As Soleis opened his eyes, he was blinded by white sunlight. He was disoriented.

He lay in a field of sweet, fragrant grass on a mountainside. Rolling hills spread away from him. There were jagged mountain peaks in the distance. He saw the sea beyond. It winked and danced with perfect clarity. But, this wasn’t the Sea Realm. He sat up slowly, trying to figure out where he was or how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was…

“Lola,” he whispered.

He closed his eyes and inhaled. He could smell her on his skin. He could still taste her. She had been better than anything he had ever experienced. His body tightened at the memory of her taming his most powerful lusts. She had given him the gift of her innocence, and he wondered why. For thrills? For keeps?

“Has anyone ever told you, you look just like your father?”

Soleis snapped to attention. A rush of color flooded his cheeks at the sight of the old woman who had spoken to him. She chuckled knowingly and rose from the wildflowers she was picking. “Oh, don’t mind me! Carry on. This place is exactly right for woolgathering,” she said, blithely glancing skyward as he composed himself.

“Carrying on is a bit difficult to do with an audience. And, who are you?”

“I’m an old family friend, and I’ve been keeping up with you. It’s a meandering path you’ve taken, but your future still looks promising. Now, what brings you here?”

She took off walking, though she had asked him a question. Her long white hair fluttered behind her, lifted by a breeze he couldn’t feel. When she moved, her edges were hazy. He had a sense he knew her, but he couldn’t figure out how.

Soleis pushed to his feet and followed her down the gently sloping terrain. It was good to be on solid ground. His boots sank into the loamy soil, and his fingers grazed tall stalks of grass. “I don’t know why I’m here. I was hoping you could tell me. Is this the Fire Realm?” he asked, realizing it.

“You’re sharp. Yes, it’s a version of the Fire Realm, although you should know. You chose it. This is your dream.” She turned to him with a kindly smile that bunched the wrinkles around her grey eyes.

“Then, this isn’t the Fire Realm,” he said slowly. “It’s the Realm of Dreams, and I’ve heard of you—the Sylph, the Oracle who lives here—Ainley! My father won the war because of you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, young dragon prince. I’ve been waiting for you. You’ve traveled quite some places but never to my world. I wondered when you’d show up.”

“If you’re an oracle, then you know about Lola. You can tell me why we crossed paths.”

Ainley’s gaze skated away. “Fate doesn’t work like that. You can think of it as a tapestry being woven of many colored threads. The artist may choose from any hue, and sometimes the picture changes. Nothing is set in stone.”

“Well, that must be frustrating,” he laughed.

She wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. He was oddly unfazed by the disappointment, his ego blunted by the dream-state. Ainley continued walking until she reached the edge of the hillside, and they gazed down into a valley covered in lush rainforests. It made him miss home, and he realized, conversely, his vulnerabilities were enhanced by the dream-state.

“This place isn’t as easy to find as the other realms,” he murmured.

“You have to need me to find it, which tells me you’re here for reasons other than your love life,” she said wryly. “I’ll lend whatever aid I can give you, as I did for your father and your grandfather and his father, before him.”

“Do you know anything about the illness spreading across the Sea Realm?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “I have my suspicions. The future there is still uncertain.”

“Either you can or can’t help me. No riddles, please.”

“I know who can,” she replied. Soleis stilled as she reached out and touched his temple. He felt a cool, damp mist cover his face, and she nodded and smiled as she pulled her hand away. “And, now you will know who to turn to for help, as well,” she whispered.

“Who? How?”

“Follow your Heart. It always leads to what you truly desire.”

* * *

Soleis turned over in bed and swept an arm over cool, bare mattress. The dream faded. His eyes slowly opened. He was alone in the bedroom in the abandoned house. He shifted position and glanced across the hall, expecting to find Lola in her bed. She wasn’t there. He sat up.

“Lola?” he called.

No one answered. His heart dropped to his stomach at the thought something might have happened to her. It was an irrational fear. Who would find them in the pod? He searched every room of the house. It was minimalist and elegant, empty as the day it had been left behind. Frowning, he dressed and set out to search the city.

If she wasn’t there, the only other possibility was she had taken off the ring.

“Lola!” he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted. Following the road back to the antechamber, he ignored his growing anxiety. He shouted her name until Flev leaned out of a window and scowled.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“No, and neither do you. Have you seen her? I can’t find her anywhere.”

Flev sighed. “Only you would run off a woman at ten thousand leagues under the sea.”

“This isn’t a joke, Flev! She’s missing!”

“I’m coming down.”

Minutes later, he met Soleis at the gate. They went door to door in the residential neighborhood, checking houses, but she was nowhere.

