Prince Nayoko of Hoshido

It took us just over a week to reach the Bottomless Canyon. Every day, the Hoshidans and Nohrians travelled separately. Whenever we stopped to set up camp, Camilla seemed to vanish into thin air. Elise never spoke a word. Leo looked like he'd hardly been eating, and Xander looked like he'd hardly slept.

The war may have been over, but its consequences had hit us hard.

Kass flitted between them, quiet enough not to attract much attention, but always there. I thought she saw it as her duty to watch over them all; to act as the pillar they'd been for her while she'd been locked in the Northern Fortress.

The Nohrians reached the Bottomless Canyon first. By the time we arrived, they'd tied their horses up to some nearby trees and were standing beside the rickety bridge. Trepidation filled their faces as they stared into the depths, bringing some energy to their previously lifeless features.

So close to Nohr, the blue sky was smeared with a few grey clouds, and a cold wind rushed across the canyon. Straggly wild flowers bent under its strength, their petals leeched of colour.

"What do we do now?" Ryoma asked.

Kass and Azura exchanged an uneasy look. Kass grasped the rope railing. "Well...now we jump off. We have to go to the bottom of the canyon."

Takumi sighed. "Kaiya, it's called the Bottomless Canyon. By definition, we can't reach the bottom. You're asking us to kill ourselves!"

"Gunter fell down there and came back alive," Kass said.

Leo frowned. "He landed on a ledge."

"My apologies, my lord." Gunter bowed his head. "That was a ruse. I really did fall all the way down, and so I can confirm that you will be safe. But if I had explained that to you at the time, you'd have thought I'd lost my wits."

"Why do we have to jump down there, Kass?" Xander asked.

She licked her lips and looked at Azura, but the blue-haired princess shook her head. "You can't tell them anything here. The curse will take hold."

Xander's face darkened. "What curse?"

"If I speak the truth here and not in the canyon, I'll vanish," Kass said.

We all contemplated that in silence.

Ryoma stepped up beside her. "It sounds like madness, but I trust you. You're my little sister. I won't turn my back on you now."

Kass looked at Xander.

He sighed. "Fine. I also trust you."

"Brilliant!" She winked at him and vaulted over the rope, throwing herself into the canyon.

"What in the gods' names --?" Xander strode forward and looked down. "Kass!"

She'd fallen so quickly that she'd already vanished.

"Follow us." Azura took hold of the rope and swung her legs over.

Ryoma looked nervous. "Azura..."

But she'd already jumped.

"What are you all waiting for?" Takumi elbowed his way through us as we gawped. "We have demons to meet."

He threw himself after them. Had it not been for my rising nerves, I would have smiled. He'd always been quick to follow Kass as a child.

Leo started to climb over the rope, but Xander grabbed his shoulders. "No! What are you doing?"

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Someone has to look after Kass while you stand here dithering."

Xander released a growl of frustration and let go. "Damn it! Fine."

Leo jumped off. A second later, Xander followed. Spurred on by Kass, as always.

One by one, the others jumped down. Ryoma, Hinoka, Sakura, Camilla, Elise, Jakob, Kaze, Silas, Felicia, Flora, and the rest of the retainers.

Soon, it was just Semyaza and me left. I turned to her. "Are you coming?"

"I trust Princess Kaiya," she said. "But I would follow you anywhere regardless."

Her words struck a chord in my heart, and I stretched out my hand towards her. It brushed against the wild flowers. I snapped a stem, and on impulse, I pinned the hardy bloom to her breastplate. Her cheeks turned pink.

I took her hand. "On my count?"

She nodded, fixing her gaze firmly on the darkness.

"Three...two...one!"

We grabbed the rope and vaulted over.

The wind hit me like a slap in the face, but it was nothing against the power of gravity. We dropped like stones, the sudden force slamming into my stomach. Fear and exhilaration spiked through me.

We slowed down, and then we sped up again. The others were changing speeds, too. We passed Ryoma, even though he'd gone before us. We drew close to Xander, then moved away.

I tightened my grip on Semyaza's hand, afraid that I would lose her if I let go. She turned her head towards me, and although we free-falling towards a fate we couldn't see, both of us smiled.

There was movement in the corner of my eye, and I looked over my shoulder. A dark shadow was dropping through the canyon.

"I am the forgotten dragon, the betrayed king, the entombed god."

The shadow stretched out a hand, fire magic exploding from its palm.

I opened my mouth to shout a warning, but it was already too late. The magic slammed into Semyaza's back. She screamed, the sound howling down the canyon. Her hand slipped from mine. Her flower turned to ashes.

