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The lower edge of the sun had just lifted off the horizon when Damian and Domino went to the Alden castle courtyard. Pale clouds stained with orange from the dawn light spread across the sky. The courtyard, still scattered with rubble but cleared of spent arrows and broken weapons, lay painted in orange and gold.

Damian breathed in the mild morning air deeply as she stepped outside the castle, Alden guards holding the doors for her. The morning sunlight seemed to shine courage and strength onto her. She felt refreshed. The spacious feather bed in the room where she had been lodged had eased sore muscles and given her a more restful night of sleep than she had in weeks. She still felt the bandage around her arm from the battle in the field, but it was clean, comfortable, and securely wrapped. Her body, hair, and clothes were freshly washed and the generous breakfast she had eaten with Domino and Cedryck had energized her. For the first time since she fled Aether, she was ready and eager to start traveling again.

As she began crossing the courtyard, she smiled. Brenadier stood next to Hope and Singer, saddled, bridled, and ready to depart. The destrier's coat shone like copper in the sunlight and his fetlocks and stripe gleamed white as snow. His long tail streamed to the ground, not a hair out of place, his hooves were smooth and free of blemish, and fresh shoes shone from beneath them.

Garrick, standing next to the horse, smiled slyly as she approached. "Took you long enough."

Matching the look, she responded, "I should say the same." He sent her a knowing grin, though she could see a glimmer of gratefulness in his eyes. "What about the duchess?" Garrick shook his head and adjusted Brenadier's bridle. The destrier snorted at the attention.

"I don't know if she'll pull through, but there's nothing else I can do for her." Garrick turned his eyes back to Damian. "This I can change." She smiled. "Listen, Damian... thanks." A twitch of an amused smile played at his face. "It always seemed like my family had to help me. Nobody else who really knew me encouraged me like you did. Thank you."

Her smile widened. "It was my pleasure. I'm glad to have you back." A strange look crept into Garrick's eyes briefly, longing and almost upset. As if brushing it aside, he held out his hand. Damian gazed at it curiously, then reached out her own hand and shook his. She had never shaken someone's hand as a man would. In the back of her mind, she thought of her father, how he had treated her almost like a son and always told her that nothing should ever stand in the way of what she wanted to do, even when she told him that she had been berated for acting like a man.

She turned to Hope. The mare had been groomed and cared for as well as Brenadier, as had Singer. She stuffed her satchel, bulging with food from the castle's kitchen, into one of the saddlebags, squeezing her coin pouch in beside it. Her dagger she kept sheathed at her hip. The other saddlebag was stocked full of more provisions, enough to take her to Albrith, if they rode at a strong pace. It was precisely what she intended to do.

Lord Cedryck, Duke Bregon, and Duke McCoran came out to the courtyard to see them off. They approached as Damian, Domino, and Garrick mounted their horses.

"Good luck, Damian," Cedryck stated as he laid a hand on Hope's neck. "May Light shine on your journey."

"Thank you." Smiling, she took his hand. She didn't fear his approach anymore and kept him reasonably distant from her heart. "I promise I won't let you down."

"I'll be waiting anxiously for news from you," he responded, pulling his hand back.

"We all will," Duke Bregon added. As Damian gazed into his dark eyes, she thought of the letter folded in her satchel that he had drafted for her, signed by himself, Damian, and Cedryck, formalizing their agreement. It should give her free passage from anyone who dared not defy the duke's orders. He had already said all he could in that note.

With this woman go the hopes of all of Faneria.

Damian nodded. Duke McCoran gazed at the knight atop his majestic horse.

"It was good to see you again, Garrick." Garrick nodded.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer," he replied. "But the next news you hear will be of my death at Nephrita's hands or my return here." The duke nodded with a smile.

"I hope it will be the latter." He glanced at Damian and Domino. "For all of you." Damian smiled.

"Thank you again for all your hospitality, My Lords," she stated. "I hope we will get to meet again some day." With that, she turned Hope around and lead the mare toward the open portcullis.

"As do we all," Duke Bregon finished. "All our blessings are with you on your journey. Safe travels."

"Farewell!" Cedryck called out with a wave as they passed under the castle gates. Turning alongside the outer wall, Damian increased Hope to a trot. The soldiers pacing the ramparts saluted and cheered as they rode past. The sight brought a smile to Damian's face. It widened as she thought of the townspeople that had scorned her on her passage here. When they got to the corner of the outer wall, they turned north and Damian pushed forward at a gallop, Domino and Garrick following close behind. She reached out for the beacon and followed its trail.