Soleis wrestled with questions. Was she upset with him for taking her maidenhead? Had he terrified her so badly? Did she simply decide she wasn’t cut out for the life of a hero? He couldn’t fathom her leaving without saying goodbye after the night they had shared. The very idea cut him to the quick.

Flev exited another empty building. “Okay, I was kidding earlier, but what’d you do to her?”

“Nothing! I—She—It was consensual!” Soleis shrugged helplessly.

His best friend groaned. “You just couldn’t keep your hands off, could you? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a besotted youngling with a new life-mate. Come on. Let’s check the business district. It’s the only place we haven’t looked.”

“Life-mate?” Soleis led the way toward the taller buildings near the heart of the pod.

“Yeah, dragons are polyamorous, but there’s this myth some of us are fated to love only one. It’s utter bullshit. As the prince, you can have the most attractive, strongest, healthiest dragon females out there. Why would anyone in your position settle for one woman?”

Soleis thought of what he had experienced the night before. He had never considered a serious mate, but suddenly being with one woman didn’t sound half bad. He shoved a hand through his hair and blew out an exasperated breath.

“It was just sex,” he muttered. “I needed the release. All I really care about is getting to the bottom of the disease ravaging this world.”

“Right,” Flev said skeptically.

Ignoring him, Soleis stepped into a massive structure in the center of the city. A chandelier made from sea glass flickered to life at a word from him. The place looked to be a library of some sort. The walls were lined with shelves, and cylindrical document holders were neatly stacked. There were even a few leather-bound books.

“Dr. Cambridge!” Flev called out. His voice echoed off the vaulted ceiling.

Soleis lightly touched a curving bannister and took the stone stairs up. His eyes swept the room below, noting the comfortable seating in the center of the ground floor. Under normal circumstances, he would be in heaven, but he didn’t have time to explore the wealth of information at his fingertips. On the second-story, there were more bookshelves, more lounge chairs. That’s where he found her. She was curled with a book, having somehow lit a candle.

“Didn’t you hear us calling you?”

Lola beamed at him. “I heard you, but I couldn’t put this down. You should read this. It’s a history of the Sea Realm, and, boy, is it eye-opening!”

Flev jogged up the stairs at the sound of her voice. “There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“She found a history book that was too engrossing to put down,” Soleis smirked. Flev grinned at his obvious annoyance.

“Seriously, see for yourself,” she giggled.

“Give us a synopsis.”

“Well, it turns out President Belzaan has always been president—I’m talking for centuries—but he wasn’t always loved by the people. You’ll never guess why.” She flipped a page to a subtitle that read Belzaan, the Banished. “He’s not from this world.”

“What do you mean he’s not from this world?”

“Don’t you remember what he said at dinner? He likes to travel. That’s how he knew the weather in the Fire Realm. I know you told me not just anyone can jump between the realms, but he must have a passkey. Or, must have had one. From what I’ve read, he spent years trying to figure out how to leave and couldn’t.

“It took him forever to win popularity by gifting citizens with advanced technology. I suspect he came from my world because some of this stuff here is too familiar. I mean, they have something like cellphones, for God’s sake.

“Anyway, President Belzaan started off enslaving thousands to build his cities,” she continued. “This book says he also sacrificed Healers, Makers and Oracles to gain power. Remember when that guy said for every dead rebel, the president adds time to his life. Think of the absorptions. The rebels are probably all that remain of the gifted.”

“That would explain a lot,” Flev interjected.

Soleis frowned. “I thought there was no magic here.”

Lola replied, “There used to be plenty. I know they’re not behind this sickness. Here’s the thing. It’s not new. There was an earlier outbreak.”

“Let me see that.”

Soleis grabbed the book and looked at the passage she indicated. He surreptitiously snuck a glance at her to see if she realized she was reading a language she couldn’t read days ago. Being in the Sea Realm was having an effect, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. If she remained long enough, she could become one of the hunted gifted.

“’The slaves who built the cities began dying in mass numbers,’” he read aloud. “Despite efforts to remain independent, the Healers were arrested and brought in to treat the sick. They determined the illness was a side effect of contact with…the Mad King.’”

Flev locked eyes with Soleis, who grimly read on: “’When the gifted suggested Belzaan’s impeachment, the public turned against them and voted for Absorptions. Ironically, sacrificing the Healers, Makers and Oracles seemed to cure the disease. The more sacrifices, the less the Mad King drained the people of the realm. The gifted gave him all the strength he needed to manifest his destiny.’”

“Wow,” Lola whispered. “I hadn’t gotten to that part.”

