Just as the first invisible daemon came through the door, Pheng-Pheng and I jumped off the horse, along with the rest of my team. Vesta swiftly rolled over to the side and out of the daemon’s way.

“You take his left, I’ll take his right,” I said to Pheng-Pheng, and she replied with a brief nod, then drew her sword.

With my twin blades ready, I darted over to the daemon’s right side, as Pheng-Pheng rushed to the left. I caught a glimpse of the creature’s red eyes and launched my attack. His claws caught one of my swords, and he was forced to block the second one, too—giving Pheng-Pheng the momentum to drive her sword through the fiend’s neck.

Vesta unscrewed the cap from her water bladder and pulled the liquid out with graceful guidance from one hand, using her wrist and finger movements to coax it into a fine mist spreading through the now-open door.

I heard gurgling as the first daemon collapsed on the ground with a thud. One down, four more to go—the mist counteracted the invisibility spell worn by the other fiends coming through the door. With flashing steps and swift moves, Hansa, Caspian, and Fiona tackled three of the remaining daemons.

Pheng-Pheng and I handled the fourth, while Blaze, Caia, and Vesta kept to the side, ready to intervene if needed. Our blades cut through the beasts’ throats before they could call for help or sound an alarm. One by one, the daemons fell in pools of their own crimson blood, before Blaze and Caia dragged them off to the side.

We pulled large leaves from nearby bushes over their lifeless bodies and managed to hide them all from whomever might come along—friend or foe. “Hopefully, the rest of our incursion into Draconis will be just as discreet,” Hansa whispered, panting slightly.

We hid the horses in a crevice to the side, and I ordered them to wait there for us, using my sentry “persuasion”.

I peeked into the darkness beyond the open door, using my True Sight. “Coast is clear, for now,” I said, then looked up. “There are more hostiles up on the first floor. They’re not invisible, though. I bet they didn’t hear or see us, yet.”

“Either way, have your red lenses ready,” Jax replied, then motioned to Vesta to lead the way inside.

I fumbled through one of my pockets and pulled two lenses out—after our mission in Shaytan’s palace, I’d managed to hold onto a couple, adding strings so they could be tied around the head. I handed one to Pheng-Pheng, who stared at it with eyebrows raised.

“Not into the whole monocle thing,” I muttered, and put mine on.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, and tied hers around her head as well.

“This single round lens was quite the fashion in the human world, back where we come from,” Fiona said, making me smile. We’d studied the human history during our high school years, and we’d often laughed at men’s fashion in the late nineteenth century. Seeing how the Druids were dressing up on Calliope made us laugh even harder—we got used to it, eventually, but it still brought a grin to my face once in a while, especially where accessories were concerned.

“Okay, what next?” Hansa asked, looking at Vesta.

“We go up to the palace,” the young fae replied. “There are several shorter access routes into Draconis, but the one close to the city library is the best for what we need to do.”

“I’m guessing the others are heavily guarded?” I asked, sheathing my swords.

“Precisely,” Vesta replied, then went through.

We followed, one at a time, as she led us deeper into the narrow tunnel. It had been carved directly into the white marble base, its walls rounded and smoothed to perfection. Those daemon guards we’d just killed had probably been stationed there on a regular basis, since it was the closest entrance to ground level.

A cool draft howled through the passageway, giving us the much-needed cooldown we’d been thinking about since the Harvaris Desert.

“Oh, yeah, that’s what I’m talking about,” Jax nearly purred like an oversized cat, a grin splitting his face as he took his mask and hood off.

“I concur. I no longer feel like a steamed bun.” I chuckled.

“We need to be ready for whatever comes ahead.” Vesta pulled us back to the present, still brimming with threats that awaited at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, it was nice to relish the chill for a few minutes, especially after a boiling ride through the desert.

“I suggest we cover ourselves, just in case,” Jax replied with a low grumble. “Not sure how the sunset plays out on the first level of this city.”

That said, he pulled the mask, hood, and goggles back on, as did the rest of our blood-drinking team members, myself included. I’d welcomed the nippy draft against my face, too, but it was time to get back to business.

Once we reached the door at the end, we all stilled, fingers gripping our weapons, as Vesta slowly picked the lock with her long knife. This time around, she was careful to avoid another resounding clang that might give away our presence here when lifting the latch. The upside was the absence of meranium in this part of the tunnel.

I scanned the area carefully, but my True Sight didn’t reveal any movements, not even air ripples. “They must’ve moved farther away,” I murmured. “There’s no one out there waiting for us.”

“Perfect,” Vesta replied, and slowly pulled the door open.

