Yes. More than you realize even now. And here I thought you knew everything.

Im flattered you would think so.

Dont be. Lucia focused on reining in her darkness, then doused her flames. I didnt come here to kill you.

He cocked his head, the only sign of his surprise. Then why have you come, sorceress? How is it possible that youve come? And where is your good friend?

Again, Lucias eyes began to sting, and she was horrified to realize that she was about to start crying. She forced herself to hold back her tears, knowing that the success of this meeting depended on her staying strong.

Kyan is dead, she said, holding tight to her resolve. I saw who he really was"what he really was"and I realized I was wrong. All this time, I was wrong about him. I was wrong to help him. I didnt know he wanted to destroy the world.

Timotheuss expression hadnt changed at all. Perhaps not, but you knew he wanted to kill me. And you agreed to help him.

Im not here to kill you, I swear it. You were right to warn me. She slid her hand over the cool purple stone on her ring. If it wasnt for this ring, Id be dead. It shattered the monstrous form of fire hed taken on, and then next thing I knew . . . I"I was here.

Lucia went on in a steady rush of words that left no space for a response, telling Timotheus everything she could about her time with Kyan. She told him of their journey into the Forbidden Mountains in east Paelsia, where theyd found the crystal monolith hidden beneath a sheath of black rock. The monolith was full of power"power Kyan wanted to use to draw Timotheus from the Sanctuary. In Kyans imagining, Lucia was to drain his magic, as shed done with Melenia, making him vulnerable and easy to kill. Then Kyan and his elemental siblings would be free of their crystal orbs forever, with no elder immortal alive to return them to their prisons.

Lucia told Timotheus that she had felt sorry for Kyan, who had been used for his magic for all his existence. Who yearned to have his family by his side and the chance to truly experience life.

But thats not all he wanted, she said, her voice no more than a whisper now as she reached the end of her story. He saw weakness in all mortals, weakness that disgusted him. He wanted to burn it all away, to reduce everything and everyone to ashes, so the world could begin again as part of his quest for perfection. The other Kindred surely want the same thing.

Finally, she looked at Timotheus, expecting to see a mask of shock on his face. But all that she saw in his eyes was weariness and understanding.

I see, he said.

Feeling bolstered by his gentle response, Lucia went on. I assume the blast of magic that killed him triggered something in the monolith and that it was the monolith that opened a gateway that led me here. When I realized where I was, I knew I had to find you. Youre the only one who can help me.

Help you with what, Lucia?

She felt the shameful spilling of hot tears down her cheeks. Help me make amends for all Ive done, she croaked, surrendering to her sobs. Im sorry . . . Im so, so sorry. I was wrong. And I . . . I nearly did help Kyan destroy everything. There would have been no world left, thanks to my stupidity. No safe place for my child to grow up.

Timotheus was quiet, regarding Lucia with curiosity. Your child?

Lucia sniffed, her surprise at his reaction working to calm her sobs. My child. Mine and Alexiuss.

Timotheus blinked. Youre pregnant?

Lucia wiped her eyes with the sleeve of the borrowed robe. You didnt know? Youre the one who hinted that this was the cause of my fading magic. You told me in our last dream together that Evas power faded when she was pregnant with a half-mortal child. You must have foreseen this!

Timotheus blinked once and then sat down heavily on the pure white chair by his side. I foresaw nothing like this.

It must be why I can be here. Right? Im mortal, but the baby . . . my baby must be half-immortal. She shook her head. Which I dont really understand, since Alexius became mortal when he exiled himself.

Exiles still have magic within them in your world, even though it begins to fade the moment they leave here. That, combined with your magic . . . it is possible. But I dont understand why I didnt see it before today. His gaze snapped to hers as he scrambled to his feet. I used my magic on you. I could have hurt you"hurt the child. Are you all right? Do you need to sit down?

Lucia shook her head. Im fine, really. She slid her hand over her flat belly. Its very early still. Ive been sick several mornings, but thats all.

Timotheus gave the smallest of smiles. You were right to come to me.

Finally, she relaxed the last bit of tension she was holding in her muscles. Im glad you agree.

His rare smile fell quickly away. Kyan is not dead.

She stared at him. What?

Timotheus held out his hand. A moment later, a flame sprang up on his palm. Fire is eternal. It cannot live or die; it can only be contained. Kyan is fire magic. And if fire magic still exists, then so does he.

