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Something covered my head. We weren’t alone. But my hands were still on the man who had betrayed me, and I dug my fingers in, tearing, hearing him gasp and choke.

He went still, and I reached for whoever was behind me, but they were faster, pressing my hands to the ground and pulling back on the hood. My vision went spotty, and the hood was lined with some powder. Every time I inhaled it, I could feel my body weakening, feel myself losing consciousness. Spots appeared in my vision, dots of light that grew in size until they encompassed all of it.

I fell.

I woke somewhere dark and moving. I didn’t recognize any of the sounds. They were too mechanical, and my body moved back and forth as we jerked over sand dunes.

“He’s awake,” someone said sharply.

My hood was removed for only a moment, and someone shoved a handful of powder against my mouth and nose. Choking, I raised my hands to claw at their wrist, but my hands were bound. When I tried to kick out with my feet, they shifted their weight, sitting on top of my legs.

My vision turned spotty again, glowing lights everywhere.

I was back in the animalia temple, only this time their statues didn’t come to life when I passed them. Instead, they stared on, still and silent. Unmoving in the darkness.

Focusing on my breath, I bit my own lip to stop myself from thinking about what a fool I had been, what a fool Tallu made me. My love for him made me do foolish things, made me take risks when I knew better.

No, I had no one to blame but myself.

The center of the spiral was not empty. I stopped, staring down at a statue of the One Dragon.

“Are you ready for what is to come?” I was sure I had never heard the voice before, and yet it was familiar.

“What is coming?” I asked.

“Are you ready?” the voice repeated, and this time I was sure I had heard it before. The last time I had felt so hopeless, when Kacha had stolen my magic from me.

“What is coming?” I repeated.

“Be ready.” The voice thundered, shaking all of the statues where they stood.

I came to consciousness in a dark room. The only light came from a small crack under the door. They had removed the hood, although I could still feel powder sticking to my skin around my mouth and nose. Whatever it was, it left me feeling woozy, and I leaned over, vomiting onto the floor. The smell of my own sick made me vomit again, and then there was nothing left in my stomach, so my throat burned from bile.

The door opened, and I squinted at the sudden light, my eyes adjusting quickly, although I didn’t believe what I saw.

“You’re awake,” General Kacha said. “Good. I have been looking forward to this for some time.”

Thirty-Three

He was alive. This was exactly what I had trained for: the moment of panic, the feeling of terror subsumed by cold facts and planning. Yorîmu had always told me I was not allowed to have any feeling that would stop me from doing what I had to do.

Fear was no excuse, surprise was no excuse. What I had to do was clear: Kacha had to die.

I pushed up on my knees, still woozy from the drugs they had given me. My legs were bound, my hands, too, but that only meant that I didn’t have to hold them together. My trembling muscles didn’t need to do that labor.

I jumped, grabbing for Kacha, but he stepped out of the way and I barely managed to keep my feet.

Kacha laughed, and one of his men grabbed me, spinning me and slamming me into the wall of my cell. My face hit hard, the cracking sound of my nose breaking and my forehead impacting stone muffled by the ringing in my ears.

This was ridiculous. I had the strength of Ox, the ice of the northern dragons, the forest magic burning through my blood.

I didn’t care if I lost every bit of myself. I would sacrifice everything to stop him.

Kacha said, “Do it.”

With Ox’s strength, I tore apart the bindings on my wrists. Reaching for the man behind me, I already had an ice pick in my hand, my weapon ready to pierce him.

But Ox was not faster than lightning.