The aftermath of the battle had been terrible. The only gate to the inner city that had been successfully opened was the tiny pious gate. Thanks to Thayle, at least one army made it inside to secure the heart of the city. Thanks to the war cages and some clever work by Shadros, the ramparts from the outer walls never fell. The enemy was trapped in the outer ring, where they were isolated and destroyed.

Lilly nearly fell apart when she heard about the fight at the pious gate, and the last sight Thayle caught of Culver. Weak and terrified, she struggled out of bed and into the yard naked before dozens of soldiers to take her dragon form. She rushed to the rubble that was once the wall and began to dig as tears fell.

By some miracle, the wall had collapsed and formed a pocket that was exposed to the sunlight as Lilly lifted away a huge stone. A single person looked up from inside as Tears rolled down Lilly's face. She lowered her arm into the hole reaching in and pulling him out before putting her sense of smell to use to find others trapped in the rock.

The civilians came out of hiding to see the ravages of war on their city. None could believe Calathen had fallen, and a new emperor taken the throne. Rumor had it he had three wives who stood at his side as the empresses. One was called the daughter of the silver moon, another the empress of black tears. But the grandest and most respected of them all was first among them, she was known as the Queen of the red star, and it was said her strength was terrible.

Gersius took two days to recover but spent most of that time with Gams at his side. He organized an immediate effort to secure the city and send most of the soldiers to the border. Gams was to reinforce the line with everything they could part with and hold it until Gersius returned. When his strength was back, Gersius rose from the bed and made a speech to the army to boost their morale. With that, he set out to find his wives, who stood in a marble hall talking about what happens next.

He went directly to Lilly and took her into his arms to kiss her as tears filled his eyes. She told him the time was soon, and he nodded before explaining the preparations had already been made. Tavis and Ayawa would run the city in their absence while Gams went east to reinforce the wall.

An hour later, Sarah spread her wings and took to the sky with her lovers on her back. She flew east and a little south, heading for distant mountains Lilly thought she would never see again. It took days to get there even with Sarah's great speed, but on the early part of the sixth morning, they stood in a very familiar place.

“So this is it?” Thayle said, looking around the valley where Gersius and Lilly first met.

“This is the exact spot where it all began,” Gersius said.

“It seems like so long ago,” Lilly added as she leaned into his arms.

“It looks just like how you see it in the dream,” Sarah pointed out. “You must love this place.”

Lilly looked around and nodded before turning her gaze to Gersius. “This is where I met the most wonderful man in the world. I will never forget that moment when he came to my rescue.”

They stood on a grassy hill and looked down at a slight stony depression in the ground below them. In the distance, all around them were steep mountain walls that rose to snow-capped peaks. A stream of clear water flowed nearby fed from a great waterfall that fell from an icy ledge above, filling the entire valley with a dull soothing rumble. High on that cliff face to the right of the falls was a dark cave opening that marked Lilly’s lair.

Thayle looked all around and smiled at the barren valley. It was like a blank canvas with nothing but scrub grass and stone in every direction. But she turned her attention back to the depression before them.

Lilly wore her fancy blue dress as she walked down the hill to stand in the depression. She felt so conflicted over the bind as she bent down to touch the ground.

“Here, in this spot, I lay dying until a fool man came over the hill your standing on and offered me a second chance.” Lilly looked up at Gersius with tears in her eyes. “That man treated me with love and respect and never once made me feel like a slave. He saved my life and taught me how to feel emotions.” She had to wipe her eyes as she remembered that day so long ago. “I wanted you to kill me; I just wanted to die and be out of the pain I was in. But you saved me despite myself and showed me things that I will treasure the rest of my life.”

Sarah and Thayle smiled at Gersius as he stood by and listened to Lilly speak.

Lilly turned around and looked across her valley. “You took me from my home and showed me the world beyond it. Because of you, I learned to love. Because of you, I met Thayle and Sarah. Here on this spot just months ago, I should have died, but instead, I finally started living.”

Thayle began to tear up, and even Gersius had to wipe an eye.

“I have dreamed of coming back here for so long. I have dreamed of the day I could go home.” She paused and started to wipe her own eyes. “But now I can't bear the thought of being here without my loved ones, where you are in my home, and I want to be wherever that is.”