We were on the first level of Kerentrith, on the edge of a small square, with four alleys leading deeper into the city and one connecting it to the dry plains from which we’d come. The roads were narrow, paved with white, cubic stones, and snaked through large buildings with beautiful, ornate facades. Most of the windows were broken, but the colorful frames remained—although their intricate patterns had somewhat faded with the passage of time.

Large, brick-red flower pots had once held ornamental trees, lining the square. They were all shattered—not by violence, but rather by the growth of said trees into giants with rich, flowery crowns that stretched all over, blocking most of the sun. Using my True Sight, I noticed the natural pattern repeating itself up the roads and on higher levels, too. Nature had taken over this place, for the most part. The skeleton had been adopted from Kerentrith, beautifully crafted white marble structures that still stood, despite the overall damage. The flesh, however, was made up of thick trees, lush bushes, and an explosion of flowers in a myriad of dazzling colors—a quiet, tropical paradise nestled between the white marble walls of a city that had lost its people.

It was sad and beautiful, at the same time. Small animals scurried around—rodents and birds, mostly, but I also spotted a few deer-like creatures chewing on the bark of trees nearby.

Vesta took one of the alleys leading farther up into the city, and we followed, quietly marveling at the eerie symbiosis between artificial and natural structures. “This would be a gorgeous tourist destination,” Fiona muttered. “You know how the humans back on Earth visit the ancient Greek ruins, for example? This is even better. It’s lush and vibrant. Beautiful.”

“And what a glorious past it holds,” Vesta replied with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’d pay good money to come here,” Blaze chimed in. “If I weren’t a dragon, hunted by daemons so they could eat my freakin’ soul.”

“I see the tourism potential,” I said, then chuckled softly. “Think about it this way, Blaze. When all the daemons are vanquished and the Nerakians get their lives back, surely you wouldn’t mind bringing Caia here on a date, right? I can already see a candlelight dinner in the middle of one of these squares, a dude playing a slow, romantic violin…”

“I’m swooning already.” Fiona giggled.

The flustered looks on Blaze and Caia’s faces were hilarious, to say the least. They both glowed pink and gold—clearly crushing on each other, but embarrassed that we’d called them out on it. That’s what friends are for, anyway!

“Don’t let them get to you,” Jax told Blaze, then gave Fiona and me a playful wink. “Girls can be mean.”

Caia couldn’t even look us in the eye. Either she was too focused on our hostile surroundings, or I owed her a hug and a mild apology later. But, in my defense, Caia and Blaze had been orbiting around each other for ages. It was about damn time they got together, sooner rather than later.

“I don’t know, it does sound pretty cool to dine and chill here,” Blaze replied with a nonchalant shrug. I had to give it to the dragon: he knew how to keep a straight face, despite his reddened cheeks. He even surprised Caia with that remark. She gawked at him for a good half minute before we reached the palace square.

“Yeah, provided we clean the daemons out first.” I chuckled, then came to a stop, gazing at the magnificent structure rising ahead. “Whoa. Looks even better from up close.”

The royal palace was something out of a fairytale, with hundreds of bedrooms and banquet halls. Sculptures of godlike creatures of legend adorned the façade, and pieces of stained glass were still covering some of the windows. Greenery had spread across the walls, pale yellow blossoms opening up to welcome the afternoon sun. A set of wide stairs guarded by white marble statues of warriors, heroes of times long gone, led up to the front terrace.

We covered our heads as we left the shade of nearby trees and followed Vesta to the side of the titanic building, its towers capturing a pale pink hue as the sun moved to set into the west. “There’s a service entrance farther ahead. The least traveled path is usually the one lacking guards,” Vesta said. “The daemons have had control of this place for a very long time, but I’ve studied the blueprints over and over.”

“Where’d you get the blueprints from?” I replied, scanning the area.

“They keep copies in a tiny library down in Azure Heights,” she said. “The Maras don’t even know they have them.”

“So you’ve been to their city,” Hansa murmured.

Vesta gave her a quick, slightly amused glance over the shoulder. “Of course,” she replied. “I used to sneak in through one of the many secret tunnels. Before they sealed them, that is. I like to know what the enemy is up to at all times.”

“Well, that’s definitely one way of keeping your enemies close, I guess,” I said.

Vesta took us to a small side door covered in wild greenery. Judging by the amount of dust collected on the brass knob, no one had used it in ages. She picked the lock and went in. I followed, quietly joined by the rest of our team, while the Ekar was firmly anchored to my backpack—side note, I’d never seen a bird as discreet and as obedient as Ramin. I was impressed. I’d tried leaving the Ekar with Pheng-Pheng a couple of times, since she’d trained it, but the bird insisted on staying with me.

We went deeper into the palace, using the dark service corridors. My True Sight helped us steer clear of areas where daemons were patrolling. There weren’t too many of them, only two dozen, but we really needed to keep a low profile if we were going to infiltrate Draconis completely undetected.

