Stepping into the dome revitalized Seth. He had expected the atmosphere inside of a sealed structure to be stale and hot. Instead, it was the freshest, cleanest air he had ever breathed. Which made more sense once he beheld that the dome housed a verdant garden.

A sword in each hand, Seth watched Tess crouch to sniff an orchid. She stood, and for a moment, they took in the lush greenery together. Then Tess held out the Ethershard and pivoted until finding the maximum glow. “This way,” she said, leading them forward.

Strangely, the indoor garden seemed brighter to Seth than the direct sunlight beating down on the desert outside. Could his normal vision be returning? Shouldn’t the solid dome block all sunlight? Looking around the enclosed paradise of fruit trees, ferns, watermelons, pumpkins, other vegetables, shrubs, and flowering vines, Seth could identify no sources of light.

How was everything so vivid and bright? The garden existed in higher definition than the rest of reality, as if he had needed glasses his whole life and he was finally wearing the perfect prescription. Seth paused to stare at some shockingly red blossoms before Tess urged him on. The color spectrum was richer here, with nuances of hue more crisp and distinct than he had ever seen.

Glancing at the Unforgiving Blade, Seth noticed a dark aura around the edges, a dim corona of shadow. He moved the blade closer to his eyes, then held it at arm’s length. He had never noticed a gloomy halo like that before.

“The crystal is pointing at a lake,” Tess called from up ahead. “Or maybe at something in the lake.”

Seth caught up to his cousin. The body of water was more a pool than a lake, not much bigger than a basketball court. The water inside was abnormally clear and startlingly deep. Seth gazed down into an endless tunnel of pristine water, evenly lit until shrinking out of view.

“After all this time, a couple of kids found us,” a friendly male voice said from the far side of the pool.

Startled, Seth looked up to see a man with a close-cropped beard tromping around the pool toward them from the far side. His feet were bare, and he wore beige pants rolled up almost to the knees. His shirt was unbuttoned enough to show a portion of his moderately hairy chest.

“Is this the Source?” Seth asked.

“So the secret is out,” the man said.

“Hardly anyone knows,” Seth said. “You live here?”

“I’ve been sealed here for centuries,” the man said, coming closer. “A powerful spell raised a magical barrier around the Source and trapped me inside.” The man stopped a few paces away.

“No tunneling out?” Seth asked.

The man shook his head. “This whole area was enclosed within an invisible wall of energy. The barrier flashed red if you struck it. Nothing I tried could penetrate the barrier, aboveground or below. I gave up trying to escape. Then, not long ago, something changed. Without explanation, the wall of energy disappeared. Only the dome remained.”

“Seth cut through the dome,” Tess said.

“I noticed,” the man replied.

“Why didn’t the dome collapse with the rest of the barrier?” Seth asked.

“The dome was added later,” the man explained. “And it was connected to other magic. The rest of the barrier was generated by some object of enormous power.”

“Graulas sealed off the Source with the Wizenstone,” Seth said. “I had a history lesson in Humburgh.”

“Ah,” the man replied, taking a step closer. “Yes, that explains it. The biggest portion of the Ethergem. If you’re right, Graulas had it in his possession for a good while before he took action against the Source. Did something happen to the Wizenstone?”

“I cut it in half,” Seth said.

The man held out a hand to shake. “Then you were the person who made this place accessible.”

“Is he safe?” Tess asked.

“I mean you no harm,” the man said, holding up both hands innocently. “I know I look ragged, but I was once a friend to many. I am Konrad. I was once a defender of Selona.”

Seth stared. “Merek’s dad?”

“Do you know my son?” Konrad asked. “Is he well?”

“Yes,” Seth said. “I saw Merek earlier today. But Celebrant and his dragons are attacking Selona.”

“Truly?” Konrad asked. “No dragon was more ambitious than Celebrant. Did his sanctuary fall?”

“They’ve all fallen,” Seth said. “Celebrant has thousands of dragons under his command.”

“Those are sobering numbers,” Konrad said.

“The dragons just gained access to Selona,” Seth said. “They’re after the skull of Abraxas.”

“I can slay dragons,” Konrad said. “But not several at once. And nobody could stop a thousand. What brings you to the Source?”

“The Singing Sisters told me that coming here would be the only way to give my friends a chance to beat the dragons,” Seth said.

“You run errands for the Sisters?” Konrad asked curiously.

“I’ve run a couple,” Seth said. “It’s not my day job. My grandpa was the caretaker of a preserve called Fablehaven. Normally I try to protect the preserves. I used to really trust my instincts, but I end up making such a mess sometimes that I barely know what to think anymore.”

“Seth is still remembering who he is,” Tess said.

