The morning light filtering through the translucent walls of the guest suite was soft and diffused, a gentle blue that painted the room in underwater hues. But the peace of the Coral Palace was lost on Simon.
He sat on the edge of the shell-shaped bed, his head in his hands, his breathing ragged. He wasn't asleep, but he wasn't fully awake either. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it.
The Eye.
It hadn't been a hallucination. In the split second before the breach in the Midnight Trench had collapsed, the darkness had parted. A massive, slit-pupiled yellow eye, larger than the Leviathan ship, had stared back at him from the Void. It hadn't looked like a beast; it had looked intelligent. Calculating. Hateful.
"Simon?"
Evelyn's hand touched his back. Her skin was warm, a stark contrast to the phantom cold that still clung to his bones. She sat up, pulling the silk sheet around her, her silver hair cascading over her shoulder. The Soul-Link was open, and she could feel the jagged edges of his anxiety.
"It's still there," Simon whispered, not looking up. "In my head. It saw me, Evelyn. It didn't just see a threat; it saw me. It knew my name."
Evelyn moved closer, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, resting her cheek against his scarred shoulder. She kissed the spot where Joanna had bitten him the silver scar now a permanent reminder of the ocean's claim.
"You closed the door on it," Evelyn reminded him gently. "You and Joanna. It can't hurt us now."
"It can," Simon countered, turning to face her. His turquoise eyes were dark, swirling with a turbulence that matched the storm inside him. "That breach wasn't an accident. It was a probe. They were testing our defenses. And now they know."
He stood up, pacing the room. The scales on his hand had faded to a dull, matte blue, no longer glowing with the intensity of the deep, but they remained visible a hybrid mark of his dual nature. "They know the Tribrid is awake. They know I have the Starlight. They know I have the Ocean. They're going to stop testing soon, Evelyn. They're going to invade."
Evelyn stood up and walked to him, placing her hands on his chest to stop his pacing. "Then we get ready. We survived the Wolf. We survived the Shark. Now we go find the Fire."
Simon looked down at her. Her violet eyes were clear and determined. She was no longer the shy girl who hid behind her mother at the pack summit. The journey had forged her into steel.
"You're right," Simon sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. "We need the Dragon. God help us, we need the Dragon."
The Council of the Tides was already in session when Simon and Evelyn arrived at the Grand Throne Room. The atmosphere was grave. The playful bioluminescence of the room had been dimmed, leaving the chamber in a somber twilight.
King Luke sat on his coral throne, looking like a statue carved from bronze. Queen Olivia floated beside him, her tail twitching nervously. Joanna stood at the foot of the dais, her arms crossed over her black scale armor. She looked tired, dark circles under her green eyes, but her posture was as rigid and unyielding as ever.
"Prince Simon," King Luke boomed, though his voice lacked its usual joviality. "Joanna has given her report. She speaks of a sentient presence within the Void."
"An Eye," Simon corrected, stepping forward. "Yellow. Reptilian. Ancient."
A murmur went through the gathered dignitaries. Queen Olivia paled, her hand going to her throat.
"The Watcher," Olivia whispered.
The room went dead silent.
"You know of it?" Simon asked, looking at his great-aunt.
"It is a legend from the First War," Olivia explained, her voice trembling slightly. "Before the four kingdoms separated, there was an enemy that did not fight with swords, but with corruption. The Watcher was the General of the Void King. It was said that wherever its gaze fell, the elements would wither. Water would dry. Fire would freeze. Earth would crumble. And Light... Light would simply vanish."
"If the Watcher is awake," King Luke said heavily, "then the Void King is not far behind. The breach in the Midnight Trench was not a random attack. It was a reconnaissance mission."
Joanna stepped forward, her green eyes locking onto Simon's. "They were targeting the anchors of our world, Simon. They went for the deepest point of the ocean because it is the hardest to defend. If that breach had fully opened, the pressure alone would have cracked the tectonic plates. The entire Lagoon Kingdom and the coastlines above would have been destroyed."
"We stopped it," Simon said.
"This time," Joanna countered sharply. "But we barely survived. You froze, Wolf. Literally. If the Starlight hadn't blinded them, you would be an ice sculpture right now."
"I know," Simon admitted, gritting his teeth. "I'm not strong enough yet."
"No," Joanna agreed brutally. "You aren't. You have the endurance of the Ocean now, yes. You can breathe. You can adapt. But you lack the destructive power to end the threat. Water contains. Water erodes. But Water cannot kill a shadow."
"Only Fire can," King Luke finished.
The King stood up, his massive frame casting a long shadow over the glass floor. "The Dragon Kingdom has been isolated for centuries. King Marcus is... proud. He does not welcome outsiders, especially wolves. But the time for isolation is over. You must go to the Dragon Nest, Simon. You must awaken the third bloodline. You need the Dragon's Fire to burn the Watcher blind."
Simon nodded. "I'm ready. We can leave immediately."
"Not 'we'," Joanna said.
Simon and Evelyn turned to look at the mermaid. Joanna uncrossed her arms and walked over to them. She moved with a fluid grace that made her seem like she was underwater even on dry land.
"I am coming with you," Joanna announced.
King Luke's eyebrows shot up. "Joanna? You hate the surface. You complain about the dryness of the air if you are above water for ten minutes."
"I do," Joanna admitted, wrinkling her nose. "The surface is disgusting. It smells of dust and desperation. But..." She looked at Simon, and then, surprisingly, at Evelyn. "The Wolf is sloppy. And the Star is fragile. If they go into the Dragon's domain alone, they will be eaten. Or incinerated. Probably both."
She touched the trident strapped to her back. "Besides. The 'Second Pull' is... persistent. It seems the Ocean does not want to be left behind while the Wolf goes playing with matches."
