The streets of Vayne were narrower than any they had walked before. Stone walls leaned toward one another, windows shuttered against the sun, and banners flapped unevenly, frayed at the edges.

  Smoke from street braziers curled into the air, mingling with the scent of fish, bread, and burning wood. The city had a jagged pulse, and every step sounded sharper, grittier than the smooth, silent forest paths they had left behind.

  “If we want somewhere to sleep, we’ll need some coin,” Valerik said. “Angel?”

  Angel pulled out the remaining gemstones, a large emerald and a rough sapphire. They caught a flicker of light before she closed her fist around them.

  “Surely someone wants these.” She tucked them back into her cloak, fingers tightening, unwilling to risk a longer look from the crowd.

  “Then let’s find them soon,” Valerik replied flatly.

  Kaiya kept close to the alley walls, her eyes darting to every shadow. She tightened her cloak as she passed a group of merchants arguing over a brass scale, their voices sharp with accusation. Coins clattered on the wood of the stall, the sound ringing like hammers. The grove with its quiet water and sunlight felt impossibly far away. She hadn’t stopped worrying about Reyha since they left.

  Xander drew more attention than the city’s narrow streets could hold. Heads turned at the clack of his hooves. Children pointed and whispered, tugging at sleeves. Shopkeepers froze mid-step, glares half-formed before they decided it was safer to look away.

  Valerik caught nearly as many stares himself. None of them thrilled by his presence. He hated it, but near the Norren Range he understood it. History was littered with Depthborn raiding parties. To them, he looked no different.

  Angel walked a few paces behind, fists loose at her sides, eyes distant. She did not flinch at the glares. She did not swing first. Even when someone brushed her shoulder too roughly, she only shifted aside. Today, her instinct to fight was smothered beneath the memory of soil beneath her nails and the unexpected warmth of blood. Her steps were careful, deliberate, almost hesitant.

  The gems they carried jangled with promise, but each merchant they approached found a reason to refuse them. One man pinched the sapphire between his fingers, squinting through the light as though searching for flaws.

  “Glass,” he said, dropping it onto the counter with deliberate care.

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  Angel caught it before it rolled away, jaw tight. “It’s real.”

  “Fake,” he countered, voice loud enough for others nearby to hear. “A common street trick.”

  Another merchant leaned back on his stool, arms crossed. His smile showed more teeth than warmth. “Or stolen,” he suggested. His eyes flicked toward Angel’s fists. “Hand them over. I’ll call the guards otherwise.”

  The words slid off his tongue like oil. A trap laid neat and tidy.

  Angel’s body went still. Everything in her wanted to strike, to silence him with one clean blow, but her hands still shook, caked in the dirt from the burial. She turned without a word and pushed out into the street, the air colder on her skin. She bit down the scream rising in her throat and let the door slam shut behind her.

  Kaiya muttered as she caught up. “We’ll never get anywhere like this.”

  Dante drifted a few paces ahead, half in a daze, his attention snagged on the city itself. He ran his fingers over the stones of buildings, rough edges and cracks, tracing them like lines on a map. He picked up pebbles, tested their weight, sometimes dropped them just to watch the bounce. Passersby barely noticed him, a quiet figure woven into the city’s noise.

  Angel’s eyes snagged on a splash of color across the alley. A poster, edges curling and ink faded, nailed crookedly to a wall. “Sword and Board: Caged Koi.”

  She stopped.

  Valerik glanced at the sign, then at her. “Looking for a fight already? Or is that a fish?”

  Her gaze flicked toward him. “They’re likely the last shot at selling these.”

  Dante tilted his head at the words. “How do you put a fish in a cage? Why even…” He trailed off, lost in the puzzle.

  Angel’s mouth tightened. “Koi is a brawler I used to follow. But I’m not here for idols. I’m here to sell the stones.”

  Kaiya looked down the alley, unease in her posture. “If she’s going, I’m not dragging Xander through another street.”

  The tavern squatted at the end of the lane, its wood blackened by years of smoke. A crooked sign swung on one chain, squealing each time the wind caught it. Light spilled through its windows, orange and hazy, as though the fire inside fought to be seen.

  Kaiya stayed outside with Xander. The bull scraped his hooves on the stone, nostrils flaring, a low rumble in his chest.

  Dante crouched nearby, scooping up a rock the size of his palm. He stared at it until the city blurred.

  Valerik’s voice cut through. “Please don’t explode.”

  The rock shivered in Dante’s hand, shrinking to the size of a pebble. He laughed softly, as though sharing a joke with himself.

  Angel turned quickly. “What was that?”

  “Tiny rock.” He held the pebble up, grinning.

  “…Okay?” She waited.

  He pointed toward the bull. “Xander.”

  Angel blinked, then again.

  Dante tossed the pebble. It struck the cobblestone and swelled back into the larger stone, rolling to a stop.

  “I think I can make him smaller,” Dante said. “Only for a little while.”

  Angel let out a quiet whistle. “That’s… actually useful.” Her voice trembled between wonder and unease.

  Xander groaned low in his throat, shifting his weight. Kaiya’s hand brushed his neck, her own eyes wide.

  “Worth a shot?” Dante asked.

  Kaiya hesitated. “He survived the stone skin.”

  “See?” Dante said, already stepping forward.

  Xander gave a reluctant nod, as if he understood more than he should.

  They slipped into a side alley. Dante laid his hands on the bull’s horns, closing his eyes. The air thickened. Dust stirred. Tiny fragments of gravel hovered, caught in an invisible breath. Even the city’s noise dulled.

  Xander let out a startled “MOOoo?” The sound warped, higher and thinner, and his massive shape folded inward. In the space of a heartbeat he stood no taller than a hound, wobbling on legs suddenly too light.

  Dante opened his eyes and laughed. “It worked!”

  Kaiya’s glare could have cut stone. “You had doubts?”

  “Uh…” His grin faltered, but his eyes stayed fixed on the miniature bull.

  Xander hiccuped. He hiccuped again, each time stretching a little taller.

  “So it fades,” Dante said. “We shouldn’t waste it.”

  Angel’s lips curved, the first smile in hours. “Then let’s see what’s inside.”