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“Back?” he asked.

She nodded as she concentrated on her breathing. He rubbed her lower back to help ease the pain of the contraction.

This went on for another two hours before Quincy determined that Amber was ready to push. He and Gabriel helped her get settled on the bed in a sitting position. Her face was flushed from her efforts and, Quincy knew, embarrassment over her exposed position. No matter how many times they went through this, she was still uncomfortable with it. He found that endearing.

“Okay, Amber,” he said as he brought his stool over and sat down. He began summoning his Corgloresti power as he instructed, “I want you to close your eyes and practice your visualization techniques.”

Of the three sisters, Amber had the most difficult time with her deliveries. It had gotten better over time. But because faith was such a core element to a successful Kynzesti birthing and Amber had the least faith of her and her sisters, she required more of Quincy’s energy.

He thought back to Clara Kate’s birth and the first time they went through this. They hadn’t known what to expect. Quincy operated largely off of instinct and what he knew of Kate’s labor when Saraqael’s daughters were born. He had known that it wouldn’t be a straightforward human birth and had created a number of hypothetical scenarios beforehand. None of them compared to the reality.

They had come dangerously close to losing Clara Kate. He’d used a lot of his Corgloresti power during the birth, needing it to offset Amber’s diminished faith. After that, they had learned ways to help Amber develop the skills she needed for future births.

Now, he waited until she opened her eyes and caught his gaze. He saw the silver glow of his eyes reflected in her gold irises.

“I’m ready,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. “During the next contraction, push. And focus.”

She nodded. Gabriel rubbed her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Quincy brought forth more of his energy and thought of the little life inside of Amber’s womb. Gender and physical details didn’t matter. What did matter was the baby’s vitality. Its will to live. Its desire to enter the world and join its family.

When Amber started pushing, Quincy held her gaze and envisioned her holding the baby. He thought of her nursing it and kissing its head. He thought of the milestones to come and the role Amber would play in helping the baby achieve them. He thought of the baby’s existing family and envisioned the baby as a new part of it.

These were all things he taught her to visualize. When he felt the baby’s head emerge with a vibrant current of energy, he knew the tactic had worked.

A moment later, her new son was born.

Quincy wrapped the baby in the waiting blanket and then handed him over to his beaming parents. The drain on his energy after the nearly sleepless night had Quincy moving slower than usual to take care of the rest of his routine. He knew the procedure well enough that it didn’t require much thought, though.

Before long, Quincy gave the all-clear so that Sebastian could remove the barrier. “Come and meet your brother, Jack,” Amber said to Clara Kate.

Quincy watched the family gather around the new baby and smiled. He had just brought another part of Saraqael’s legacy into the world. It was something he eagerly anticipated every three years...though not as much as he anticipated seeing Sophia again.

Inevitably, his thoughts turned to her.

Within the span of a day, she had gone from seeing him as a miracle worker to thinking of him as a bumbling fool with no consideration for others. He now understood that by keeping his feelings to himself all these years, he’d severely damaged their friendship. He’d made the female he loved feel like she was somehow less than everyone else, something for which he would never forgive himself. He knew how much she valued his opinions when she was growing up. He should have seen how his avoidance impacted her.

Instead, he had turned a blind eye to it, fearing the repercussions of baring his heart to her.

Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about him making her uncomfortable or unhappy anymore. He would accept the harvest request put to him by
archigos
Ini-herit. Once Skye’s babies were born, he would be free to transition to the human plane.

By the time Sophia returned, he would be gone.

It hadn’t taken long for Ariana to pick up the trail to the scroll piece contained in the library. Once they stepped outside the area of protection, she used her connection to Volarius’ sword and the descriptive information she gathered from Quincy to sharpen her focus and make sure they followed the right path. After a brief discussion over their flight formation, they all took off.

Sophia flew near the front of their group because she was there to offer Ariana support, and Ariana had to be in the lead. From what Sophia understood, Ariana’s ability was different in the air than on the ground. The Lekwuesti explained that while flying she felt a sort of “pull” in the right direction. Only when she was on the ground could she actually see the path leading to the item she sought.

