It took a full minute for everyone to process that word.

Cyrene blinked, and then she blinked again. “Dragons? Like…dragons?”

Matilde and Vera nodded and said together, “Yes.”

“There are actual dragons?” Ahlvie asked. “Not just stories?”

“When are you all going to start realizing that all your stories come from somewhere? Everything you’ve read about exists. Dragons exist,” Matilde said.

“We knew that you spoke of your time as dragon riders before the fall,” Avoca said, “but we didn’t think there were any more dragons left in Emporia.”

“There aren’t,” Matilde said.

“But dragons must still exist,” Vera said. “We are bound to dragons, and our lifelines are tied to theirs.”

“So, if one of your dragons was killed somewhere else, you could just drop dead for no reason?” Ahlvie asked.

Matilde gave him a deadly look. “You have such a way with words.”

Reeve coughed in the corner. “I know that I am new to this group and magic and the lot. It’s all a bit much to take in at once. I was with you with magic; I saw that with my own two eyes. I was with you through blood curses and these whole coins that could amplify magic and also mirrors that told you the truth and all of this…but dragons?”

Aubron patted his arm. “You sort of learn to just accept it.”

“We don’t have time to discuss all of this now,” Vera said. “We must meet with the ancient ones to try to get the protection spell up. Tonight, if at all possible.”

“Yes,” Matilde added. “The Nokkin is still a threat, and I would like to get that in place before we leave.”

They both stood and brushed off their dresses, as if that were the end of the discussion.

“Wait…leave?” Cyrene asked.

“They know where to look for the dragons,” Avoca guessed.

“We have an idea,” Vera said, her eyes twinkling.

Matilde and Vera nodded for Cyrene and Avoca to follow them as they left the rest of the room chattering about the possibility of dragons. Cyrene herself found it impossible.

If dragons still exist in Emporia, then how am I to find them? Wouldn’t there have been signs all along? Someone noticing them in the sky? Livestock going missing?

It seemed absurd for Serafina to send her on a wild goose chase. How could she have known through the veil that dragons still existed? But Serafina hadn’t been wrong about Matilde and Vera when she sent Cyrene to look for them. Cyrene sure hoped that Sera wasn’t wrong about this either.

Ceis’f appeared behind them and reached for Avoca. “I’m not staying in a human village tonight. Come out into the woods with me. When was the last time you had your hands in the earth?”

Avoca pulled her arm back. “I am staying to help the village. I know you might not care what happens to them, but they have been good to us.”

“When are you going to get it through your head that humans do not care about you? They want to use you.”

“When are you going to get it through your head that not everyone is like that?”

“This village was here when Aonia was sacked, and they did nothing,” Ceis’f growled.

“They can hardly defend themselves against one Nokkin. You know that they couldn’t have done anything for your people who were trained warriors.”

“Are you coming back with me or not?” he asked.

“No. You know my duty is to Cyrene.”

“That’s funny. I thought it was to that human bastard.”

Avoca’s eyes narrowed. “Watch what you say about Ahlvie. I am still a better soldier than you.”

Cyrene shuffled her feet and felt as if she were intruding. Matilde and Vera hadn’t slowed their steps, but she wasn’t ready to leave Avoca alone with Ceis’f.

“We should go,” Cyrene said. “He’s not going to help us.”

Avoca lifted her chin and nodded. “You’re right. He’s not. Absolutely nothing has changed.”

Ceis’f’s face was a mask of hard planes and deep shadows. His gold eyes flashed in annoyance. “Much has changed. But my distaste for humans hasn’t changed one bit. I’ll be in the meadow. Find me when you find sense.”

Then, he traipsed off, loping through the village and out to the trees, as if he had been born for it. Likely, he had been.

“I’m sorry,” Cyrene said, touching Avoca’s elbow.

“Don’t be. He’s…infuriating. How did I ever think that I could marry him?”

“You were meant for each other in Eldora. Maybe you would have made it work there.”

Avoca fell into step next to Cyrene as they followed after Matilde and Vera. “We would have always been at each other’s throats. It would have been a disaster.”

“That’s also likely,” Cyrene said with a small chuckle.

“And you?” Avoca asked. “What of your men?”

Cyrene flinched at the thought. She had been trying to forget all three of the men who had been chasing her over the last year. Power apparently attracted power.

“I don’t know.”

“Dean is still in love with you.”

