Page 65 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

“Sunny,” Minju shouts from somewhere, her voice pitched high with alarm.

I feel the rush of wind as she catches me midair. After a moment, she lands haphazardly at the bottom of the cliffs, struggling under my weight, and half drops me on the ground.

I moan against the pain in my back, the sharp, volcanic rocks digging into my skin. But I can’t complain. The same rocks would have pierced and shattered my body if Minju hadn’t caught me in the air.

Why was I falling through the air?

“Are you okay?” Minju taps my cheek. “Sunny, wake up.”

My eyes shoot open. I try to sit up, but nothing happens. Why is my body not working? I can feel myself—limbs, digits, and everything else—so I’m not paralyzed. Then why can’t I move?

“Draco?” I manage to rasp.

I hear their roar before Minju can answer. With my heart in my throat, I peer into the sky and see inky darkness coiling around the dragon’s long body. Draco and Daeseong spin and churn against the night sky, forming a black-and-blue braid.

I try to get up again, but my body won’t listen. “Why can’t I move?”

“You’re too weak from pouring your gi into the Yeoiju,” she answers softly.

“Wh ... why did it absorb my gi?” I feel ... betrayed. I trusted the Yeoiju. I thought it was good .

“I’m not sure.” Minju helps me sit up, and I lean heavily against her. “Nothing in my research even hinted at anything like that. The Yeoiju is supposed to empower you, not deplete you. There must be an element we’re missing.”

The dragon roars above me, and I nearly choke on my own terror.

“We don’t have time to figure it out. Draco needs me.

Now. ” I glance up at the sky, desperation clawing at me.

Fingerlike tentacles branch out from the dark coil and spread over Draco’s scales like spiderwebs.

“I need to help them. Daeseong is too strong. Please, do something. I have to go help them. Please.”

This is all my fault. If only I had mastered the power of the Yeoiju ...

“There is a way.” She sits me up and looks me in the eyes. “No matter what happens, you must not pull away from me. If you do, you will endanger us both. Do you understand?”

“Okay.” Trepidation runs through me as I hold my friend’s grim gaze, but I look above me again. Draco is writhing against the twisting tentacles of darkness. I can’t let Daeseong hurt the kid. “I ... I understand.”

Minju moves to sit behind me, with her palms pressed against my back.

As she sings a haunting incantation, the silver and red of her life force flows and dances around us.

Then her life force becomes an arrow in the night and comes right for me.

I only have time to scream before the arrow of gi streams into my chest.

No, no, no.

My friend is transferring her life force into me. Oh gods. She might die if I don’t stop her. But if I break away from her, we will both die. I can’t save Draco if I die. They’re just a kid. I can’t let them die. I won’t.

Silent tears stream down my cheeks, but I don’t pull away from Minju. Her gi continues to fill me until strength returns to every inch of my body. I sit still until her silver-and-red life force wavers weakly, then stops flowing into me. Her hands slip off my back, and she collapses behind me.

“Don’t you dare die on me.” I scramble to my knees and tap Minju’s cheek. I get a grip and focus on her gi. The red and silver of her life force flows softly over her prone form, growing stronger ever so slowly.

With one last touch on Minju’s cheek, I push onto my feet and squint up at the sky, rage building in my chest. If the dark mudang hurts Draco .

.. I reach for the sword of light, gritting my teeth, but my breath leaves me in a whoosh.

I frantically pat my hip and the dragon-scale sheath—the empty dragon-scale sheathe.

“Draco, no.”

My lungs stop working, and all the blood drains out of my body.

I nearly collapse onto the ground again, my knees buckling, but I remain upright somehow.

Draco took the sword of light. That foolish, reckless child plans to end the dark mudang themself.

I focus on my outrage so fear won’t paralyze me.

“If you get so much as a strand of your blue hair hurt, I’ll whup your scaly ass with my nine tails.” I shake my fist at the sky, where the dragon thrashes against the coil of darkness. “Do you hear me?”

I take my gumiho form, desperation and fury wringing my insides.

I scale the cliffs with such speed that my paws barely touch the surface.

When I see Draco and Daeseong careen toward an outcropping out in the ocean, I change course and push myself even faster, leaping and bounding toward the jutting rock.

I skid to a halt at the bottom of the outcropping. It’s much too steep for my gumiho to climb. I shift to my human form and make the painfully slow ascent up the sheer cliff, searching for every minuscule crack and foothold needed to haul myself up to the peak.

