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AERI

CHARM BEACH, GAYA

T he scepter and sword fall from Mikail’s arms as soon as he drowns, shifting from bangles back to their full sizes.

His body goes still, and there’s a fatal pull in me that’s desperate to grab the relics, to possess them.

But once I do, I will become the Dragon Lord.

And deep down, I know I won’t come back.

I stare at the beach as Royo tries to bring Mikail back to life, hitting his chest and breathing for him. The men down there continue to fight and die, so many that the water and the sand are bleeding red. So many that I can’t count them—well over a thousand.

They will always war for more.

I sigh. Not now, voice.

Suddenly, Mikail pukes and Royo sits back on his knees, breathing hard. I exhale, finally relaxing my shoulders. It worked. It actually worked! Royo brought his soul back.

He’s the only one of us who can save someone.

Royo wipes sweat from his brow as Mikail catches his breath. Fallador gets off his knees and gives thanks to Alta again. He ran up to help Mikail but stopped once we told him what we were doing.

Now it’s time for me to do my part…only I really don’t want to.

I savor the breeze of the warm sea air, feel the softness of the green earth beneath my boots.

I see Royo. Only Royo. The man I love who just said “I love you”—everything I’ve wanted to hear.

I see the life that I wanted with him, all the days and nights, curling up beside him as I read and he sharpens a blade.

Being held in his arms and finally feeling safe. And then I say goodbye to it all.

I close my eyes, and a single tear rolls down my cheek.

Enough. I made the decision already, and there’s no time for doubts. It’s me or it’s everyone, including him, and that’s still an easy choice to make.

“Stars, I can’t believe that worked,” Mikail says, panting. He looks at his bare arms. They shake from dying—probably from relic lust, too, but he’s free now.

Royo picks up the sword and scepter. He stands and comes closer to me.

“I wish I could get rid of these things,” he says.

Most people wouldn’t. Most people want them above reason. The rulers have warred for more relics, for even a chance to acquire them. They want the power, but not him and not me. Yet we’re caught in it all the same.

“I love you, Royo.” I touch his hand, his face, memorizing the feel of his skin. I hope I can take this memory with me to the next life. Just this one.

He closes his eyes, pain etched into his face.

He swallows hard, and then he extends the relics to me. “I love you, Aeri.”

I smile.

“I’ll find a way to bring you back again,” he whispers in my ear.

I can barely hear him, though, because once I touch the relics, power surges through me with such intensity that I lose my senses.

My eyes fill with a golden glow, but somehow, I know it’s coming from within me.

I can’t hear or see now, but something is pulling me upward, trying to lift me toward the sky.

I don’t struggle. It feels right, inevitable.

I’m not really a person anymore. I’m becoming something else.

I begin to levitate, my feet leaving the grass of the overlook. Once I’m in the air, my sight returns. It’s just in time to see a red creature coming down from the heavens.

The red being descends through the sky like a falling star, but it’s no star.

That’s the Dragon Lord.

I tip my head back as I soar upward to meet him.

He’s part man, part creature, but entirely a god.

He’s so beautiful but at the same time absolutely terrifying.

I can’t look away. I’m frozen with fear but also comforted.

I don’t think mortals can process seeing a god, but I’m also not exactly mortal right now.

He draws me to him, my body rising higher in the air. And then he collides with me with the force of an explosion. It’s shattering, but not in a painful way.

Sparks twinkle around my eyes, but I’m in the clouds. Or I’m somewhere. I don’t really know, but I’m not alone.

Naerium Baejkin, finder of the relics of my power.

As soon as he speaks, I realize how familiar the feeling is.

“You’re the voice that’s been in my head,” I say.

At times.

I don’t know if this is better or worse than thinking it was a bunch of dead kings.

The relics call to me and connect us. Why have you summoned me? What is it you wish, my child?

I shake the strangeness of speaking with a god and look down.

The clouds part, revealing the swells of blood on the beach, bodies littering the sand, half buried like stones, and the ships smoking and sinking.

This is the rot of death the amarth mentioned.

Royo and Mikail stand on the overlook, as does Fallador.

From way up here, I can see clear to Qali Palace.

This is why my father wanted the relics by the end of monsoon season.

Without the rains, I can see the realms clearly.

And then I remember Seok and that Sora is on his ship. Maybe Tiyung, too.

“I want to save them all,” I say.

Even your enemies? The ones who make war against you?

“Even my enemies. And then I want you to destroy the relics.”

I can feel his surprise lighting up like a sky after a storm.

“As you said, men will always war for more,” I explain. “Etherum will always cause death and hardship, because in the end, humans aren’t meant to have this kind of power. But there’s one more thing…”

Very well, Naerium.

“Actually, it’s Aeri.”