“Altunei is waiting for something,” Vallen said. “Likely for Quivis’s orders, that he’ll receive through Suzie.”

“Was Suzie with him?” Faith asked.

“No,” Vallen said. “Neither was Hew. It’s likely Suzie is with Hew, but don’t worry, they won’t hurt her. She will tell them what Quivis wants. As for Altunei, he’s the strongest of the beings, other than Quivis. He kept some of himself because he gave in to Quivis.” He didn’t continue for a moment. “I knew him before what happened. We were friends. Altunei, though that wasn’t his name back then, went to fight Quivis. I stayed behind with my family.” He frowned hard, not continuing.

“What happened?” Faith asked, hesitant to break the silence.

“Quivis put part of his power into Altunei and three others,” Vallen said. “The others aren’t themselves. I don’t know if any part of their consciousness remains, but Altunei is himself. He believes he did the right thing giving in to Quivis. He believes the king didn’t care if he and the others died.”

“There was a king back then?” Riley asked.

Vallen nodded. “There is much about the world that has been lost. As for my family…” He stared at the floor for a moment. “They were killed soon after Quivis wiped out the knights. Messengers came and took out most of the village, including them.” He looked up from the floor. “If the beings wake up, so will Quivis. If they do wake up, killing even one of them could delay Quivis’s waking, but it would still be inevitable. Vibis is waking up in Sills. And Ninivus in Silverfield, but he isn’t as close as she is.”

“Can we put Altunei back to sleep?” Riley asked.

“We can.” Vallen’s expression was hard to read. “It will be difficult, but that is what we must do. He can leave the sea. He can wake the others.”

“Can the others leave the water?” Faith asked.

“No.” Vallen stood. “We should go to the harbor. If Altunei is still here, he’ll be waiting at sea. Hew and the messengers will try to stop us. I’m sure Altunei expects we’ll try to put him to sleep before he can hear what Quivis wills. I’m not sure how long Altunei can stay away from his part of the sea, only that he must return to it. The only part of all this that seems to bother him, is being partly bound to the sea here.”

Faith and Riley stood. Riley seemed to avoid looking at Faith and Vallen.

“Maybe I should stay behind,” Riley said quietly.

“Altunei cannot control you,” Vallen said. “I don’t know what he’ll say, what he’ll try to convince you of, but he cannot control you.”

Riley had a deep frown. If Altunei couldn’t control him, then he didn’t control Hew either. Hew was there of his own free will. It had seemed like he was, but maybe Riley had hoped it wasn’t true.

Vallen put his coat, sunglasses, scarf, and gloves back on, then all three of them left the hotel. Vallen seemed to know where he was going, so Faith and Riley followed him. It was raining lightly and there wasn’t anyone out, at least not this far from the harbor and shops. The rain came down harder the further they went, the closer they got to the harbor.

Messengers pulled themselves out of the darkness around Faith, Riley, and Vallen. Some came out of the rain. Twenty messengers surrounded the three of them. The rain came down harder and colder. The messengers came closer slowly.

“I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” Vallen said. “Get to the harbor.”

“We’ll stay,” Faith said.

Vallen shook his head. “Put Altunei to sleep.”

Riley ran at the messengers straight ahead, but they pulled away from him quickly. Faith followed. It was as though they were afraid to attack Riley. Ninivus had controlled his messengers. Maybe Altunei and Hew weren’t done trying to get Riley on their side. Both of them would be waiting at the harbor. Would Suzie be there too?

Faith and Riley left the back roads, making it to the harbor without coming across more messengers. It was raining even harder now. Waves tossed against the docks. Altunei was waiting where the docks began, with Hew and Suzie. Suzie stared straight ahead, her eyes distant. A terrible cold feeling settled over Faith. What had Quivis done to her?

“I see you’ve awoken,” Altunei said with an unnerving smile, staring at Riley. The smile vanished. “You have one more chance to join us, or we will end you.”

“Please, Riley,” Hew said. He looked desperate.

“I won’t join you. I’m going to stop you,” Riley said.

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Altunei sighed. “Pity, I liked your determination. Hew taught you well. I had hoped you would put it to good use.”

“And help you destroy the world?” Riley asked.

Altunei laughed, a horrible rattle. He stopped abruptly. “This was once the sea. Quivis only wants to take back what is his.”

Messengers climbed out of the sea and onto the docks. They joined Altunei, Hew, and Suzie. The messengers came closer. Faith felt that heat, the same as she’d felt from the pendant before, only now it was inside of her. She ran at Altunei, feeling the wyvern blood coursing through her. Messengers came out of the rain between them, grabbing Faith and pulling her toward the sea. She pulled against them as hard as she could.

“Suzie!” Faith called.

Suzie continued to stare straight ahead.

