Page 22

When the walls stopped whispering and the water tasted like ash, I knew the storm was over.

By the next morning, the turtles had dislodged themselves from the castle.

They floated amid the wreckage, hanging like a constellation of sorrows.

Quietly they crooned a low song and beat their shells to mourn the fallen.

Elang was in a grim mood.

He didn’t even acknowledge me when I found him, clearing rubble alone in the garden.

He looked like he’d been there for hours; dust and sediment muddied his tunic, and his hair, usually swept into a tidy knot, was matted against his back, clinging to the silvery-blue ridges of his spine.

I tried not to shiver as I trudged toward him.

Outside my room, the water was as frigid as snow.

It was still thick, too, and I opened my umbrella to shield myself from falling debris.

“Dumplings?” I offered, slightly breathless as I crouched beside Elang.

“Kunkoi brought them last night, but they’re still chewy.”

Elang didn’t look at me.

“You shouldn’t be out here.”

He sounded tired.

I returned the dumplings to my pocket and shuffled closer to him.

“I’m sorry about the turtles,” I said softly.

“Can I help?”

“You aren’t needed here.” His yellow eye was cloudier than I’d seen before.

“Go back inside.”

He turned to a pile of fallen boulders and placed his palm upon the largest one, his face contorting in concentration.

I watched the rock shrink, becoming grains of sand.

When it was done, he let out a shaky exhale and gripped his left shoulder, as if he was in pain.

Then he swept aside the rubble until he found the next boulder, and he repeated the enchantment.

“Is your shoulder all right?” I asked.

“I’ve seen it bother you before.”

A grunt.

“It’s nothing. An old wound.”

“From the jellyfish? I could look at it for you—”

“That won’t be necessary.” He started to motion a turtle over to escort me inside, but I moved closer to him, undaunted.

“I had a vision yesterday.”

Finally he spared me a glance.

“What was it?”

My hands were half-frozen.

I breathed to warm them before unrolling my painting.

“Look here, Shani thinks this might be the Western—”

“The Fold,” he finished for me.

His jaw locked when he saw the blood.

“You ought to return inside. There are rocks falling, and the currents are unpredictable.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

He put his hand over mine.

Anyone looking on would think we were being affectionate; they wouldn’t see Elang firmly nudging me toward the castle.

“It’s a vision of your future. If you stay put, it won’t come true.”

Simmering with frustration, I folded the vision back into my pocket.

Meanwhile, Elang was still turning rocks into sand.

It took me a moment to realize he wasn’t just clearing rubble.

“What are you searching for?” I asked.

It’d been only days since we’d met, but I was starting to learn the clockwork of his two faces, to read the narrowing of his mismatched eyes and the brackets that formed around his mouth when he left words unsaid.

The dragon side was less good at hiding its emotions, I found.

The vibrance of his scales was muted, his pupil constricted.

Something was on his mind.

“Elang?”

“Mailoh is missing,” he said at length.

“We haven’t seen her since last night.”

I felt like I’d been punched.

My voice crawled out of my throat: “I’ve got to help.”

“There is already a search party,” Elang replied.

“Caisan’s brought his best scouts.”

“Let me—”

“There’s nothing you can do. You can barely swim, and your human flesh is prey to the cold. It would be better if you went back inside.”

Whatever I was going to say shriveled up in my throat.

Behind him, a group of turtles appeared in the near distance, circling the castle perimeter.

Seeing them made my chest tighten.

Mailoh had a daughter, I remembered.

A young daughter who had been sent away from Yonsar.

I had been in her place once.

I hadn’t even known that Baba was missing—until it was too late.

“Have you tried looking beyond the canyons?” I asked Elang.

“Yes. Now go in—”

“What about the Western Fold?”

Elang could tell what I was thinking.

“ No one is permitted there, and that includes you.”

“But Mailoh could be—”

“It isn’t safe,” he said, cutting me off.

His shoulders squared; this wasn’t easy for him either.

“We’ll find her once the sea has settled. I’ll not risk any more lives.”

It was the hardest thing, dragging my eyes away from the dark cliffs beyond the castle and making myself nod mutely.