“That means the disease is reversible. Maybe if the Healers had had more time to investigate, they could’ve found a cure,” Flev surmised.

Soleis slammed the book shut. “I think it’s time to pay the rebels a visit. My heart tells me they’re the only ones who can help from this point on.”

* * *

“There has to be a better way!” Lola shrieked, gripping his horns tighter. She squealed as sea spray caught the sun and splashed around her like sparkling glitter. The saran she had fashioned from sheets was soaking wet.

“You can’t find people who don’t want to be found. You go where they can find you. This is where we were when they caught us the last time.”

Just for kicks, Soleis dipped beneath the waves again. Despite her complaints, she was having the time of her life and so was he.

“Damn it, Soleis! I literally have nothing left to wear,” she laughed.

“I swear, if you catch a cold, I’ll stay in bed with you and nurse you back to health,” he teased.

“I don’t think staying in bed with me is how nursing works.”

Flev whistled from high above in the sky. “Up ahead. I see something big coming right at you guys.”

“Sea monsters,” Soleis said happily.

“Looks like only one. We must’ve stumbled upon a lone rebel away from the pack.”

“Sea monsters. You mean sea monster-sea monsters?” Lola squeaked

“How else should gnarly rebels travel on an ocean world? Come get her, Flev.”

Lola howled in surprise when the dragon plucked her from his back. Soleis grinned, wishing they could continue the playful ride. But, she would be out of harm’s way up above. He hadn’t told her the obvious. Rebels who believed he was still working for the Mad King wouldn’t welcome him with open arms.

Soleis launched into the air and arched his muscular spine, diving into the choppy waves with hardly a splash. He cut through the water like a torpedo. His sleek anatomy was made for swimming and flying, but he could alter his shape to maximize either talent.

He swam through a school of silvery fish that fled him in terror. His brilliant eyes adjusted to being underwater. He easily saw the monster racing toward him. It was fifty meters away. Then, twenty. Traveling at top speed, they would collide. On its back was a man who wore a fierce grin and carried a sharp harpoon. He looked as if he’d waited all his life to fish dragons.

Soleis channeled a message to the sea monster. Tell your rider I don’t want to hurt you two. The thing looked like an oversized black eel with serrated, razor-like teeth exposed. It cracked its jaws, and Soleis had a split second to decide how best to avoid damage. I come in peace, he tried again.

However, the rebel leader lifted his harpoon. The blue dragon deviated at the last second as the man kicked away from his beast and leapt toward him. The jagged weapon glanced harmlessly off his scales. A fine mist of bubbles clouded the water as the massive dragon whipped around to face the rebel, but the sea monster snapped at his tail. Soleis swatted the creature. It came back and barreled into his side, propelling him through the ocean.

Soleis gritted his teeth. He regretted what he had to do. The beast wouldn’t give up until one of them was dead. As the creature shot toward him again, he gored him with the lethal horns that crowned his head. Soleis jerked once. Twice. Murky black blood filled the water, blinding him.

When he swam free of the dark clouds, the terrified rebel desperately lunged at his eyes with a dagger. Soleis reflexively hissed, sending a hot gush from his nostrils. He could blow fire, water and steam. This time the combination wasn’t intended.

No! he thought, but it was too late. The scalding bath washed over the rebel. Soleis heard the man scream in agony and caught him in his claws. He dashed toward the surface. When they broke from the waves, the screams amplified. Soleis raced to meet Flev.

“By the gods! What happened?” his friend growled.

“Back to the pod. Quickly! I think we can save him.”

“Did you do this?” Lola gasped.

She turned away in disgust, and Soleis withered inside. This was the side he had tried to keep from her. The part of him who killed and maimed and devoured. There was nothing he could do about her seeing it now. He hardened his heart at her reaction a. No time to be distracted by the doctor.

He dove into the sea and set off for the abandoned city. He transformed to man-shape the minute he saw the pod, and Flev and Lola followed him inside. The antechamber flushed of water behind them, while Soleis gingerly laid his victim on the ground. The man was barely clinging to life.

“What’s your name?”

“Th-Thol.” The rebel seized in anguish.

Soleis squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m so sorry, Thol. I never meant for this to happen.” He forced himself to open his eyes and look to Lola for help. Her face was pinched from crying. “Please. Tell me there’s something you can do.”

“No, he needs debridement and tons of other medical care we simply can’t provide here. All we can do is be with him.” She kneeled to the ground and tearfully caressed the rebel’s forehead. “You’re not alone,” she whispered. Soleis heard the hopelessness in her voice.

Then, he saw her fingertips begin to glow.