“I know,” Cyrene said.

“You still care for him.”

“How could I not? We were going to get married. I can’t help how I feel, but I did horrible things back in Byern, and not all of them were because of Maelia’s death. Many of them were because of Dean. I don’t know where that puts us. I’m not ready to forgive him, but I know he is trying.”

“He might be a fool,” Avoca said. “But he’s a fool in love. I was hesitant to work with him. I wanted to cut out his throat when I first heard what he had done to you. But we have worked together now for several months, and he is constant and loyal. I don’t presume to know your love life, but I would at least talk to him. He deserves that.”

“I suppose so,” she said.

“And what about Edric and Kael?” Avoca asked. “Those Dremylon boys?”

Cyrene shook her head. “Dead to me.”

Avoca’s laugh had bite to it. “Hardly.”

“When I was there, I realized that I was bound to both of them. A Doma and a Dremylon, just like Serafina and Viktor.”

“You suspect that it is the same binding?” Avoca asked intuitively.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if that’s possible, but when I saved Edric’s life, the bond disappeared,” Cyrene explained.

“A debt repaid in some way. That is the only way that makes sense to me.”

“I don’t know,” Cyrene said, still confused by the whole thing. “It’s possible. How else could a bond be nullified?”

“Death.”

“Well, he died.”

“But you brought him back. I suspect it’s not that easy and that there is still much that we don’t know what happened with Viktor and Serafina.”

Cyrene nodded. That was the truth at least. “That means that I’m only bound to Kael now.”

“Yes. I can sense him all over you,” Avoca said. “I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but you must have linked your magic.”

“Yes,” she whispered, ashamed. “He told me he killed his lover, Jardana, to get powerful blood magic.”

“And you think that your blood magic links you?”

Cyrene nodded. “He wanted me to rule the world at his side.”

“Ah, then perhaps he does not know you.”

“What do you mean?”

Avoca bared her teeth. “You will never need anyone at your side to rule. When you conquer, even the mountains will tremble.”

Cyrene grinned at that assessment. Perhaps Avoca was right. Maybe she didn’t need a man at her side to rule. But she knew by the matching smile on Avoca’s face that she would always have friends.

They finally reached the cabin where Matilde and Vera had ventured into. It was next door to Cal’s house and one of the largest in the village. Cyrene could hear voices inside and what appeared to be some grumbling of dissent.

“How powerful is the magic of their ancient ones?” Cyrene asked Avoca. “I only saw a light display by Mana for the lone wolves ceremony.”

“Powerful enough. They did help heal you. But it’s varying degrees. None of them have been properly trained, but they have a great deal of experience.”

“How has Fen survived this long with magic like this if it’s in Byern?” Cyrene mused.

“Because we’re not a part of Byern,” Mana said, appearing in the doorway. She wasn’t as hunched or gnarled as she had been that day at the lone wolves ceremony. She stood straighter, and her eyes were lucid and full of fire. This woman clearly ruled the village, no matter what the men might say.

“But Ahlvie and Aubron are High Order.”

“Technically, we exist within the borders of Byern. Though the magical barrier you speak of never reached us as our settlement was started after the last war. So, our boys have volunteered to go to the Byern Presenting ceremony. But, if the crown recognizes Fen as a true part of the kingdom, it is news to us.”

“Oh.”

“That’s not why you’re here though. You are here because you want our assistance,” Mana said. “We have convened and agreed to try to use magic in the way that your ancient ones have instructed. Our magic has never worked in the ways that they have said, and many are wary of trying new things, but if it protects the village, then we will do it.”

“We appreciate your help,” Avoca said. Then, she touched her fingers to her lips in the sign of deference for her people.

Matilde and Vera herded their group to the center of the village in the same area where the bonfire had been held for the lone wolves. Matilde, Vera, Cyrene, and Avoca added themselves to a shocking twelve other ancient ones, and all but two were women of varying ages. The two men were twins and seemed to have the most reservations about what Matilde and Vera had suggested. But there had apparently been a vote, and they’d lost.

Matilde took a deep breath and then slowly blew it out. “It has been a long time since I have seen so many of my brothers and sisters all in one place.”

“A very long time,” Vera whispered.

Matilde opened a book, and Cyrene gasped softly. It wasn’t just any book. It was the Doma book that she had received on her birthday over a year ago. The book that had led her to her powers and beyond. She had thought that she lost it in Eleysia.