Ariana had been able to tell as soon as she tapped into her second power that the scroll piece was quite a distance from the homeland. Uriel made the decision to begin their journey by flying to cover more ground. He sent scouts ahead to keep an eye out for Mercesti so that they wouldn’t be spotted. He didn’t want word getting back to Eirik regarding their efforts.

Although conversing while flying was difficult due to the wind, Sophia occasionally checked on Ariana to see how she was doing. So far, her friend was holding up rather well.

Without conversation to fill the time, Sophia was left with her thoughts. She pondered how frustrating it was that they hadn’t had an opportunity to test the inoculation she created for Nyx’s toxin. That thought, of course, led her to remember why they hadn’t tested it and what ended up occurring instead.

Damn Quincy and his amazing kiss
, she mentally grumbled. She didn’t stop to consider how telling it was that she focused on Quincy and not the fact that she had been cursed before birth.

It didn’t mean anything because she had enjoyed his kiss, she told herself as she scanned the ground. She’d been attracted to him for years, after all. When she was younger, she’d even learned that what she had was called a “crush.”

Well, he’d crushed her heart, all right. She was still reeling from the events of the past few days. Just how much had he expected her to process at once?

Deliberately pushing him from her mind, she thought of the Elder Scroll. The artifact had the ability to turn an otherwise “normal” Estilorian into an elder. What a ridiculous thing to create, she thought. What other outcome could there possibly be than someone trying to get it and use it for their own purposes?

Of course, back when the scroll was created all those millennia ago, things had been much different. Still, she had to believe that selfishness and greed had always been a part of life.

“We will rest up ahead,” Uriel announced.

Sophia almost sighed with relief. Flying wasn’t as physically draining as it was spiritually. It required one’s faith to extend and use one’s wings. For her, a being who relied more on logic than faith, she had to admit that flying made her weary.

They landed on the outskirts of a forest and then hiked until they reached a large clearing. Noon sunlight filtered between the trees and warmed the air to a point where Sophia almost didn’t need her cloak. Still, she kept it on, not knowing when they would fly again.

“Do you see the trail?” Uriel asked Ariana as she settled herself on the grass.

“Yes.” She lifted a hand and pointed. “It’s that way, just as my senses told me in the air. The energy is getting stronger, but we’re still a fair distance from it.”

When the Waresti elder nodded and walked over to talk with his warriors, Sophia sat on the grass beside Ariana. She noticed Tiege standing nearby and wondered if he’d join them, but he was listening to whatever Uriel said.

“How are you doing?” Sophia asked.

The Lekwuesti gave her a small smile. “I’m terrified. I just want to get this over with so we can return to the homeland.”

Understanding, Sophia nodded. “I’m in complete agreement. We’ll get through this together, okay?”

“Thank you, Sophia. I don’t know what I’d do without you and Tiege.”

Smiling, Sophia said, “Yeah...about that. What’s up with the two of you?”

The Lekwuesti blushed and glanced around to see if anyone was near. Seeing they were alone, she turned back and grinned.

“He kissed me,” she whispered, her face all but glowing. “It was the best experience of my entire existence.”

Sophia’s heart wrenched. This was the kind of hushed, exciting conversation that she had always envisioned having with her sisters or Tate and Clara Kate. She’d taken a big step into womanhood, one they always giggled about when they were growing up. Now that she’d actually had her first kiss, though, she didn’t think she’d ever share it with them. How could she possibly explain that Quincy had kissed her after lying to her for so many years...and that in that single moment, his deceit hadn’t mattered at all?

What kind of hypocrite was she?

“I’m thrilled for you, Ariana,” she said, plastering a smile on her face. “You and Tiege make a perfect pair.”

“I appreciate you saying so.” Her blush intensified. “I’m actually planning on asking
archigos
Sebastian if he will allow me to formally pair with Tiege as his Lekwuesti.”

