"So it's you, Sister Azure."
Vexar smiled easily as he reached into his robes and produced a small bundle of sweets, candied fruits, and wrapped pastries.
"I brought these especially for you."
The small girl in green brightened instantly. She snatched the bundle, then pointed toward the southern side of the island.
"The Three Sisters are viewing the gardens to the south. I've already lowered the ward. You can go straight in."
With that, she dissolved into a streak of emerald light and vanished.
Rowan watched her go, faintly stunned.
"Even their gatekeeper feels… dangerous."
He couldn't gauge her depth at all.
Which meant she was far beyond him.
Following her directions, Rowan and the others soon arrived at a quiet garden where three women stood among drifting petals and pale light.
They looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
No oppressive presence.
No visible power.
Yet Rowan instinctively knew that if any of them wished, the island could cease to exist.
Vexar stepped forward and bowed.
"Vexar greets the Three Sisters."
The eldest of the three regarded him with a gentle smile.
"You've been absent for six years, little leopard. And you've brought quite a gathering this time."
Vexar spoke at length, recounting everything that had happened since his fall from favor.
When he finished, the youngest sister's expression darkened instantly.
"So the Radiant Order is butchering non-humans to refine elixirs now?"
Her voice snapped like frost.
"Give me a direction. I'll flatten the Jade Apex Sanctum myself."
Rowan silently revised his internal danger ranking.
Upward.
The middle sister placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm yourself."
Then she looked at Vexar with quiet regret.
"If you had joined the Tidebound Covenant back then, none of this would have happened."
The eldest sister closed her eyes, fingers moving in subtle calculation.
"The dragon race still carries a thread of surviving fate. You will remain in the eastern seas for now."
Her gaze shifted to Vexar.
"You will stay here as well. When our master emerges from seclusion, I will personally speak on your behalf and on Glacien's. The matter will be brought before higher authority."
Her eyes then turned to Rowan.
"You as well."
Rowan felt a faint pressure brush against his soul.
Not hostility.
Assessment.
"You are loyal to your allies. That matters."
She nodded once.
"Our master values such qualities. When he returns, I will recommend you all."
Simple.
Decisive.
No grand speeches.
No hesitation.
Rowan exhaled slowly.
This was the best outcome they could have hoped for.
The dragon race would have shelter.
Vexar and Glacien would have backing.
And Rowan had just gained access to teachers whose understanding of reality eclipsed most beings he had ever met.
Everyone bowed.
"Thank you."
Arrangements were made quickly.
The dragon host settled in nearby seas.
Vexar, Glacien, Stoneveil, and Rowan took residence on Threefold Isle.
Rowan began splitting his time between consuming the stolen elixirs and studying techniques under the Sisters' guidance.
It was during one such meditation that something new occurred.
Another mind opened.
Another pair of eyes.
Rowan gasped.
"This one… is a baby?"
He accessed the memories.
Six months old.
Unable to walk.
Barely able to speak.
He looked around.
A richly furnished room.
Dark wood panels.
Velvet curtains.
Gas lamps and carved brass fixtures.
Victorian in style.
He crawled to the window.
Outside hung a crimson moon.
Not merely red.
Alive.
And on its surface, Rowan sensed vast, malicious presences coiled like sleeping gods.
He stilled himself.
No probing.
No scanning.
No foreign energy.
He remembered the rule.
Don't alert what you don't understand.
Even without active sensing, his instincts screamed.
That moon held beings stronger than this incarnation.
Stronger, perhaps, than many of his other selves.
He shifted his gaze to the stars.
More presences.
Not just one.
Many.
Some closer.
Some impossibly distant.
Above the planet itself, he felt a titanic barrier.
Seven anchors.
Seven powerful entities reinforcing a planetary shield from different vectors.
Guardians.
Compared to the horrors beyond, those seven felt weaker.
Compared to most worlds, they were monsters.
Rowan lay back in the crib, heart steady, mind racing.
"A world full of hungry gods… and desperate wardens."
He smiled faintly.
"Interesting."