“We’ll go to the witches to see Kaylia,” Cole said. “The woman can take us there. I sent crows to the sirens and Elfie to tell them what happened, but I haven’t heard back. I don’t know if that means they’re still standing or not. We’ll have to check on them after the witches.”
“We still need an army,” Orin said.
“We’ll keep working on it,” Cole said. “I plan to go to the dwarves next. Then the giants.”
“The giants have always sided with the Lord,” Niall said.
“The Lord had a giant head mounted on his wall when I was in his solar. There might have been a falling out there.”
He wasnotlooking forward to speaking with the giants, but if they were going to defeat the Lord, they required more help. The dwarves were violent, notoriously ruthless fighters, but they weren’t enough.
“So, we’ll go to the witches, the dwarves, and the giants,” Cole continued. “Niall, Maverick, and Brokk will go to Aerie to check on the sirens.”
“Will do,” Niall said.
“I’ll go talk with some of the lycans afterward,” Maverick said. “I know of a few packs willing to help us.”
“Will they want to meet me?” Lexi asked.
“Eventually,” Maverick said. “But I’ll get them to work with us while you’re away.”
“Good.”
“What about the demons?” Del inquired.
“Do you know how to get to their realm or how to locate one?” Cole asked.
“No.”
Some fought on the Lord’s side during the last war and some with the rebels, but they didn’t do it because of loyalty or a sense of right or wrong. They did it because they loved to fight and kill. And that was the thing with the demons; they enjoyed a good fight, but it was tough to locate them.
That could also make them treacherous to work with, but it would be good to at least talk to one of them. He wasn’t sure that would happen.
He turned to Lexi and held out his hand. “Are you ready for this?”
“Always,” she said as her fingers slid into his.
Orin opened the door to reveal the woman and the three girls standing on the other side. Morgan had awakened and clung to her mother’s side as she gazed into the room with wide, shadowed eyes.
“Thank you,” Orin said to the lycan who escorted them here.
The man grunted before striding away.
Cole led Lexi through the others to stop before the woman. “It’s time for us to go to the witches,” Cole said.
The woman rested a hand on the shoulder of the oldest girl and drew the children closer to her side. “I’ll take you.”
Cole glanced back at the others. “We won’t keep returning between our visits to the other realms. We’ll move through them as quickly as possible before the Lord destroys them. I’ll send a crow back to update you on our progress.”
“I want to go back to Verdan to search for more survivors,” Sahira said.
“Not alone,” Cole told her.
“I’ll go with her,” Orin offered.
“No one knows you’re alive,” Cole reminded him.
Orin jerked his head toward Sahira. “She can cast a glamour over me. The witches will sense her magic and be curious to know who I am, but they’ll have to live with the mystery. Besides, after what the Lord did to Verdan, I doubt any of them would turn me in if they saw me.”
