Faith slept little that night. When she did sleep, she was back in the lake, with Vibis’s dark tentacles reaching toward her. Her bright blue eyes stared at Faith, seeming to stare right through her. Faith woke up early in the morning. Vallen was still sitting in the chair.

Faith sat up and yawned. “Any messengers?”

“No,” Vallen said.

“I’ll get us some breakfast,” Faith said.

Vallen took some money out from under the mattress and held out his coat. “It’s a cold morning.”

Faith hesitated, then took the money and the coat. The coat was dry. It was too big for her, but the moment she stepped outside, she was glad she had the coat. It held in what little warmth she had left. Everything had a layer of frost on it, and her breath came out as fog. Faith headed for the shops, got the usual water and sandwiches, then hurried back to the hotel. She lay the coat at the end of the bed, where Vallen usually put it.

Faith and Vallen ate in silence. Faith’s neck had stopped bleeding, but it was crusty from the night before. She washed off in the bathroom sink. The water looked clean. She tried the shower, but no water came out. It was just the shower that didn’t work. At least they had a working sink and toilet, but why was there any running water at all? How long had this hotel been shut down?

She dried the back of her neck with her shirt. There were sore holes where the feathers had been, but no more had grown. Faith and Vallen left the hotel. He had put on his coat, with the hood up. He had his gloves on, but not the sunglasses or scarf. The scarf had been soaked with blood from Faith’s neck.

“Any new feathers?” Vallen asked.

“Not yet,” Faith said.

Vallen looked worried, but he said nothing more.

They hurried through town. Vallen didn’t look up, the hood of his coat keeping his face hidden. The forest on the other side of Sills was wet from the night before. The air had warmed a lot since Faith had gone out earlier, and the frost had mostly melted. It was colder in the forest, but the soggy ground wasn’t frozen. Faith and Vallen had been walking awhile when a house came into sight up ahead. It was on mostly dry ground, but the entire house was leaning back at an alarming angle.

Vallen tested the lowest step up to the porch. It creaked but didn’t give out. The front of the house didn’t appear water damaged. Faith followed him up onto the porch. He tried the knob and it turned. The room on the other side was empty. The floor looked wet, but it felt sturdy beneath them. The front door hung loose from one hinge and half of the wood had rotted away. Faith looked around the doorway to the left. Stairs led down into darkness.

Vallen went down the stairs first, and Faith followed. They hadn’t gone far down before the stairs disappeared into water. The basement was flooded. A faint light shone through the water. Faith could just make out a waterproof light down there, but it was dim. Vallen took his coat off and set it on the stairs behind them. He continued down the steps, with Faith close behind.

“Do you think Riley and Suzie are down there?” Faith asked quietly.

“Riley could be,” Vallen said.

Before long, they had to swim to stay above the surface of the water. They dived to get through the doorway. The basement was entirely submerged. The small light flickered dimly, but it didn’t go out. Someone was slumped against the back wall. Faith dove deeper and saw that someone was Riley. His hair was still white, and he still had scales, even though it was morning. His eyes were closed. Somehow, he was breathing.

Together Faith and Vallen pulled Riley to the stairs and to the surface. How long had he been down there? At the top of the stairs, Faith and Vallen lowered Riley to the floor and knelt beside him. Riley was definitely breathing, as though he were asleep. Vallen put his coat back on. Faith caught sight of someone in the front doorway. Suzie. Faith stood quickly and Suzie turned and walked away. Faith took a step toward the door, but Vallen stopped her, a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s a trap,” Vallen said.

“It’s Suzie.” Faith knew he was right, but she still wanted to go after her. She looked away from the doorway. “I know…”

Vallen let go and pulled one of Riley’s arms over his shoulders. Faith helped Vallen get Riley on his feet, then they left the house. Riley’s hair had gone back to normal, and the scales had gone. Faith didn’t see Suzie. They hurried back the way they came, going around the outside of Sills, back to the hotel. Riley had begun to stir when they made it back to the room. Faith and Vallen lay him on the bed.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Riley opened his eyes slowly. They were their usual light blue rather than the brighter blue they’d been before. He coughed and a little water came out. He looked around at the room, then at Vallen and Faith. “Where are we?”

“A hotel at the edge of Sills,” Vallen said. “It’s been abandoned for years.”

“You were underwater when we found you,” Faith said.

Riley sat up slowly and coughed up more water, but not a lot. “We were at a flooded house. Altunei did something.”

“He must have been keeping you asleep,” Vallen said.

Riley nodded. “Hew didn’t want him to kill me.” He frowned hard. “I don’t know how I didn’t drown. The water was like air.”

