I stabbed the man attempting to jump Kuro, then tripped another who ran at me. A third bandit locked me in close combat, and I managed to slit his throat, but not before taking a long gash to the arm. Sweating with pain and adrenaline, I steadied my left wrist on the rock and gestured frantically to Kuro. He raised his blade in the air just as an arrow came flying toward him from behind. I could tell him to duck, I realized, but then I would be no closer tofreedom. And this time, with the majority of the bandits upon us, we would not make it.
Squeezing my eyes shut in a moment of weakness, I did not see the arrow embed itself in Kuro’s shoulder, but I heard his howl of agony. Still, he did not waver as he brought his dagger down on my manacle, smashing it to pieces.
Qi and lixia coursed through me—yin and yang, dark and light. All at once, the world opened itself to me. I screamed in pure exhilaration as I opened my arms wide and brought the marsh to life. The sleeping tides pulled out from under the bandits like quicksand, and I watched and laughed as men stumbled, fell,drowned. Their screams echoed across the vast plain, and all the while the waters rose and fell upon them, as turbulent as ocean waves caught in a monsoon storm.
My vision flickered in and out, but I ignored it, my bloodlust overcoming my fear. There was one man remaining—one man who had somehow shielded himself against my lixia. I felt the small irritation like a kitten’s scratching. Turning, I caught sight of the spirit summoner, his eyes yellow as he pointed at me. Birds of prey obeyed his command, diving toward me with their talons out. I used the rain to divert their path, sending them whirling back into the sky, before narrowing my focus on the lone summoner. I could feel the itch of his lixia, like a tiger sensing the nibbling of a rat. With a savage smile, I contorted my elemental threads to match his—then infiltrated his mind.
“Who sent you?” I asked, and in the sound of my voice, I heard the echo of Qinglong’s. I sensed the strangeness—that I should’ve felt fear. But in my lixia-addled state, I felt only dizzying elation.
“I-I’m not sure,” he stuttered. I narrowed my eyes at him, focusing as the world around us dimmed. “Old Gu mentioned something about the big man. The…rebel leader. He gave us the tip-off—”
He choked, blood sputtering from his mouth before he fell to his knees. Behind him, Kuro had slit his throat.
“Impressive,” said Kuro, inclining his head toward me in a mock bow. “I barely had to lift a finger.”
It took me a moment to realize what he was saying. As I stared in numb shock, I saw that all the bandits were dead. I had killed them all.
I let out a gasp of panic as, all at once, the fight left me. I swayed, struggling for balance, before collapsing to my knees in the mud. My sight went out like a snuffed candle as my body shook from lixia withdrawal, and I only had time to bend over before I vomited my guts out onto the river weeds.
I clutched my head in my hands, trying not to hyperventilate.Qi gong, remember your qi qong.But my control had deserted me, and try as I might, I could not bring air into my lungs.
Without my vision, the world spun around me, and I felt as though raindrops were flying into the sky. I was too weak to rise, but I felt the presence of another, his boots thudding toward me.
“The rebel leader,” the bandit had told me. “He gave us the tip-off.”
I was not safe, I reminded myself, my hands clenching into fists. I needed to defend myself—to fight—
But I could barely summon the strength to raise my head, much less stand. “You…you set me up,” I said numbly, as Kuro stood over me. “Was this your plan all along? To wear me out, then kill me yourself?”
I felt him squat beside me. “My dear,” he said. “Didn’t I say we were friends?”
“Then…” I squinted at him. I could make out faint outlines once more, but his face was barely visible through the rain. “Why?”
His smile grew distorted in my vision. “What can I say? I’ve always wanted to see the power of a Cardinal Spirit summoner.” Heleaned in and I flinched. “It was better than anything I could’ve imagined.”
He’d used me. He’d used me like a prized animal, as nothing more than mindless entertainment. Every death today had been unnecessary, serving no more purpose than Kuro’s amusement. I coughed, tasting blood in my mouth.
“Let’s get you bandaged up,” he said, ignoring the arrow sticking out of his own back. He pulled out swaths of clean linen from his bag and wrapped them generously around my wounds before turning to his own injuries. I half expected him to ask for help, but instead, he gave them only a cursory inspection.
“Ready?” he asked, to my surprise. There was an arrowhead still embedded in his shoulder.
“You’re not going to…”
“Are you willing to dig it out?” he asked, arching a brow.
I expelled an angry breath. I could not have resented him more in that moment—for using me, and then guilting me into helping him. But who knew what blood loss he’d suffered, and if he died now, his death too would be on my hands. Hadn’t I caused enough death today?
“Turn around,” I ordered stiffly. He squatted beside me, saying little as I cut the shaft and dug the arrowhead out of his shoulder, wincing at how deep it had penetrated the flesh. This would take months to recover from.
“What about your mother?” I asked. “Does she actually live here?”
“I don’t have one,” he said. “She left when I was a child.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “For all I know, she could be living out here.”
I shook my head, too weary to hold on to my anger. “Done,” I said, sitting back on the rock.
“Can you stand?” he asked, holding out a hand.
Burying my pride, I clung to his arm as I tried to pull myself up. But my knees gave out, and the attempt left me dizzy and nauseated. My old shoulder wound from the war throbbed painfully, a familiar ache that always flared when I reached the brink of exhaustion.
