“I see no quarrel,” Takkan replied. “I swore to protect my country, my king, my princess.”
“The princess is the bloodsake. For the good of Kiata, she must die. The sorcerer too.” She pointed her staff at Gen’s unconscious form. “Their magic is why the demons have awoken. It is unnatural. Forbidden by the gods! Only their deaths can seal the mountains once more.”
Her fervor roused the villagers, who crowded in closer.
This old woman’s no village grandmother, Kiki observed warily. Do you think she could be a…a…
A priestess of the Holy Mountains? I nodded grimly in agreement. She’s not alone, I replied. From the mob I picked out at least three fellow cultists—all with the same ashen paste on their cheeks.
I fixed my attention on the villagers. “Don’t listen to her,” I said, extending my palms in a gesture of peace. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
“Nothing to fear?” the priestess cried, echoing my words with a sneer. “Evil afflicts these mountains, which were sealed for a thousand years—until she started meddling. Should Shiori’anma release her demon army, they will kill our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers—our children! Kiata’s men will be condemned to an endless battle, for how can we win against foes that cannot die? Tell me, how can we have nothing to fear?”
The crowd roared in agreement.
“Bring her to me!” the priestess shouted. “Only her death can rid us of this evil!”
It was the command the villagers had been waiting for. They charged forward, rushing Takkan to get to me.
“Run, Shiori!” Takkan shouted as he fended off attacks from every direction. He didn’t wish to hurt the villagers, a sentiment that was not mutual. “Run!”
I did the opposite of run. I plucked Hasho’s daggers off my belt and slammed the hilts on someone’s head. I was lunging for another attack when Kiki yanked my hair, narrowly saving me from an arrow tipped in fire.
I didn’t get to thank her. The priestesses were nocking new arrows into their bows, and my heart leapt in alarm as another volley sliced the air.
Stop them, I said, summoning my magic. The daggers in my hands flew up, inspirited, and deflected the incoming arrows.
The priestesses calmly stepped forward and nocked their bows again. Their kind had tried to burn me alive once before, and I knew they wouldn’t give up easily. They knew that using my magic would tire me, and that Takkan alone couldn’t defend us from so many.
What were we going to do?
The next wave of fiery arrows arched high, and just as I was bracing for the worst, the pearl inside my satchel began to hum and tremble. Louder it grew, the sound amplified by the sudden groan that emanated from the mountains.
“LEAVE SHIORI’ANMA ALONE!” rumbled the wind, carrying the demons’ message across the forest. “SHE IS OURS.”
A tremor began in the mountains and reverberated all the way to where I stood. The trees swayed. One toppled in front of me, and as I staggered back, the villagers shrieked in terror.
The arrows in the sky whined to a halt, spiraling down upon the priestesses. As they scrambled, I grabbed Takkan by the hand. “Are you hurt?”
The swiftness with which he lifted Gen over his shoulder answered my question. He took my arm, linking it with his.
Then we fled.
* * *
We ran until we were deep in the forest, far out of sight of the breach. Once we were certain no one had followed, we took refuge in a grove marked by two fallen pine trees. There was a small pool nearby, and Takkan laid Gen beside the water, rinsing the boy’s face of blood while I sank onto a tree stump.
Of all the champions to swoop in and save us, it had been demons that had come to our aid!
Only because they want the pleasure of killing me themselves, I thought. I felt like a fish in Ai’long, saved from the sharks only to be slain by dragons.
“Are you all right?” Takkan asked. “You’re shaking.”
I was. “The priestesses…and the villagers. They nearly killed Gen…and you.”
“And you,” Takkan said quietly.
I was thankful my betrothed was not the type to gloat that I should’ve stayed in the palace. I would have.
I dug my heels into the dirt. “They’re right, you know,” I said at length. “People are dying because of me.”
“People are dying because of Bandur.”
“I’m the one who freed him,” I replied. “It’s my responsibility to find a way to seal him back in the mountains.”
Or you could leave Kiata forever, Kiki suggested. Radish Boy would go with you, I’m sure. He’d follow you anywhere in the world.
My face warmed, even though Takkan couldn’t hear the paper bird. I’d never ask that of Takkan, I chided her. And besides, if I’d wanted to hide, I would’ve stayed in Ai’long.
Well, you can’t do that anymore, quipped my bird. I doubt you’d be welcomed back—maybe not even in ten lifetimes.
Kiki wasn’t being helpful.
“I still have the pearl,” I said aloud, opening my satchel. “Its power is what sealed the mountains in the first place. Maybe I could use it to trap Bandur back inside.”
“Unlikely,” said Gen weakly. He was waking now, groaning as he propped himself up in a sitting position. “Curse the Sages, my nose is broken, isn’t it? Hurts like demonfire.”
Stop crying like your bones are shattered, Kiki chided as she hopped onto Gen’s shoulder. It’s only a fracture. Takkan’s already cleaned the worst of it.
Gen reclined against the log, pinching his nose with a handkerchief to stanch the blood. He let out a loud sigh of relief. “It’s just the bridge,” he said, waving away Takkan’s offer of help. “Nothing a few nights of healing sleep won’t fix. Wish I could say the same for that pearl.”
The Wraith’s pearl had emerged from my satchel, and it hovered shakily over my lap like a broken moon.
“It’s near its breaking point. Can’t you see?” Gen pointed at the crack in its center. “That was barely a scratch the last time I saw it.”
Shiori used it against the Dragon King, said Kiki. Nearly killed them both.
“Tragic,” said Gen under his breath. “It won’t have the strength to seal Bandur in the mountains. Not that you could have pulled it off, anyway. He’d have dragged you inside to feed his demon brethren the moment you got close.” He smirked. “Unless your loyal subjects killed you first.”
I grimaced. “Not everyone hates me.”
“Most do,” said Gen. The boy didn’t mince words. “Enchantress Heedi used to say humans are their own worst enemies. I’m beginning to understand what she meant.”