Isabella collapsed to her knees the moment they stepped through the gate into Galavaria. Aurora couldn't blame her. The pressure, the noise, the subtle fear was gone instantly. Aurora had had training and time to get used to it. It wasn't nearly as bad for those who couldn't touch the source, she'd been told, but it was still intense.

“A-Are you sure this is... safe?” Isabella asked. She was unconsciously crouching her shoulders, making herself small. Her eyes glanced left to right like she expected a predator at any turn.

“It will be fine,” Aurora said, forcing her voice to be steady.

“Nervous?” Callie asked. I looked up at her with a smirk.

“You could tell?” I asked.

 The slap was loud enough to echo, but Kel had long ago grown numb to the pain.

Yarel realized it was time to admit it. He was exactly where he deserved to be.

“Yeah, maybe you should move back to your mother's!” I shouted. “Then you can get all the babying you want.”

“Maybe I will!” Kitty replied.

There was not enough caffeine in the world to deal with this.

Two in the morning. It was supposed to be his off day.

Ten thousand gone. Ten thousand and twenty seven, actually. One should never round down when counting casualties. Every single one of those lost had a life, a path that was cut short by this menace. How many more would it take?

“How long have the dragons been gone?” Kosima asked. She busied herself coiling up rope to mask the concern etched into her face.

“About a hundred years,” Laurence replied. “Give or take. Just up and left one day.”

“What's on your mind, love?” Ellie asked, rolling on to her side. She wrapped an arm around his waste and cuddled up. Jeremy's head was propped up on a few pillows as he stared at the ceiling.

“Just thinking about five years ago,” Jeremy replied. “It felt so surreal back then. It's just funny, now.”

“Hey, there,” a soft voice said as a hand gently rested on Jeremy's shoulder. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Have you ever taken the time to watch a rock erode? I have. It is a fascinating process, seeing the weather eat at something so solid, so permanent. First the rough edges fade into smoothness. Then the more dominant features. Everything that gives the stone character. Long before the stone breaks away into dust, it has lost all its original character. Only the marks left by wind and rain give it shape before long.

“So what do you think, Willard?” Sandra asked as she plopped down onto the couch. It had been a long day. And it wasn't over yet, as much as she would have liked it to be.

“Mrow,” Willard said wisely.

“What, you solved it?” Hubert exclaimed. He rushed over from the other side of the lab, nearly tripping over a bench. “How in the hell?”

I held up the metallic cube, which was now glowing from several surfaces. “It wasn't really that hard.”

“I saw you talking to him over there,” Jenny accused. Her arms were crossed as she glared Sam down. “What was that about?”

“Um. I said hi?” Sam said, bewildered. “Isn't that something people still do?”

The time rift tore open in a flash of colors and vertigo-inducing haze. Two figures materialized within, clad in the jump-suits that seemed to be the common trend among time-travellers. Three guards stood waiting, weapons trained.

“Geez, really?” Alfy said. “This is what, the third time this week?”

“When will they be here?”

“Could be any time now. An hour at most. Hm. Probably closer, judging by the rumbling.”

I heard the clatter of dice on wood as I walked into the back. Sounded like I found the right place. I threw back my hood just as I got to the table. The gambling stopped pretty quickly after that.

“Whatchu want, tin-star?” one of them asked.