Going home.

I'm going home.

Eberon. Thananthol. Mama Flori. Wairen. Pearl Street. Roasted pecans.

Thain.

My heart sang it as we walked through the sand. Step. Step. Step. I could hardly keep the smile from splitting my face in two as we made our last leg of the journey across the desert. Behind me, Kai and Nassir talked about the sand tribes, and how Kai had grown into his new life with them. Schula made little ice flakes on her fingertips and flicked them into the air, playing some kind of game with Puko who swooped in to catch them.

And next to me walked Spaulder. Rather hard to miss, as giant black dragons go. Kai nearly had a heart attack when he first saw us. We were met with the entire force of the Khusuru riders once we reached the desert. After everything was cleared up and they were assured that Spaulder wasn't going to attack anyone, they were happy to take the Aoyi'ka to Kai. Little did we know that it amused them to not send him any kind of warning, first.

It was unfortunate that we had to walk all the way back across the world, but after seeing how it winded Spaulder just to land in Eidelhein when we said our goodbyes, we didn't want to push him. After all, centuries in a cave would make anyone weak, and the walking was doing him some immense good.

"How are you holding up, Spaulder? Do you need any breaks tonight?" I asked.

'No, little one. I am stronger each day we travel. I wish to continue until our destination,' he said.

"Alright," I said. "But let me know if you change your mind."

'I am more interested in continuing the discussion we began yesterday,' he said. 'Have you found anything of note in your books?'

"I think so." I caught my lower lip in my teeth, pulling my spell book from the top of my pack where I had kept it within easy reach. "I've got a cure for shapeshifting curses from Purda's notes, and with the general understanding of shape changing from Lark's book I think we can make it work."

Spaulder made that purring vibration in his chest, and nudged me with his head as we walked, tipping me off balance and I nearly fell over.

"Okay! Okay," I giggled. "We can try it when we stop. It doesn't take reagents for the spell so much as this will be a concentration of will. I think."

'Your will or mine, little witch?' Spaulder asked.

"Hmm," I mused as I slid my finger down the page, looking at my own notes. "Both, probably."

Spaulder nodded. 'Then we shall have to do our best.'

I smiled up at him, then tucked my book away and reached over to stroke his scales. His black scales took in quite a lot of heat during the day, and I worried for him.

'I have told you, little one.' Spaulder teased. 'A little warmth does not bother a dragon.'

I blushed, taking my fingers back from his side. "I know. But if you get warm, Schula can cool you. And if you get cold, I can warm you, though not as well as you could warm yourself I'm sure."

'Thank you for the thought, little one,' Spaulder answered, huffing through his nose and kicking up sand in front of him. 'I will be fine.'

"Spaulder, Wren," Schula said, catching up to us.

I turned my head to look at her. "Hello there. Finished playing with Puko?"

The raven in question was sitting on her shoulder, and she smiled as she reached up to pet him. "More like I think he's done with me."

I laughed, pulling out a dried cherry from my pocket and tossing it to Puko. He caught it easily, and ate it in two bites.

"So what are you two talking about?" Schula asked. "Are you telling him about the Wyldes?"

I grinned. "I can't wait to go back. I miss everyone."

"I want to wear my new dress on Pearl Street," Schula said, then her smile fell. "Hmm. I'll have to be careful with that one, actually."

"The elves," I agreed. "You're right. They didn't really listen to us in the end, did they?"

Schula sighed, walking up between me and Spaulder where she could put a hand on each of us. "I think Kalor did. And Teyber. I trust them to not let the issue fade away."

'That is all that can be done for them,' Spaulder said. 'You are wise to no longer waste your time on minds that will not open. If Kalor and Teyber can keep the discussion going, then so be it. If they cannot, then we will just have to solve the problem ourselves when we reach this DuVarick.'

Schula shivered.

"It's not just the Winter court we need to worry about," I added. "It sounds like most of the fae will be upset at the elves' survival, at the very least."

"We don't know that," Schula said. "It's true that they were banished, run out of the Wyldes. But they weren't sentenced to death. DuVarick is the only one mad enough to turn his personal opinions into their slaughter."

'Hmm,' Spaulder hummed. 'I suppose we shall have to find out for ourselves, though simply hiding the existence of Eidelhein would be for the best.'

" Agreed," I said, and Schula nodded.

We walked with comfortable conversation. Puko flapped his way up to Spaulder's shoulders, he had made it a habit lately, but Spaulder didn't seem to mind. Spaulder was content to listen to our stories of the Wyldes as we went, asking the occasional question but otherwise letting us talk.

Eventually, Nassir and Kai joined us as well. Nassir to hear more about the realms he hadn't seen in hundreds of years, and Kai out of bure curiosity of our kind. The moon rose, and dipped back down again while we traveled.