They rode fast, soon returning to the wide road leading straight to Albrith. It was going to be a long journey. Albrith was as far from Windermere as Windermere was from Dresdin, and that had been the longest leg of her journey so far. They had suffered setbacks during that travel, however, so she hoped that riding straight and hard, they would arrive at Albrith before two weeks passed.

Long days drifted away into memory as they rode on. They set out before dawn and made camp after sunset, stopping regularly to rest the horses but riding swiftly otherwise. Miles slipped away behind them, each night bringing them far from where they had rested last. The land around them remained wild and hilly, occasionally covered by forests that would sometimes surround the road entirely. They met few travelers along the road and little obstacle hindered their progress. Scorched patches of earth pocked the land here and there and sometimes a krolmin or human body lay nearby, confirming their suspicions that Nephrita had traveled on exactly the path that they now followed. Damian pushed the horses harder whenever she spotted the dark goddess' handiwork.

At night, they talked around a fire, all their past quarrels and uncertainty gone. Domino still spoke little, but he regarded Garrick with warmth, or as much of it as his distant manner allowed, as the knight did to him. The provisions that the Duke of Alden had given them fed them well and they slept soundly in shifts. Occasionally their path brought them to a town, which they usually rode straight through. The days grew warmer as summer began and they moved steadily to warmer climates. The moon waxed, coming out of the new and growing wide as they traveled on.

When they set out on this last leg of their journey, Damian was full of spirit and hope. She had never had more meaning in her life and was confident that they would catch Nephrita and defeat her, putting an end to all the darkness spreading over the land. As the days progressed, however, she found her hope fading. No matter how hard they rode, the beacon she reached for seemed farther away each night. Nephrita was moving faster than they were and their hope of reaching her before she reached Albrith grew dim. She tried to press them harder, but Garrick would often stop her, and despite her mounting concern, she passed out exhausted at night, unable to move another step. Their meals became dark and their breaks restless.

More than a week passed. They were now a few days into summer. Albrith was still far away and so was Nephrita. She might have already reached the king's city, for all Damian knew. She couldn't tell how far away the goddess was, only that she was almost beyond her reach. The beacon was like sunlight glinting off a crystal tossed into the grass a mile away, faint and difficult to find. Nephrita's course had not wavered, which meant that Damian still knew which direction to take, but that knowledge gave little comfort if it meant they would find her at the ashen rubble of Albrith.

Early in the afternoon, they reached a tall rise atop which they could view the landscape for miles around. The fields before them spread vast and open to the horizon, rising and falling in hills steadily. Lone trees or scattered groves of them speckled the land in various places, and crossing the road some way ahead, a silver stream babbled through the plain. Damian couldn't tell whether some suspiciously dark patches of land displayed more of Nephrita's destruction or if they were simply shadows made black as ink from the brilliant sun hanging overhead. Not a soul nor a building could be seen anywhere around.

Damian let out a hopeless sigh and shook her head.

"She's getting too far ahead. I can barely feel her at all anymore." Garrick frowned, but neither he nor Domino responded. Their eyes scanned the open fields before them.

"We can't catch up to her." Damian's heart sank. It was the first time she had admitted to herself the dismal truth. Garrick shut his eyes tight.

"We can't give up hope," he replied. She glanced at him. There was a subtle hurt sound to his voice, as if he said it for his own sake more than hers. He turned to her. "Even if Albrith is destroyed before we arrive, we have to continue. As long as we have the strength to face her, we have to do everything we can to stop her. If we can save at least one life, it will be worth it." Damian paused as she gazed at him. Uncertainty fled his eyes as he spoke and confidence and determination overcame his expression. She didn't feel as hopeful as he sounded, but she nodded. He needed encouragement as much as anything.

Turning back to the land stretching out below them, he added, "We should find somewhere to rest for a few minutes." Damian turned her gaze upward and sighed again. Dark, angry clouds rolled over the land due west of them, frothing and sparking as they swept toward the three travelers.

"And now we'll have to ride in the rain," she remarked defeatedly. Garrick and Domino followed her eyes. The knight frowned.

