As Felix flew closer, his perception of the golden dome began to change. It was much thicker and more solid than it appeared from a distance. Alice cut ahead of the lines and landed directly at an empty customs queue. A woman wearing golden scale armor marched forward and struck the ground with the base of her ebony halberd.

"Evidence of right of passage, sir?" she asked.

Felix offered the golden certificate with the horned skull, which Brigid had given. The guard waved him through. Alice lifted him clear out of the saddle and deposited him on the ground. Then, still riding her Pegasus, she galloped forward the open gate. Felix glanced around uneasily at the gate as he crossed the threshold. It was one of many, crafted from thin bars of solid gold. Thousands of refugees were still queued up in other lines, waiting to enter the city.

Beyond the dome, the city streets were made from dull gold cobblestones. Buildings towered all around, impossibly tall, and it gave Felix the impression of being back in the Realm of Metal. Near the center of the city, the towers almost scraped the top of the dome. Many of the towers tapered inward near the top, and were crowned with steep pinnacles, domes, or belfries. In contrast to the golden dome that formed the sky, the buildings were mostly pale, and with light originating from all directions, their visible faces featured no shadows.

Shane waited for them at the end of the quad, near a broad street between two smaller buildings. Zombie guards in dark uniforms, perhaps some type of private security, stood at attention with stone axes and battered wooden shields. Food stalls lined the street beyond, decorated with colorful banners and arcane signs, and the people wandering around looked perfectly healthy and normal.

"I'm starving!" Shane said.

"I could use a bite," Felix agreed.

"Animals are not allowed on that street," Alice said. "You should easily be able to find your way around the city without me. Just ask anyone about Vaska." Her Pegasus flapped its wings and she flew away.

As they passed into the street, the nearby guard regarded Felix with eyes sewn shut. He made a guttural sound, but then resumed his watch without moving.

"Hey, you!" a man shouted. Shane looked uneasy for a moment. "Hey! I know you can hear me! You jerk! Get over here!"

Felix brushed past Shane to confront the man. He was sitting on a stool facing away from a bar in front of a large food stall nearby. He was young, with a mane of shaggy brown hair and a neat beard. He was also clearly a human, because like Vaska and Ingrid, his forehead and cheekbones were not decorated with scales. Behind the human, a large bowl of noodles sat steaming on the bar, topped with vegetables, a slab of meat, and a cooked egg. It smelled delightful, and Felix felt his stomach begin to growl.

The human reached out, pointing to Shane. "Do you see him Mia? This is the man that helped kill me!" the man accused.

"Have we met before?" Shane asked.

Apparently Mia was the young human woman sitting in the seat next to the man. "Zakx, he is not going to remember you," she said.

"He was there Mia! I remember his face. He was gawking at me as that Purple Dragon bit down on my neck. I'll have you know, sir, that was extremely painful."

Shane's eyes opened with sudden realization. "You are the Blue Dragon?!"

"Jerk," the man pouted. Then he returned to his food.

Felix looked at the woman named Mia. She did not seem to appreciate his gaze, shying away.

"Are you the Red Dragon?" he asked. She nodded. "I swore an oath of service to you."

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty-six."

"I died four years before you were born," she said. "I don't think your oath means anything."

Felix jumped up into the empty seat next to the woman. The pot-bellied chef glanced his way. "I'll have what they are having," Felix said, gesturing to the two bowls on the bar in front of the humans.

Shane hopped up into the seat by the man named Zakx. "Me too."

They ate in almost complete silence. Felix occasionally glanced over at Mia, disbelieving, and at some point the woman began to ignore him. He imagined that this woman ate at this stall every day, and had done so for decades. She had her own life, her own routine, her own completely alien set of beliefs, problems, and priorities. She was not a god, not a Red Dragon, and not the witness to his oaths. It seemed such a frivolous thing.

Zakx and Mia finished their food, paid their tabs, and then left in silence. The two seats between Felix and Shane were left empty.