The messengers threw Faith into the harbor. More messengers were waiting in the water. They held on to her, their hands a vise on her arms and legs. They pulled her further from the surface, her lungs burning. The heat of the wyvern blood rose. The messengers let go, pulling away sharply.

Darkness surrounded Faith, pulling her in. The morning sun was bright when she opened her eyes. Faith breathed in sharply, then turned onto her side and coughed up water onto the wet wood of the docks. The harbor came into focus, the sea calm and the rain gone. The sun was rising, and there were no dark clouds to block it.

Faith got to her feet slowly, the docks seeming to move. When everything steadied, she realized she was alone. Altunei, Hew, and Suzie were gone. So was Riley. Faith looked out at the sea, but it was still calm. Where was Riley? She looked down at the water, but she didn’t see anything in the darkness. She shivered, still soaked from the night before.

Something felt out of place, a heat throughout her despite how cold she felt. Faith headed for the back roads, toward the hotel. Toward where she thought the hotel might be. She had to find Riley and Vallen. When she found the hotel, the sun had finished rising. Riley’s car was there. Faith went up to the room and found the door unlocked.

Everything was just how they’d left it, including the bag of clothes. Riley and Vallen weren’t there. Faith shivered again and found some dry clothes. She stumbled into the bathroom. Maybe it was unreasonable, but she hoped when she was done Riley and Vallen would be waiting in the room. She put the dry clothes on, feeling warmer already.

The back of her neck felt strange. Most of her hair had come out of its tie. Faith retied it, then reached under it. There was something soft there, with a hard center that ran the length of it. She pulled hard and pain flashed across her vision. A red feather lay in her hand. The end of it was bloody, where she had pulled it out of her neck. It seemed a long time that she stared at the feather. She knew what it meant, but not all of it.

Could she still put the beings to sleep? How long did she have before she would be entirely like Vallen? She tried not to think about it, not right then. She had to find Riley and Vallen. Faith left the bathroom, and they still weren’t there. Vallen had said Vibis was waking up in Sills. If Altunei could wake the beings, it was likely that was what Quivis would want him to do. Maybe Altunei had gone to Sills and had taken Riley, but where was Vallen?

Faith had to get to Sills. She absently slid the feather into her pocket. Riley’s keys were on the desk, where he had left them. She was still out of sorts, but she thought she was alright enough to drive, even if Sills was a long way off. Faith took the bag of clothes and went back down to the car. She left for Sills, driving along the seemingly endless stretch of road across the grassy plains. There were no other cars on the road.

She tried not to let her thoughts wander, tried to focus on driving. If Riley and Vallen were in Sills, what would that mean? Why hadn’t they been in Holden? Things were starting to blur. Faith pulled to the side of the road and turned off the car, just in time for everything to go black. If she slept, she didn’t dream. When she opened her eyes, everything felt different.

She was lying on something soft. There was something rough under her and it smelled of dust. The room came into focus. The wallpaper hung off the walls in shreds, revealing rotted wood beneath. The small metal framed bed was the only one in the room. The musty mattress was bare under the rough blanket. There were boards over the window, morning light barely coming through.

“Good, you’re awake,” Vallen said. He was sitting in the dirty plastic chair next to the bed. His coat was at the foot of the bed. He looked more worried than Faith had seen him before. “I found you on the side of the road on the way here.”

Faith spotted Riley’s keys on top of Vallen’s coat. Vallen must have driven her the rest of the way there.

“Where are we?” Faith sat up slowly, feeling much better than earlier, but she was exhausted.

“Sills,” Vallen said. “An abandoned hotel at the edge of town.” He held something in his hand. A red feather, with dried blood on the end. “This fell out of your pocket. I wouldn’t suggest removing any more of them. They grow faster when you pull them out, and it hurts to remove them. A lot. Where did you pull it out of?”

“The back of my neck,” Faith said.

Vallen sighed. “That’s where it started for me too.”

“Can I still put the beings to sleep?” Faith asked.

Vallen nodded. “For now. I couldn’t find you in Holden, and I thought you might come here. Altunei may have taken Riley with him. I had hoped he was with you.”

“I couldn’t find him in Holden, or you,” Faith said.

Vallen frowned hard. “I still don’t know if there is a way to help you. There’s one wyvern left. If we find him, maybe he can help you.”

“There isn’t time now,” Faith said. “We have to find Riley.”

Vallen nodded. “We’ll find the wyvern when we can.” He stood. “You look like you could use more sleep. I’ll find us some food and water.” He took the coat from the end of the bed but left the keys.

Faith lay back down and closed her eyes. She wanted to go find Riley, but at the moment she didn’t have the energy to stand. She slipped back into sleep, into a dream. She was standing in a dark, musty hall. Suzie was walking away in the distance. Faith ran after her, calling her name. Suzie didn’t turn around. She didn’t stop, and Faith didn’t reach her.