"Wait," Domino stated curiously. Damian turned to find his expression confused. "The wind is coming from the south." Damian's eyes widened and she turned back to the clouds.

"You're right," Garrick realized. His eyes locked on the black clouds, creeping their twisted fingers out over the land. Turning his head slightly, he asked Damian, "Are you sure she's far away?"

"Yes," Damian uttered, though her voice betrayed her uncertainty. She tried to reach for the beacon, but it still remained far distant. Some other feeling emanated from the clouds, deeper and somehow older.

"Look!" she cried, pointing into the storm. "What's that?" A sleek, smooth shape crept out of the clouds before disappearing beneath them again. Garrick gasped and his eyes shot open.

"It's a thunderbird!" Damian gazed at him in shock. Elemental spirits like thunderbirds were rare and extremely elusive. It had been generations since any new stories had been made about them.

Closing his eyes, Garrick inhaled slowly. Damian watched him curiously. Horns and fins appeared on his head as his chin sank toward his chest. When his lungs were full, he sprang upright and opened his mouth wide, eyes squinting in effort. An incredible roar issued forth, booming across the land and rumbling in Damian's heart, the sound mixed with a low cry like the call of an eagle. Hope jumped and shied away from Garrick at the sound, and beside her, Singer reared up with a terrified whicker. The roar rang out for several long breaths, filling Damian's ears like a piercing scream. She saw Garrick's jaw tremble as he made the sound. She cringed at the volume of the call, but inwardly she was stunned to realize that she was listening to a dragon roar.

Finally, the noise stopped. Garrick bent over the saddle, his mouth open slightly as he caught his breath. The roar rumbled out across the land, rolling over the plains for as far as they could see. Damian's heart raced as she gazed at him, amazed. The horns and fins faded away, but he looked more a dragon now than ever before, even as he crouched weakly atop Brenadier. The destrier stood resolutely still, never reacting to the sound. Hope and Singer soon calmed and silence lay heavily over the hilltop.

Some seconds later, an answering call came. A crow's caw echoed out from the dark cloud mass, overlaid with a boom of thunder that quaked the air around them. The sound was immense, but not as loud as Garrick's call from their distance. Facing the dark clouds, Garrick cupped a hand around his mouth.

"Thunderbird!" he called, but his voice gave out partway through speaking. He crouched over the saddle, panting and leaning heavily against Brenadier's neck. He turned to Damian.

"Tell it," he croaked out between breaths. "Ask it to take us to Albrith." Damian blinked, uncertain what to say.

"Thunderbird!" Domino yelled at the top of his voice. "Lend us your wings!" Damian glanced at him. She had never heard him speak so loudly before. His voice remained smooth and deep, but the power behind his raised voice surprised her. He heeded her little and continued calling to the thunderbird. "We need you to bear us to Albrith faster than our horses can run!"

"Please help us!" Damian added as loudly as she could manage. "We seek to stop the darkness that threatens to destroy this land! Please assist us and we will be forever grateful!" She glanced at Garrick, not knowing what else to say. The knight breathed slower and tried to sit up straight. He nodded at her with a smile, then they all turned their eyes back to the storm clouds.

Another thunderous caw rang out over the land. Damian gasped in wonder. The clouds rolled back over an enormous raven, its black eyes glittering like lightning. The bird's wings emerged from within the dark clouds as it turned south. Soon, the thunderbird, gliding gracefully through the air, swept free of the storm clouds entirely. The clouds, no longer touched by the bird's feathers, grew light and spread out through the sky like mist. Damian, Domino, and Garrick's heads turned in unison as they watched the thunderbird fly behind them, then slowly begin to turn around.

"Ride, hurry!" Garrick suddenly ordered. Startled, Damian kicked Hope into a gallop after Brenadier down the hill. Domino followed beside her.

"What are you doing?" Damian called out to Garrick. She glanced over her shoulder to find the thunderbird almost facing them some way back.

"Thunderbirds are elemental spirits of the air," he explained hastily. "They spend their entire lives in the air. They never touch land until they die. We'll have to jump on." Damian's eyes widened at the proposition. Back down the road, the thunderbird soared through the sky toward them, descending slowly but quickly approaching them.

"Whatever you need from your saddlebags, get it now!" Garrick called out to Damian and Domino. Reaching behind her, Damian fished out her satchel and coin pouch with shaking hands. She hadn't expected to have to leave so quickly, and in this manner. She caught a glimpse of Domino retrieving his satchel and attaching his sheathed sword to his belt.