“There’s an old passageway connecting the royal library to the daemon city below,” Vesta whispered as we crossed one of the banquet halls.

The walls were covered in gold leaf and gemstone mosaics, muffled by layers of dirt and dust. Ancient brass candelabra lay lonely on top of large marble tables, with more wild greenery stretching across the floor and working its way up the corners, toward the domed ceiling. I could only imagine the gloriously lavish balls they must’ve held in this place.

“Isn’t it guarded?” I asked, just as we entered the enormous library.

It was home to thousands of abandoned books and scrolls, resting beneath inches of dust on wooden shelves, built into the walls. The entire library was divided into sections by floor-to-ceiling partitions, filled with more works of Nerakian literature. It was dark, with barely a few rays peeking in through several windows at the very end of the hall.

“These all look in great shape after all these years,” Fiona murmured, getting closer to a shelf. “They should’ve been mush and dust after thousands of years.”

“The Imen stole some swamp witch preservation spells a long time ago, Fiona. They had to preserve these ancient writings in case they were gone... The daemons don’t know about this place, though,” Vesta replied, then pointed at a set of double doors, subtly obscured by one of the partitions. “That’ll be a good refuge to use, going forward. You know, to sleep in, and rest, if needed. It’s a circular hall with several rooms, and we could cloak it with some swamp witch magic, once I get the spell from one of my pacifist friends below.”

“That’s a great idea,” Hansa replied. “In case we have to hide once we get what we came for.”

“This is one of the less-circulated areas of the palace. There’s no known access tunnel to Draconis around here, so the guards don’t usually patrol these parts,” Vesta added, then pointed at the end of the library corridor. “Over there.”

We reached the end of the hall and went behind one of the last wooden partitions, where vines with thick, waxy leaves had grown over the entire corner, stretching out onto the wall. Vesta took her knife out and cut some of the greenery off, clearing a section of shelves loaded with large, leather-bound books and decorative brass goblets.

She looked at me, grinning, as she pulled one of the cups toward her. It didn’t come off the shelf entirely, and I understood then that it was a secret lever. It clicked once she brought it down to a horizontal position, and the entire wall section shuddered. Dust rolled out, released by the movement after scores of years.

“Secret passageway, huh?” I smirked.

Vesta nodded, then pushed the shelves forward as the secret library door moved back. The wheels at the bottom screeched and scratched against the marble floor, echoing through the library. I instantly looked around, using my True Sight to check whether any of the daemon guards out there had heard the ruckus—there weren’t any hostiles on our level, and the ones on the top floor didn’t seem to notice, either.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Vesta led us into the dark corridor waiting beyond the faux shelves. “This will take us down into Draconis,” she said. “There was a time, long before the Imen abandoned Kerentrith, when daemons used to smuggle stuff through a series of secret tunnels. This was ages ago, before the Maras even got here. During periods of war, the Imen set some smuggling routes with the daemons. Each side had something precious that the other needed. Despite the fighting, the Imen and daemons found some common ground where certain foods and valuable goods were concerned. The daemons longed for the Imen’s fine silks and jewelry, for example, while the Imen needed the red garnet and obsidian found below. This was one of those secret routes, sealed off before the arrival of the Maras, after the last peace treaty between daemons and Imen was signed.”

A circular staircase unraveled before us, spiraling down into the ground. The stone walls were covered in moss, and we had to constantly tear through layers of cobwebs as we descended.

“So, daemons and Imen smuggled stuff behind the royals’ backs, right inside the palace?” I concluded with a grin. “That’s absolute badassery.”

“It all fell apart when the Maras came here,” Vesta replied. “As soon as they grounded that Druid delegation and got their claws on swamp magic, that was it. The deadly alliance formed, and the rest of us were doomed.”

Thinking of all the lives ruined and lost tore me apart on the inside. I channeled my rage into sharp focus, while secretly listening to Caspian’s heartbeats. He belonged to a species that had wreaked havoc in this world, and felt horribly about it. He wasn’t like any of the Exiled Maras, and I knew how badly he wanted to prove that, how desperate he was to completely distance himself from the others.

I was determined to help him achieve that, and more. At the end of this staircase was the answer to many of our most burning questions and, potentially, the key to earning our freedom and his freedom, too. Once we managed to get the swamp witch back, it would be over for the Maras of Azure Heights.

My heart swelled with excitement at the thought of watching Darius and the others swallowing their sneers and paying for their horrendous crimes. Especially for what they’d done to Caspian and his family. We were going to bring this back full circle, by removing the Maras from the Nerakian landscape and subduing the daemons. That seemed like the most logical and least intrusive path, since every species of Neraka had its purpose to serve, including the horned fiends.