“It would be the same for Altunei and Hew,” Vallen said. “I too can breathe underwater.”

“Before they put me in the basement, I heard them talking,” Riley said. “They’re going to wake Elaita next, in Billen. They were going to leave tonight. If it’s what day I think it is. I woke up a few times and Altunei put me back to sleep.”

“We saw Suzie. Unless they’d leave without her?” Faith asked.

Vallen shook his head. “She’s their way of hearing Quivis’s will. They’ll be leaving tonight.” He glanced at Riley. “You should sleep.”

Riley looked exhausted. “I’ve been asleep.”

“Not a natural sleep,” Vallen said. “I doubt it gave you any energy. We’ll leave for Billen tonight.” He put the hood of his coat back up and left.

Faith sat in the plastic chair. She wasn’t sure where Vallen was going, but she wasn’t going to leave Riley there alone. Riley was already asleep. The back of Faith’s neck felt warm. She didn’t want to know how many feathers there were this time. Not checking wouldn’t make the feathers go away, but she wanted to put off knowing as long as she could.

Vallen came back before noon, or close to it. The height of the sun was the only way to tell what time of day it was. He lay his coat over the end of the bed and leaned against the wall. Riley woke up a moment later.

“We’re going to end Vibis, tonight,” Vallen said. “Then we’ll go after Altunei.”

They waited in the hotel room until night. As soon as the sun set, Faith, Riley, and Vallen left for the lake. It was raining hard outside. The rain came down only harder the closer they got to the lake. The water of the lake tossed against the shore. Waves rose high, the kind that would be more at place in the sea than a small lake. There were no messengers this time.

Dark, wet tentacles reached out of the lake. They were made of water. Vallen cut through one with his nails and Riley did the same to another. As soon as night had fallen, Riley’s hair had turned white and his scales had returned. His nails were as sharp as Vallen’s. Faith ran to the edge of the lake, with Vallen close behind her. They both dived in. The water was colder than the last time, but calmer beneath the surface.

Vibis’s bright blue eyes glowed through the gloom of the water. Faith and Vallen swam toward the dark mass that was Vibis. A tentacle shot past Vallen, almost too fast to see. Red spread in the water, from his side. Faith and Vallen made it to the bottom of the lake. Riley had stayed on the surface to keep the other tentacles busy. Vallen had a hand pressed against his side. The tentacles were avoiding him now, avoiding his blood.

Air had filled Faith’s lungs, air she should have long since run out of. Faith ran at Vibis, dodging a tentacle. Vallen reached a hand into Vibis’s darkness and many tentacles rushed at him and Faith, coming from all sides. They stopped just short of Faith and Vallen. Vallen pulled his hand out of Vibis. The blue eyes closed. The dark mass seemed to fold in on itself until there was nothing there.

Faith was running out of air. She and Vallen swam to the surface. When the surface broke over her, Faith breathed in sharply. Vallen surfaced next to her. They joined Riley on the shore. The rain had stopped, and the lake was as still as Gray Lake had been after putting Ninivus to sleep. The three of them went back to the hotel.

“Ready?” Vallen asked, taking the keys from the end of the bed and handing them to Riley. He had more energy than Faith had seen in a while.

Riley’s car was waiting behind the hotel. Faith put the bag of clothes in the back and sat up front with Riley. Riley would drive. Vallen’s wings already looked cramped, even with the whole backseat to himself. It would be three hours to reach Billen.

Riley stared straight ahead at the windshield. Two hours into the drive across the plains, the rain had returned. The rain hammered against the glass, as though trying to break through. Vallen shifted uncomfortably in the backseat again.

“If you’re tired, I can drive,” Faith said.

Riley shook his head. “I’m fine. We’ll be there soon.” He had looked about to fall asleep when they passed through Baylis. He glanced at the rearview mirror. “How’s your side?”

Faith looked back at Vallen. His coat was pressed against his wound. The blood on the coat appeared to have dried.

“It’s fine,” Vallen said. “We may be able to stop Elaita from waking up. If we get there in time.” He frowned hard. “We’ll have to end Altunei as well. That is the only way to stop him from waking the others. He is the reason Hew could wake Vibis.” He didn’t say anything more.

This would be hard for Vallen. He’d said before that he used to think he could save Altunei. Altunei had given in to Quivis’s power. He had remained himself because he sided with Quivis. It wasn’t likely any of them could change Altunei’s mind now, or Hew’s. Hew had done much the same thing as Altunei. He had given into the enemy to save himself.