Heat rippled through the darkness again.

"Semyaza!" I reached for her, intending to use myself as a shield. But perhaps she had never been the intended target.

As my fingers closed over her wrist, the flames hit me. White-hot pain flashed through my body, and my head slammed into Semyaza's. Sparks showered through my skull.

Then there was nothing.

***

"Norton!"

"...happened to him?"

"I don't... Oh gods, Semyaza..."

"...need to... Whoa, wait --"

Someone shook my shoulders. Finally, this voice was clear. "Nayoko, wake up!"

I opened my eyes slowly.

Semyaza was bent over me, blood and tears mixing on her face. "Thank the gods you're all right! I thought -- I thought --"

The panic and the pain seemed to become too much, and she suddenly bowed her head, scrunching her eyes shut. Her jaw tensed, and her fingers curled into the grass.

"Semyaza?" I reached out to cup her cheek. There was so much blood, and I couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Semyaza, talk to me."

She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have protected you. I should have --"

A hand landed on her shoulder, and we both looked up. Jakob was also crowding me. "Calm down, Semyaza. I need to examine him -- and Princess Sakura and Princess Elise were healing you."

"Trying to heal you," Elise said somewhere to my right. Her voice was shaken. "But then you woke up and scrambled off."

Semyaza made no move to leave. Her muscles were still tensed as she braced against the pain, and even on all fours, it was obvious that she was struggling to hold herself. I sat up, desperate to help her, but a sharp wave of pain slammed into my head. I collapsed back onto the grass.

"Let me through," Kass said.

She appeared in front of me a moment later, Kaze on her heels. The ninja picked Semyaza up tenderly and carried her away to my sisters, while Kass crouched down in front of me. "Norton, how many fingers am I holding up?"

I looked at her hand. "Well...four." Obviously.

"What's this?" She took her Dragonstone out.

"Kass, I'm not a fool."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. But I'm not testing to see if you're a fool -- I'm testing to see if you have a concussion. So, humour me: what is this?"

"Your Dragonstone," I sighed.

"How many of me can you see?"

"Just the one, thank goodness."

"I think he's all right," Leo said.

Kass backed off, and I finally saw the rest of them crowded around us. Semyaza had been laid down a few feet away, and Kaze watched over her while Sakura and Elise treated her back. But the rest of them were looking at me.

"What happened, darling?" Camilla asked.

"Someone attacked us on our way down, but they were just a shadow." It was a little hard to think through the pain. "They said something about being a forgotten dragon...or a betrayed king?"

"It was someone acting for the new King of Valla, then," Azura said grimly.

"Valla?" Xander repeated.

"Yes: that's where we are. Valla, the hidden kingdom within the Bottomless Canyon. It was once a mighty and peaceful land, friendly with the other kingdoms of the world. In fact, it wasn't unusual for royalty from Nohr and Hoshido to visit."

"But I've never even heard of Valla," Ryoma said. "How can anyone know if you vanish when you speak of it above ground? You're saying that my father -- and King Garon -- were somehow aware of this land?"

"Of course. The Hoshidan Throne of Truth was a gift from the Vallite king." Azura twisted a strand of blue hair between her fingers. "You know each of the kingdoms is spearheaded by one of the First Dragons. Hoshido has the Dawn Dragon. Nohr has the Dusk Dragon. Valla has Anankos, the Silent Dragon. He was gifted with unlimited knowledge and foresight, and he was also the dragon who gave his blood to the ancient Vallites. But, as all gods do, he descended into madness. When he killed the King of Valla and seized power, a curse was placed upon this land, so that it could never be spoken of again. It was Anankos who was responsible for the demon using King Garon as a puppet."

Xander's eyes darkened. "Then that dragon is going to pay. Why is he doing this?"

"He wants to destroy the two strongest rivals to Valla -- Nohr and Hoshido. With them ruined, he can conquer the other kingdoms with little resistance."

"So for us to really save the world," I said, "we have to defeat Anankos."

"Correct," Azura replied. "That is our ultimate goal."

Ryoma was watching her carefully. "How is it that you know so much about this kingdom?"

She swept her long hair over one shoulder and fiddled with it, casting her eyes down. "I...am a princess of Valla."

"What?" I exclaimed.

Ryoma stared. "You're not Nohrian? You...you belong to the Vallite royal family?"

"Yes, though there is no longer a royal family to belong to," she said. "Anankos killed my father and turned himself loose on Valla, devastating it. My mother took me and fled. Everything I have told you about Valla, I learned while we were leaving."

