“I need you awake, silly.” I lifted Kiki by the wing, setting her on my shoulder as I hopped onto Seryu’s back. I pressed a kiss on my bird’s beak, then tapped Seryu’s head to get his attention.
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” I said.
“A mistake you won’t make again,” he replied. “I know.”
He hooked an arm around Gen’s statue. “Hold on to my horns.” The color of his scales began to change, blending in with the green and yellow seagrass below. “If we’re going to outswim Grandfather’s sharks, this isn’t going to be an easy ride.”
I gripped Seryu’s horns, and Kiki dove into my hair, holding on for dear life. With a low roar, the dragon ripped through the sea, making for Elang’s castle in the West.
The Westerly Seas were colder. Grayer too, the farther we traveled from Nazayun’s palace. Sprawling coral forests dwindled into skeletal sponge beds, and all I could see in any direction was a graveyard of rock and bone. It was hard to believe this was still the dragon realm. Everywhere I looked, a pall clung to the water, leaching it of all vibrancy and life.
Finally, Seryu dove into a chasm between two cliffs. The walls were studded with round stones so unremarkable I didn’t give them a second glance.
Until they started to move.
Round marbled eyes peeked out, and what I’d taken for stones turned out to be—
“Turtles,” Seryu said as the creatures skittered to life. “Elang’s guards.”
Guards! Within seconds, the turtles grouped, erecting a high wall to protect the fortress ahead. The battle turtles Elang had brought to the palace had swum with vicious speed, but to see them rapidly stacking upon one another and turning their shells out to face us took my breath away. Not even my father’s best regiment could work that quickly and precisely.
My awe was exceeded only by my distress. “I always thought they were gentle and slow.”
“Gentle and slow?” Seryu huffed a laugh. “Slow on land, perhaps, but in the seas they’re faster than sailfish, and their tempers run hotter than your festival firecrackers. Step on the wrong shell, and you’ll be spinning so fast you won’t need an elixir to forget who you are.”
He lifted his tail high and slammed it down on the rock. Once…Twice…
In response, a legion of spears flew out from between the turtle shells. Their sharp tips rushed toward Seryu’s heart and my throat, halting within a hair’s breadth of skewering us.
Irritation bubbled in Seryu’s voice. “Let me through, Elang.” He held out the pewter scale Lady Nahma had given him. “I’m here to call in a favor.”
The spears, tips still angled dangerously close to my throat, crept forward.
“Cousin, I know you’re listening.” Seryu folded his arms over the spears, as though they were a balcony railing. “Open the gates. It’s against your honor to renege on a favor, and I call in Lady Nahma’s.”
Silence ensued, testing Seryu’s patience. Finally, the turtles moved, creating the thinnest crack in their formation. Behind them, chiseled into the flat edges of a cliff, was Elang’s castle.
There were no gleaming spires, no grand marble pillars or black crystal gateways. Its roofs were brilliantly camouflaged into the mountain, and its towers were hewn of unassuming gray stone, easily passed over.
I liked it.
Elang was perched on a ledge, his silhouette wreathed in darkness. He’d been watching us this whole time, and he shot down as we approached.
His silver scales blazed, and his mismatched eyes narrowed with displeasure. The strain in his voice hinted that he had not fully recovered from his injuries: “Yonsar Castle does not welcome krill.”
“Krill?” I repeated.
“The stuff whales and shrimp eat,” Seryu spat. “Also another name that dragons call mortals. Humans, usually.”
“Take her away,” ordered Elang. “Her stench has already infiltrated my castle. It will be days before we are rid of it.”
“Stench?” I said hotly. “You’re half human yourself.”
“My nose is dragon.”
“Looks human to me.”
If Elang’s demeanor had been cold before, it turned glacial now. “The mollusks have better manners than you. Of all the mortals in Lor’yan, I thought my cousin would have chosen someone with better bearing.”
He flicked up his chin, and the sea threw me back to the gate of turtles.
“Wait!” I shouted, kicking Gen off Seryu’s back. The statue rolled until it landed just before the dragon lord.
The water stilled. “What is he doing here?” Elang demanded.
“You know him?” I asked.
From the way the half dragon’s expression darkened, he did.
Curious.
“He’s been turned to stone,” I went on. “Lady Nahma told us you could help. Please. He’ll die if you don’t do something.”
“It’s against dragon law to refuse the invocation of a favor,” Seryu reminded his cousin. “Even if it’s for a human.”
“It’s also against dragon law to harbor a wanted criminal,” countered Elang. “Especially if it’s a human.”
As he spoke, a swirl of gray mist piled high in the far distance, making its presence known with a low droning hum.
“They won’t find her if you let her inside,” said Seryu. “I know you take pains to live your life in isolation, cousin. But are you so far removed from us that you’re afraid of a little search storm?”
Elang grimaced. “Get inside before I change my mind.”
The interior of Elang’s castle was brighter and warmer than I expected. Rich purple banners hung from the walls, and floating shell sconces illuminated the entrance hall, which was framed by structures of green coral and rich panels of sunken wood. A surprising blend of land and sea.
Elang gave no tour of his home, but a pair of turtles—smaller and daintier than the gigantic guards—appeared, carrying Gen on their backs. We followed as they sped down a maze of hallways, stopping eventually to lay him upon a marble bench in a windowless room. Kiki sat on the boy’s forehead, her beak wrinkled with worry. He isn’t breathing.
I swallowed. “Is he dead?”
“Not yet,” Seryu said. “If he were, Elang wouldn’t be upholding Aunt Nahma’s favor.”
Elang didn’t deign to reply. He tore off his white cloak, the same one he’d worn as defense against Nazayun. It glowed as he blanketed Gen’s body with it.
“The cloak is enchanted, isn’t it?” I observed.
“Most things in Ai’long are,” responded Seryu. “The cloak’s silk is stronger than any armor, and the lining will heal most flesh. It’ll keep the boy alive while Elang prepares a healing potion.”