But a plan was already bubbling in my mind, and I couldn’t give it away.

“I’ll leave.”

His jaw relaxed.

He’d been prepared for a longer argument.

“I’ll call for you when it’s safe.”

I pretended to head back inside the castle, but as soon as I was out of Elang’s sight, I dipped into a thicket of coral and rubbed at my ring.

“Shani, I need your help.”

In a glittering cloud, the demon misted out of the opal.

“Lying to your husband so early in your marriage?” she jabbed.

“Doesn’t bode well for your future together.”

I wasn’t in the mood for her quips today.

I pulled her by the tail, bringing her close.

“Hush and listen. Mailoh’s missing. I need you to help me find her.”

“Why should I care about that stodgy old rubberhead? Besides, you heard Elang’anmi’s orders. We’re not to leave.”

“If you don’t come,” I said, twisting off my ring, “I’m going to grill your opal over the fire. See how you like sleeping on coals.”

“Manipulative and extortionate.” Shani’s mouth quirked.

“I respect it.”

She thrust out her triangular fins, each lengthening until they resembled her old wings.

She became just large enough for me to ride on her back.

“Hop on quickly. If we get caught, I’m blaming everything on you.”

Together, we blasted out of the castle.

I lay on my stomach, pressing myself flat against Shani’s back as I scrabbled for some part of the demon to grasp.

As a stingray, Shani had no ridges or small fins, and her skin was smooth and slippery.

Riding on her back was as unwieldy as flying on a blanket.

I couldn’t say for sure that she’d rescue me if I fell off.

I hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.

Around the canyons, the sea was thick, grit from the storm swirling in ominous patterns.

“Mailoh,” I shouted.

“Mailoh, where are you?”

There was only silence.

“The scouts have already searched this area,” said Shani as we traced the gorges and valleys.

“She’s not here.”

“What about the Fold?” I said, pointing to where the canyons tapered off.

The water there was darker, as if doused with ink.

My stomach curdled with dread.

What if it was Mailoh’s blood that I’d painted in the vision?

“In there, you see how dark the waters are? Mailoh could be inside.”

“We’re not going down there.” She pulled away.

“The currents are getting stronger. All the scouts have gone back already. If they haven’t found her, then—”

“Don’t say it.”

My head rang with memories from the past: We’ve done our best to look for him.

If they haven’t found his ship bynow…

After all these years, I still remembered how Mama’s eyes had welled with tears, and how she’d turned away to wipe at her face.

For months there’d been a damp spot on her collar.

“Mailoh’s out there,” I said firmly.

“I know she is. We can’t give up.”

Shani flapped her fins, straining against the undertow.

It was clear she wanted to go back.

“Come on,” I persisted.

“You’re the fiercest, strongest demon in Ai’long. What are a few bad tides to you? Show the Eight Immortals what a mistake they made, overlookingyou.”

“Just shut up,” Shani said.

“We’ll go back when I say so.”

That was as much as I could ask for.

We dipped into a canyon, skimming the turbulent waters below.

Tiny rocks pelted my eyes, but I didn’t dare blink lest I miss a clue.

I trained my attention to every crack and crevice, trying to find Mailoh’s dark green shell, the yolky spots along its rim.

But there was nothing.

The storm had washed the canyons clean, sweeping even the barnacles away.

Plains of gravelly sediment lapped the seafloor, seemingly without end.

It grew colder the farther we drifted from Yonsar.

Goose bumps prickled my skin, and as I buttoned my collar to keep warm, I looked down the sides of Shani’s fins, searching for signs of frost.

But I saw nothing.

Look harder, Tru, I told myself.

What happened to those infamous powers of observation?

There’s got to be something.

“What about that?” I pointed at a series of black cliffs jutting out of the sand, like teeth engraved into the earth.

“Those cliffs were in my vision. Can we get closer to look?”

“It’s too dangerous,” said Shani sharply.

“Look how fast the currents are moving. It’s a trap.”

“I’m not afraid,” I said.

