The dining room felt warmer than I remembered, maybe it was the home-cooked food, or maybe it was just the comfort of being around the people I cared about again.
The table was filled with dishes I'd grown up eating. Steve was already halfway through his second helping, mumbling something about this being the first real meal he'd had in months.
Grandma sat across from me, quiet but attentive, her eyes watching me as if trying to gauge just how much I had changed since the last time I sat here.
As we ate, I spoke, not all at once, but slowly, in between bites and memories. I told her about the strange realm I'd stumbled into.
I described how I'd met Lily, and how she'd led me to Azalea Nag—the woman who was once one of the greatest prodigy of the Nagas.
I told her how Azalea was alive. How the Ferans were connected to her past, and how her research had helped them gain their transformation techniques.
