“Then how will I find it?”
“That I cannot help you with.” Elang picked up his turtle’s reins, preparing to descend into the sea.
“Wait,” I called. “You promised his name.”
Elang’s back was to me, but he halted. After a long pause, he replied, “His name is Khramelan.”
Khramelan. My satchel shuddered against my hip, the pearl inside growing suddenly warm.
“Do not discount the mirror’s value,” said Elang, his back still to me. “It will not bring you to the Wraith, but it still holds great power.”
“Thank you.”
For once, he didn’t dismiss my gratitude. He stepped onto his turtle, flicking Kiki off its shell. He was about to dive into the sea when I blurted one last question:
“Why turtles?”
To my surprise, Elang actually replied. “They are solitary creatures, though they live in large groups. I find I have more in common with them than with humans—or dragons.”
“Their shells are hard,” I mused, “and their hearts are soft.”
That earned me a glower. “I have no heart.”
“You aren’t without heart. You wouldn’t have helped me if that were the case.”
“I helped you to get my mirror,” Elang said gruffly. His mismatched eyes narrowed. “Only by the miracle of the gods did you manage to succeed.”
“So I did,” I said. “I hope it shows you what you need to see. Have faith, Lord Elang. Your pearl is out there somewhere. You’ll find it.”
“I will,” he assured me, “and I will celebrate the day I never have to set foot in your waste-ridden land again in search of it.”
I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. Coming from the half dragon, this was as good a farewell as I would get. “That waste-ridden land is my home.”
Elang pulled his turtle’s reins. “You’d do well to remember this: your heart is your home. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere.”
And before I could say another word, he launched into the sea.
I watched until the ripples of Elang’s departure had vanished and the water went as still as before. Your heart is your home. I let the words sink into my memory. Until you understand that, you belong nowhere.
I turned to Seryu. “Your cousin isn’t so bad, for not having a heart. It makes me hopeful about the Wraith.”
“Then you’re deluded, Shiori’anma. The Wraith’s half demon. He’s a—”
“An abomination?” My shoulders fell. “They used to say that about Raikama too. All her life, she was a monster. First to the human world, which thought her a snake, then to herself, when she was cursed to wear her sister’s face.”
I swallowed, certain that there were plenty of people back home who thought me a monster now.
A cloud drifted over the sun, casting a long shadow upon the sea. I said, “Whatever the Wraith is—dragon or demon or monster—he deserves his pearl back. Same as Elang.” I swallowed again. “Will you help me find him, Seryu?”
Seryu said nothing. His face was completely inscrutable, which was unusual for my ever-expressive friend. When he caught me staring, he turned away abruptly.
“Get on my back,” he said curtly. “Let’s get you to shore before the fishermen see us. All this sun is starting to hurt my eyes.”
Seryu dove, but not before I glanced at the sky, just to confirm.
A sea of clouds still buried the dawn. There was no sun.
* * *
It wasn’t until I was wading ashore, bunching up the folds of my dress as I trampled toward the beach, that I noticed the sand in my hair.
Kiki landed on my head. We just got home. How is your hair so dirty already?
I dropped my skirt and crouched by the water to stare at my reflection.
“It’s not sand,” I realized. It was a streak of silvery white hair at my temple, no different from Raikama’s.
With a deep exhale, I blew it out of my face and patted my cheeks. Better a few locks of white hair than a fishtail or horns. Father would still recognize his only daughter. I just hoped the rest of Kiata would too.
When I’d left home, my country was on the cusp of spring. Now heat clung to the air, and my skin was sticky with humidity—a sign that we were well into summer.
I’d been gone for half a year.
My knees buckled at the realization. Six months, lost.
It could have easily been six years, or sixty, I reminded myself. When I looked at it that way, a laugh bubbled up in my throat. I was home. I’d won.
The wind threw Kiki up, and she squealed, flailing her wings. It felt like magic. It brimmed in the air, faint but stronger than before. As my cheeks tingled, Kiki and I dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Seryu shook his head. He’d shifted into his human form, but his hair was still green, darker in the sun than it had been underwater. “I’m starting to think I should’ve let you drown in the Sacred Lake.”
Still laughing, I sat up, digging my heels into the sand. “Then you would have missed out on a grand adventure, Seryu. And a wonderful friendship.”
“Your friendship has caused me nothing but trouble.” Seryu kicked at the sand. “Who knows what Grandfather will do to me when I return? He might cut off my horns. Or exile me from Ai’long.”
“Your mother wouldn’t allow that,” I replied. “She might take joy in tormenting me, but she cares for you. When you reached your full form, I swear she preened.” I offered him a slanted grin. “It must be an important rite of passage for dragons.”
“It is,” said Seryu. “Were you impressed?”
“Very. You don’t look like an eel anymore.”
His chest puffed out, just a little, with pride. “Then I guess it was all worth it.”
I stopped smiling. “You could stay here, you know. On land, with my brothers and me. We’d make you welcome.”
“I’d rather Grandfather turn me into a squid than live among your kind for the rest of my immortal life,” Seryu huffed. “And I’d rather choke on seaweed than watch you and that horse-trough boy make fish eyes at each other.”
“We don’t make fish—”
Seryu covered my mouth with a sleeve, silencing me. His snide expression had fled, and he lowered his arm. “I have to know,” he said quietly. “If not for him, did I ever have a chance?”
A lump swelled in my throat. I didn’t want to hurt him. “Takkan and I are connected by the strands of fate.”
I expected him to be jealous, but the corners of his mouth lifted. “Then I’ll have to find you when you’re reborn—before your strands have time to knot with his again.” His red eyes twinkled. “I only pray you won’t be a human again in the next life. Now that I’ve reached my full form, I’m far too majestic to stomach your world again.”