“If you are, then you can stay here. I’ll take a look—”

Shani grabbed me by the ankle.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she hissed.

“It’s your pathetic spine I’m looking after. You swim slower than a seahorse, and you want to dive down alone?”

She let out an exasperated grunt, the only signal she gave before she swooped, plunging into the dark expanse below.

It was a trap.

The moment we dove between the cliffs, we were caught, sucked into a rush of eddying streams.

Shani struggled and batted her fins, furiously trying to regain control, but the water was moving too fast.

We sped forward, careening in every direction.

Faster and faster, with no end in sight.

Then the seafloor began to quake, and I heard a terrible crashing sound, seemingly without end.

Just ahead was a dark and fearsome slat, a narrow gorge between two cliffs, with white sheets of water rushing off either side.

The Fold.

My heart clenched with panic.

I kicked harder, fighting against the currents in any way I could, but they were strong, like an unrelenting wind.

My jar of chilis tumbled out of my pocket, the extra dumplings I’d brought for Elang too.

They were sucked into the Fold, where they vanished amid the torrents of water.

Soon we’d be next.

“Shani!” I shouted, trying to stake my umbrella into the seabed for purchase.

We were skidding for the edge of the cliff.

“Shani, do something!”

It was the oddest comfort, seeing the demon’s red eyes glimmer with annoyance.

In a beat, she changed into a squid and clung to the rock bed with her tentacles.

“Any more good ideas?” she hissed.

“We’re stuck. If we try to go back up, those cataracts will crash down on our heads. I’d survive, obviously, but you? Sea foam.”

I pressed my face to her back, too winded for words.

Beneath my feet, the sea poured down into an unfathomable abyss.

What could we do?

Let’s go down there, I thought.

Into the abyss.

The demon didn’t hear me, which was probably for thebest.

It sounded mad, yet it made sense.

There was no frost where we were, it wasn’t cold enough.

This wasn’t where we were meant to be.

But down there…

I craned my neck.

I spotted a flash of green that had landed below—on what looked like a narrow ledge.

I squinted.

“Shani, do you see that? Could it be…” I gasped.

“Mailoh.”

Shani saw too, her body starting to shift back into its usual form.

“Hold on.”

Her winglike fins extended at either side as she dove into the Fold, spiraling through the walls of waters.

It didn’t take us long to reach Mailoh.

The turtle lay supine, inside a cave carved within the cliff.

Frost rimed her eyelids, and icicles laced her shell.

I almost didn’t see the long crack on her back.

She was unconscious.

“Can you lift her?” I asked Shani urgently.

She didn’t get a chance to respond.

The currents, raging only moments ago, went still.

It was a shock, how placid it had become.

How dark it had become.

The water turned black, and sulfurous fumes curled out from an unseen hollow, illuminated by the glow of Shani’s red eyes.

The demon clamped her fin over my mouth and pushed me deep into the cave.

Nine Hells of Tamra, she seethed into my mind.

It’s not a cave.

It’s a lair.

Fear iced my blood.

A lair—for what?

I soon had my answer.

Amid the interminable silence, I heard a clicking sound from deeper within the chasm, like crab legs skittering across rock.

The sound echoed.

It was getting louder.

Shani, I thought, gripping my umbrella and wishing it were a weapon.

What is that?

Thadu.

The demon’s voice dropped an octave, turning gruff.

One of Nazayun’s monsters.

Nazayun’s monsters.

I’d read of three-headed giant crabs, tentacled snakes, but I’d thought they were all tales.

It seemed I was wrong.

A pincer shot out of the dark, slicing through rock.

I screamed.

He’s here, Shani shouted.

Next came an eye, a fleshy sage-green orb.

It pressed upon the opening in the cave, gaping at me.

So you’re a rude monster, I thought through my fear.

I hated when people stared.

Through my irritation came an inkling of courage.

I propped up my umbrella as if it were a spear—and gouged Thadu in the eye.

With a roar, he fell back.

I caught flashes of metallic skin and a pink tongue clicking against pointed teeth.

Then his pincer came clawing into the cave, finding Mailoh’s shell.