“I lost my memories, and I even ended up serving the Underking for a time,” Seth said. “Now I’m trying to figure out if I can really help anyone.”

“Never let your mistakes define you,” Konrad said. “What do the Singing Sisters want you to accomplish here?”

“I brought the pieces of the Ethergem,” Seth said. “They didn’t explain more.”

Konrad nodded pensively. “All the pieces of the Ethergem?”

“I collected them all,” Seth said.

Konrad raised his eyebrows. “Then you accomplished a feat I would have considered impossible.”

“What can I do with the pieces?” Seth asked.

“We will investigate the possibilities,” Konrad said.

“I’m Tess, Seth’s cousin,” Tess said. “I made the crystal glow when it pointed the right way.”

“The Ethershard would only show the way in the hands of an innocent,” Seth said.

“Innocence is a valuable commodity,” Konrad said. “You seem strained. Are you injured?”

Seth indicated his belly with the tip of the Unforgiving Blade. “The Demon King stabbed me with this dark weapon. And it also cut my leg.”

“An offspring of Raglamar,” Konrad said somberly. “You bear a grievous wound.”

“I feel a little better inside this dome,” Seth said.

“Naturally,” Konrad said. “You are at the Source. Look around you. Breathing this air and basking in this light invigorates.”

“Where is the actual Source?” Seth asked.

Konrad pointed at the pool. “You’re looking at it.”

“I pictured the actual Source brighter, like I’d have to squint to look at it,” Seth said.

“This is pure light,” Konrad said. “True light doesn’t blind. It reveals.”

“Everything is sharper and more vivid,” Seth agreed.

“Pure light casts no shadows,” Konrad pointed out.

As Seth looked around, he realized Konrad was right. He had no shadow. In the surrounding garden, no trunk, branch, or leaf made a shadow. It was part of what made everything so vivid. He had seen the phenomenon without naming it. “Weird.”

Konrad shook his head slightly. “Even after all these years, I’m not sure if the light passes through solids or if it somehow comes from all directions.”

“I think the light is thick, like syrup,” Tess said. “It seeps around everything.”

“Maybe,” Konrad said with a nod.

“I want to give the good guys a chance to save Selona,” Seth said. “Time is running out. What should I do?”

“Have you heard my story?” Konrad asked.

“Merek hit the essentials,” Seth said.

“How much do you know about my last battle?” Konrad asked.

“Against that guy called the Dragon?” Seth asked.

“The warlord was an actual dragon in human form,” Konrad said.

“Really?” Seth asked.

Konrad nodded. “That day of triumph earned me the enmity of several dragons and started me on the path to becoming a Dragon Slayer. I yearned to be a teller of tales more than I wanted to be a killer of monsters. But I am forever grateful I won the heart of the princess.”

“Where is the princess?” Tess asked excitedly.

“Princess Lilianna, my wife, has departed from this world,” Konrad said. “She took the best of me with her, I’m afraid.”

“Merek mentioned that you’re one of the undying,” Seth said.

“Left alone, I would never perish,” Konrad said. “Even if you struck me down with those swords, I would return. My wife, however, did not make the same choice I did. Lilianna lived an abnormally long life, but when she died, it was permanent.”

“I’m sorry,” Tess said.

“My wife got what she chose,” Konrad said. “Lilianna never wanted to live forever. At least not in this mortal place. Living without her has taught me that I do not want to live forever either. Not here.”

“How did she die?” Seth asked.

“The Dragon King Merazog killed her,” Konrad said. “Merazog understood the only way to really hurt me. I slew him for it, but the damage was done.”

“That’s terrible,” Tess said.

Konrad gave a nod of acknowledgment. He rubbed his knees. “I had a sacred trust to keep certain aspects of my story secret until somebody else learned about the Source. With you here, the time has come to share the complete version.”

“All right,” Seth said.

“While hunting the phoenix, I discovered this oasis,” Konrad said, his gaze faraway. “The phoenix was alive and nesting here. And I found someone else as well.”

“Who?” Tess asked.

“The Alderfairy,” Konrad said. “The original Fairy Queen. The renowned mother of all fairies. She had set aside her crown to serve as guardian of the Source. You have to understand, I was barely alive when I found this oasis. Dehydrated and malnourished, I crawled to the brink of the pond in desperation. The Alderfairy appeared as I reached for what I believed to be water.”

“It isn’t water?” Tess asked.

“It’s a substance called aether,” Konrad said. “The Alderfairy explained the consequences of drinking aether from the Source. One sip and I would join the undying.”

“That was why the Dragon couldn’t kill you in the duel,” Seth said.

