and found his dagger on the table. Its serration sawed through the rope around his wrists slower than he would have liked, but the delay was well spent, ensuring that he didn’t slit his own wrists or burn himself with Phoera. Finally the bonds fell free to reveal angry red and blue lines across his skin.
Elation pulsed through Ryon with the promise of freedom. He grabbed his spyglass, folded his maps, and sheathed his dagger and machete. Bleeding lieutenant emptied my coin purse! Well, it wasn’t like it had been overflowing before. If that was all his freedom had cost, he’d make that deal any day.
He slung his belt and quiver around his waist and struggled to buckle them one-handed, then settled his bow into its familiar hug across his back. His pack would have to rest on the opposite shoulder for now. His arm hung limp like the strips of meat calling to him from the corner of his eye.
Ryon slipped into the thin smokehouse and yanked hanging jerky from the blackened walls. The meat wasn’t quite dry, and the honey glaze stuck to his palm. He spilled them into Kira’s cloth on the table, where cheese shavings and rice cake crumbles stuck to them. This cloth’s not big enough for a sling, but I could cut it into slices and tie them together . . .
Ryon licked sticky sweetness from his hand as he dodged through hay bales and found the barn’s back door. It slid open with a soft bump.
Night cloaked the valley’s opposite hill and framed the nearby forest in silhouetted shadows. Ryon kept his back to the wooden wall and glanced around the corner. Buttery light glowed from the windows of the ranch house, where distant laughter warmed the quiet darkness. Only the pruned branches of cherry blossoms waved in the breeze between.
Ryon crouched and ran in an arc toward the forest, using the barn to break the line of sight from the house. He decided against using his element for invisibility. The darkness was thick enough, and he’d need the energy for the trek home to Jadenvive.
The Gnarled Wood embraced him with the familiar scent of sap and the distant croon of an owl. Thank you, Aeo. Relief poured into him like fresh rain, washing over the returning pain as his energy subsided. Please don’t let Tekkyn suffer for his mercy.
9
KIRALAU
Kira tossed in her bed like a toddler resisting sleep. She’d retreated to the room she shared with Granny hours ago, when the few bites of dinner smeared like ash on her tongue.
Tekkyn had never come to eat with them. Even after a soldier had offered to take his shift.
Kira threw her quilt off and stared at the statue of the seven-tailed fox goddess on her dresser. Each tail had been hand-carved from cherry wood and painted with white paste made from crushed shells from Malaan Island. Except now the old paint chipped and cracked just like the façade of the water goddess herself.
No rain. No mercy from the empire. No rest for her father. No healing for her mother. No exemption for her younger brother from the draft, even though he was the last man in the family left at home. And now her older brother had returned home—without a soul.
Will Lee also become a weapon of the Empire when they take him?
Kira tore her eyes away from the statue and glared up at the ceiling. It was beyond cruel. Her family had worshipped Lillian faithfully for as long as she could remember. They’d worked hard. Invested. Sacrificed.
A hot tear slipped down Kira’s cheek and tickled her ear. Losing Tekkyn was the kicked stone that started a landslide. Are there any other elementals out there who listen to prayers? Is the creator still alive? What about the rebellious angel, the wind serpent?
She swiped the tear away and rubbed unwelcome moisture from her eyes. Are there any gods at all?
Strange light danced on the ceiling in an orange blur. Kira blinked and glanced out the window. She had no idea what time it was anymore, but Granny had started snoring half an hour ago.
Kira sat up and tiptoed to the window, avoiding the wood planks on the floor that were notorious for creaking. She squinted out the small opening of thick glass.
Flames licked out of the barn’s roof, belching a tower of smoke that blotted out the stars.
Kira choked on a gasp. “Granny!” She vaulted over her bed and bolted for the door as