Page 4 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Four

Xiang

General of the Song Moon Tribe

G eneral Xiang stared over the Bulou ’s prow and studied the boards floating atop the water’s surface. He counted twelve bodies littered in the waves, most in pieces. The others had become food for the sea, or worse, turned to ash.

Lua must have drained the entire crew to sever Dain and survive. Knowing the Oji, he shouldn’t have been surprised. Even though these mages were once Lua’s comrades, Xiang didn’t expect to find much left. He’d seen it before. Mercy had no place in the Oji’s nature.

Whatever dark spells Lua had cast or bargains he’d made with his moon god in order to escape would remain a mystery until they recaptured him. Though the sky remained overcast, the brunt of the storm was southeast. That it hadn’t faded completely meant Lua still lived.

Xiang was an imposing man, tall for a westerner, whose darker coloring made him stand apart from the pale northerners on the ship, something he’d grown accustomed to over the years. With the traditional shorn head of a lifelong soldier, he was attractive in a fearsome way, as if scars had formed in his deepest recesses .

He clenched his hands behind his back.

More would die attempting to bring the Moon Oji back north. If Xiang had been on the Mirren , this wouldn’t have happened. Everyone else believed better of Lua than he deserved, or perhaps their fear kept them respectful. But the general didn’t give a shit about the Oji. Not after witnessing the atrocities committed during the attacks on the Western tribes. Xiang hoped to prevent any further threat to Selene and Bolin. But Oja Selene had held him back until it was too late.

You’re too valuable , she’d said, her usual lie. Xiang was a blade kept sheathed, because Selene feared his death would affect Bolin, her anchor, and therefore herself in ways she wasn’t equipped to deal with. In some ways, she and Lua were very similar. Two branches of the same wicked lineage that needed pruning. Yet no shears had ever seemed sharp enough.

Fifty-three soldiers and seven mages died capturing Lua. If not for Dain’s cooperation, it would have been more. Selene’s constraining bolt should have either disabled or killed him. When word reached her about Lua’s escape, people would pray to their moon gods for mercy. The Oja was temperamental on a good day, and she’d had very few of those in the many years he and Bolin had been in service to her and the Song tribe.

“Sir.” Galia stood behind him. Slivers of Starling light broke through the thinning clouds and dappled her square face. The long scar that ran from her brow to her cheek gleamed white. “The mages have tracked the remains of his thread.” She pointed southward, where the clouds were thickest.

“Dain?”

She shook her head, hesitated. “Just pieces.” She raised a cord, the bloodstone still attached. Selene had given it to Dain to break Lua’s control. “Do you think ...?”

Xiang rubbed his stubbled chin. He knew her thoughts. If Dain was dead, then Lua must be too. The connection was not easily split, and all mages over nine stars must have an anchor to properly harness the strength of the magic. But a sliver of thread remained, enough for the mages on board to track. And the storm still raged to the south. He was protected beneath the clouds for now. “No. The Oji still lives.”

“Won’t he need another anchor, sir?” Galia asked. Her gaze shifted to Jayna, the lone mage on deck. Jayna met the lieutenant’s eyes shyly from beneath the shadow of her hood.

Their attachment was a distraction at times like these. He pulled the bloodstone from Galia’s hands, startling her back into proper form. It would be difficult for Lua to find an anchor before the bolt overwhelmed him.

The western regions had been under Starling control for decades and, though the indigenes held no love for them, they remained rightly wary of the Moon tribe. This might give Xiang a short advantage. If they could find Lua soon, they could still capture him. He placed the stone in his pocket, fingers lingering on it a moment longer.

“Raise the sails. Head us toward the storm.”

Galia hesitated. “We’ll be moving into Starling territory, sir.”

“I know the implications, Lieutenant.” He glowered down at her. “Or would you rather return to our Oja empty-handed?”

Galia paled. “I meant no offense, sir.”

Xiang turned away. “Ready the sails. I’ll tell the Oja myself.”