Once she agrees I launch straight from Lizzy's back and fly across the valley. I land just outside the forest and summon her to my side, then mount up and ride into the forest. We don't see a single shadow panther on our way to the big clearing and it is also empty when we arrive.

Lizzy 'Since you killed the old king, doesn't that make you the new king of the forest?'

'I have no idea if that's how it works, but even if it is I have no interest in staying here and being the king.'

Lizzy 'Even though staying here would keep you safe from the girls?'

'No it wouldn't. They would eventually find a way to come here and then they would kill me!'

Lizzy 'That's probably true.'

'Anyway, let's rest here for a bit. If we are going to meet a drake I want to be at full strength just in case.'

Lizzy 'Okay.'

So Lizzy stops and lays down in the middle of the clearing. I take her saddle off and give her a thorough grooming, which she enjoys. After that I lay down using her as a backrest and enter into my meditation. Then I create a soulscape, enter it, and invite Krenocia.

Krenocia says "Finally! I've been trying to find you for hours!"

"Sorry, I didn't think me moving around would matter."

Krenocia says "Of course it matters! I have no connection to the shadow plane!"

"Sorry, I didn't think about that. By the way, do you know the name of our world?"

Krenocia says "No. Is it supposed to have a name?"

"Probably. That doesn't matter now I guess, what did Yui say?"

Krenocia then imitates Yui's voice and starts spouting a bunch of magical jargon. Some of it I understand but I end up having to have Krenocia repeat it all several times. Even then I only have a basic grasp of what a gate requires to function.

Krenocia says "That's everything Yui knew, but that is for gating from one spot to another. Ruby said that to cross planes is different. If you are on a higher plane you have to drill down, if on a lower you have to drill up. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Some, but the shadow plane isn't a higher or lower as far as I know. It basically exists everywhere."

Krenocia says "Ruby also suggested that you return to the point where you appeared. Something about following an existing wound?"

"She probably means that me arriving here should have left a trail I can follow to get back!"

Krenocia says "If you say so. Honestly, this is all new information to me."

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"That's no surprise, the humans of your world have no clue about planer travel."

Krenocia says "Yeah, sorry I can't be of more help."

"No worries, you have helped plenty!"

Krenocia says "So you will be heading to where you arrived and trying to return?"

"Not right away, I have something to finish first."

Krenocia says "You have only been there a day! What trouble have you found already?!"

"Um, well, I kind of need to return a shadow drake egg."

Krenocia says "A what?! How did you? No, no. Nevermind!"

She then leaves the soulscape and the last thing I hear is her grumbling curses. Once she is gone I start using the soulscape to practice creating gates. It doesn't work the same as outside, but it is enough for me to at least get a feel for how they work.

The main problem is going to be making it work with sacred power instead of mana. According to Yui a gate requires a massive amount of mana so I am worried if I will even have enough power. If not I don't really have an alternate plan except to go back to Shade and try to find another way.

Once my body has recovered and my sacred power is full I end the soulscape and my meditation. As soon as I sit up Lizzy wakes up, for once she didn't steal one of my wings to cuddle with. It is probably because she was only napping, not really sleeping.

Lizzy 'Are you ready to move?'

'Yes, I am. How are you doing?'

Lizzy 'Other than being a little thirsty I am fine. I can go for a few more days.'

'No need for that!'

Grabbing a bowl out of my pouch I use the endless waterskin to fill it up and let Lizzy drink. I keep refilling it until she has had enough then I drink my fill before putting everything away. Then I saddle Lizzy and we continue our journey through the forest.

We make it to the other side of the forest without encountering a single beast. Either we wiped them out or the survivors are hiding from us. Whichever is the case, it makes the trip fairly boring, and it means I don't collect a single crystal.

Once we leave the forest I can see the mountains on the horizon, so we head that direction. As we get closer I can see dots flying around above the mountains, thirteen of them. It doesn't take me long to realize they are not flying randomly, they are patrolling.

We have only covered about half the distance to the mountains when we are spotted. What worries me is that three drakes fly in our direction when I was hoping for only one. Lizzy stops once she spots them and we wait for the drakes to come to us, I just hope they feel like talking.

The drake's bodies look like they are made completely of shadows, they even shift around. Parts of their bodies will turn transparent at times, but at least they are black. I was getting kind of tired of everything being purple, although as the drakes get closer I can see their eyes are purple.

Drake1 says "Halt! You are entering our territory, state your business!"

"I am here to return one of your eggs that I recovered."

Drake2 says "Where did you recover this egg?"

"I recovered it when I killed the shadow panther king of the forest."

Drake3 says "Show us the egg please!"

Taking the egg out of the saddlebags I quickly remove the blanket I had wrapped it in. Then I hold up the egg with both hands so that the drakes can get a better look at it. Suddenly, with a loud crack, the egg starts to break open making everyone jump.

The crack in the shell quickly grows and pieces of it start breaking away. I find it interesting that the pieces of shell that fall off dissolve before they hit the ground. The purple sparkles that they turn into swarm back up and enter the inside of the egg.

It seems like the shell is breaking down into energy and feeding itself to the young drake inside the egg. In less than a minute the shell is completely gone and I find myself holding a baby shadow drake. It is tiny, it easily fits in one of my hands, except for the wings which are three times the size of the body.

The baby opens its bright purple eyes and looks around for the first time. It looks at me and Lizzy, then cranes its neck around to look at the three drakes. Then after a minute it turns back and stares intently at me before speaking.

Baby says "Mama!"

"What? No! I am not your mother!"

Drake1 says "How could the child have hatched so fast?"

Drake2 says "It is still months before the others are going to hatch."

Drake3 says "Cat-thing, have you been feeding crystals to the egg?!"