Su woke up to the sound of arguing.

  Not human arguing that she could have ignored. This was bird arguing.

  She cracked open one eye. The sun was barely up, painting the cathedral tower in pale grey light. Below her beam, clustered on a lower ledge, was a council of city birds: three crows, two ravens, a very frazzled-looking magpie, and a peahen.

  Su went very still. The system kicked in, translating their rapid conversation:

  "—third one this week," the largest crow was saying, his voice with fear. "Vanished from the Noble Quarter roost. No blood, no feathers, just gone."

  "Not just the Quarter," the peahen added, her voice shaking. "My cousin disappeared from the merchant district park. She was foraging at sunset, and then—nothing. Her mate found her favorite dust bath abandoned."

  "It's not cats," the magpie chattered nervously. "Cats leave evidence. This is something else that takes whole birds."

  The ravens exchanged dark looks. "The owls say it's humans. The kind that wear black and smell like old stones."

  "Death-walkers," the smaller crow hissed. "The ones that take without killing. Worse than hunters."

  Su's void-touched feathers prickled. That sounded disturbingly familiar. Fernando rustled in his pot beside her. "You're listening."

  "Shh."

  "It's not just us," the peahen continued. "The peacocks from the estate gardens—three vanished last month."

  One of the ravens clicked his beak thoughtfully. "Only the beautiful ones. Only the ones with power in their blood."

  "Sky-Dancer blood," the large crow said, and every bird went silent.

  Su's heart sank. Oh no.

  "Old Mordak saw them," the magpie said quietly. "He's flying north today, to the Aerie to warn the Sky-Dancers that one of their own was taken."

  "Which one?" the peahen asked.

  "The young one. Azure Majesty. Taken from his territory three nights ago."

  Su nearly fell off her beam. Azure Majesty. That idiot from the first loop, from sky dancer clan? The one who'd tried to court her, then challenge her, then ended up face-first in cow manure.

  She'd hated that bird. But he hadn't deserved to be kidnapped by cultists.

  "Mordak is brave," one of the ravens said solemnly. "The Sky-Dancers don't welcome messenger-birds kindly."

  "Better than staying silent while birds vanish," the crow replied. "If the Sky-Dancers don't help, no one will."

  The council dispersed, each bird flying off to spread the warning to their respective territories. The peahen remained for a moment, staring up at the cathedral tower where Su was hidden. For a brief, Su thought she'd been spotted. But the peahen just murmured something too quiet for the system to catch and flew away.

  Su sat in the silence, processing. "So," Fernando said. "Cultists are kidnapping peacocks."

  "Sky-Dancers," Su corrected. "Or birds with Sky-Dancer blood. They're targeting them specifically."

  "Which includes you."

  "Which includes me." Su looked down at her void-corrupted, speckled feathers. "Though I'm probably not what they're expecting. Most Sky-Dancers don't look like a mud puddle grew wings."

  "You planning to warn them? The Sky-Dancers?"

  Su laughed bitterly. "And say what? 'Hey, remember me? The speckless disaster your boy Resplendent Feather cursed? Yeah, cultists are kidnapping your relatives. You're welcome'?"

  "Fair point."

  Su paced her beam, thinking. The cultists from the first loop. The Ashen Tongues. They'd been collecting people then, harvesting them for some kind of ritual at the Weeping Stone. If they were now taking birds with Sky-Dancer blood...

  "They're escalating," she muttered.

  "Last loop they were just raiding villages. Now they're hunting specific bloodlines."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know. But it's not good." She looked north, toward where the mountains held the Sky-Dancer Aerie. "I should warn them. Even if they hate me, they should know—"

  A burning sensation against her chest cut her off mid-sentence. Yvan's locket, the one he'd given her to "call" him. It was heating up.

  "Oh no," Su said.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "What?"

  "The dragon. He's calling me."

  "Can you ignore it?"

  "I don't think—"

  Su blinked and found herself... Standing (somehow) in a vast, dark space. The dragon's hoard, but different—like she was seeing a memory of it, or a dream. And lounging across a mountain of treasure, looking significantly better than the last time she'd seen him, was Yvan.

  The Adamant Rosette glowed steadily on his chest. His scales were still damaged, still weeping corruption in places, but his presence was stronger. The exhausted, dying weight had lessened.

  His enormous amber eye focused on her, and his mental voice filled her head. "Little Wrench. You've been busy."

  "I didn't—how did you—what is this?" Su sputtered.

  "A projection. You're still in your cathedral. I'm still in my canyon. But the locket allows... conversation." He shifted his massive head, getting comfortable. "I was bored. Thought I'd check on my tenant."

  "Bored? You pulled me into a psychic phone call because you were BORED?"

  "I am a dragon. Boredom is a serious condition." His eye glittered with mischief. "Also, I wanted to congratulate you."

  "On what?"

  "On becoming a folk hero while trying to be a criminal. It's delightfully absurd." The dragon's rumbling laugh shook the dream-space. "The 'Shadowbeak.' Very dramatic."

  "I DIDN'T EVEN STEAL ANYTHING!"

  "I know! That's what makes it funny!"

  "How do you even know about that?!"

