Page 48 of Elemental Evolved

"I can," Kai replied. "I don't know that I could make the flight carrying one of those big assholes." He jerked his chin toward where Finn and Griff were standing.

Finn gave Kai a mock scowl. "What are you trying to say, Kai?"

"That I haven't shifted this much in a long time and am out of practice, especially when carrying someone else as well," he stated, taking all the fun out of it.

"Fine," Dres and Niall said simultaneously, which made me chuckle.

"Let's go." Griff was truly scowling as he stood there drenched in water that I hadn't even realized was spraying up the side of the mountain and into the temple.

We all took off with our assigned partners and flew over the rings of Atlantis. The beauty of it was astounding. The water was blue again, or at least I thought so. It didn't look as dark as we'd seen it last. I also couldn't see any of the floating shapes of the sea beasts, so I was hopeful that they'd been taken care of somehow and that their spirits had found the peace they deserved.

What I could see were mountains in the distance. Ones that definitely hadn't been there before.

As we landed on the outskirts of the city, some people screamed and fled, and others just gawked, but we were able to make our way to the castle without issue. Someone must have warned the queen that we were coming because she was standing in the large hall with some of her advisors and appeared to be waiting for us.

"Your Majesty," I said as I bowed at the waist.

"Goddess," the queen replied, dropping into a low curtsey.

I snorted and immediately felt bad. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You were the key. I assume you have completed the stabilization of the realms, which makes you a goddess to me. You have done something that no other individual could, no matter how much power or magic they had. Do not be modest." She rose from her curtsey, and all the advisors that were present bowed quickly before straightening.

"Would it be possible to get some rooms for the night?" I asked.

She nodded. "Of course. Rest, and we will catch up tomorrow." With a couple quick words to some of the castle staff, we were escorted to the same rooms we'd used previously. In some ways, it almost felt like coming full circle.

Exhaustion hit me hard as soon as we walked into the room, and I barely made it to the bed. When I woke, it was to a surprised grunt from the other room. I got out of bed, ignoring the muffled protests from Dres and Finn, who had apparently fallen asleep with me, and made my way toward the other room, pulling on someone's shirt as I went.

What I saw when I opened the door was not what I'd expected in the least. A dragon the size of a Great Dane stood there.

"Hello," I choked out as I took in the dragon and a surly early morning Kai on the other side of the room. "Can we help you?" I pulled the door shut behind me since I didn't know what state of dress or undress the guys were in.

Thank you.A youngish voice sounded in my head.

"For what?"

For saving us. Uniting the realms has given us a place to live. I wanted to say thank you for that and for saving the hatchlings. Your work and empathy toward us have not gone unnoticed.

"Okay, um, you're welcome." Before I could say anything else, the dragon turned and walked out of the door, catching it with its tail to pull it shut on the way out. "How the hell did it get in here?"

"Asking the wrong person there, princess." He shrugged, and I walked over to meet him by the window. Looking out, I could see the ocean; it was the same crystalline blue that it had been the first time I'd seen it, which made my heart happy. Movement drew my attention away, and I saw the others getting up as well, shuffling in to see what was going on.

"Apparently, the dragons are arriving," I said quietly as I saw a few twirling about in the sky over the water. "They've left their own realm and have joined yours, I mean, ours."

"One stopped by to thank Tessa," Kai grunted.

The six of us stood there and looked out at the world. It was different now. All four realms were joined. If I understood it right, that meant that we could travel to all of them without needing portals or anything like that. It also made me worried that the rulers would start jockeying for who controlled everything.

That was a problem for another day and hopefully another person. All I wanted was to be with my guys, living, loving, and celebrating each other as much as we could.

EPILOGUE

Three Months Later

Tessa

When we got up that morning, the guys had been acting super weird. In fact, they'd been weird for weeks now. At first, I just put it down to the stress of traveling around. We were one of five groups mapping the newly combined realms and wanted to ensure we got everything right.