It was a warm night, but I barely noticed as we went. Too content in my company and too excited for our arrival to the Wyldes once more.

Which is why the cloud on the horizon was able to creep so close to us before we noticed.

"What is that?" Schula asked.

I looked to her, and then where she was looking ahead. There, on the horizon, was a huge cloud.

"Is it a dust storm?" I asked.

"No, wrong color," Kai said. "I think it's smoke."

"Smoke?" I squinted, trying to see better. "You're right."

"Isn't that where Sulls is?" Schula asked. "Could there be a fire?"

"There is only one way to find out," Nassir said. "We must go look."

I continued walking toward the horizon when Spaulder stopped us all in our tracks.

'Wait,' he said. 'I do not wish to show my form in these lands that thought my kind dead for so long.'

"Oh," I realized what he meant. "Yes, Spaulder and I should stay here. Schula, do you think you could scout it out?"

"I will go too," Kai said. "If the tribes don't already know what is going on, they will need to."

"I will remain with Wren and Spaulder," Nassir said.

"Caw!" Puko fluttered down from Spaulder's back to sit on Nassir's outstretched arm.

"And Puko," Nassir chuckled.

"Right then, we'll be back soon," Schula said.

"You may wish to set up the mats and camp," Kai said. "We may have to observe for a time to see what is really happening."

"Good idea, we can do that," I said. "It doesn't look like we get to spend tonight in Sulls after all. I'm sorry, Spaulder, I wanted to show you the city."

But Spaulder shook his head. 'I will see it when I see it. I am more entertained by our experiment first.'

"Experiment?" Schula asked.

I grinned. "You'll see. Well, if it works you will. We'll see you when you get back."

Schula pouted, but didn't press the issue. I giggled at her expression, but soon she and Kai were on the path to the smoke ahead.

"I shall work on camp," Nassir said. "You two can do whatever it is you are planning to do."

"Thank you, Nassir," I said.

'Now, Wren. What would you have me do first?' Spaulder asked.

"Hmm, let me get all of my notes out and we'll see."

I pulled out everything I had been referencing and writing down and spread it in front of me on one of our mats. The accumulation of several days of study and guesses and relying on magical will. But according to everything I had in front of me, we could give Spaulder a humanoid shape of his willing.

"Okay," I sighed. "I think I need to make a smudge of a few things for you to breathe while we try this. Or maybe both of us need to breathe it, I'm not sure."

Spaulder nodded, sitting contently as he watched me work. He folded his limbs under him as a cat, and his long neck helped him look over my shoulder as we read.

'And we have taken into account the magic of dragons?' Spualder asked.

"Yes, as much as I could. I still don't understand how it all works yet," I said. "Your speech, for instance. And the things you can do with your fire. It feels more like the natural magic of the fae than the calculated magic of the witches."

Spaulder purred, nudging me with his large head and knocking me off of my kneeling position until I fell on my butt into the sand.

"Hey!" I laughed. "Do you want me to try this or not?"

'I think we should try. No more thinking, just trying,' Spaulder said.

"Alright, alright," I said as I brushed myself off. "I'll get everything ready."

Spaulder made that purring vibration while watching me. Once I had my dried plants of choice bundled, I lit the end on fire and blew the flame out so all that remained was a smoldering bundle that I stuck in the sand. The smoke wafted up, spreading around both of us as we watched it.

'What is next?' Spaulder asked.

"I have a chant here that I think should help you, but I'm afraid a lot of our next steps are up to you. You need to visualize the shape you want, and will it into happening."

'Hmm. Alright, I am ready to try,' Spaulder said.

I looked up at the great dragon standing before me. His black scales shining in the dessert moonlight. His bright eyes watching me. His elegant neck and the long claws at his disposal reminding me just how old and powerful he really was. And yet, we belonged together. Born eons apart, but now together.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, giving Spaulder a warm smile. "Here it goes then."

I sat down in front of the smoking bundle, a position I could hold for a long time if need be. However long it might take to help Spaulder transform. Then, after a quick glance over my own handwriting to make sure I had the words right, I began.

The chant was simple enough, and I closed my eyes as I focused the energy it made within me toward Spaulder. It wasn't unlike the meditation I did to control the Wyldes magic within me, which might be a good thing since that was more akin to whatever energy Spaulder used than my witchcrafts were.

With my eyes closed, his black aura was clear to me. Large, and connected to mine. Even with my eyes shut, the magic in me could see the smoke around us. A faint mist of blue that covered us, drawing bright sparks from me and pouring them into Spaulder.

I kept chanting. Spaulder was now humming, his shape becoming less stable in my mind, but not in a dangerous way.

Shrinking. Changing. Shifting.

Melting.

He was like a big pot of burning blackness, and he melted and poured himself into a mold of his own design.

