A violent wind stirs, whipping past us—a wind laced with shadows of the Kingdom of Night.
“Together, then,” I say to Hào’yáng, and I summon my spirit energies. An iridescent cloud forms at my feet, and I rise as Hào’yáng kicks off with a burst of qing’gong that sends him vaulting onto the rooftops.
The demon queen stands at the top of the marble steps, framed by the palace doors and exuding darkness as though the night warps around her.
Hào’yáng and I alight across from her on the open marble walkway. Lining the sides of the walkway are alabaster pillars with carvings of golden dragons twined around them: the symbol of the Kingdom of Rivers’ imperial lineage and a commemoration of the Azure Dragon, who gave life to this realm.
Sansiran tips her head to watch us, the garnets flashing in her hair. “At last, Crown Prince,” she croons, “we meet face to face.”
Hào’yáng grips the hilt of Azure Tide. Power rolls off him, beneath which flows a decade-long current of anger. “You may have forgotten my face, but I haven’t forgotten yours, Demon Queen.”
Sansiran gives a delighted laugh. “Ah, yes. Nearly ten years ago, was it, mortal prince, when I killed your family?”
I shift my sword in my hands. My spirit energies burn, their lights writhing like flames beneath my skin.
Hào’yáng’s voice, however, is steady. “Your memory is as good as mine, Demon Queen. But you made the mistake of leaving me alive. From a single seed, a forest springs.” His mouth curves in a triumphant smile.
“Yes, and now I’ve come to clean up the petulant little seed that has slipped through our fingers all these years,” Sansiran says, narrowing her gaze. “You’ve been quite the annoyance, Crown Prince. With you still alive, the throne remainscontested and my son unable to secure his position in this realm.” As sudden as an arrow, her stare pins me. “And now the mortal girl turned immortal; the halfling with a claim on both realms. I admit, you have some value yet to me, for the sole reason that you could offer my son a link to the Kingdom of Skyandthe Kingdom of Rivers…and my son—my foolish, stupid son—for whatever unfathomable reason, believes himself in love with you still.”
The air shifts and the shadows move behind Sansiran.
Heemerges, standing tall behind his mother. His face, once so expressive with that wicked grin, is devoid of emotion; his eyes, once dancing with delight and so alive, are vacant. Yù’chén stares down at me, looking every bit the heir to the Kingdom of Night.
“If the Crown Prince wishes to face me, then I shall end his life by my own hands,” Sansiran purrs. “My son will deal with you as he sees fit, immortal halfling.” Her gaze snaps to Yù’chén, her voice suddenly as sharp as a blade. “Capture her. If you fail to bind her to you again, Iwillkill her this time.”
Yù’chén moves—so quickly that even with my enhanced senses, I fail to catch him. One moment, he’s at the palace entrance behind Sansiran; the next, he is at my side. His sword plunges toward me in a flash of crimson, and I lift mine to block, barely in time. The strength of his blow rattles my teeth and bones. I stumble away inelegantly and catch myself—just as his second attack comes.
I dive to one side as his sword comes down. With a crack like a whip, the marble walkway splits beneath the force of his blade; stone flies through the air, raining down around us.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Hào’yáng moving toward me.
Sansiran strikes.
Hào’yáng leaps back as the force of Sansiran’s power hits where he stood half a heartbeat ago. Rubble erupts from the spot; when the dust clears, the marble is black, as though burned.
A trickle of blood winds down Hào’yáng’s temple. His sword radiates a turquoise glow that seems to light the skin of his hands and face.
As Sansiran closes in on him from the front, there comes movement to hissides.
Two massive shadows peel off from the pillars. At first, I have the illusion that the dragon statues are moving—but when I make out the figures, my stomach sinks with cold fear.
Two of the Four Perils emerge, one on each side of Hào’yáng. I recognize them: Qióng’qí and Táo’wú, the very hellbeasts that destroyed Xi’lín.
I move toward him—
Yù’chén steps in my way. The garnet on the hilt of his sword flashes the color of blood; his expression is as cold and unfeeling as death as he stares at me. For the first time since I’ve known him, I see him—truly see him—as what he is.
A demon.
There is nothing left of the man I knew.
I raise my sword again. “Finally showing your true colors?” I’m slightly out of breath.
He says nothing.
As the hellbeasts and Sansiran spring their attack on Hào’yáng, I summon my spirit energies. I surge forward on my iridescent cloud—
—only to ram into a wall of darkness.