When her satchel hung securely over her shoulder, Damian turned back to Garrick. Her eyebrows rose curiously. He leaned over the saddle and his mouth moved, but she couldn't hear any of his words. Brenadier's head seemed to bob harder briefly, then Garrick settled back on the saddle. She followed his eyes as he gazed back at the thunderbird. It now glided steadily ten feet off the ground a few paces behind them. Her heart pounded as she took in the sight of the thunderbird. Its beak alone was as big as a horse's head and each wing as wide as a house. Small sparks of lightning leapt over its feathers as it flew. She wondered how they were going to climb onto the massive bird. Its back rose another half story off the ground as its feathered chest.

Turning her gaze to the side, she saw Garrick slide his feet out of the stirrups and draw them close to his body on the saddle. Slipping his feet under him, he lifted himself slightly off the saddle. Balancing himself with his hands on Brenadier's neck, he closed his eyes. His forked cloak billowed behind him, looking more like wings than ever. The horns and fins shimmered into view over his head once more.

Crouching down, he leapt. Damian watched his rapid ascent, swinging his legs up and over his body until he landed effortlessly on the thunderbird's back. Brenadier continued galloping along beside her. Her heart raced.

Turning to her other side, she saw Domino pull his feet up to the saddle as Garrick had done. Arms held out for balance, he slowly stood up in the saddle. Hesitating briefly, he crouched and jumped, just getting his arms up over the thunderbird's shoulder. Garrick grabbed one of his arms and helped pull him up onto the giant raven.

"Come on!" Garrick urged. Leaning over the bird's shoulder, he reached an arm out to her. Domino knelt beside him, reaching out his own arm. Damian breathed uneasily. Before this moment, she had only ever seen trick riders stand on the saddle while riding. It seemed all too easy to fall off.

Facing forward, she stroked her mare's neck briefly. "Thank you for everything," she uttered. Carefully, she slid her boots out of the stirrups and drew them close to her body. She clung tightly to the sides of the saddle with her hands, terrified of falling. She was too afraid to attempt standing up.

"You can do it," Domino's voice called out from behind her. "It's alright." Glancing over her shoulder, she glimpsed his outstretched hand. Turning to the side, she slowly raised herself up. Her cloak and hair whipped around her in the wind. She trembled as she stood, struggling to keep her balance. Domino and Garrick's hands reached out just above her, but she hesitated. She knew she would only have one chance to make this jump.

Suddenly, a strange calmness and confidence washed over her. Hope pulled suddenly to the side to avoid a boulder lying in the road. Damian's balance failed her. As she began to tilt off the saddle, she pushed away from the horse's back and stretched her arms out.

Strong hands grasped her wrists. Damian looked up as Garrick and Domino pulled her swiftly up onto the back of the thunderbird. Her boots sank into the raven's soft plumage. She swayed slightly, feeling lightheaded, and promptly fell to her knees. Garrick and Domino knelt beside her. Domino laid a hand on her back. It was a welcome steadying gesture, even though the thunderbird moved less beneath her than a horse did.

Laying a hand on the black feathers, she felt a tingling charge run over her body. It swept over her like the warmth of magic always had. Tearing her gaze away from her hand, she glanced over the thunderbird's shoulder and then behind its wing as the galloping horses were left behind. Damian's heart ached to have to leave the loyal mare behind after all it had taken her through. She also wondered about Garrick's priceless destrier, though she knew that this was their only chance to catch up to Nephrita. Wispy clouds billowed out behind the thunderbird's wings. The horses were soon lost in the haze.

The raven turned sharply upward. A clap of thunder ripped across the sky and boomed in her ears as the bird flapped its immense wings. Gasping, Damian crouched down and clutched the bird's feathers tightly, afraid to look down. Garrick laughed lightly.

"It's okay, Damian. He won't let us fall. Look." Glancing up, she found the knight sitting just beneath the bird's head. He gestured over the raven's shoulder. Carefully, she crawled over to him and peered around the enormous wing. She took in an astounded breath.