“NO!” I shouted, shielding the turtle with my umbrella.

Shani shoved me aside.

“Are you trying to get killed?”

She threw herself at Thadu, lashing out her tail and wrapping it around his pincer.

Thadu thrashed.

As the spiked end of Shani’s tail bit into his flesh, silvery strands peeled off his skin, like glass noodles.

And then Shani’s eyes glowed red.

Ravenously red.

I’d never seen a demon devour a soul before.

The edges of her form began to shimmer, and as she drank, the sound was a wet sizzle that brought bile to my throat.

His head rearing, Thadu retreated, snapping his claws as he dug out of the cave.

“Now you flee?” Shani shouted.

She smacked her lips.

“Coward. He wasn’t even tasty—”

Click, click, click.

I clamped Shani’s mouth shut.

Thadu was just outside the cave, skittering across the rock.

Was he retreating?

My heart fluttering in my ears, I crawled forward to get a better look, and gasped.

He was a thing of nightmares—what I imagined the child of a centipede and crab might look like.

Hairy white legs sprang along the length of his spine, and teethlike spikes covered his head, which was studded with ten unblinking eyes peering out from every direction.

Those eyes tracked me, holding me in their bulbous gaze.

Thadu let out a hiss.

“Get back!” Shani yelled, blocking the mouth of the cave with her body.

Hot, sulfurous spit sprayed out of Thadu’s mouth, and Shani arched back, shuddering in pain.

Click, click, click.

Thadu’s laugh grated against my ears.

His pincers scraped outside the cave, trying to pry Shani from the opening.

Puffs of hot air stole in from the cracks around Shani’s fins, clearly hurting her, but she didn’t give in.

Thadu hissed again, his tongue clicking obscenely.

Another spray, then he rammed his head against the mountain.

It was like being thunderstruck.

The sound alone deafened me, and my entire body vibrated with the impact.

As the walls fissured, debris spilling from every crack, I dropped onto my stomach and covered my head.

This was not looking good.

You can’t hold the cave forever, I shouted into Shani’s thoughts.

Do you have a better idea?

No, but I had an idea.

I’d seen the way Thadu had squirmed while Shani had snacked on his soul.

If only she could do it again, we might have a chance…

.

I’m going to jump onto your back, I said.

When he sees me close, he’ll try to spit steam again.

That’s when we’ll dive into his mouth.

What?

Are you—

Serious?

Yes.

And with that, I leapt.

At the sight of me, Thadu widened his jaws once more, about to launch another revolting projectile of spit.

“Go, go, go!” I shouted as soon as I landed on Shani’s back.

We barreled out of the cave and shot straight into his mouth.

Heat scalded my skin, and demon turds, his breath was foul—like rotting death.

As if that weren’t bad enough, his tongue pushed against me, slimy and wet, and his teeth sawed back and forth in anticipation of crushing my bones.

A beat before Thadu’s teeth came biting down, I stabbed upward.

The monster snarled, his jaw convulsing.

Silvery threads unraveled from every point of his body.

Thinking fast, I jammed my umbrella between his tongue and the roof of his mouth like a stake.

He bucked.

Steam hissed out of his palate, a fetid perfume of sulfur and iron and decay.

I buried my face in my sleeve, trying not to breathe in while I held on to the umbrella.

It had already proved to be astoundingly sturdy, but it wouldn’t last long.

“Shani, hurry up!”

This time, Shani didn’t drink with relish.

She flew out of Thadu’s mouth, her expression solemn as she sipped.

“Long you have suffered,” she told him when the silver glow of his strands turned dull.

“Be free, Thadu. In your next life, do well to avoid the wrath of dragons.”

Thadu let out a groan.

I could feel the heat of his breath turning cold, the fat capillaries in his head swelling as his ten eyes throbbed, almost spasming.

Vertebra by vertebra, he began to fold over.

It was my sign to get out of there.

His tongue was lolling from side to side, pushing me back.

My robe snagged on a tooth, and I couldn’t swim away fast enough.

The roof of his mouth came falling, and he plunged, taking me with him.

Down we fell, into a darkness without end.