Page 18 of Cloak of Night
“Stars, even the kids like Quicksand?” Daemon asked. “Did you see any of our mentees?”
Broomstick nodded sadly. “Yours. I didn’t see Fairy’s or Spirit’s, but that doesn’t mean they’re not being trained. Anyone who was a taiga apprentice is learning ryuu magic. That means kids as young as seven. Who knows? Maybe even the little tenderfoots in the nursery.”
Daemon punched the tree nearest him.
“I also spent some time in Warrior Meeting Hall.” Broomstick recounted what he’d seen there.
Sora curled into herself even more. And yet she couldn’t stay like that for long, because then it was her turn to tell Fairy and Broomstick what she and Daemon had discovered in the castle.
“Do you want to give them the bad news, or should I?” Sora asked Daemon.
Fairy let out an involuntary cry. “How can it get worse?”
“The Dragon Prince gave up his soul,” Daemon said, cutting quickly to the point.
“What do you mean?” Broomstick said, his deep voice cracking.
“He struck a deal with Zomuri,” Sora said. “He gave up his soul in exchange for being invincible.”
Fairy opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Broomstick was equally speechless.
“Don’t resign yourself,” Sora said. “This isn’t over until we say it is.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Daemon said. He picked up a twig from the ground and speared it through a hapless mushroom.
“It isn’t over yet.” Sora glared at him and sent a stab of displeasure through their gemina bond.
He cringed but didn’t retract his dismay.
She needed to do whatever it took to get her head in order. Those who’d lost their lives in the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts should not have died in vain. And Sora had to stop this war before it began, or her fellow taigas and too many citizens of Kichona would die under Prince Gin’s command. Her kingdom needed her.
If stashing the soul pearl in Zomuri’s treasure vault kept the Dragon Prince safe, Sora would have to change that.
“Listen,” Sora said gently, trying to change tack to persuade Daemon, Fairy, and Broomstick that they still had a fighting chance. “We’re going to find Zomuri’s vault to retrieve the soul pearl. If we can reunite it with Prince Gin’s body, he won’t be invincible anymore, and we can kill him. It’s the only way to stop this madness.”
“I’m sorry,” Daemon said. “Did you just say we’re going to steal from a god?”
Sora flushed. “Um, yeah.”
He jabbed his twig at more mushrooms near his feet. “Tell me, assuming we could pull off a theft like that, howdo we even find the soul pearl? Where does a god stash his treasure?”
“I... don’t know.” Sora deflated. She hadn’t gotten that far yet in her plans.
“This is not a good idea, Sora,” Daemon said.
Fairy perked up. “Is there anything you remember from your mother’s books?” Mina Teira was one of Kichona’s most famous authors, known especially for her volumes on the kingdom’s myths and legends.
Sora shook her head. “I thought about it the whole trek here from the castle. But nothing jumps out at me.”
Broomstick picked up some chestnuts that had fallen from the tree. He started throwing them one by one in frustration.
Daemon growled. “That’s not helping.”
“Oh, because the sound of a few nuts is distracting you from a brilliant revelation?” He chucked one at Daemon’s head.
“Guys—” Sora began.
“What the hells,” Daemon said. He grabbed a chestnut from the ground and hurled it. But Broomstick rolled out of the way, and it smacked into Fairy instead.