“We’ve kept it safe for you,” Avoca whispered.

Matilde and Vera glanced at the page it was open to and then set it on the ground in front of them.

“We thank you for joining us,” Matilde said. “What we are doing is simple. Vera and I can run the mechanics of the endeavor. We need everyone’s linked powers to create something this intense.”

“So, if you would, please hold hands, close your eyes, and reach for the connection between you and your neighbor,” Vera instructed.

Cyrene took Avoca’s hand and then Mana’s. Cyrene had only ever linked with two people before—Avoca and Kael. It felt deeply personal. At the same time, it seemed that this was only needed in extreme situations and was usually quite rare.

She and Avoca linked up without thinking, and then Cyrene felt it. All around her, the other twelve members of the ancient ones had their eyes closed, their heads tipped up to the sky, and their bodies were blazing with light.

Cyrene gasped. Vera shot her a reassuring look.

No wonder the Doma motto had always been, Believe in those whose honor doth shine. Because these Doma actually did shine. And it was beautiful.

It felt completely and utterly synchronized, as if each of them were in tune with their magic and with each other’s magic. Cyrene couldn’t understand their reservations if they were this in sync. Unless they were more afraid of combining with foreigners rather than each other.

But she couldn’t think of it any longer. All she could feel was the press of Mana’s powers against hers.

Cyrene closed her eyes and let her in. Cyrene gasped.

No wonder Mana was the leader. The light show that she had done at the lone wolves ceremony was nothing. This right here was her true power and the power of their group.

Cyrene floated away into it. It was like seeing smells and hearing colors. As if the essence of who she was and who everyone else was mingled together into this complex new thing. Where mind and matter didn’t meet, and fiction became reality. The impossible became possible.

Her powers didn’t shake or rattle. She didn’t have to try to find that center of fear or anger that had been her focal point for her abilities. Nothing about it was difficult in the slightest. It was as if she were adding to a well. One that didn’t leave her hungry and starving when she ran out.

She might not know what the full consequences of her blood magic would be, but right now, they weren’t an issue. Right now, she just had a geyser of energy that she could give as needed.

With a breath, she opened her eyes and cracked a smile. An iridescent dome floated over the top of the village, as if they were encased in their own bubble and it might pop at any minute.

Then, Matilde and Vera raised their hands to the heavens. As if following a tidal wave, the entire circle mimicked them. Cyrene tilted her head up to the sky and drank in everything that was happening.

And then something did pop. The magic snapping into place.

Everyone dropped their hands at once, and the magic winked out from each bright bulb of light. But the barrier held. Its brightness diminished when they released their magic, but a faint glow showed over the village. Cyrene was certain that it was only visible to people with magic.

“Thank you,” Vera said with a smile. “That should hold, but I have instructed Mana on how to check for weaknesses in case the barrier is probed.”

There were a few cheers of excitement, and then the ancient ones dispersed together to discuss what had happened. Mana was the one who stayed behind.

“That was some excellent magical work,” Mana said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years.”

Matilde and Vera inclined their heads toward her.

“You give us faith once more that magic can truly return to Emporia,” Vera said. “We would love to be able to train all of you in the ways of the Doma when this is all over.”

Mana glanced up at the dome once more and then nodded. “I would like that.”

Cyrene grinned as Mana disappeared into the night. We won her over! That meant, there was hope still for Cal. She hoped tonight had changed everyone’s lives.

“You kept my book,” Cyrene said with glee.

“It belongs to all Doma,” Matilde said.

“But, yes,” Vera confirmed as she picked it up and placed it in Cyrene’s hand, “I think you are ready for this.”

Cyrene cradled it in her hands, as if it were a newborn babe. “That barrier…is it similar to the one constructed to keep magic out of Byern?”

“Similar,” Matilde confirmed. “That one was erected after the war and was much stronger, but it didn’t prevent anyone from coming into Byern; it just announced their presence to those who might want to hunt them down like the Braj who killed all those people after your Presenting.”

“How was it constructed?” Cyrene asked.

Vera shook her head. “We don’t know. A barrier that vast would have been impossible to create, even linked, for all those but the most powerful magical users of all time.”

Cyrene frowned. “Like Serafina.”

“It wouldn’t have made sense for her to keep magic out of Byern, but she was capable enough,” Vera agreed.

“But she was already dead when it went up,” Matilde said bitterly.