Gersius took Thayle and Sarah’s hand and led them down the slope to Lilly. Thayle had on her green robe with golden vines, and Gersius wore his grey shirt and black pants. Sarah had on a simple white dress that blew in a mountain wind. They arrived at the depression where Lilly had once lay so long ago teetering on the brink of death only to be reborn.

“Lilly, on this spot, I saw this form of you for the first time. I went to say something to you that day, but I stopped myself. I would like to finish saying it now.”

Lilly looked at him and nodded. “What did you mean to say?”

He turned to Sarah and Thayle to set the scene. “She had just changed shape for the first time and walked out of the cloud of white mist. I was so stunned by what I saw I found it hard to think. I told her I had no idea dragons could change forms, and she told me they all could but never did because they hated this form.”

“I said we didn’t find it pleasing,” Lilly corrected.

Gersius smiled. “And then I went to say something but never finished it.” He turned to look at Lilly. “I wanted to say, but you are so beautiful, it is a crime to deny the world such wondrous light.”

“Oooooh,” Thayel cooed as the sentiment of the moment washed over her.

“You really thought that about me, even back then?” Lilly asked.

“Lilly, I loved you the moment you stepped out of that mist. I nearly told a dozen times, but I was certain you would be disgusted.”

Lilly smiled and played with her hands. “I did cry that I was a dragon a lot, and I reacted with disgust at the thought of being touched by a human. I don't blame you for being afraid to tell me; I wasn't ready to understand.”

He turned to look at Thayle and Sarah. “We owe all this to you; you made our love possible.”

Thayle swallowed and tried to control her feelings. “I only did what needed doing. I could see your auras and knew love was growing between you, but it needed help.”

“Thayle,” Lilly said, walking up to her and taking her free hand. “You saved me every bit as much as he did. I gave up on him that day on the road. I was going to come back here and crawl into my cave to sleep until this world passed away. You save me, and you saved us.”

“I only played a minor part in all this,” Thayle tried to say, but Gersius and Lilly both laughed.

“Thayle, without you, I would have died from my wounds in Whiteford. Without you, Lilly and I would never have danced or spent time together on the road. There would have been no lovers mark to lead her to me. There would have been nobody to bring her back when the terrible truth came out. We would never have gone to Eastgate, and we would never have bound each other. You did all that.”

“And if all that hadn't happened, we would never have met Numidel,” Lilly added. “There would be no Sarah, and Calathen would not be free. The order of Astikar would still be corrupted, and Balisha’s faith would not be restored. The war with the Doan would be lost, and thousands of people would be drying right now as we speak.”

Thayle looked at them, speechless as Sarah put an arm around her.

“You played a very important role in all this,” Sarah said. “You made my entrance into this family possible.”

Gersius took Thayle's free hand and pulled her into a circle with Lilly as Sarah stood behind her. “You Thayle are no small part of anything. You have changed the course of history and the fate of the world. You have helped birth a new empire and rescued a fallen goddess. None of this would have happened without you.”

Thayle smiled and struggled to stop crying, turning to Sarah to cling to her chest.

“Shh, my daughter,” Sarah cooed. “You are alright, and we love you.” She wrapped Thayle in a warm embrace and rocked her gently as Gersius turned to Lilly.

“I think it is time,” Lilly said.

“Are you sure?” Gersius asked.

Lilly nodded. “I am sure. It felt like it needed out days ago before we left.”

Gersius helped her undress, and for drama, Lilly changed back into her dragon form on the very spot she took her human form those long months ago.

“How does it feel?” Sarah asked as Lilly shifted her weight.

“It feels like I have pressure in my stomach pressing down,” Lilly replied.

“It’s ready,” Sarah agreed. “It is time to lay your egg.”

“I want you all with me,” she said, looking down at them.

“Of course, Lilly,” Thayle said, and she, Sarah, and Gersius carefully climbed onto her back. They held on to the arms of her wings as she tried to fly slowly and carefully since she didn’t have her saddle.

The flight was short as Lilly landed on the lip of her cave and walked in carrying them inside. In the dark recesses of the tunnel way back in the rocks, she laid a single egg. A great blue egg that stood to Gersius’s knees. They stood there and watched it in silence as if waiting for it to hatch.

