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“Secure the dragon!” I warn the others. “This place… it’s no longer safe.”
All at once, the dragon stiffens—plummeting from the sky like a rock, slamming into the churning waters. Waves engulf me, the foaming current swallowing the Sun Dragon from sight. Water hits my face, a frantic panic seizing me. I’m not thinking as I dive into the waters, ignoring Jin’s furious shouts. Shenming is holding my sister back as she tries to rush toward me.
I kick desperately for a glimpse of the dragon, clawing through the relentless current that drags me farther away. Again and again, I dive to search, oblivious to all else—until strong arms band around my waist, yanking me out of the water, as we stand in the middle of the lake.
“Stop it, Yining—you’ll drown,” Jin says wrathfully, his hair and clothes drenched, his hands cupping my face.
My throat is hoarse, my eyes stinging as I writhe in his grasp. I swing around, seeing Shenming and Dian diving into the waters to search as well. I shove my fists at his chest. “Let me go. I must find him.”
His eyes blaze. “Not this way, Yining. Think. You have a bond with the Sun Dragon. Use it.”
I force myself to calm. His arms fall away as I close my eyes, grasping for that imperceptible pull, that fragile link. The power flares to life within—still there, unrelinquished. And I sense it then… the faint tug of awareness.
My toes curl against the gritty floor as I edge farther into the lake. Jin follows, not stopping me this time. As the bond snaps into place, I dive into the water with new certainty, deeper, until my fingers hit the bed, unearthing clouds of soil. My hands curl around something hard: the Sun Dragon.
Digging my hands in, I pry him loose, pulling him up—how light he feels—my heart shriveling as I swim back to the others. Jin calls for Dian and Shenming as they help me up on the bank. The creature lies unmoving in my grasp, just as he did in the Palace of Nine Hills. My arms curl around him as a nameless anguish seizes me.
Dian and Shenming examine the dragon, their hands trembling. “He’s not moving.” My sister’s voice catches. “He’s not… breathing.”
“What does this mean?” I ask stupidly. “What can we do?”
The silence reeks of despair. And then, where there used to be a ceaseless tug at the power inside me—there is now nothing. Terror punctures me. Tears fall from my eyes as I drop to my knees, the urge building to scream.
We failed the Sun Dragon. I failed him.
As Dian lays him down on the grass, she shivers uncontrollably. Shenming’s arms go around her, his own eyes damp with grief as she cries against his chest, loud racking sobs that tear at me too. Her anguish is mine; we are broken inside. The dragon’s body shimmers—then disintegrates abruptly into a scatter of light, dispersing into the dark… leaving a gaping hollow, and the cruel awareness that nothing will ever be right again.
The Sun Dragon is dead.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
THE LAKE IS STILL, THE CELESTIAL WATERFALL GONE DARK. The stars and moon, once bright, are hidden by clouds—the surrounding pillars of smoke vanished. All around, the flowers are withering, the dandelions bare as though a storm has swept through and torn away their seeds. In the heart of the lake, the rose has shriveled, crumpled petals clinging to the stalk like cinders—far worse than the wilted one in Thorn Valley. Moments ago, this place radiated life, now death cloaks it.
Jin is still holding me; I only notice now, numbed to all else. I sag against him, wrestling against the agony within. His presence is a comfort, a reminder there is life after this, others to fight for. But I pull away, bending to dig furiously in the ground to retrieve the Little Dragon’s bones. I won’t leave my friend in this accursed place that stole a dragon’s life. The bones are still warm from being buried as I slip them into my pouch.
“How did this happen?” Dian’s voice is hoarse from weeping.
“Were we deceived?” Rage shadows Shenming’s face. “Was the waterfall a hoax?”
“No,” I say with certainty. “This was the Waterfall of Eternal Night. It drew the dragon’s magic from me, it led me here. Something went wrong… but I don’t know what.”
“Treachery.” Jin’s tone is hushed as though wary of others listening, his gaze searching our surroundings.
A chill slithers down my spine. None among us here could have done such a despicable thing, yet Shenming stares at Jin, eyes thinned in speculation—
“Don’t look at me that way, Captain,” Jin says icily. “We revere the dragons in Thorn Valley. It was believed they lived among us too, long before they came to Mist Island. None of my people would harm them.”
A branch snaps, my gut twisting. We’ve been careless to remain, distraught by the Sun Dragon’s death. As we swing around to run, soldiers emerge from the surrounding trees, over a hundred or more. The formidable archers of the Pearl Ocean weave among them, bows drawn, their arrows aimed our way. Leading them is General Suilan, her pitiless gaze sliding across us as she unslings the bow from her shoulders and nocks an arrow.
From among the soldiers, Lady Shufang and Prince Zixin appear, clad in white. Hours ago, I left the prince, imagining it would be the last time I saw him. After what I said, he must be savoring this victory; he must hate me.
But not as much as I hate him, if he played any part in this.
“How did you find us?” Shenming asks General Suilan.
“We were watching you from the start,” she says dispassionately. “It soon became clear that instead of helping Prince Zixin, you were using him to secure access to our lands. You tried to use me to gain information, and I did the same to you—shadowing your steps, biding our time to learn what you sought. We even know of the guard that you drugged and left for dead.”
“We intended no harm to your people. We are helping the realm, your kingdom too, by standing against the Iron Mountains,” Jin explains.
