All of us slide. The skiff tilts. Stars, we’re going to capsize. I hang on as the horizon goes vertical.
Please, gods, see us through this.
We stay on the precipice of flipping. One heartbeat. Two. Then, degree by degree, the skiff lowers. But then we spin and the other side starts to rise. I feel queasy, and my fingers are as slick as when I nearly dropped Zeolin out the window. But I hold on with the scepter pressed between my body and the boat. We rock from one side to another. I can’t tell if we lost anyone just yet, and that is the worst feeling of all.
In a nauseating set of movements, and after what feels like a year of time, we finally make it up to the surface. I count. One, two, three, four. Sora, Aeri, Royo, and Fallador. And then there’s Gambria. We’ve all made it. We’re all drenched but floating in the harbor.
Everyone breathes hard, relieved to have survived. But we won’t stay alive for long if we stay here.
As soon as we level out, I hold the scepter out to Fallador. I take a knee.
“Fallador, my prince, wield us to Gaya,” I say.
He and Gambria exchange glances. Sora tilts her head like she didn’t hear me correctly, and Royo was simply not paying attention, focused solely on Aeri.
“Mikail.” Fallador looks down and to the side. Guilt clouds his expression.
We really don’t have time for whatever this is. I can’t seem to get the people I love to understand urgency outside of, apparently, drowning in a harbor.
My eyes dart all around, frustration making me choke the scepter. “What? What is it?”
“I can’t,” Fallador says sadly. He looks sorry for me, and I don’t know why.
“I can explain, Mikail,” Gambria says.
“All right, but can that be while you wield this?” I ask. “We aren’t safe here.”
The Weian navy is engaged with Khitanese warships, and some of the soldiers who’d been on the seafloor are flailing in the water, having survived the deluge. But we have been spotted by the boat nearest to us. They are turning their sails because our little skiff happens to have three of the five relics of the Dragon Lord. We won’t be safe anywhere other than Gaya. And even that will be a challenge until all of these rulers are dead.
“I can’t use it, either,” Gambria says with a frown.
What is she talking about? Why are they doing this now? Anger and impatience rise through me.
“What do you mean, you can’t?” I yell. “You’re the royal family of Gaya!”
“Oh, Adoros,” Gambria says, then purses her lips. “We aren’t. You are.”
Epilogue
Aeri
I wake up in another world. The last thing I knew, I was standing on a rock on the seafloor of Quu Harbor. But one look, and I can tell that this is definitely not Quu or Khitan. I’m in a boat, I think. But I’m on dry land.
For a second, I think I’m dead as I stare up at a gorgeous azure sky. The air is warm, and the breeze is gentle. Is this Elysia? But then there’s Royo’s concerned face looking down at me. He’s frowning, and my head is in his lap. If he’s unhappy, I must still be alive.
“Good, you’re up.” Royo moves away from me, sliding on the bench, and then he climbs out of the boat.
Definitely not in paradise.
Confused, I sit up quickly, then put my arms out to steady myself. I’m not sure how long I was out, but my body aches and my head spins. Then I remember what I did. It doesn’t feel real, but there is the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord on my hand. I killed Bay Chin and General Salosa by turning them into statues. Then I wanted to sink the boats belonging to my father and the Weian king. But all I remember is numbness like I’d never felt radiating through me until I passed out. And Royo saw me do it—turn men into gold without touching them, which I couldn’t possibly do with only the ring.
“Wait, where are you going?” I ask.
Royo stops, his shirt rippling in the sea breeze and his shoulders tense. He turns and faces me. “You lied to me again.”
He’s angry, but he’s not staring at my face. He’s looking at my chest. Or my neck.
I look down, and my armor is gone. And there, exposed, is the amulet burned into my skin, the chain long gone.