Lucia pressed her hand against her open mouth, her just-calmed heart back to pounding once again. What do we do? How do we stop him?

Contain, not stop. He must be imprisoned again.

How?

He didnt answer her. Instead, he turned and moved toward the large windows. Lucia quickly followed him.

Just then, a horrible thought occurred to her. Kyan believed youre the only one who can imprison him again. But you dont know how, do you? Eva may have, but you dont.

She watched his shoulders grow tense beside her as he remained silent, keeping his gaze fixed on the Sanctuary beyond the city walls.

All this time . . . she murmured, trying to contain the shaking frustration growing within her at not having all the answers she needed readily available to her. All this time, I thought your vague hints and enigmatic riddles were meant to annoy me, to toy with me while you waited for the exact right moment to strike. But now I see why you couldnt tell me anything real. You really dont have all the answers.

Far fewer than Id like to have, he gritted out.

Were in great trouble, arent we?

He glanced at her next to him. Yes, we are. Like you believed of me, I believed that you might be the one who knew how to stop this magic that threatens to destroy us all. That Evas vast knowledge had somehow made its way into your stubborn mortal mind.

Timotheus had a great talent for making nearly everything he said sound like an insult. Lucia chose to ignore this one. It didnt. At least, not yet.

He nodded. I know your ring is powerful. Eva used it when dealing with the Kindred, and she was never corrupted by them.

Corrupted . . . like Cleiona and Valoria. I have my own vision and I saw it"I think I saw what happened. They touched the orbs and . . . the magic"she shook her head, trying to understand"it . . .

Possessed them, Timotheus finished for her, nodding. Changed them, and cast them away from our world forevermore. After the great battle a thousand years ago, the Kindred were lost between worlds. And lost they remained all these centuries"until you entered the time line. Melenia too was corrupted, but in a different way. For all her claims of power and intelligence, when she touched the amber orb, the being who now calls himself Kyan was able to communicate with her. He manipulated her into doing his bidding.

She could barely believe his words, but after getting to know the fire god, they made a sickening kind of sense. She claimed she loved him, that shed waited for him for all these centuries. But when they were reunited, he cast her away like she was nothing to him.

Im not at all surprised. Fire cant love; it can only consume. He considered her for a silent moment. Because of your ring, Kyan will be in a weakened state. You must find his amber orb before he regains his strength.

I never saw the orb in the first place.

Still, I would guess he would keep something so important like that with him. That orb is one of his few weaknesses, and to allow it into anyone elses hands would be to open the opportunity for imprisonment. Therefore, you must find it. The first place to search would be the site of your battle.

She nodded stiffly. Are you certain about all this?

There are no certainties in situations like this, Im afraid, he admitted.

So Im learning. Especially about Melenia. She refused to feel any sympathy for the heartbroken immortal, but she now understood her on a deeper level. She hadnt become a goddess like Cleiona and Valoria. Her corruption had resulted in an addiction to Kyan, making her into a tool for him to use and manipulate and, when he no longer needed her, to cast away like rubbish.

Alexius hadnt cast Lucia away, but she knew very well what it felt like to be used and manipulated.

Melenia was smart and resourceful before her corruption, long before she turned against Eva, Timotheus said. She was one of the few left who knew the secret I must keep about this world. The secret that keeps me trapped here.

What secret?

The leaves, he said. He drew one from the folds of his cloak, a single brown leaf, crumpled and dead. She took it from him, and it disintegrated with the slightest bit of pressure in her grasp.

She shrugged. Dead leaves. It happens.

Not here. Its a sign, a small one, that the magic is fading. Even with the Kindred found and scattered across Mytica, its too late to stop it.

Stop what?

This world . . . whats left of it . . . He paused, and when Lucia was certain he wasnt going to continue, she followed his gaze out toward the greenery beyond the city arches, hills, and valleys that seemed to go on forever.

Whats left of it? she repeated, not understanding. Im not sure what you mean.

My fellow immortals panic at the sight of a dying leaf, all the while ignorant that it could be much, much worse. He turned to her with a grim expression, and she met his gaze. You need to know what could happen to your world. Look again at my beautiful Sanctuary.