  "I'm a dragon. We know things." He paused. "Also, a very frightened mouse ran through my canyon this morning babbling about 'the shadow bird who fights nobles.' News travels."

  Su groaned. "Is there a point to this call, or are you just enjoying my suffering?"

  "Both." The dragon's eye grew more serious. "But mostly the second thing. However, I do have actual information. Consider it... rent payment for the continued use of my stabilized existence."

  "You're charging me rent in gossip?"

  "Information is more valuable than gold, little Wrench. And this information you need." He shifted, the Rosette's glow pulsing. "The cult. The Ashen Tongues. They're more active than you remember."

  Su went still. "You know about them?"

  "I've been alive for three thousand years. I know about most things." His voice deepened, losing its playful edge. "They worship the Weeping Stone that shouldn't exist but does. In your previous... iteration, they were weak and desperate. Harvesting human souls for a ritual that would never work."

  "And now?"

  "Now they have guidance." The word dripped with contempt. "Someone taught them. Someone showed them that Sky-Dancer blood is more potent than human souls. Better fuel."

  "Fuel for what?"

  "For waking the Stone." Yvan's eye narrowed. "The Weeping Stone isn't just a monument, child. It's a seal. A prison for something that predates kingdoms. Predates even me, perhaps. The cultists want to break it. Release what's inside."

  "And they think Sky-Dancer blood will do it?"

  "Sky-Dancers are made of starlight and old magic. Their blood is liquid power." The dragon's gaze settled on her. "Which means they'll be hunting birds like you. Cursed or not, you carry the taint of that magic."

  Su felt cold. "They're collecting peacocks. Kidnapping them."

  "Yes. And they'll come for you eventually." Yvan's voice was almost... gentle. "You shine too brightly now, little Wrench. Even trying to hide, you've made yourself visible. The cultists will have heard the rumors. The 'Shadowbeak' who glows with dark power. They'll want you."

  "Great. Fantastic. Love that for me."

  "There's more." The dragon's tone turned sly. "Your new friend. The fallen Sky-Dancer. Vermilion Plume."

  Su's void-energy crackled. "What about him?"

  "He works for the Chancellor, yes. But the Chancellor works for someone. Someone who wants the Weeping Stone opened." Yvan's smile was all teeth. "You're caught between three powers, child: the Chancellor's political ambitions, the cultists' religious zealotry, and the Sky-Dancers' desperate need to protect their bloodline. All three want you but for different reasons."

  "That's not—I'm just trying to—" Su stopped. "Why are you telling me this?"

  "Because I find you entertaining. And because you saved my life, in your own chaotic way." The dragon's eye gleamed with something that might have been respect. "Also, if you die, my stabilization might fail. Self-interest is a powerful motivator."

  "You're using me as a living magical battery."

  "We're using each other. I provide information and occasional assistance. You provide... entertainment and a reason to stay awake." He shifted, settling more comfortably. "Besides, I'm curious to see how you'll rewrite this mess. You're very good at breaking patterns."

  The dream-space began to fade. Yvan's voice followed her out:

  "Be careful, little Wrench. The cultists won't try to trap you. They'll try to seduce you. They'll offer you solutions to your curse. Freedom from the loop. Power."

  "I won't—"

  "I know you won't. You're too angry for seduction. But they'll try anyway." A final, fading chuckle. "And if you need me the locket will call. But remember: dragon's aid always has a price. Even for entertaining tenants."

  "What price?"

  "We'll negotiate when the time comes."

  And then Su was back in the cathedral tower, gasping, the locket cool against her feathers.

  Fernando's voice drifted over: "You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "Worse. A dragon with a sense of humor." Su shook herself, trying to clear the disorientation. "The cultists are coming for Sky-Dancer bloodlines. They want to break some kind of ancient seal. And apparently I'm on their shopping list."

  "Delightful."

  "And there's a messenger owl flying to the Aerie right now to warn them about Azure Majesty being kidnapped."

  "Are you going to intercept him?"

  Su looked north. She could probably catch an owl if she tried. Shadow Step combined with her new speed, she could make it. But going to the Sky-Dancers meant confronting Resplendent Feather. Meant facing the entire clan who'd rejected the "Speckless" one. Meant walking into a place where she'd died in the last loop.

  "No," she said finally. "Let the owl deliver his message. The Sky-Dancers need to know, and I'm not their messenger."

  "Then what?"

  "Then I..." Su paused. "I actually have no idea. For once in my life, I don't have a plan."

  She looked down at the city waking up below. At the streets where people whispered about a shadow guardian who didn't exist. "The cultists are hunting. The Chancellor is hunting. The Sky-Dancers are about to panic. And I'm a Level 14 disaster with a fern and a dragon on speed-dial."

  "Don't forget the growing cult of worshippers."

  "Not helping, Fernando."

  Su put her face in her wings. "I'm going to get a reputation I don't want, aren't I?"

  "You already have it," Fernando said. "The question is what you do with it."

  From the north, carried on the wind, came the distant call of an owl beginning his long flight to the mountains. From North, cultists were preparing for something worst. And Su, despite her best efforts to be evil, was somehow at the center of it all.

  "Well," she muttered. "At least it can't get worse."

  Fernando rustled in a way that clearly meant "you just jinxed it."

  "Shut up."