Page 126 of Empire's Curse

Once the words were out, she suddenly felt embarrassed to be standing in front of him as she was—unkempt hair, bruised and scraped knees, and covered in sweat and grime. He was her husband, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He didn’t have memories of their intimacy, of their love, of their stolen kisses. What if this version of Muyang didn’t love her? Would that affect the other half?

He tilted his head to the side. “You … think that I won’t love you?”

“E-excuse me?” Could he read her mind?

“Daiyu, I’m—” A flash of pain crossed his face and he clutched the front of his chest, falling down to one knee in one swell movement. He gasped sharply.

Daiyu dropped down in front of him, her hands flying to his shoulders to help him from keeling over. “What’s wrong?”

“My body—” He coughed, and blood splattered over her shoulder. His dark eyes flicked over to hers, wide and panicked and pained, but the emotions shuttered in a split second—like he didn’t want her to see any of it. “I’m dying, Daiyu. We won’t make it on time?—”

All the blood drained from her face and she tightened her hold on his shoulders. “No. I’m not losing you.”

“I don’t have much?—”

“Let’s rush to the palace, then!” She tried hauling him up to his feet, but he was too weakened, too fatigued to even stand. She hadn’t noticed earlier, since she was preoccupied with everything else, but he was pale—too pale. “Come on, Muyang! Pull yourself together!”

“I can’t.” He wheezed, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m able to hold myself up only because I have more magic, but the other part of my soul is too weak.” His head lolled forward, falling over her shoulder. “We will both die soon?—”

“Is there anything I can do?” She took his face in her hands and tried to make him stare at her, but his eyes were already rolling behind his head. “Muyang!”

“There’s … nothing?—”

“There has to be something! You’re a high mage! Take my magic, take my energy, take something—everything! Just don’t die!” Tears misted over her eyes, blurring her vision. She quickly blinked them away. She couldn’t lose him, not when she was so close to saving him. “Muyang,please. You have to hang in there.”

“Daiyu …” He exhaled, blinking up at her. “You’re too sweet for me. I could never burden you more than I already have.”

“Muyang!” She slipped her hand into his and nearly crushed it. “Please, take my magic. Take what you need.Please.”

“Daiyu—”

“Do it,now.” Her voice hardened with panic, with the thought of losing him forever. She didn’t want to go back and forth and argue with him about what he needed to do in order to save his life. Yat-sen had told her that everyone had magic within themselves, so it only made sense that she did too. Magic was essentially energy, wasn’t it? So maybe he could take what he needed and buy them some time?

Something in her expression probably told him she wasn’tplaying any games with his life because he nodded slowly and hesitantly tightened their hands together. “Just … a little.”

Almost immediately, she could feel her energy drain. She gasped, the pulling sensation feeling as though someone was leeching her blood from her body. All at once, a deep fatigue rattled her bones and chilled her flesh. She gritted her teeth together to keep them from chattering.

“Muyang, we need to make it back to the palace,” she said, her words slurring together. “You need to save yourself. Let’s teleport?—”

“Can’t. It requires too much energy—too much magic.”

“Then—

“Hold on to me.”

Before she could ask what he meant, his body began to shift. She barely suppressed a yelp of surprise when scales formed over his skin and his body lurched forward, transforming in mere seconds into a large, serpentine body. She held on to his neck tightly, watching with awe as his dragon body grew into its impressive size and height. His wings flared out behind him, the scales glimmering silvery white in the sunlight.

In seconds, he launched up into the air. This time, Daiyu screamed, hugging his neck tightly and pressing her thighs against the sides of his body. She dug her heels as hard as she could, but his scales were so hard and smooth that she could barely get a good grip on him. She couldn’t even wrap her arms completely around him, and the spikes along his back and neck made it even harder to hold on without hurting herself.

“Muyang—” she shouted, but the wind rushed over her face, ripping through her hair and clothes and face with such speed that her words could barely keep up.

They zoomed through the sky and Daiyu’s stomach plummeted at the sights below her—at the mountains that shrank, at the swells of the forest that seemed so tiny up here, and at the vastness of the empire along the horizon. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and yet the grand height terrified her. If shefell?—

She shuddered, hugging the dragon tighter.

Feiyu—Muyang—would never allow that to happen.

They flew faster and higher, Muyang’s powerful wings slicing the air. Daiyu held on, her mouth nearly dropping open as she looked down. They were passing over the capital now, on the outskirts. People on their farms and their open lands stared up at them in awe, pointing at the magnificent sight. Then they began to pass over the rest of the capital, the city just barely waking up. She could hear the screams of surprise even beyond the barrier of blustering winds. She watched as people poked their heads out from windows and looked up.

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