, I happen to be a very experienced magic user, myself,” Dragos pointed out. “I was in the same location as Pia, and I didn’t see a damn thing.”

Bel’s gaze shifted from Pia to the dragon. “Not all magic is the same, as you know very well. I have no doubt that you are at the height of your Power, but you are not an Elf, and I cannot breathe fire. And neither one of us can call a thunderstorm like Tiago can. Pia may not be the only one who can see the creature. But that doesn’t mean we will all be able to. Do you think this is connected to the sense you got of something being in your house?”

“Oh, boy.” Pia thought back over the two events. “Yes, I believe so.”