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It took Austri and five other men to lift Revel. His limbs and head bounced limply as they carried him to Kya. The dragon stood perfectly still as they draped his seemingly lifeless body over Kya’s back. One of the men lifted me up. I pulled my dress up to my thighs and threw my leg over.

“You’d better go now.” Madigan appeared at Kya’s head. “The Solamites are coming for you.” She led the dragon around. “Hang on, Rafi. Go!”

I placed my hand on Revel and was relieved when I felt his back move up and down. It was slow and labored, but he was still breathing.

Kya took only a few fast steps and then soared straight up to the sky. I had to use my powers again to find my way to the only healer who could save Revel. I’d discovered a way to jump into the future, but I hadn’t tried the opposite. This time I needed to see things from Mom’s eyes.

I closed them and took myself to the past, to the days just after Mom left the human world, the grief-filled days when I’d been told she’d died in an accident.

A sharp pain creases my forehead and a bout of dizziness makes me slip sideways on the dragon’s shiny back. I grab hold of Revel’s anchoring weight to keep from falling off.

My eyes close again. I’m crying and filled with despair as I huddle down into a heavy cloak. Revel is in front of me, weighed down by the thick heavy cloak and the emotional drain of having to take me from my only child. The air is so wet it feels as if we’re walking through a cloud. The heartache of leaving Raphael behind in the human world is making my steps sluggish, but we trudge forward, past the hydra trees.

Revel looks up and finds the tallest peak on the mountain range. It’s the one that looks tall and sharp like a witch’s hat. We head that direction, deep into a forest I’ve never seen. The air smells of loam and evergreens, and the ground is so wet our feet sink deep into the earth. We walk for what seems like hours, not saying a word to each other, and then, with the witch’s hat directly in front of us, we enter a small clearing. I see it for the first time, the tiny cottage that will be my alternative prison. I will avoid the Tribunal Vault, but I will be a prisoner, nonetheless.

My eyes opened. I had no time to fret about the throbbing pain in my head or the anguish my mom suffered. Once again, with caution and trepidation, I placed my hand on Revel’s back. It was wet with blood. Beneath my blood-stained palm I felt the faintest movement, but it had grown weaker.

The wind made my eyes water as we flew over the treetops. Kya soared smoothly through the sky. One side of the Blackforge Sea stretched out deep and wide. Somehow it looked far less menacing now knowing it was no longer home to flesh-eating fish. No one had come right out and said it, but there’d been talk about starting up the fishing vessels again and opening trade routes to regions across the water. Getting rid of the Krakatow had made anything possible.

I stayed low over Kya’s back to keep the wind from stinging my eyes. Up ahead loomed the Avion Mountains, and in the center of all the peaks stood the tallest one of all, the one that looked like a witch’s hat.

“Straight ahead, toward the tallest peak, Kya,” I said.

I held tight to Revel’s limp body as the dragon took a wide turn to the left. The landscape below blurred as we soared toward the mountain range. Deep down, I battled with the reality that bringing Revel to Mom would uncover her hiding place. Using her power to heal, like she’d done with our neighbor, Mrs. Dancy, could cause her arrest. But I also knew that she’d want this. She would be angry if I hadn’t brought Revel to her for healing.

My biggest worry was that I’d be too late. Kya seemed to sense the urgency, too. He lowered his head and soared down closer to the landscape. I leaned to the side as much as I dared and scoured the treetops for a sign of the cottage. For a moment it felt hopeless, like the whole needle in a haystack scenario, and then I saw it—the faintest stream of smoke curling up through the canopy.

“There, Kya, see the smoke?”

Kya understood me completely. His wings slowed, and his tail swung around as a sort of brake. Blue scales shimmered as he moved them forward like the wing flaps on a plane. Then with incredible grace, the massive creature hovered low over the trees until he spotted an opening. He dropped down through the trees and ended the flight with a gentle landing. Kya wasn’t through with his ambulance ride though. The giant creature moved confidently through the forest, swatting jutting branches out of the way and even occasionally shooting just enough flame to turn a fallen tree trunk to ash.

We reached the front yard of the cottage. A fire glowed in the hearth, lighting up the tiny, dust-crusted windows. The front door creaked cautiously open, and a hunched-over old woman, Mom’s other-self, appeared in the doorway. “Who’s there?” she asked in a craggy voice. “Oh, my!” she gasped in her real voice. The old lady appearance fell away, and my beautiful, capable, magical mom stood in the shadowy yard.

“Revel! What happened?” she asked me, then waved her hand. “Never mind. No time for that. I can tell that his aura is almost completely drained of life, Rafi. He has only a short time left.”

Our biggest obstacle, removing the massive warrior from the back of his dragon, was overcome with the help of that same dragon. Kya sidestepped to get as close as he could to the cottage. From there, Mom and I pulled Revel down. He landed with a thump and a groan on the front stoop. Kya used his muzzle to nudge and roll Revel into the house.

I turned and stroked the dragon’s head. “They know you’re back to your wonderful brave self, Kya. Go back to the others. You’re safer in your hiding place and surrounded by the other dragons. And thank you.”

His amber eyes seemed to be saying something. My concentration was out of whack knowing that Revel was close to taking his last breath, but I touched the dragon again and closed my eyes.

“Bring my friend back to me.” Kya’s words came through my own thoughts.

“I promise.”

The dragon turned and lumbered back through the trees. Seconds later the flapping of wings shattered the silence, and the trees bent as if a mysterious wind had pushed them all at the same time.

I hurried inside. Mom had managed to drag Revel closer to the fire. His bare chest was so slick with blood, it was hard to see the wound, a deep slit just under his rib cage on the right side. Revel groaned weakly as I lifted his head and pushed a pillow beneath it. Blood was smeared everywhere. It was such a relief to hear the groan, tears immediately welled in my eyes.

“Rafi, get a wet cloth and bowl of water to clean him.” She grabbed my hand before I hurried away. The concern in her eyes erased my earlier elation at hearing him groan.

“He has been gravely injured, Rafi, and he is near death. My powers are only so strong, and it will take all my own strength and energy to save him. But I will try my best, Rafi. We owe him our lives, and it’s time to repay him.”

My throat was tight with emotion. I nodded and hurried to the kitchen for the cloth and water. I poured clean water from the bucket into a clay bowl and grabbed a clean dish cloth from the drawer. By the time I returned to the room, Mom had covered Revel’s half naked body with a blanket. The room was warm from the fire, but he had begun to shiver violently.

Mom’s hands were covered with blood, and her own face was a good deal paler. “He’s cold from blood loss. Never mind about the water right now. I have to close the wound. He can’t lose any more blood.” She got up, walked to the fire and picked up the iron poker she used to move wood in the hearth. She pushed it into the flames and held it there until it glowed red. Her face turned up to me. “Rafi, I need you to lay across his chest and hold him down the best you can. This will hurt badly, even in his unconscious state.”

I knelt down next to Revel. I touched his face for a second and could have sworn he pushed his cheek closer to my palm. “I’m so sorry about everything,” I whispered into his ear. Then I lifted up and stretched my body over his chest. I couldn’t resist curling my face against his neck to breathe in the scent of him. “My love, please come back to me.”