Ares squirmed, desperately trying to avoid the churning entrance to the kratok’s digestive tract. He plunged his war-spear into the roof of its mouth, and the creature hissed in pain, sending a gust of warm, foul-smelling breath over him. To his relief, this young new body of his was just as strong as his last one.

It was dark inside the kratok’s gigantic maw. Its mouth was slightly open, admitting only a sliver of light. Ares moved by feel rather than sight, running his bare hands across the kratok’s hard palate. This was the reason hunting kratok was so dangerous. One wrong move, and a Hunter would quickly meet death.

There. He found it; the soft membrane at the junction where the two curving bones of the palate ended and became a thick, fibrous wall.

The war-spear bent as the creature closed its jaws, trying to trap him. The tip of the spear dug into the roof of the creature’s mouth, eliciting a roar of pain, and the war-spear quickly sprang back to its original shape. This kratok wouldn’t be closing its jaws anytime soon.

Ares squirmed as a wall of sound hit him. His ears rang. He dug his heel-spurs in as his feet momentarily lost their grip on the base of the kratok’s slippery, writhing tongue. His breaths came in great, labored gasps. The inside of a kratok’s mouth was a hot, wet, and fetid place.

He had to act fast. He didn’t have much time.

Uncurling his tail from around his leg, he stabbed the venomous barb through the membrane, where it plunged into the soft tissue adjacent to the kratok’s brain.

The only thing that could take down a fully matured kratok was venom from a Vradhu barb, and the only place a Vradhu barb could penetrate was the soft spot inside a kratok’s mouth.

That was why hunting kratok was such a perilous task.

His tail stuck, delivering its deadly poison into the kratok’s system. Ares grabbed his war-spear and dislodged the blade from the roof of the creature’s mouth as its lower jaw went slack. As the kratok’s mouth gaped open, he slid out, the impossibly bright sunlight hitting him in the face. The Shadowring is gone. Ares shifted his weight, angling downward. Below was a vast expanse of shimmering water.

I’m home.

His home had been made anew. Somehow, the Shadowring had disappeared, once again allowing the glorious sunlight through. This glittering view of the Ardu-Sai was the second most beautiful thing he’d seen in his life.

Of course, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen was his Calexa.

Nothing else compared.

As he fell, the stiff breeze stripped the viscous kratok saliva from his body. It didn’t matter, though, because he was about to take a dip.

He hit the surface of the lake with a bone-jarring splash. The water that flowed down from the Highfold was icy cold and gloriously refreshing.

He was home!

What better way to celebrate than with a fresh kratok kill? And now he had a mate of his own to share meat with; a boon he never would have thought possible.

Euphoria swelled in his chest, but it quickly turned to anger as bitter lake water flowed into his mouth, reminding him of the treachery of the Naaga. Their poison had leeched into the pristine waterways of the Ardu-Sai, and despite their assurances that it was reversible, the damage had already been done.

How many reed thickets and swarms of darting silver sarukark had they killed with their foul poisons? How long would it take for the precious wetlands to regenerate? And now that the Shadowring had disappeared, there would be a great dying and regrowth cycle, just like when the cursed phenomena had first appeared.

Some plants didn’t tolerate the light, and some died in shadow.

The world was on the cusp of change, again.

Still clutching his war spear, he kicked vigorously, his powerful legs bringing him to the surface. With a great gasp, he emerged from the water and swam to the shore.

His glorious lover stood on a sandy bank, watching him with wide eyes. Her face betrayed exasperation and affection, her lips pressing into the most adorable little pout.

As he reached the sandy shore, she ran toward him. Although he desperately wanted to take her in his arms, he held back, holding up his hands. “I am covered in bitter water.” He didn’t want any of the Naaga poison to touch her. A spring-shower would take care of it.

His clan-brothers ran past them, pushing their longboats into the water. The downed kratok would remain afloat for some time yet, giving them ample time to harvest their prize. They would have to take care not to contaminate the precious meat.

Relief washed over Calexa’s face, and her stare became appreciative, roaming over his armor-clad body.

Pride swelled in Ares’s chest. She had witnessed his hunting prowess, and now she admired him.

In such a short period of time, his female had changed. At first she had been hesitant, shy, and unsure of herself. She’d hidden it well, but he’d seen through her tough exterior to the vulnerable woman beneath.

Ares didn’t know anything about her world, but the marks of a hard life were all over her body. The Hunter in him had sensed her wariness; she’d been like a cornered wild animal.

So after their initial mis-step, he’d relented. The fact that he hadn’t even been able touch her on the Hythra had helped, and eventually, his patience had been rewarded.

Got you.

Now she was bold. She took what she wanted, and he liked that.

A dull roar echoed in his still-ringing ears, causing Ares to look toward the sky.

In the distance, the Dagger was falling.

“Is that the Hythra?” She followed the direction of his gaze.

“Yes.” It was far, far away, dropping toward the place where the massive lava crater of Za smoldered and spewed forth foul plumes of mineral gas. Did the Hythra’s demise have something to do with the fall of the Shadowring?

“What the hell is going on?” Sharp blue eyes narrowed.

He had no answer to her question.

More importantly, if he was here, then how was the Hythra moving? When he’d been bonded, he’d tried and tried and tried to get the cursed ship to move, but nothing had worked. He hadn’t been strong enough, and the Hythra was a stubborn, obstinate beast.

He doubted any of those pathetic Naaga would be able to convince her to just drop out of the sky like that.

If the ship crashed into the lava crater, she would be obliterated. Good plan. That was exactly what he would have done, had he still been bonded to the insane bitch.

But he was here. The consciousness transfer had been a success. He was free of that cursed ilverium-riddled Drakhin form.

So… if he wasn’t driving it, then who was?