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It yawned, its mouth opening to reveal a small tongue before it closed its eyes again. Reaching down, I lifted it into my hand. It didn’t burn my skin, and its flesh felt smooth and wet, the opposite of Naî’s cool scales and tufts of fur.

“Take it,” the warrior said from behind me. He rested his hand on the hilt of his blade, his eyes fixed on Naî. He was too young to realize that we both were an equal threat.

“The matriarch said that they were given to you for safekeeping,” I said.

“If you have one, then they will know you have visited us. It will smooth the explanations you will need to make.” He moved his hand, gripping the hilt tightly. “They will be less likely to believe you abandoned those you returned in the desert.”

“All right.” I tucked the small salamander into one of my jacket pockets, feeling it curl around itself, nuzzling into the warmth. “We’re leaving.”

Naî didn’t wait to be told twice. She grew in size, not quite as large as she had been, but large enough that I could mount her easily. As soon as I was on her back, she launched herself into the air, and we rose quickly, leaving behind the camp until it was nothing more than a series of bright blue dots.

“You were worried about me,” I said.

I was worried because the animalia are gone. Whatever these people believe, whatever they are seeing out there in the desert, it is not the animalia. Naî’s voice was firm, unyielding. She spoke with an unhappiness I didn’t recognize.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

The animalia must be gone. They must have left our world for another at the betrayal of the humans. Why else would they have ignored all of those deaths? Why else would they have allowed the Southern Imperium to consume the continent? Naî’s voice grew louder, a roar in the darkness.

“But we’ve met animalia. Spider. Centipede.” I pressed my hand against her neck, rubbing in one direction so that her scales wouldn’t nick my skin.

Spider is a shadow in love with a human, Naî said. Centipede was less powerful than the dragon left to contain him. He was no animalia.

I leaned back, my body moving with hers as she pumped her wings harder, going higher and higher into the sky until the air was cold and I struggled to take a breath. On some level, I understood her anger. If the animalia were still here—were still alive in our realm—why hadn’t they stopped all of the horrors that had happened? With their powers, it would have been easy to crush the Imperium. And yet, instead, the other kingdoms had been forced to defend themselves without any intervention.

How much easier would it have been if even one of the animalia had taken care of the Southern Imperium?

“You think that the dragons would have survived,” I said, my voice rough because of the cold.

They let the Imperium slaughter all of the One Dragon’s children. I am the last of the ice dragons. The dragon that destroyed Krustau was the last of the fire dragons. And even now, all that is left of the forest dragons is a poisoned remnant. Naî hissed, her voice rising. They lied. There are no animalia deep in the desert.

I didn’t contradict her, needing to know myself if it was true.

We didn’t say any more until we found Tallu, the elephants large shifting shadows beneath us. Naî dipped lower, and we saw the soldiers who hadn’t been able to fit on the elephants’ backs plodding along.

Saxu’s voice rose, calling a stop to the march. Naî landed heavily, and I could feel her deep unhappiness in the way she shifted back into her human form, turning away from all of us, crossing her arms until one of Saxu’s men offered her a long shirt.

Saxu approached me, and I saw Tallu climbing down from one of the elephants. When he came closer, I gently took the salamander out of my pocket.

There was an explosion of noise among the goblins, everyone speaking on top of each other.

“What is that?” Tallu asked.

“A salamander.” I stroked my finger over its back, then held it out for Tallu to do the same. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Where did you find it?” he asked.

“We met with one of the tribes in the desert,” I said. “They weren’t willing to offer us aid, but they did show us where we could find the treasure Bemishu seeks.”

“These salamanders are the treasure Bemishu seeks?” General Saxu asked, his face hardening. How many thousands of imperial soldiers had lost their lives in the desert?

In his mind, it must have been one thing to try conquering the territory to fulfill the promise, but it was entirely another to sacrifice their lives for the sake of a creature that could be replaced by an electro lamp.

“The goblin tribe we met with claimed the salamanders were the children of living animalia.” I cupped the creature in my hand, and it opened its eyes again, looking out at all the strange people.

General Saxu frowned down at the creature. “Living animalia?”

“That is what they said.” I raised my chin, looking out at all of the goblins who had circled close. Tallu’s Dogs shifted into a different configuration, their hands on the hilts of their blades. Only Asahi seemed calm confronting the mass of people.