No one seemed to know what to say. I hadn't actually got my battered head around the existence of this land...and now Azura was the rightful queen.

"I know how to find Anankos," she said eventually. "I feel as if I have a compass inside me whenever I come here, and it wants to lead me back home. He lives in Castle Gyges, where I once did."

Ryoma looked at her grimly. "We'd better go and find him, then."

Jakob crouched next to me and placed his staff against my head, easing the pain.

Xander stepped forwards and put his arms under my shoulders. "Let's get you up."

Ryoma came to help him, and I raised my eyebrows at them both. "Am I that heavy? Thanks a lot."

Xander almost smiled. "No, but you are wearing armour."

Together, they pulled me up from the floor, and they both caught hold of me when the world span again. Once they were confident that I was steady on my feet, they stepped back.

"All right?" Kass asked.

"Don't worry -- you'll know if I can see more than one of you. I'll be getting the hell out of here."

Sakura and Elise moved away from Semyaza. I wanted to go to her and hold her close; to tell her how frightened I was at the thought of losing her. But I was too woozy to even help her stand, so I just watched as Kass and Kaze pulled her up.

Azura set off, and we stumbled after her, walking as a mixed-up group through a field of long grass. Ryoma and Xander stayed on either side of me, and Semyaza silently stuck to my heels. Kass put herself next to Xander.

He frowned at her. "You scared me."

"I thought you trusted me?"

"I do. But I also have survival instincts, and jumping down a canyon defies them even when you trust."

"That's why I jumped off before you could stop me." She grinned.

I looked at Ryoma, as was becoming a habit now when those two were talking. He was staring at the sky. I followed his gaze -- and saw landforms floating there. They made me suddenly doubt which way was up and which way was down, and my stomach fluttered. "What's going on?"

"Oh, those," Kass said. "They were there when I first came."

"When you first came?" Xander repeated, raising his eyebrows.

"In the early hours of the morning at Palace Macarath, after..." She blushed. "Never mind. I followed Azura into a pond and fell into a whirlpool. When I woke up, I was here."

"Didn't you tell me you'd fallen into the pond?" Leo asked from behind.

Kass looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes, my apologies. I couldn't tell you the truth without vanishing."

"Hold," I said. "Are those horses ahead?"

Everyone snapped back to attention. Some distance ahead of us, the grassy plain turned to woodland. A collection of horses had been tied to the trees.

A wyvern roared and shot out of the branches, and Xander frowned. "Is that Camilla's wyvern?"

"That's Zodiac!" Kass exclaimed.

"And there's Princess Hinoka's pegasus," Camilla said.

We drew closer, and I saw that they were right. Xander's warhorse, Indra, was also tied to the trees, as were the mounts of Leo and Elise, all our Nohrian companions, and Azura.

"What are they doing down here?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," Azura said. "Someone -- or something -- must have teleported them. I've never seen anything quite like it before."

We reached the horses, and the Nohrians untied them and began to mount. Ryoma approached Kass. "I'll give you a leg-up."

"Thank you."

She stood on the left side of Zodiac and balanced on one leg. Ryoma gripped the other and propelled her onto her mount. He beamed at her, proud that he'd been allowed to do something helpful, and I smiled.

Takumi stopped beside me. "So, you have two families now."

I shot him a sidelong glance. "I do."

"Don't do what you did before, when you found out that you could transform. And don't do what I did. Treasure them both."

"Sound advice. I hope you don't mind, but I'm surprised that you're not jealous."

He shrugged. "It was a mixture of Nohrians and Hoshidans who worked hard to restrain me without taking my life at the castle. The fact that I am here is thanks to Kaiya, Semyaza, Felicia, Flora, and Prince Leo."

"So it is." I looked back at my families.

Semyaza had followed Kass into the trees, and now the two of them were talking with Jakob and Flora. Elise had ridden to Sakura, and they were chatting hesitantly. Camilla and Hinoka were taking to the sky, shouting at each other. Were they racing to see who could get up there first?

Well, I never.

Semyaza turned and caught my eye, and the world seemed to shift. There was still so much grief and tension mixed in with the tentative joy around us, and so much fear in my heart. We needed to talk about what had happened -- and what had almost happened. I thought she knew that. And I thought that was why she remained in the trees.

Takumi scuffed his boot across the ground. "I'm sorry for being under Iago's control and revealing our locations. And I'm sorry for attacking Kaiya."

"It's not your fault. None of it was." I turned to him. "Are you ready to move on?"

He looked up. When he saw my open face, he smiled tentatively. "Yes. Let's go and save our kingdoms."