"What kind of currency do you use here?" Shane asked.

"They took care of your tabs," the chef said.

"Do they come here often?" Felix asked.

The man looked surprised. "I see them from time to time. They are famous around here, you know. The first and second Immortal Worshippers of Ashe, the Queen of Darkness."

"We are new in town," Shane said.

"I can tell."

"We are looking for Vaska," Felix said.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Vaska, yeah I know her. I worked for her a long time ago."

"Where is she now?" Felix asked.

"No," Shane said. "I have plenty of food left. I want to hear your story."

"Certainly," the chef said. "My name is Algot Gunn. Special Agent Algot Gunn, back in those days. I worked for the Heylin Empire Foreign Intelligence Authority, also known as the FIA. I had a spymaster over me in theory, but in practice I received my orders directly from Vaska."

Felix resumed eating.

"Princess Vaska was looking for a woman," Algot began. "A pretty woman, her own age, who was also attracted to women. She was quite lonely, and in my opinion, quite horny. But there was a catch. The woman needed to be descended from the fallen House Veronika, which meant she needed to be part of the breeding program in Taisia. I found Ingrid in the city of Wave Crest in southern Taisia, and I reported it to Vaska. There were several other prospective candidates, but Ingrid was the best.

"So Vaska sent her sister Natasha to perform an airshow with her White Ravens squadron of fighter jets. The Taisian Air Navy launched a huge recruiting drive there. My subordinate, Glenice, was supposed to head into town and try and entice Ingrid to join. But Ingrid walked up the recruiters and signed up herself. Luckily, Glenice found out about this and started training Ingrid immediately.

"Soon, Ingrid was ready to start flying fighter jets, so Glenice arranged a meeting with Princess Vaska. The young woman was smitten. Love at first sight really. Anyways, after an extremely convoluted and dangerous sequence of events, Vaska somehow managed to arrange for Ingrid to become bonded to the Luck Elemental Titania. Vaska was, and still is, bonded to the Curse Elemental, Erika the Firstborn. It took total mastery of the Firstborn's bad luck to configure the second-order consequences, to manipulate the entire universe to conspire to bond Ingrid with Titania.

"So Vaska and Ingrid shacked up and the Princess let me retire. Later, she pulled me out of retirement and I ended up going on more adventures in the Elemental Planes for a while, before I ended up here."

"Do you know why Zakx and Mia ended up worshiping Ashe?" Felix asked.

"They both wanted to be immortal, and Ashe wanted desperate servants that she could control."

"Do you worship Ashe?"

"Nah," Algot replied. "Myself, Glenice, Natasha, we were all taken to the Elemental Plane of Water at some point. Vaska explained our important roles to the Queen of Water and she granted us all immortality. We don't even need to serve the Queen of Water, we are free to travel through the Elemental Planes."

"She didn't give you a new body?" Felix asked. "Younger, maybe slimmer?"

Algot Gunn slapped his apron. "Queen Ashe enjoys bullying me because of my belly. I reasoned that asking for a slimmer body would be a risk."

"That seems logical," Shane said. "Does Ingrid know that Vaska was manipulating her?"

"Of course. It was part of their marriage vows, Titania changed the laws of the universe so that they cannot lie to each other."

"And how did she react when she found out?"

Algot shrugged. "I have no idea. They were both horny young women. Use your imagination."

Felix drank the last of the broth in his bowl and slid the bowl forward on the bar. "So where in the city can I find Vaska now?"

"Keep your eyes up," Algot replied. "Make your way to the very apex of the dome. The streets don't have any dead-ends if you move toward the center."

Felix could not help looking at the dizzyingly tall buildings on either side of the street as they made their way toward the city center.

"So the Blue Dragon just seems like some random guy," Shane said.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"I almost feel sorry for them. I wouldn't want to be forced to serve Ashe."

"Do you think we could save them?" Felix asked.