That made Sophia blink. “Oh. His paired Lekwuesti?”

“Yes.” Ariana frowned. “Is that odd?”

“Um...” Sophia considered her words. A pairing where Ariana saw to Tiege’s hospitality needs seemed terribly unromantic. But then, who was she to judge? “I think it’s great. Since we’ll all be paired to Lekwuesti soon, anyway, you may as well put the idea out there.”

Ariana nibbled on her lower lip. “Do you think Tiege will accept my offer?”

“He’d be a fool to refuse.”

When Ariana flashed a bright smile, Sophia couldn’t help but be happy for her. At least she could help navigate the matter of someone else’s heart, she reasoned, since she was failing so miserably with her own.

“They went into that forest,” Tycho said.

He and Bertram had flown separately, remaining as close to the ground as possible and as far in either direction as they could from the group containing the two females while still keeping them in sight. This had allowed them to evade detection, though Bertram had barely escaped the diamond gaze of the black kragen when she conducted a wide sweep. He had no idea why or how a kragen was in league with this group, but he didn’t intend to fall prey to it.

“Yes,” he said, scanning the trees. “We should drop back. This is too close to be able to see where they end up emerging. The last thing we want is for them to take flight without us seeing where they are going.”

Not arguing, Tycho joined Bertram in traveling back the way he had come, stopping when they crested a rise in the landscape. When they turned back, more of the forest was visible.

“Were you able to get close enough to get any clues about their destination?” Bertram asked.

“Not yet. They have a host of Waresti guarding the perimeter of the forest. They aren’t communicating by hand signals, either.”

“Damn.”

Bertram had hoped they could get ahead of the group to somehow lay in wait. Even better than capturing the two females and forcing them to find the scroll that Eirik sought would be having them find it and then simply taking it from them. Exactly how they would do that with them being so well-guarded was a concern, but Bertram had been certain they could figure something out.

Now, it seemed he would have to devise another plan.

“Very well. What were you able to observe?”

“There are fifty Waresti, three Kynzesti, two Lekwuesti, one Wymzesti and Zachariah. And the kragen, of course. The female Lekwuesti took the lead while in flight. It appears Uriel consults with her frequently, just as Eirik did when she was leading him to his goal.”

“You spotted the Kynzesti female who shattered the illusion?”

“Yes. She no longer wears any decorations in her hair, but the unique coloring is distinctive enough to identify her. Not to mention that spectacular form of hers.”

Bertram knew well enough what Tycho wanted to do when he finally got his hands on the Kynzesti who had escaped them. Keeping him in control was going to be a challenge...but one he didn’t need to consider just then.

“Okay. I can understand why they would have at least one other Lekwuesti with them to see to their hospitality needs. Outside of that, however, their group is oddly compiled.”

“I thought the same thing. But then, we do not really know what kind of scroll they are searching for. Perhaps the various skills of these individuals are needed to acquire it.”

Frowning, Bertram said, “Well, we will have to make this work to our advantage. Our biggest obstacles are the Waresti and the kragen.”

“And Zachariah.”

That was one more element, Bertram supposed. It once again made him wonder about the Mercesti’s involvement. “True,” he acknowledged.

They pondered their options in silence. As far as Bertram saw it, their only chance was to somehow get the females away from the others. It seemed an insurmountable task. Regardless of the odds, though, he knew they could be no worse off for trying.

“Very well,” he said at last. “We will observe and see if one or both of the females we seek step away from the group so we can grab them. If that never comes to pass, we should try and take one of the other two Kynzesti. Trust me...the females will come to us one way or another.”

Sophia felt a little refreshed following their afternoon rest, but by the time they flew another few hours, she was exhausted.

When the sun began to set, they found another forested area that would offer them respectable shelter and protection for the night. If it hadn’t been for the fact that their glowing wings stood out in stark contrast to the night sky, making them much easier targets for Mercesti scouts, Sophia thought they might have continued on even longer. Thank goodness for luminescent wings, she decided.