My heart plummets.
I’ve lost sight of her.
Calling her name proves disastrous. Water rushes into my lungs, the heavy taste of salt burning my tongue and throat. I’m dizzy, breathless.Drowning. The longer we spend in the icy sea, the more the colors of the world begin to drain away. It’s my duty to see my friends to safety, but how am I supposed to do that when I can barely save myself?
So this is why it’s called the Court of Despair. A man only has so much fight in him. And neither strength nor bravery is any match for the wrath of the open sea. At the whims of the powerful current, defeat finally claims my heart, drowning out the final inklings of my hope.
Something below grips my ankle.
It yanks with so much force I fear it will tear my whole leg from my hip. There isn’t time to take a full breath before my head is completely submerged, water rushing into my nose, clogging my ears, stinging my eyes.
Despite my blurry vision, I can see them—thousands of souls lost to the bottom of the sea, doomed to a perpetual drowning. Their arms reach upward like floating weeds, latching on to us as would starved parasites. They claw at my arms, snatch my hair, wrap their elbows around my throat; all in the hopes of pulling themselves up to the surface.
Instinctively, I reach for one of my remaining weapons. The current is too strong, however, washing them away before I can grasp it. I’m running out of time. Out of air.
There’s something peculiar in the water with us. It isn’t like any of the other desperate souls trying to use me as a stepping stoneto the surface. Only a few feet away, I see the figure of a young man who seems strangely… at peace. He makes no effort to swim or struggle. He has given in to his sorrows, allowed his despair to swallow him whole. When I catch sight of his bright white eyes, I suddenly understand who he is.
A star god. The one tasked with governing this forsaken place. It seems he’s resigned himself to his seat in Hell.
Something grabs me by the collar. At first, I fear it’s yet another one of the damned and forgotten souls, but then comes a sharp scrape along the nape of my neck. I twist just enough to see a pair of fangs, along with six obsidian eyes staring back at me. Yue’s managed to nab Wen, Sooah, and I with her teeth. With incredible strength, she kicks and bats at those standing between us and air.
The four of us breach the surface with bone-rattling gasps. It’s as much a relief as it is painful, burning all the way down my throat and into my searing lungs. The current is still strong, our muscles cramping with the frigidity of the water. The souls of Hell continue to try to drag us down with them, but Yue fights—against our enemies, against the sea itself. She turns her head and throws us onto her back, freeing up her mouth to bite and maul.
“Hang on!” she yells.
I cling to her fur despite my swollen fingers and water-logged muscles. The distant shore is still several li out, and this wretched trial shows no sign of ending. But Yue doesn’t give up. She swims and swims and swims, her head tilted up awkwardly to keep her snout in the air. Sooah, Wen, and I beat back any stray soul who attempts to touch her, combat reduced to nothing more than our fists. We won’t let them harm her.
There are moments when I think we might be done for. Yue’s pace slows, her breathing frantic and shallow. But the seconds drag into minutes, and minutes into a near hour. I’m impressed by her endurance, but my heart twists knowing she can’t possiblylast much longer. I stroke her fur, though whether it’s for my own reassurance or hers, I cannot say.
Blessedly, and not a second too soon, I finally see the shore and the imposing red walls of the sixth Court of Hell.
Yue hauls us onto dry land with slow, arduous steps, collapsing onto her side with a wheezing cough. I’m quick to kneel at her side, water dripping from my hair and clothes. She trembles violently, the rapid rise and fall of her rib cage alarming.
“Easy, Fox,” I say hurriedly, pressing my ear to her chest to listen to her heart. It drums so hard and fast that I can hardly distinguish each individual beat. It’s going to give out at this rate. “You have to calm down.”
She makes a noise, almost like she’s trying to saycan’t, but the word doesn’t fully form.
Not knowing what else to do, I lie down next to her, placing Yue’s head so that it rests upon my arm. I gingerly stroke the fur behind her ear, press my nose lightly to her muzzle. I don’t mind the sight of her jagged teeth.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, staring into her strikingly deep eyes. “You were magnificent, Yue. Everything’s going to be alright. Justbreathe.”
It’s no small relief when I feel her pulse begin to slow, her ragged breaths eventually coming under control. Yue’s shivering, however, does not stop—I fear she’ll succumb to exposure.
Sooah lowers herself onto her knees and lies down behind Yue’s arched back. With a cautious stroke of her hand over Yue’s fur, Sooah settles in with a sigh. Wen sits next to Yue in a similar fashion, his back pressed up against her matted belly.
When I shoot them a questioning look, Sooah answers,She kept us warm once. We’ll return the favor.
It’s unclear how long the four of us lie there together, exhaustion having carved away at what little we have left. The calmthat blankets us is more soothing than sunshine after weeks of earth-moving storms. But I keep an eye on Yue’s condition. Her eyelids droop heavily until she can keep them open no more.
“We can’t stay here,” Wen says, breaking the silence. “The Maskmaker’s army’s well on the way.”
I glance down at my palm. The shortcut Kelai spoke of is close, a servant’s corridor somewhere near the outer perimeter of the sixth Court of Hell. Nothing short of a miracle, frankly. Even if the Maskmaker knows his way through Hell, we should be able to beat him to the gates.
I look back at Yue, sound asleep at last. We’ll be cutting it close, but I’m sure we can spare at least an hour for her sake. Wen is right, of course, that we can’t stay here out in the open. We need to find shelter, stay out of sight until we’re ready to move. It’s simply a question of how to move Yue without disturbing her. Even with our combined strength, Sooah, Wen, and I can’t carry Yue in her fox form.
An idea occurs to me.
With a heavy exhale, I reach for the boy’s mask tied to my belt, setting it down on my lap so that I can smear the painted surface. Using my sleeve, I wipe the porcelain clean, surprised at how easily the ink falls away. I reach for the Maskmaker’s brush next, unsure how to wield the magic within.