Suddenly he felt a hand softly grasping the back of his neck. A second arm, clothed in a white sleeve, reached out and grasped Shane by the neck as well.

"Conspiring against me already?" Ashe asked as she trotted up between them, releasing her grip on their necks at the same time.

"I didn't say anything!" Shane protested.

Ashe giggled. "That's unfortunate. I enjoy a good conspiracy. Come, I will escort you to Vaska. In the meantime, Felix, you can tell me what you have discovered."

"My lips are sealed," Felix replied. The Queen of Darkness growled, but said no more.

The way to the center of the city was relatively straightforward. Literally. There were only a few points where the street split around diamond-shaped parks. The trees in the parks and on the sides of the roads were covered with deep red-purple leaves, which also fell in showers and peppered the golden cobblestones. The road finally ended in a deep round stepwell. Spiraling golden stairs led down into a cistern of glowing turquoise water. Guards in golden chainmail guarded the stepwell, but they did not intervene as Ashe led them down the stairs.

The cistern at the bottom was cut with a dizzying maze of marble walkways. Felix recognized the pattern. He had seen it once before, in the Realm of Water, maze-like sand ridges deep below the crystal blue water. At one end of the cistern there was a large platform with a dais containing two thrones. Vaska and Ingrid sat side-by-side in those thrones. Behind them, at the top of a steep flight of stairs, there was a small platform with a glowing golden portal. Through that portal, far away, Felix could see a distant golden tower.

Ashe approached the thrones, with Felix and Shane flanking her. A single woman stood below the dais. She was clearly a human, with very long, pale straw hair, and she wore ceremonial mother-of-pearl robes.

"Thank you Ashe, for escorting the pilgrims," the blond woman said. "I am Glenice of the Radiant Saints, Herald of Twin Fates. Welcome, pilgrims. You stand before Vaska, Voice of the Known Universe, and Ingrid, Empress of the Thirteen Skies."

"You just made up those titles today!" Ashe accused.

"You don't need to tell that to the pilgrims," Vaska said.

"My annoyance at your deception is surpassed only by my respect," Ashe said. "You need to explain yourself, Vaska! Why is there a High Daughter of the Queen of Water roaming around with the Purple Dragons in the Plane of Dreams?"

The Queen of Darkness snapped her finger toward Felix.

"He knows something! I deserve to know what he knows!"

"Ashe," Vaska began with a sigh, "if I answer your questions, you will immediately understand the second-order consequences for our universe. Then, you will flee to your sister-self and erase your own memories, as you have done before. Each time it happens, you reaffirm your position as the best possible defender of the Dark Half of the Divine Power of the Fifth Goddess."

"I was created specifically for that purpose! I'm the only option!"

"It makes me happy that you agree with my argument," Vaska said. "We shall speak no more on this topic. Felix and Shane, come forward."

Ashe looked genuinely disturbed. Her lone visible eye was flaring with red-gold light. Felix and Shane marched forward simultaneously, and stopped just short of the edge of the dais. Vaska and Ingrid both stood up from their thrones. They shuffled forward, stepped off the dais, and began to walk around to one side.

"Follow us," Vaska said.

Glenice trailed behind as the two women led Felix and Shane around to the stairs leading to the portal. Vaska pointed up to the top of the stairs.

"Titania created that portal," Ingrid said as she pointed up the stairs. "It is the only portal to the Elemental Plane of Light in existence. Light Elementals can no longer create portals. All travel to the Plane of Light comes through us."

"Please present your credentials," Glenice said.

Felix and Shane both offered their golden certificates. Glenice took them, twisting them in the light, looking at them from every angle.

"You are permitted to enter the portal," she said. "Please proceed."

"Once you are on the other side," Vaska said, "make your way to the Golden Tower. There, you will receive the Queen of Light's Judgment."

The three women shuffled away, back toward the thrones on the dais. Felix and Shane glanced at each other, shrugged, and began ascending the golden staircase.