Lucia blinked, then turned once again to survey the pristine view. Only now, beyond the city, the greenery shed admired didnt stretch as far as before. A mile, perhaps two, beyond the city gates, the land turned to scorched and blackened earth. And, like a jagged cliffside, it then dropped away entirely. The blue sky had turned to a sheet of solid darkness, no stars to be seen.

The Sanctuary consisted of the city and perhaps a mile of greenery before all beyond it was destroyed.

What happened? she choked out.

An immortal named Damen was created at the same time as Eva, but with the power to kill. He acted only out of a fiery need to destroy, just as the fire Kindred does. The only difference is that Kyan has no real choice over what he is and what he wants. Damen had a choice, and he chose to hurt us. To try to end us. And finally, so many years after his attack, there isnt enough magic left here to sustain the little that remains of this dying world. Without the Kindred to replenish the life of this realm, the Sanctuary has wasted away to this mere shard, with only a fraction of my kind still in existence. I use my magic to conceal the truth from the others and to try to hold what remains of this world together for as long as I can.

No one should have such a horrible burden all alone, she thought, sickened by the very idea of what hed shared with her. The Kindred. If the crystals are returned here, will that help you?

He cocked his head. It wont fix what is gone, but it would save whats left.

Lucia nodded, feeling the resolve building within her. Then thats what I need to do. I need to find and imprison Kyan, wherever he is now, locate the other Kindred orbs, and bring them back here. Then my world and the Sanctuary will be saved.

Of course she knew it wouldnt be nearly as easy as it sounded.

Timotheus didnt smile at this suggestion, but a sliver of hope flickered in his eyes.

Are you going to say something? she prompted when he fell as silent and still as his fellow immortals during his speech. Or are you going to direct me to the nearest gateway so I can get back to the mortal world?

You must have heard me say earlier that Ive disabled all gateways.

She waited. So . . . enable one again.

Without more elders, that will take time.

My magic could help you.

No. It must be mine. You must hold on to yours for when you next face Kyan. He nodded, as if to himself. You will stay here in the tower. Rest. Eat. Regain your strength. As soon as I can, I promise I will help return you to your world so you can attempt to do what is necessary to save us all"if thats truly what you want.

It was. Lucia had never wanted anything more.

CHAPTER 8.

MAGNUS.

LIMEROS.

Tell me, Father, Magnus said, holding tight to the reins of his horse with his gloved hands. Have you hidden my grandmother in a block of ice? Is that where shes been all these years?

The king didnt reply to this, not that Magnus expected him to. Hed stayed silent for the half day theyd been traveling so far. Theyd acquired five horses from the innkeeper before theyd left that morning, and they rode single file, with the king and Milo at the front, Magnus in the middle, and Enzo and Cleo bringing up the rear.

He preferred to ride in front of the princess. Without her constantly in view, he could think without distraction. So far, Magnus could tell they traveled east, but he had no clue as to their final destination.

He wondered if the four men trailing behind them knew?

When the king demanded a rest near a river, Enzo and Milo got to work building a small fire. Magnus slid off his horse and approached his father. He was disturbed that the man looked even worse than when they began"his face as pale as the snow they stood on, so pale he could see the blue and purple veins beneath his skin.

Amara has soldiers following us, he said.

I know, the king replied.

Plan to do anything about that? I cant imagine your new wife would be pleased to know you lied to her about the reason for this journey.

Im sure my new wife would be surprised if I hadnt. The king nodded to Enzo and Milo. Take care of them.

The guards nodded, mounting their horses, and galloped off without delay.

Magnus knew perfectly well what take care of them meant, and he didnt object.

How much farther will we be traveling? he asked.

Were headed to the Reaches, the king replied.

Magnuss eyes widened. The Reaches? So it seems my block-of-ice theory isnt that far off after all.

The Reaches was a stretch of land close to the Granite Coast, consisting mostly of frozen moors and icy valleys. It was the coldest place in all of Limeros. The ice there never melted, not even when those in the west experienced the brief temperate season that they considered summer. There was only one village located in the Reaches, and Magnus assumed that that frozen little town must be where Selia Damora had been kept hidden all this time.

The king didnt divulge more information. He turned his back to Magnus and went to the river to fill his waterskin. Magnus walked over to Cleo, who had her fur-lined cloak pulled tightly around her face.

How do you stand this temperature for so long? she asked him.