My demon sight took me far from the forest, to an army of thousands, all sitting erect in their saddles, weapons raised, emerald banners of a tiger sailing in the wind. Ahead was the Winter Palace, but the army had stopped just before the Jingan River. Something momentous was about to happen.
At the helm of the army rode the shansen, with Gyiu’rak beside him.
Her ruby eyes burned fiercely, and when my gaze found her she lifted her head, her whiskers perking up—as if she felt my presence.
Her mouth curved into a lethal smile. “Sister…you’re here. Just in time.”
I stiffened in shock. Why had my sight brought me here—where were Baba and Keton?
The deafening blare of a horn knifed the air, and I noticed the blackened sky, the burned structures and smoldering wreckage beyond the river. The destruction stretched on and on, an unending shroud of charred temples, houses, and trees. Fury choked me, yet I could not look away. The demon inside me was drawn to the destruction as much as I was repulsed by it.
“Demons near and far,” boomed the shansen, his voice speaking in unison with Gyiu’rak’s, “I summon you from the dark recesses of this world.”
I summon you.
The power of his words slammed into me, pulling me into a tide of darkness. I clutched at my head, unsure of what was happening.
“I have paid my blood price and bound Gyiu’rak to me,” the shansen continued. “Hear me and aid me. I will conquer A’landi and bring you back in glory.”
I summon you. Hear me and come to my aid.
The earth rumbled, my vision going in and out as the shansen and Gyiu’rak repeated their call. I tried to fight the summons, but my blood was blazing to answer, and my limbs began to fracture into smoke. My amulet glowed, and the power of my dresses held me in place, but I feared it would not be enough.
Another call from the shansen drew a scream from my lips.I summon you.
Like an invisible dagger, the words stabbed my chest, and I doubled over. I dug my nails into the dirt, to keep my flesh from scattering into smoke and shadow.
Come, Maia,beckoned Gyiu’rak, her blood-red eyes glittering in the smoke swirling around me.We have your father and your brother. They’re waiting for you.
I went still. My father and brother?
My sight burned, and I saw Baba and Keton, chained together, a pine board loaded over their shoulders. Keton struggled to march fast enough, and Baba could hardly bear the weight of his shackles. The walls I’d built around my heart crumbled when I saw them shuffle forward together as the soldiers bellowed for them to move faster.
“Can’t you see he’s an old man?” Keton yelled. “Let himgo.”
A soldier beat my brother’s shoulders with a thick lash. “Another word, boy, and those broken legs are what I’ll thrash next.”
Keton collapsed, but as Baba helped him up, my brother’s eyes shone with defiance.
“Don’t,” Baba warned.
“Does the shansen not have enough men that he has to abduct them from the emperor?” Keton said, his lip bleeding from the blow.
The soldier sneered at him. “Fool, they don’t want you two for soldiers.”
My brother’s brow furrowed. “Then?”
“You’ll find out. Once we reach the Winter Palace.” The lash cracked the air again. “Now walk!”
I blinked away the vision, my eyes stinging as if I’d rubbed them with salt. As everything came back into focus—my sight, my hearing—my heart sank. I knew what I’d seen just now hadn’t been a dream.
The shansen had my family. Baba and Keton…they didn’t even know why they’d been taken.
Answer the call, Maia,Gyiu’rak rumbled,or your family will pay.
What could I do?
If I went, I’d make the shansen stronger; I would become part of his demon army.