Simon felt a surge of relief. He would never admit it out loud, but the thought of facing the Dragon Kingdom without Joanna's brutal competence was terrifying. "We'd be glad to have you, Joanna. Assuming you can survive the altitude."
Joanna smirked, showing her sharp teeth. "I'll bring a humidifier."
The logistics of traveling from the bottom of the ocean to the highest peaks of the world were, as Ambassador Kael put it, "a logistical nightmare."
They spent the next few hours in the War Room, planning the route. The Dragon Nest was located in a volcanic mountain range on a secluded continent, shielded by perpetual storm clouds and magical barriers. It wasn't a place you could just drive to.
"We will take the Leviathan back to the surface," Kael explained, tracing a line on the holographic map. "From there, a private jet will take you to the foothills of the Scorch Lands. That is as far as modern technology can go. The electronics fail as you get closer to the Dragon magic."
"So we walk?" Evelyn asked, looking at the jagged terrain on the map.
"We climb," Simon corrected, looking at the elevation markers. "It's a vertical ascent. Thin air. Extreme heat. Active lava flows."
"Sounds lovely," Joanna drawled sarcastically. "I'll pack my bikini."
"You will need more than that," Queen Olivia said, gliding over to them. She held a chest made of white coral. She opened it to reveal three items.
First, she handed a small, glass vial to Evelyn. "Breath of the Sea. If the smoke becomes too thick, or the altitude too high, uncork this. It will give you an hour of pure, clean air."
Next, she handed a heavy, silver collar to Joanna. "Hydration amplifier. It draws moisture from the atmosphere and keeps your skin from drying out. It won't be as good as a swim, my daughter, but it will keep you alive on the volcano."
Finally, she turned to Simon. She didn't give him an object. She placed her hand on his chest, right over his heart.
"You are going to a place of anger, Simon," Olivia whispered. "The Dragons are creatures of passion and rage. Their fire consumes everything. When you are there, the Ocean in your blood will try to retreat. It will try to evaporate to save itself. Do not let it."
She looked deep into his eyes. "Water tempers Fire. If you lose your cool in the Dragon Nest, if you let the rage take you... you will burn up from the inside out. You must be the balance. You must be the calm in the center of the inferno."
"I will," Simon promised. "I won't forget the deep."
The departure was less formal than the arrival. There were no honor guards this time, only the silent, heavy acknowledgment of a kingdom sending its best warriors to war.
Simon, Evelyn, and Joanna boarded the Leviathan. The mood was different now. They weren't just three individuals; they were a unit. A dysfunctional, bickering, predator-heavy unit, but a unit nonetheless.
As the ship detached from the dock and began its ascent, Simon looked out the viewport at the receding lights of the Coral City. He felt the familiar tug in his gut the "Second Pull" stretching thin, aching as he moved away from the water.
But as the ship rose, a new sensation began to creep in.
It started as a warmth in the base of his spine. A low, simmering heat that had nothing to do with the ship's climate control. It felt like heartburn, but deeper. It felt like swallowing a coal.
"You feel it, don't you?" Joanna asked. She was sitting across from him, adjusting the silver collar around her neck. Her green eyes were watching him closely.
"Feel what?" Evelyn asked, looking between them.
"The Third Pull," Simon rasped, rubbing his chest. "It's... hot."
"The Dragon knows you're coming," Joanna said. "Just like I knew. The blood calls to blood. But be warned, Wolf... Water welcomes you because life began in the sea. Fire does not welcome anything. Fire only eats."
Simon looked at his hand. The blue scales were still there, but now, faint veins of gold were beginning to pulse beneath his skin, fighting for dominance. The Tribrid war within his body was escalating.
Six hours later, they broke the surface of the Atlantic. The sun was setting, painting the sky in violent shades of orange and purple.
They transferred from the Leviathan to a black, unmarked Gulfstream jet waiting at a private airfield near the coast. The transition from sea to air was jarring. Joanna looked miserable, clutching a water bottle like a lifeline, her skin looking paler than usual. Evelyn was busy organizing their supplies, her Starlight efficiency taking over.
Simon sat by the window as the jet roared down the runway and lifted off. He watched the ocean disappear beneath the clouds.
He closed his eyes and tried to rest, but the moment he drifted off, the dream changed.
He wasn't in the Void. He wasn't in the water.
He was standing on a peak of black obsidian. Lava flowed in rivers around him. The air was filled with ash and the smell of sulfur.
In front of him stood a girl.
She had skin like copper and hair like a living flame red, orange, and gold, moving in a wind that didn't exist. She was dressed in leather armor that looked scorched.
She didn't look at him with the love of the Star.
She didn't look at him with the calculation of the Shark.
She looked at him with pure, unadulterated fury.
"You dare bring the water here?" she screamed, her voice the sound of a cracking whip.
She threw a fireball at him.
Simon woke up with a gasp, his hands gripping the armrests of the jet seat so hard the leather tore.
"Bad dream?" Evelyn asked softly, reaching across the aisle to take his hand.
"Not a dream," Simon whispered, wiping sweat from his forehead. His skin felt feverish, radiating a heat that made Evelyn flinch slightly. "A warning."
He looked out the window at the darkening sky. Somewhere ahead, hidden in the clouds, was the Dragon Nest. And Peace, the Dragon Heir, was waiting.
She wasn't waiting to be rescued. She was waiting to burn him alive.
"She's angry," Simon murmured. "God, she is so angry."
Joanna opened one eye from her seat, looking miserable but sharp. "Then you better hope you're fireproof, Wolf. Because we're flying straight into the oven."
The jet banked, turning toward the equator. The journey to the Kingdom of Fire had begun.