The waves pulled Faith under, into the calm water below. She fought to the surface, only to be pulled back under. She caught sight of something dark below the end of the docks. Faith swam toward the dark mass that was Elaita. Altunei was standing in front of Elaita. Faith’s lunged burned, but she resisted breathing in, focusing on Altunei. She landed behind him in the rocks.

Altunei turned, a horrible smile on his face. Elaita opened her bright blue eyes, just like Vibis. Dark tentacles moved in the water, almost blending in. Altunei pushed off from the rocks. Faith grabbed him, her arms around his neck from behind. He pulled at her, his jagged nails digging into her arms. A trail of red swirled around them.

Altunei opened his mouth, as though to scream. Bubbles rushed out but were gone quickly. Faith held on as tightly as she could. Something wrapped around her waist, pulling her off Altunei. The tentacle pulled Faith toward Elaita. The trail of red from her arms followed. The tentacle let go, pulling back from Faith sharply. Altunei was swimming toward the surface, moving fast.

Faith pushed off from the rocks, swimming after him. She desperately wanted to breathe in. As soon as the surface broke over her, Vallen pulled her up onto the docks. The water had calmed, but only a little. All the messengers were gone. Altunei, Hew, and Suzie were nowhere in sight. Riley came closer. He had a few shallow cuts on his arm, where something had gone through his scales. It was likely Hew’s doing. The waves became higher again, crashing over the docks.

“Elaita’s awake,” Faith said.

Vallen nodded. “Altunei will be headed for Silverfield next.” He was breathing hard. “We can’t leave Elaita now that she’s awake. All of Billen will be in danger.”

The sea tossed against the docks, the wood barely visible in the water. Faith, Riley, and Vallen moved closer to the end of the docks. No tentacles reached out of the water. The three of them dived into the choppy waves. The dark mass of Elaita was waiting below, blue eyes glowing in the water. The three of them swam down, tentacles coming at them. Riley and Vallen cut through them with their sharp nails.

Faith, Riley, and Vallen reached the silty rocks at the end of the docks. Faith ran at Elaita. A tentacle swept toward Faith, catching her in the chest and throwing her to the rocks and mud. The air had left her. It returned slowly as she got to her feet. Riley tried to get closer to Elaita. A tentacle wrapped around his throat, Elaita dragging him closer. Faith ran at her again. A tentacle reached for Faith, but Vallen cut through it.

Faith reached into the dark mass of Elaita, finding something hard and cold. She squeezed and pulled as hard as she could. The dark mass was thick. She dug her nails into the cold thing in her hand. It felt like thick clay. Vallen reached in beside her, his hand around hers. The hard clay thing crumbled away. The tentacle around Riley let go, and the darkness of Elaita pulled in on itself.

The three of them swam back to the surface, climbing back onto the docks. The waves had settled and the rain had slowed. Vallen took his sodden coat from the ground and put it on. Faith, Riley, and Vallen went back to the car without a word. They stopped by the hotel to retrieve the bag of clothes, but there wasn’t time to rest. Altunei, Hew, and Suzie would be on their way to Silverfield. Riley called Holtby to warn him, then he, Faith, and Vallen got back in Riley’s car.

Thankfully they didn’t come across anyone on the way to the room or the car, as Riley was still scaly. Vallen took his coat off as soon as they were in the car. Faith couldn’t get Suzie’s blank stare out of her mind. She had been so close to reaching Suzie, but would it have mattered? Quivis still had a hold of her, his will was still inside of her. The only way to get Suzie back was to put a stop to Quivis.

They stopped in Baylis for gas and to rest, even if only briefly. The motel was a small one just off the road. Faith went inside to get them a room. They had to rest, or they would be even less of a fight against Altunei. It was easier to sleep than Faith had thought it would be. When she woke up, it was still night. There was a warm arm around her, but it felt strange. For a brief moment, she thought Collin was there.

Faith opened her eyes. Moonlight poured through the thin curtains and she saw the arm around her wasn’t Collin’s. Of course it wasn’t. What had felt strange were the blue scales. Riley’s breath was warm against the back of her neck, in her feathers. He was asleep. Faith closed her eyes, surprised that his arm being there didn’t bother her. It was warm, and she felt somehow safer.

Faith drifted into sleep again, barely having left it. When she next awoke, it was morning and Riley’s scales were gone. His arm was still around her. She heard his breathing speed up. He pulled away quickly. Faith didn’t move and felt Riley’s warmth leave the bed. She didn’t move until she heard the bathroom door close. Vallen was awake, watching her. He didn’t say anything.

