His voice echoed against the back of the cave. On and on, until the echo faded to silence.

Deep in the depths, something stirred. A deep voice rasped, “Who dares.”

“It’s me! It’s Mouse,” Twain shouted.

The voice snorted. “Go away.”

“No. I won’t. Not until Felix comes out to me.” Twain crossed his arms stubbornly and glared up at the cave.

Something huge moved in the darkness. Sunlight glinted off red scales. Heavy eyelids lifted, revealing brilliant yellow eyes, blazing with a fiery light. Reihann snorted, sending plumes of smoke billowing out the mouth of the cave. “Felix will see… no one.”

“He’ll see me. Tell him Mouse is here.”

“You think you can claim the Mage-Emperor?” Reihann slitted her eyes at him. A claw slammed down on the cave’s edge, sending up a splash of blight.

“No. But I think he’d want to see a friend.”

Silence. Reihann closed her eyes, then dipped her head. “Come in.”

Twain and Spar approached the cave.

Reihann lifted a claw, blocking Spar. “Only Mouse.”

“Can’t I at least shelter from the rain?” Spar asked, looking as pathetic as possible. His soaking-wet mane drooping against his neck. Mud coated the end of his tail and his legs. Big puppy-dog eyes finished off the look.

She snorted again. Embers sparked in the smoke this time.

“Alright, fine. I’ll just stand here and get wet,” Spar pouted.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Twain promised.

Spar shook his head emphatically. “Are you kidding me? You’re saving the world. Take the rest of the day if you have to. A week. A month. A year, even.”

“I don’t think it’ll take that long,” Twain said. Despite the tension, he laughed, just a little.

“Takes horses about two years,” Spar replied.

“What?”

“Go on, save the world.” Spar flicked his tail and turned away, staring out into the rain.

Shaking his head, Twain descended into the cave.

The second the cave ceiling closed over him and cut off the rain, he stood taller. Underfoot, mud and loose rocks knocked around over a hard rock floor. The ceiling expanded upward, and the cave curved down and deep underground, where it opened wide enough for the majority of Reihann’s body.

Twain shook himself off and wrung out his braid, trying not to stare at Reihann. She I’ve never seen a dragon before. Not in their birth form. Not this close.

Reihann easily stretched thirty feet from nose to tail. Brilliant red scales, fading to orange, then a yellowish cream at her underbelly, covered her entire body. Sharp black claws scratched the stone when she moved. Folded close to her back, red wings laid flat on her back, likewise tipped with black claws. She raised her head to him, a head easily half as long as he stood tall. Wicked black-tipped red horns curled back from her head.

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“Er, hello,” Twain said. He started to curtsey, stopped, and bowed instead.

She snorted. Hot smoke blew over him, embers rushing past his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed, but there was no pain, no sudden rush of fire. Instead, when he opened his eyes, his clothes and braid were dry, if the braid was slightly frayed.

“Oh, thank you.”

Reihann turned away silently and rested her head on her claws.

He looked around. Where’s Felix? Wait, don’t tell me… did everyone assume the dragon took him, but no one actually checked? Oh, shit. What am I supposed to do now—

“Hello, Mouse.”

Twain whirled.

Felix emerged from a nook in the wall, slightly sheepish, scratching his mop of golden-brown hair. The gold had faded, without any sun to bleach it, and dirt clung to his clothes and darkened his skin. Though Twain knew he wore finery, he wouldn’t have guessed it, looking at Felix now.

“What happened?” Twain asked.

Felix glanced at the floor, nervous. “I… I tried to tell her no. Sabelyn. She wanted me on the front lines with the demons. She wanted me to… to find you, and bring you back, and put you on trial. I refused, but… she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She tried to put me on trial for treason. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where you were, or what was happening, or why.”

He lifted his hands and stared into them, as though the answer would be written there. “I… with all my power, I could have… I could have killed everyone in the palace, but… it wouldn’t bring you back. I could have killed all the demons, but it wouldn’t have secured your safety. I didn’t know what to do, so I hid.”

“You didn’t try searching for me?” Twain asked, slightly hurt. Wait, why am I hurt? He’s the Mage-Emperor. He has other, bigger problems.

“I did! I did. It’s just… there’s so much blight around, that… even your map spell didn’t help. It was overloaded. Black everywhere. And there’s so few other search spells. So few elements have anything that would allow me to find you, without… without knowing your real name, or…”

Twain flinched. “I—I’m sorry.”

Felix shook his head. “No, no, it’s—it’s okay. I understand. I just—what do I do now, Mouse? Where do we go from here? I can’t face Sabelyn. I don’t want to hurt you. I—”

“We take down the Dark King.”

Felix’s brows furrowed. “Huh?”

“Haven’t you seen how awful it is out there? How disgusting all that blight is? There’s a Dark King behind that. The Dark King. He’s locked inside the human palace, and he’s orchestrated this whole thing from the dark from the beginning. Lilith was his servant, and she’s manipulated Sabelyn into carrying out their plan to free him by tricking Sabelyn into allowing her and those influenced by her to unleash that massive gout of blight in the hot springs, which poisoned the entirety of the Barrier Alliance. Lilith and Sabelyn need to be stopped, but to fix everything else—we need to take down the Dark King.”

“We… what? How bad has it gotten?” Felix asked, brows furrowed. “I know it’s been bad in the human country, but outside…”

Twain shook his head. “It’s everywhere, Felix. It gets worse in some places, better in others, but it’s bad. The Barrier Alliance… I don’t know that it’s much better inside the Barrier than outside now.”

Felix bit his lip. “That… I had no idea. Sabelyn said it was only here. She said it would go away on its own.”

“It won’t, Felix. It’s only been getting worse.”

Felix sucked in a breath. “I… I need to do something.”

“Take down the Dark King. I know where he is. I know who he is. Come with me.” Twain reached out his hand.

Felix hesitated, then looked up at Twain, big puppy-dog eyes full of uncertainty. “I, um. I don’t… know your name. Your real name.”

Right. I almost forgot. “Prince Twaintigre, at your service. And uh, sorry for… deceiving you. I thought I had no choice, but…”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve known for a while. And… I—I understand. The humans—we shouldn’t pressure other countries like that.”

Twain snapped around. “You… what?”

“We humans really shouldn’t—”

“No, no, go back. How long have you known?” Twain asked.

Felix shrugged. “I’ve suspected for a while. Since the Arena. But… er, the hot springs, uh, sealed the deal. I kind of… saw everything…”

A blush burned Twain’s cheeks. He ducked away, hiding his face. Dammit, he remembered it after all? Embarrassed, he squeaked out, “I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, it’s alright! Nothing I—haven’t seen before, er, right? I mean… both men, haha…” Felix glanced aside as well, blushing equally fiercely.

Reihann huffed a cloud of smoke between them. She ducked her head to stare at each of them with one eye. “There are many sub-caverns. You two should find yourselves one.”