The ground fell away below her as the bird climbed higher than she had ever been in her life. The land stretched out so far that she thought she could see all the way to Aether. She soon realized that even if she could sight it from here, she would see little. A village came into view down the road ahead, no larger than a teacup at their height. Within half a minute, it was out of sight behind them. The thunderbird soared forward at an incredible speed, though Damian couldn't tell how quickly it moved, as the land far below didn't seem to sweep past quite as fast as the wind rushing over the bird's back. Off to the left, far in the distance, she could see the silvery line of the huge lake that bordered Albrith. Aura Lake was wider across than the distance between Aether and Dresdin and even the fastest cogs could not cross it from the northern stream of Marble River to its southern exit in less than three days. They must have ridden farther west than she thought.

As she settled back on her knees, another charge of energy crackled through her body, stronger than before. She took in a sharp breath.

"Damian?" Domino asked curiously. She glanced at her hands. Small blue sparks flashed over her palms, tingling the flesh they touched. She could feel their power resonate within her like her own magic had, yet this power did not feel like her own. It was as if the lightning was reaching out to her, rather than the other way around.

Suddenly, a deep, majestic voice rang in her mind.

Elementalist.

Damian looked up with a start. She glanced around wildly, wondering where the voice had come from. Garrick and Domino asked after her, eyes wide with concern, but she couldn't focus on them.

This magic is yours to wield, the voice continued. Your power connects you to the world around you. Damian's eyes widened as she gazed straight ahead. The thunderbird turned its head slightly. A flicker of lightning flashed in its dark eye.

"What do you mean?" she uttered, but her words were swept away in the wind. What does that mean? she wondered.

The thunderbird's booming voice echoed silently in her ears. Reach for it. Damian waited, but no more words came. Cautiously, she laid a hand against the silky black feathers she kneeled upon. She could feel the energy flowing beneath them, tingling her hand as she touched it. After a pause, she tried to reach into the current of power as she had reached for Nephrita. She closed her eyes.

The well of energy shrank back, unrelenting, and then a warning shock struck her. She jumped back with a gasp. As she did so, however, she felt the sparks running through her blood stronger than before. She could feel the electrical charge in the air itself. Glancing up, she looked into the wispy clouds billowing out of the thunderbird's wings. With every puff of dark cloud, lightning lingered within, seeking a spark as if from a flint stone to crackle to life.

Stretching her arm out to the side, Damian tried to gather the energy swarming through the clouds to herself. As she curled her fingers, the charge gathered around her hand, sending a surge of warmth up her arm. She clenched her fist suddenly. A flash of lightning leaped over her hand as she did so, and she grasped it as if it was a piece of cloth. The spark quickly disappeared, but the force of it resonated in her heart. Her breath raced from the sensation. Reaching out, she tried to draw the power to her again. This time, it came easier to her and she held on to it longer. The sparks wrapped her arm in light, reflecting against the glossy feathers of the thunderbird.

Before that wave of energy had fully passed, she summoned more lightning to her other hand. Her blood flowed through her body, pulsing to an ancient beat. She had become oblivious of everything else around her. The feeling of pulling magic out of the air around her, to be able to manipulate the elements with her own hands, was invigorating. Slowly, she stood, gathering as much energy to her as she could grasp.

Lifting her arms, she felt the lightning fill her being. She leaned her head back, hair and clothes dancing in the wind behind her. Lightning wrapped over her arms and swam over her body, embracing her as she reached out for it. She could feel invisible clouds of magic energy hanging in patches in the air, and began to draw more power from within them. The sparks came to her so easily that she hardly remembered the thunderbird below her feet at all. For several long breaths, she immersed herself in the magic flowing around and through her.

Finally, with a great flash of light, she released her hold on the lightning. She collapsed to her knees, exhausted and yet rejuvenated.

"Damian," Domino exclaimed. He crawled toward her and laid a hand on her shoulder. A smile crept across her face as she gazed into his eyes. She could feel warmth resonating from his body even through her cloak, faint but pulsing. Around her, the world seemed changed. Magic flowed around her like currents of wind, hanging in the air in places that tugged at her heart. All she had to do was reach for them and she could do anything.

"Are you alright?" Domino sent her a baffled look. Her smile widened. She had never felt more able and more in control. Nephrita's escape had not taken away her magic. It had freed her.

"Yes." She breathed deeply, feeling magic energy flow in and out of her body with the action. "I know how to use magic." Domino didn't respond, and it was clear from the look on Garrick's face that he was too shocked to say anything. She glanced distractedly out at the sky and ground far below, still dazed from the feeling resonating through her body and in the air around her. Turning her gaze down, she stroked the huge feathers of the thunderbird.