Riley brought them breakfast from downstairs, then he called Holtby again. Holtby told him he may have seen Willet in Silverfield. Faith, Riley, and Vallen headed for the car as soon as they were done with breakfast.

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“How could this go any differently than it did with Elaita?” Riley asked.

“Ninivus is the weakest,” Vallen said. “If all the beings are awake, Quivis will wake up. We’ve already delayed it by stopping Vibis, but the fewer allies he has, the better. If we get to Ninivus before he wakes up, Quivis won’t wake up.”

Hew was waiting by the car. The asphalt of the parking lot was wet, as though it had rained the night before. Faith looked around and noticed it was only wet around Hew and the car. Messengers pulled themselves out of the puddles, surrounding Faith, Riley, Vallen, and Hew.

“You’re already too late,” Hew said. “Altunei will have gotten there first.” Neither he or the messengers came closer. “Do you know why messengers return to the being that created them when they awaken?”

The three of them said nothing. None of them moved, and neither did the messengers.

Hew sighed. “Have you been paying attention? I thought you at least would have noticed, Riley. When Ninivus was about to wake up, his messengers returned to him, and those he marked fully awoke as well.”

Willet had been scaly during the day when Ninivus had been about to wake up.

“Altunei hasn’t called his messengers back to him,” Vallen said.

“No,” Hew said. “They have you surrounded.”

Faith looked at the messengers. They all looked the same, no different from those of Vibis, Ninivus, or Elaita.

“He’ll be calling them back soon,” Hew said. He was staring at Riley now. “I came to give you one last chance to come with me. Should you refuse, I will have to kill you.” He frowned hard. “I don’t want to do that.”

“Altunei doesn’t control you,” Vallen said. “You don’t have to do this.”

Hew sighed. “You still don’t understand. Altunei told me you didn’t. The only way to survive Quivis’s wrath is to give in to his will.”

The messengers became puddles that dried swiftly. Hew’s hair turned white, blue scales spreading over him. The same happened to Riley.

Hew grinned. “Altunei’s power is complete. He’s going to wake Ninivus, then Quivis will wake up.”

Vallen took a step closer to Hew, then ran at him, grabbing him by the front of his coat and throwing him to the ground. Hew stumbled to his feet and ran.

Vallen turned to face Faith and Riley. “Get to Silverfield. There’s something I must retrieve from Sky and Sea. I’ll meet you in Silverfield.” He looked at Riley.

Riley frowned. “Holtby’s supposed to meet us at my house.” He told Vallen where to find it.

“Holtby knows you are not his enemy,” Vallen said. He tied his coat around his waist, then took off into the sky, flying away fast.

Riley looked worried, more than usual. The two of them got in the car and he drove out of Baylis, toward Silverfield. It would take forty minutes to get there, at the soonest. The sky was getting darker overhead. Soon it was raining. The rain was coming down harder when Silverfield came into sight. Riley drove to his house.

The house looked just as it had when they left. Faith didn’t see any messengers yet, but with the storm Ninivus had to be close to waking up. The two of them hurried inside. Holtby was waiting at the table, watching the door. He stood when he saw them. He frowned at Riley, uncertainty in his dark eyes. Faith had forgotten how young Gregg Holtby was, and now he was the sheriff.

“I take it a lot happened while you were gone?” Holtby asked.

Riley nodded. “There isn’t time to explain. There’s someone else meeting us here, then we’ll go to the lake.”

Holtby nodded, no longer looking uncertain. “Good. I’ve already told everyone to stay indoors. There’s been a lot of those watery things walking around, and the lake is stormy again.”

There was a knock on the door and Riley opened it. Vallen came inside, holding two sheathed swords.

“Swords?” Faith asked.

Vallen pulled back his hood, then frowned at Holtby.

Holtby stared at Vallen with wide eyes. “Who are you?” His voice was quiet.

“An ally,” Vallen said. He held a sword out to Faith. “I couldn’t kill the beings before with just me. With another who has the wyvern blood, we can end Ninivus. All we have to do is reach his heart, just like Elaita and Vibis. That will of course be easier said than done, but the swords will help.”

Faith hesitated, then she took the sword. She didn’t have the slightest idea how to wield it, but this way they wouldn’t have to get as close to Ninivus to end him.