Page 93 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

I was a soldier; I’d killed before. I thought I was immune to the scent of death and the sight of gore. But never,never, had I been in such a melee, not even when we raided Sawyn’s celebration in Olmdere. The Rooks had laid down their weapons then. They had surrendered... but that was probably because they were human.

Wolves never surrendered when their pack leader was under threat. They would’ve never stopped coming for us. We probably only escaped Eshik because the Wolves hadn’t regrouped to the orders of their new King, Tadei. Tadei and his guards were seemingly the only ones willing to leave Luo to his fate. That chaos and confusion had probably saved us. But a war half-won was not won at all, and the fact that some Onyx Wolves remained alive meant there were plenty who would be wanting to avenge their pack and family.

And now we were without Maez and with only half the vase’s song.

My panic eased only slightly as we crossed to the other side of Sankai-ed, still waiting for the Onyx Wolves to appear and chase us. Navin stayed out in the front of the wagon for the first several hours, making sure the oxen found the right way. But as the oxen ventured onto the rope bridge to Lower Valta, Navin finally came back through the window, finding me pacing back and forth. I felt like a Wolf chasing my own tail, the anxiety still strong even though exhaustion was taking hold. I didn’t know if I needed to vomit or cry or stab something. I couldn’t pin down a single shot as sickening images flashed one after another through my mind.

“Sadie.” Navin walked over to me and pulled me into hisarms. “Breathe,” he said like he’d commanded so many times before. It wasn’t until my cheek pressed against his chest that I felt its wetness. I hadn’t even realized I’d been crying. “We’re safe in Galen den’ Mora,” he reassured me. “No one breaches this wagon without our welcome.” I trembled in his arms. “You’re so cold,” he said, lifting my still wet hair off the loose fabric of my vest.

“I feel hot,” I replied even as I trembled more. Everything in my body felt upended, the turmoil inside of me bringing the strangest reactions forward.

“We’re safe,” Navin said again, stroking a hand down my back as he folded himself around me, clearly trying to warm me up. “We made it out.”

“But so many didn’t,” I said, my voice choppy and breathing erratic. I pulled back. “Rasil, he—”

Navin swept his thumb over my bottom lip. “He will pay for what he has done. The Songkeepers will destroy him for conspiring with the Onyx Wolves.”

“I can’t believe he betrayed you like that,” I whispered.

“I can.” Navin’s eyes darkened. “I should’ve fought him ages ago. I should’ve ousted him from his position for his violent aspirations. I knew he was jealous and petty, but even I didn’t know he’d go this far.”

“But—but he wanted a world without Wolves?” I searched Navin’s face, trying to understand.

“And if he’s memorized the vase’s songs like his grandfather once did, he will have it,” he said. “The Onyx Wolves don’t know what dark dealings they’ve entered into by letting him simply read it. Rasil probably promised Luo to use the magic for him, and the Wolf King probably couldn’t fathom a human turning such magic against him.”

“Do you think Rasil remembers all the songs on that vase?” I asked. “How much do you remember?”

“If there’s one thing Rasil was good at, it was sight-reading.I wouldn’t be surprised if he has it all now—especially if he had even an hour with the vase. As for me, I know enough to be a danger to everyone around us,” Navin said, his eyes bracketing with pain. “I remember enough to do more harm just like I did with Maez.” He swallowed thickly as he continued rubbing my arms up and down. “But there was something on that vase I hadn’t expected,” he added. “Etched into the stone was a song that... I think... I think there might be a way to control monsters like I did the dragon without conjuring new ones.”

My eyes widened. “Without bringing more dark magic into the world?”

“Yes.”

“Control others’ monsters?”

He thought on it. “Yes. I may have to play with some of the notes to make sure I have it right, but I know the melodies and the tempo of the song...”

My body still shook, but my senses began to sharpen from their whirling panic to more focused intention. “So we could go around collecting an army of monsters to join this war? To fight on our side? Without bringing more dark magic into the world?”

Navin’s brow dropped low over his eyes, clearly unhappy with my train of thought. “Possibly,” he hedged.

“Possibly,” I echoed. “I know you find this repugnant, but we’re past the point of musical theory, Navin. Our list of enemies is growing by the minute. We have to find a way to fight them, and this might be it.”

It took him a while to say anything. I could see how much the idea of that—of using the song where it might hurt people—devastated him. And with the aftermath of what he’d just sung, I understood his hesitancy. This was where we differed, he and I. He was, at heart, an artist.

I was the warrior.

And because of that, it was up to me to remind him how warriors thought. How Nero thought.

“It might be our only hope,” I said softly.

“There might be more answers in the library at the refuge,” Navin said.

“We can’t go back there.” I shook my head. “What if Rasil returns? Is there anywhere else? Anywhere we can get answers but wouldn’t be found?”

Navin considered me and I could see the wheels in his mind spinning. “There’s a ruin south of Allesdale, deep in the woods. It used to be a temple of knowledge. Ora and I found it from an old Songkeeper’s map we discovered in the bottom of a drawer.” Navin smoothed a hand down my arm. “No one knows it’s there but us.”

“Damrienn?” I balked. “You want us to go to Damrienn?”

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