My head spun. I kept my eyes closed and I continued chanting, but I had to hold my temples to orient myself and remain upright.

Right after my head stopped spinning so badly, my own fingers were brushed aside and a new pair of hands sat firmly on my shoulders. He tapped his thumbs to the drum of my chanting. I smiled. Nassir.

Now able to breathe easier, I poured myself into Spaulder's spell. He continued to take and take. It was quite an effort to change the shape of another being, and a dragon to something as different as a man, well, that was even harder.

Something heavy but soft landed in my lap. Puko. I was impressed he didn't bite me for attention or treats, but then again he had seen enough magic with Mila and Lark that he probably knew when to not interrupt.

The chanting continued, the smoke filling my lungs and fueling the magic. It was almost over. Just a little more...

There. Spaulder's shape was solid. Firm. Stable. I let out a sigh and opened my eyes, finally able to breathe cleanly again.

The sight before me was as magnificent as it was when he was still a dragon. Spaulder stood tall, the rising sun at his back both blinding me and surprising me that we had been at work for so long.

His square shoulders were wide, his physique was as strong as any warrior fae. He chose the long locks of hair that many of the Khusuru wore that he would have seen recently as we traveled the desert. He made them gray as an aged human. Fitting, I suppose, given his own age. His skin was a shade not unlike Kai's, and his ears were a fae shape that reminded me of Schula's. He even had a light dusting of freckles like me, though much more subtle than mine. The only part of him that remained the same were his golden eyes.

"Spaulder!" I grinned. "You look great."

"Do you like it?" He moved his arms around, observing his own movements. "I took ideas from people I have met."

"I noticed," I laughed. "You're also a bit naked. Wait, and you can talk!"

He chuckled. "And I thought we had been talking this whole time."

I made a shooing motion at him. "You know what I mean."

"I do," he said. "I have a different throat now, so I can speak your words."

"Caw!" Puko flapped from my lap to Spaulder's shoulder. He eyed the locks of his hair with suspicion."

"Not quite the same as it was before, is it, Puko?" Nassir grinned.

Nassir and I dug through our possessions to find enough clothes for Spaulder to wear so he didn't have to be naked anymore. Between us, we found everything but a pair of shoes.

We were adjusting the strings at the sides of one of my very large Autumn court tunics when Puko called out the return of Schula and Kai.

"I wonder what they will say about Spaulder's new look," I looked on the horizon where our companions were returning.

"They will say I look plain and will blend in wherever we go," Spaulder said.

I held back a laugh.

"I'm not sure you could fit in no matter how hard you tried," I said. "But I don't think anyone will know you for a dragon, at least."

"There," Nassir said, tying off his side. "It's a good thing these garments are made for just about anyone to adjust into."

We turned to watch Schula and Kai's return. It didn't take long, and the two of them were staring at Spaulder with wide eyes.

"How did you manage this?" Schula asked. "Is this the work of dragon magic?"

"It is the combined work of a dragon and an elven witch," Spaulder answered. "Do you like it?"

"You look wonderful, Spaulder," Schlua said.

"What news of Sulls?" Nassir asked, after Kai and Schula had gotten their chance to look Spaulder over.

Kai frowned, crossing his arms. "They were under siege for nearly a month," Kai answered.

My eyes widened.

"Under siege?" Nassir asked. "By what army?"

Schula looked over to me, dread on her face. "The raiding nomads of the plains have amassed huge numbers in the months we've been away. They are the ones who attacked Sulls."

My heart stopped. The raiders that killed Bryn. The raiders that nearly killed me.

"Wren," Schula said, reaching out to put her hand on my arm. "That was a long time ago. You're a different person now. They aren't going to get to you."

I shook my head. "I... know that. I'm just surprised they've grown so bold as to come all the way here. And to attack Sulls of all places."

"Apparently they were a bit of a disorganized mess," Kai added. "They didn't do much but stop incoming and outgoing traffic from the city. A nuisance for the Sultana and her guards, but not much worse than that."

"What is the smoke from?" I asked.

"The burning of bodies. The raiders have only been gone a few days. The Sultana is purging their remains and cleansing the land," Kai answered.

"Well, the matters of men aren't our concern," Schula said. "We need to pass the lands of man and get back to the Wyldes."

"I wonder," Spaulder said, looking into the distance where the smoke settled over Sulls. "Are the fae so disconnected from the rest of the world as they think they are?"

I didn't have the answer to that.

None of us did.

The only thing that seemed to answer Spaulder was the rising wafts of a dark smoke on the horizon. Wordlessly, we drifted toward the camp Nassir had begun to set up. I clutched the pendant from Thain that I kept below my tunic. The only thing I could be sure of, was that I wouldn't let anything stand between me and the Wyldes again. Not even raiders.