“I had no guarantee that a taste of the aether would render death harmless to me,” Konrad explained. “Only the word of the Alderfairy. My donkey, Rozeltine, drank too, and I almost tested the magic by killing him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I pretended he died, though, to avoid giving away too much. Until the Dragon bested me, I had never died. When he buried his sword in my chest, I was worried that my death meant the destruction of my kingdom. It was a great relief when I came back. In the end, the Source worked as promised.”

“Everyone thought the feather brought you back to life,” Seth said.

“The phoenix feather has great power,” Konrad said. “With encouragement from the Alderfairy, I dipped all of my talismans in the Source. Contact with the aether heightened their power. But I survived the Dragon because I could not remain dead.”

“How does it feel to die?” Seth asked. “Is there relief?”

“It’s much like falling asleep,” Konrad said. “I’m not sure I really know, because I’ve never stayed dead. After my battle with the Dragon, I had new problems to face.”

“Where to bury him?” Tess asked.

“Well, I left the Dragon’s body with his army,” Konrad said. “I had decisions to make relevant to the Source. I didn’t want to live forever without my family. But I had given an oath to the Alderfairy never to divulge what I had found. The balance of light and dark magic in the world depended on keeping the Source hidden.”

“Did you keep the secret?” Seth asked.

“I never revealed I had found the Source,” Konrad said. “I told my wife and kids that I had found a magical fountain that could prolong our lives. I explained that by drinking from it, we would become undying. I elaborated that washing in liquid from the fountain would renew our youth. My wife chose to only wash with the fluid. As my children reached adulthood, they each elected to drink.”

“How did they get the fluid if you kept the Source a secret?” Seth asked.

“Were they blindfolded?” Tess wondered.

“I got permission from the Alderfairy to fill my waterskin in the Source,” Konrad said. “I brought the aether to them.”

“Were there conditions?” Seth asked.

Konrad pointed at him. “You know something about fairies. There were indeed provisions. The Source must remain in balance with the Void. Before any of us could drink the aether, the Alderfairy demanded we pledge to serve as agents of balance. We agreed. Our primary function has been to keep dragons from overrunning the world.”

“Have you slayed a lot of dragons?” Tess asked.

“I slew some,” Konrad said. “Gerwin, Magdalena, Nadia, and especially Merek killed many more than I dispatched. Some of my children helped train other Dragon Slayers. But time created a new problem. We tried to conceal our prolonged youth, but as the years went by, the people of Selona realized that while they aged, my family did not.”

“What did you do?” Tess asked.

“I returned to the Alderfairy and made a new deal,” Konrad said. “I wanted to share some of the benefits of the Source with my people. In return, my people would help the Alderfairy keep the balance. I dunked baskets of seeds in the Source. Then I watered crops and orchards with aether, carried to my kingdom in barrels hauled by me and Rozeltine. All who partook of those crops and that fruit became the first generation of Fair Folk.”

“The Fair Folk don’t live forever,” Seth said.

“No,” Konrad said. “They received other effects. The crops they consumed did lengthen their lifespans, increased their physical beauty, and gave most of them a magical ability or two. All who partook of my special harvest vowed to serve as agents of balance, which is why they were called the Fair Folk.”

“Did you grow more crops over the years?” Seth asked.

“No, that original harvest sufficed,” Konrad said. “The attributes of the Fair Folk were passed down to their children through heredity. The orchards I planted continued to yield fruit, but experience taught that consuming additional fruit had little effect.”

Seth pointed at the pool. “If I drink from the Source, will I live forever?”

“You would become undying,” Konrad said. “Not quite immortal, but as close as you can get in this world.”

“That is the last thing I want,” Seth said.

Konrad studied him. “You’ve been hurt.”

Seth choked back the reflexive laugh before it could turn to a sob. “You have no idea. And it doesn’t matter. I just want to help my sister. I want to give Selona a chance against the dragons. What should I do?”

Konrad approached Seth and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Start by setting down the swords. You won’t need them here.”

“Without Vasilis, I’ll collapse,” Seth said, crouching to lay the Unforgiving Blade on the ground.

“That may be true outside this dome,” Konrad agreed. “Not in here.”

Seth sheathed Vasilis. Konrad was right. Sheathing it did not diminish his strength.

“You’ve reached the Source and you need healing,” Konrad said. “Shall we find out what is possible?”

“Can it heal me?” Seth asked.

“I’ve seen the Source work wonders,” Konrad said. “In my experience, it heals no two people the exact same way.”

Seth peered down into the pool. “How deep is it?”

“That’s undefinable,” Konrad said. “This is a conduit into numberless realms of light.”

“Does anything ever come through?” Seth asked.

“Besides magical energy from loftier spheres?” Konrad asked. “Very rarely. I have never witnessed such an event.”

“I came through,” a melodic voice said from behind Seth. “Long ago, when the world was young.”