“I was sleepwalking again,” Meilin whispered. “I got myself into real trouble this time. Thanks for finding me.”

The panda didn’t respond, but Meilin felt like she understood. Meilin stood up, placing a hand against the nearest wall to help her feel her way in the dark. “Let’s get back to bed.”

11 GAR

“ABEKE!” SHANE CALLED. “ABEKE, WHERE ARE YOU?”

Abeke kept still in her tree, a slow smile parting her lips. Uraza crouched motionless on a limb beside her.

Down below, Shane blundered closer to her hiding place. “This is the wrong time for games! Remember those important people I told you about? They’re here! We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Ever since their ship had reached this island, Shane had gone on and on about these visitors. He seemed very impressed by them.

In many ways, Shane was her first real friend. Not only had he saved her life, but he continued to train with her, watch out for her, and even joke with her. He appreciated her hunting, her strength, her stealth — many of the traits that she most valued. Only her mother had ever made her feel accepted in that way.

Yet she had questions about the people he worked with. None wore green cloaks, but they seemed well organized. They had ships, a big outpost, and many trained soldiers. All had spirit animals. Who were they, and why did they leave Uraza so agitated? Lately, she hadn’t pressed Shane for answers. She was afraid of what she might learn.

But that wasn’t the main reason she was hiding.

“All right, Abeke,” Shane said. “I admit it. You keep improving. Even on this puny island, you and Uraza could probably evade me for as long as you chose.”

“I just wanted to hear you say it,” Abeke replied.

“There you are!” Shane greeted. “You picked the worst time to prove a point.”

Abeke descended from the tree. Uraza landed beside her. “You backed down, so I must have chosen the right time.”

“You and Uraza are really coming along as a team,” Shane said. “Our visitors will be pleased.”

“They’re really here?” Abeke asked. He might have simply been trying to lure her out of hiding.

“They’re not just here,” Shane said. “They’re waiting for us.”

She felt nervous, but hoped it didn’t show. “Lead the way.”

They started walking toward the walled buildings. “You should probably put Uraza into her dormant state.”

“Won’t they want to see her?” Abeke asked.

“It proves your abilities,” Shane said. “You’re young to use the dormant state. It also shows respect. Some of their spirit animals don’t get along well with others. If you keep Uraza with you, they’ll have to make their animals passive. It would be rude.”

Abeke could see what he meant, but wasn’t it rude for them to expect her to put Uraza away if their animals were the unfriendly ones? The visitors clearly meant a lot to Shane, so she decided not to argue. Abeke held out her arm and called to Uraza. With a stinging flash, the leopard became a tattoo.

It was not far to the walled stronghold. They passed through a massive iron gate and Shane led Abeke to the central building. They entered and went to the main chamber. A pair of guards who Abeke didn’t recognize stood outside a set of heavy doors. They bowed to Shane and let them pass.

The visitors were assembled at the far side of the large stone room. A throne had been set up, and on it sat a regal man just entering his autumn years. His temples were touched with gray, and he had a craggy face with a jutting chin. A circlet ringed his head, wrought like a snake consuming its own tail. Below his heavy eyebrows, dark eyes watched Abeke intently.

Before his throne stretched an enormous crocodile. Abeke had no idea they could grow so large. From snout to tail, it was longer than five grown men lying end to end.

“He’s a king,” Abeke murmured to Shane.

“Yes,” Shane muttered back. “Behave accordingly.”

To one side of the king crouched a wizened old woman on a stool, bundled in coarse rags. Drool dribbled from one corner of her withered lips. On the other side of the throne stood Zerif. He was dressed in fancier clothes than when they had last met, and his hair was slicked back.

“Zerif!” Abeke cried. Her eyes had been so drawn to the man on the throne and to the crocodile that she had been slow to recognize her former protector.

He gave a polite nod. “I told you that we would meet again.” He gestured toward the throne. “May I introduce General Gar, king of the Lost Lands. Sire, meet Abeke, the summoner of Uraza.”

“No small feat,” said the man on the throne. He had a voice that carried weight. It wasn’t terribly deep but, like his face, it was full of presence. A voice accustomed to giving orders.

“Is that your crocodile?” Abeke asked.

General Gar raised his eyebrows. “Indeed. A saltwater crocodile, from the continent of Stetriol.”

Abeke frowned. Stetriol? Erdas had four regions, and none were named Stetriol. She shivered as her eyes strayed to the huge reptile. Abeke had only heard of one person who ever had a saltwater crocodile as a spirit animal. The Devourer.

“What are you thinking, Abeke?” General Gar asked. “Speak freely.”

“It’s just that . . .” Abeke hesitated. “I’ve seldom heard of a big crocodile like this as a spirit animal.”

“Only once, am I right?” General Gar said with a knowing grin. He waved a dismissive hand. “It gets mentioned all the time. The Devourer, from the children’s stories, was said to have been paired with a saltwater crocodile. But he died long ago. I know it is rare across the rest of Erdas, but in Stetriol, summoning a saltwater crocodile is no cause for astonishment. It occurs from time to time.”

Abeke looked to Shane, and then to Zerif. They seemed at ease. “I see.”

“It’s true, Abeke,” Shane said. “The histories don’t mention Stetriol, but it’s a real place. I was born there.”

“He’s right,” Zerif assured her. “The Greencloaks wrote the histories, and they deliberately ignored Stetriol. No surprise there. They committed horrible crimes against the people of our continent.”

Abeke measured up Zerif. “You told me you work with Greencloaks.”

“I do, on occasion. Some of them are very good people. Others seek to dominate the world. The organization has been corrupt for a long time, and is getting worse. Listen, nobody knows more about the Devourer than the people of Stetriol — we were the first continent he conquered, all those years ago. We were grateful when the Greencloaks freed us from his evil rule, until they turned on us. Women, children — the Greencloaks tried to wipe out all life on Stetriol, as if the common people were responsible for what the Devourer had done. We had suffered under the tyranny of the Devourer, and then we suffered worse after the Greencloaks defeated him. Only by hiding did any of us survive.” Zerif’s dark eyes held Abeke captive. “The Greencloaks were ashamed of their actions and tried to hide the fact that Stetriol ever existed. For the most part, they succeeded. They removed it from the histories and from the maps. But not all the people in Stetriol perished. The survivors had descendants. General Gar is their king.”