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“I told you to leave,” she said. “The prince—”

“I’m not going to let you die,” I said.

She scoffed. “Adults are supposed to die for children, not the other way around.”

“I don’t want anyone to die,” I said, the threat of tears closing up my throat. “Not because of me.”

The Moon Alchemist opened her mouth to answer, but another pearl monster thundered across the courtyard. She spun around and hurled firestones at it before it could take a bite out of the River Alchemist. The monster burst into blue flames, illuminating the whole courtyard until it rushed into the bloody pond. The Moon Alchemist pulled out three stones, hurled them into the water where the monster flailed, then stomped her foot into the ground, sending quakes across the yard.

The pond dropped down as if the earth had cracked open. The pit was suddenly too deep for the monster to claw its way out of. I realized, for the first time, that I had only ever seen a fraction of the Moon Alchemist’s true power.

But it wasn’t enough.

Two more monsters leaped through nearby windows. One of them sank its teeth into the River Alchemist’s throat, silencing her scream as it bit down with a sharpsnap.

The Moon Alchemist spun around before I’d even realized the danger, and the next thing I knew, a pearl monster had plowed past me and tackled her. I stepped back for balance, but there was no ground beneath me, and I toppled into the pit.

My hands closed around a root on the wall of the pit and my fall halted abruptly, yanking at my shoulders. My feet dangled just above the trapped pearl monster, who hissed and swiped for my shoes. I remembered, with a sickening wave of nostalgia, how the Paper Alchemist and River Alchemist had pulled my shoes off when I’d dangled in the courtyard like this, and now both of them were dead.

I staked my knife into the wall and tried to use it for leverage, but it slid through the mud like cream. The branch I clung to creaked ominously and I clamped the hilt of my knife between my teeth so I’d have a free hand to fish through my satchel. With my hands so muddy, it was hard to tell the stones apart by touch alone, and I couldn’t see them from this angle.

“Zilan!”

The Moon Alchemist appeared at the edge of the pit, holding out a hand. I reached for her, my wet fingers sliding through hers.

“Give me your other hand,” she said, nodding to the one wrapped around the branch.

I hesitated, sinking my nails into her skin, not sure if she could truly hold my weight.

“Zilan, I’ll catch you,” she said. “Hurry.”

Before I could second-guess myself, I let go of the branch and grabbed her wrists with both hands. For a moment, I sunk in the wrong direction, my weight yanking her down. Then her grip tightened and she hauled me up over the edge onto solid ground.

The pearl monster laid in shards around her. I could only bear to look at what was left of the River Alchemist for a moment before biting my lip and turning away.

“We have to find the Empress,” I said. “We have to finish this.”

But the Moon Alchemist wasn’t standing.

She clutched her abdomen, panting, her face pale and beaded with sweat.

I took a step closer. “Are you—”

Blood gushed from her lips and she collapsed onto her side. I fell to my knees and rolled her onto her back. Vomiting blood meant organ damage. Maybe a skilled healer could have helped her, but I only knew how to help dead people.

“Don’t worry,” I said, my hands shaking as I pulled matted strands of hair from her face. “Don’t worry, it’s only internal damage, your body is still intact. I’ll bring you back, I promise. I just need to deal with the Empress first.”

She shook her head, more blood spilling past her lips.

“I can do it,” I said. “I promise, I’ll finish this and come back for you.”

“No,” she said, coughing. Her skin had gone papery white, her breaths fast. “Don’t bring me back.”

I stiffened. “What are you talking about?” I said. “Of course I’m going to bring you back.”

She gripped my wrist. “Why?” she said. “So that I can watch everyone I love suffer and die? Only to bring them back so they can watchtheirfamilies die?”

“Isn’t that better than death?” I said. “Isn’t anything better than death?”