“How long did you say this takes?” Gersius asked.

“Twelve to fourteen months,” Sarah responded. “Though we can’t be certain since it is of mixed blood.”

“Balisha said it would take the normal time,” Lilly replied and sniffed at it.

“And we just leave it here?” Gersius asked as he approached the egg that contained his child.

“Dragon eggs need only a constant temperature to hatch,” Sarah said. “That is why we dig deep caves; the temperature doesn't change this far below.”

“So we have a year to win the war with the Doan,” Thayle said as they watched him.

“I took the most heavily fortified city in the land in one hour. I will beat the Doan before a year is out.” Gersius bragged. He arrived at the egg with tears in his eyes and put a hand to the shell feeling the cool bumpy texture. “It is cold, like Lilly’s kisses.”

Thayle walked over and put a hand to the shell, and felt the soothing cold.

“Sleep well, my child. I look forward to meeting you,” Gersius said to the egg.

“I assume the child will be a dragon then?” Thayle asked.

“I don’t know that it will,” Sarah said as all eyes turned to Lilly.

“I have no idea. I only asked for the ability to have children. I didn't ask Balisha what kind,” Lilly said.

Gersius smiled and continued to rub the shell. “It doesn't matter. This is our child, human or dragon. I will love it with all my heart.”

“I will too,” Thayle added.

“As will I,” Sarah agreed and joined them in touching it.

Gersius took a deep breath and stepped back. “Balisha has promised us the egg will be safe here, but I still don’t want to leave it.”

“I don’t either. I want to stay here and wait for it to hatch,” Thayle added.

“As the one who laid it and is instinctively driven to protect it, I would agree, but if we don't win this war and establish the empire, even my valley won't be safe.”

“Lilly is right,” Thayle said to Gersius. “The Doan are and always have been the bigger threat.”

“Lilly is always right,” he replied and stepped away from the egg. “We have done all we can here. I think now it is your turn.”

Thayle smiled and turned to head for the tunnel out. “This part will be fun.”

They flew from the cave and followed the river to the far wall of the valley. There climbed down, and Thayle took several bags from Sarah’s saddle and piled them on the rocks. She began walking around singing a chant to Ulustrah as she carefully planted seeds all across the valley's southern end. She took several hours to complete the work and then moved to another bag and more casually tossed handfuls of tiny seeds into the air and let them fall where they may.

“Are you ready?” Thayle asked as she looked at Sarah.

“You take as much as you need, my love,” Sarah replied.

Thayle smiled and lifted her hands in praise to Ulustrah. She opened her voice and sang, calling on a blessing of growth that one usually uses to bless a farmer's garden. When the blessing was forming, she reached out and touched Sarah’s power and drew on her strength, augmenting the blessing.

Green rays of light shone around her like she was a star. Around her feet, small flowers began to spring to life, growing quickly and coming into bloom. The growth spread out all around, radiating out and all over flowers of every shape and color suddenly grew. The grass became thick and green, and finally, the trees began to grow. Thayle had picked good hardy trees that like cold climates. Nothern black oak, and White maples. An assortment of pines and even a few chestnut trees. All around them, the trunks began to reach into the sky, and branches pushed out already budding with leaves.

When Thayle stopped singing, she stood in a grove of wildflowers, and all up and down the hills of the valley were young trees.

“These will keep growing rapidly over the next few months. When we come back, there will be a forest here.”

“It already looks beautiful,” Gersius said.

“When we settle here, I will plant a water garden along the stream and grow some water lilies.

“I like that name,” Lilly said.

“I knew you would,” Thayle replied with a smile. “Would you please change back, sweetheart?”

“But I wanted to be a dragon for a little bit now that I am home,” Lilly protested.

Thayle smiled and walked to Gersius and Sarah to take their hands.

“I see a thick carpet of lush soft grass and flowers. I can think of no better place to spend an hour or two alone with my lovers.”

Gersius nodded his head, and Lilly instantly had white mist crawling across her skin. When the flash passed, she walked over to join them and helped them undress.

They spent the next few hours alone together and celebrated the love they had for one another. The first great step had been taken, and their family was on the way. Their love was blossoming in a beautiful array of colors, as did the flowers all around them.