Can you still hear me? she asked inwardly.

The deep voice she had heard earlier rang in her mind. All magical creatures can. She raised her head, surprised.

You mean, she wondered, I can do this with all elemental spirits? A sense of acknowledgement came to her, a silent nod. The thunderbird's thoughts responded to her.

And any other spirit. Ask and they will listen. Her eyes enlarged. She remembered Garrick telling her, long ago in the arbor in Trent, that magical creatures were everywhere, more of them than he could count. Though she might not be able to reach them all, perhaps she could find others that would fight alongside her for the sake of Faneria as well. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head.

Spirits, she called out silently. Any that can hear me. We seek to end the darkness sweeping over this land. Please follow me and lend me your assistance.

The thunderbird's voice came to her before she had finished. Many spirits do not understand words. They understand only intention. Show them your desire in its purest form. Damian hesitated, absorbing the suggestion. Closing her eyes once more, she took in a deep breath. She focused on her will, sending out the message of her plea for help without putting it into words. She felt deep in her heart the hope in her imploring desire, the anger and fear at Nephrita's actions, and her unquenchable determination to stop the goddess' destruction. Drawing the raw emotions together like a ball, she pushed it outward, letting it carry along the wind and the trails of magic energy in the sky like the thunderbird's unseen nod. She breathed in the air rushing by, keeping her eyes shut as she waited.

Nothing happened.

She twitched, forcing her eyes to stay closed, and wondered if she had done it right. For a moment, she considered asking the thunderbird what else she should do.

Suddenly, she felt another presence nearby. Its energy washed over her, pulsing warmly through her veins. She took in a sharp breath in response. It almost seemed she could see it, even though her eyes remained closed and the new presence crept over the thunderbird's wing behind her. It was like a small orb of glowing energy soon joined by others. As their appearances filled her awareness, she realized that she had begun experiencing beyond the bounds of her body's senses. She could see more than her eyes could behold, feel everything around her, and hear thoughts that ran deeper than words. Leaning her head back, she took in everything. Never before had she felt so free. Her very being was omnipresent, directly connected to everything around her.

Far in the distance and deep in her mind at once, she heard Garrick gasp even as another shining orb flared into existence far below. The images became clearer in her mind. Though her eyes still remained closed, she could see the presences gathering all around her. Tiny people with shimmering iridescent wings hovered nearby and exotic birds with the bodies of various animals flew through the sky with the thunderbird, and stranger beasts still ran below. Delving deep into herself, she reached out through the masses of magic energy, seeking the strength of earth, the grace of water, the passion of fire.

A bellowing roar rang up from the ground below, its voice rough and crackly. "Mother of darkness," Garrick remarked softly as he glanced over the thunderbird's shoulder. Eyes still closed, Damian could see the creatures below. A pair of them, enormous bears carved out of moving rock running across the land beneath them. "She woke the spirits of the earth."

"Look," Domino's voice added, his voice everywhere and nowhere. Damian felt her body rippling like water. The waves of Aura Lake rose to a great swell, shaping into a giant many-finned fish that leaped clear of the whitecaps. Its flowing form glimmered in the sunlight before it fell back into the lake, the water rising up to meet it. As the waves swept back into the lake, a few fins still rising over the water, another wave flowed up and the fish sailed through the air once more.

"Earth, air, and water," Domino commented quietly. "Three elements of four." Damian could feel Garrick's disbelief, though his shock dulled it.

"Fire spirits are extremely hard to find," he stated absently. Returning her awareness to her body, Damian spread her hands. She reached into a cloud of magic as it passed by, letting heat wash over her body. "The only places they're found naturally is volcanoes and..." His voice trailed off in amazement. Flames flowed up slowly from Damian's hands. Another presence swam through her body, its glow shining in her heart before traveling to her hands. The flames stretched out to the side, burning into the form of a long-bodied lizard. Body curving gracefully like a serpent, the flames coiled around Damian before rising into the air with the other creatures flying with them.

Taking in a deep breath, Damian let go of the other presences surrounding her. Her physical body seemed too complex and unwieldy after being so deeply connected to everything around, but her breath brought a surge of energy rushing through her.

Finally opening her eyes, she found Garrick and Domino crouching before her, stunned to silence. She smiled.

"Now we're ready."