With a labored heave, I hoist my body onto the top, then leap to my feet, expecting to see a blue, serpentine dragon facing off with a churning, oily darkness.

Instead, Draco stands in their human form with the sword of light in their hand as the dark mass condenses into Daeseong’s corporeal body.

I stumble back, my hand rising to my throat.

“No,” I shout. The dark mudang gives me a leisurely glance over his shoulder, a chilling smile stretching across his face. “No, please. Don’t hurt them.”

I shriek incoherently and sprint toward Daeseong, but I’m not going to reach him in time.

I can’t stop the dark mudang. My heart already knows this, and it rips down the middle.

I can’t save the kid. My soul already knows this, and it cries a sound of pure anguish.

But my eyes refuse to believe the horror unfolding before me.

I keep running faster than I’ve ever run.

With a ferocious battle cry, Draco—the brave, good child—raises the sword of light and charges toward Daeseong. The dark mudang’s gaze never leaves my face as he lifts his arm and flicks a single, careless finger.

“No!” The shout rings in my ears before I’m aware my throat is tearing from the force of it.

Darkness ribbons out of Daeseong’s fingertip and flies toward the kid, morphing into a spear. I can catch it—even if I have to throw my body in front of the spear. I will stop it.

I’m almost there, kid.

I’m close. The dark spear whooshes past me. My neck strains as I push myself to move faster. Faster. I leap into the air, my fingers straining to reach the kid. I’m so close ... I can see every shift in Draco’s expression as the spear pierces their chest and bursts out their back.

“N . . . n . . . no . . .” I choke on my scream.

Mouth gaping, Draco glances at their ruined chest. Their knees buckle, but they don’t fall. They cry out in pain as the spear hovers in the air, holding them aloft through their gaping wound. Daeseong’s delighted chuckle fills the night, but I don’t spare him a glance.

“Draco.” I reach their side and wrap my arms around their waist, trying to bear the brunt of their weight. “Hey, kid.”

“Sun ... ny.” They look down at me with wide, stunned eyes.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I nod with a tremulous smile. They cough wetly, and blood dribbles down their chin. I wipe it away frantically. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”

I know the dark mudang is watching and enjoying himself, because my suffering amuses him. I don’t give a flying fuck. He can watch all he wants. All I see is the kid.

“I don’t w ... want to die.” Draco weaves back and forth on the spear of darkness, moaning weakly, and I hike them up higher against me.

“I won’t let you.” Tears blur my eyes. “I won’t let you die, kid.”

“G ... good.” They smile crookedly at me. Gods. They’re such a beautiful child. But then, they gasp in pain and lurch forward. “Sunny, it hurts.”

“I know.” My voice breaks as I scramble to bear more of their weight. “It hurts me too.”

Their head lolls back, and I stop breathing. Everything ... stops.

I need to lie them down so they can rest—maybe hurt a little less. But I can’t because of the spear skewered through them. The spear the dark mudang is holding aloft to prolong Draco’s suffering. The dark spear that is part Daeseong.

I focus on the rage past the fog of grief until I can think clearly again. Draco needs me. There is so little I can do for them, but I will die to give them the briefest rest—to alleviate their pain even for a second. A steely calm settles over me, and I turn my gaze toward the dark mudang.

“ You. ” My lips pull back, and my incisors elongate.

“Who? Me? ” Daeseong hoots with mad laughter. “Are you sad your little friend is dying? Does the child’s suffering hurt you? I so appreciate the dragon joining in the fun. We both know you care especially about the young ones.”

I look away from the ranting psychopath and focus on the kid. The dark mudang’s laughter dwindles, and his vitriol fills the air. He doesn’t like being disregarded.

“Draco, sweetie.” I look up at their handsome face and brush their blue locks out of their eyes. I gently take the sword of light from their limp grip. “This will only hurt for a second. Be brave for me, okay?”

I glance at Daeseong across the rocky terrain. He wants fun? I will deliver the fucking fun.

With a sharp cry, I bring the sword down on the spear of darkness, slicing clean through it. Daeseong screeches in pain and collapses. The darkness dissipates into the air, freeing Draco at last.

I carefully lower the kid to the ground. I grab their hand and bring it up to their chest, pressing it down on their wound. They bite back a whimper, gritting their teeth against the pain. Such a strong, brave child.

“Rest for a bit.” My voice shakes no matter how hard I try to be strong for them.