Circle of Shadows

by Evelyn Skye

  “Unless you are reporting a breach of our perimeter by the ryuu, I don’t have time,” she said, marching on to the racks of swords.

  “No, they haven’t been sighted yet, but—”

  “Then go back to your post, Broomstick. You are derelict in your duties.”

  “No.” He planted himself in front of her and crossed his arms.

  Glass Lady looked at him, aghast. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Commander, you have to listen to me. We know how to defeat the ryuu.”

  “You’re at risk of heaping more punishment upon yourself and your friends.”

  “I know.” Broomstick took a step closer to her. “And that’s why you should know this is important. The ryuu’s one weakness is sight. They have to be able to see the magic before they can call it to do their bidding. We believe they’ll be here shortly. We have a plan to blind them, but then we’ll only have a short window of opportunity to take them out while they’re vulnerable.”

  Glass Lady frowned, but it wasn’t the disappointed one she usually wore when it came to Sora and her friends’ shenanigans. She was thinking over what Broomstick said.

  He was afraid to breathe while she considered it, as if even a slight puff of air could nudge her back into dismissing him as an overeager apprentice.

  “I thought Sight was what gave them power,” she said.

  He exhaled. She was actually listening. “Yes, it is. But ironically, vision is also their weakness. Like taigas have to use their hands to form mudras, ryuu have to use their eyes to control their power.”

  She nodded slowly. “And what, exactly, is your plan?”

  Broomstick explained how Sora was going to use a crystal wall as a magnifying glass to blind the ryuu when they approached the Imperial City. If they didn’t have Sight, they wouldn’t be able to access their magic. The taigas would have to be ready to pounce on the ryuu before they regained their ability to see. “It might only be a matter of seconds,” he said.

  Glass Lady fingered the throwing stars on her belt. “Yes, but before the ryuu showed up, taigas were the most formidable warriors in the world. If the ryuu don’t have their magic, we only need a few seconds to neutralize them.”

  “Exactly,” Broomstick said. “And we outnumber them.”

  Thanks to Wolf, he thought. It was because of his reconnaissance that Empress Aki could interrupt her brother’s strategy to secretly amass an army. Prince Gin had managed to put together only a couple hundred ryuu on his way here. In comparison, there were now over five thousand taigas at the Citadel.

  “They won’t all come to the front gates,” Glass Lady said.

  “Most probably will,” Broomstick said. “Even though Spirit brought Fairy back here, the ryuu still don’t know that she wasn’t the empress. Prince Gin will likely march here as planned, believing he is the new emperor.”

  “I think that’s right,” Glass Lady said, beginning to walk toward the armory’s exit and gesturing for Broomstick to follow her. “We’ll assemble most of our troops at the main gates, but we’ll leave in place some forces on the perimeters. Spirit’s crystal will have to do the brunt of the work. But I’ll order mirrors stripped from bedrooms for the patrols on the other edges of the fortress walls, in case they also need to blind ryuu incursions.”

  Broomstick couldn’t help the stupid grin that plastered itself across his face. She’d really listened to him. His crew was back and safe. They had a plan. And Glass Lady had actually heard what he had to say. “Thank you, Commander.”

  She glanced over at him as they left the armory and veered toward Warrior Meeting Hall. “For what?”

  “For believing in me. For believing in us.”

  Glass Lady shrugged as if it meant nothing. But then she gave Broomstick a small wink, so quick, he almost thought he imagined it.

  “I always knew you and your friends had the potential to be great taigas,” she said. “I was just waiting for you to believe in it yourselves.”

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Hana woke to the sky purpling with the dawn. She should have been excited about the march to the Imperial City. This was going to be a watershed moment in the dream Prince Gin had plotted for years.

  Instead, there was a heaviness in her chest, like a ball of iron right beneath her sternum. Today was also supposed to be the day when she and Sora fought against the taigas, a sister ryuu team.

  But that day would never be.

  Hana lay on her sleeping mat for a few more minutes, the first morning in a long time that she hadn’t jumped out of bed. Had she made a mistake in letting Sora go?

  Why do I care? I gave her a choice, and she chose the taigas over me.

  The iron ball in Hana’s chest grew heavier, though. Love was an unwelcome guest in her heart.

  And then she thought of something that made a dreadful morning even worse—if Sora had chosen the taigas over the ryuu, it also meant she’d chosen Empress Aki over Prince Gin.

  “The body!”

  Hana tore out of the tent and sprinted toward the cart at the edge of camp that held Empress Aki’s corpse.

  Please let everything be where it’s supposed to be.

  The ryuu who were supposed to be guarding the body were dead or unconscious.

  “Gods dammit!” she screamed. “You fools! How could you let her past you? How could you allow her to steal the empress from right under your nose?”

  The ryuu lay on the ground, unmoving.

  But Hana’s questions were really directed at herself anyway. She had trusted too easily. She should have known. Sora’s priority had always been the Society and her friends.

  Hana’s anger ripped the cart apart. The wooden frame that held the canvas cover broke into pieces and flew into the air, then rocketed straight down, spearing themselves just inches from each of the ryuu.

  She stormed back into the main part of camp.

  “Pack up now!” she yelled at the ryuu.

  “B-but we haven’t had breakfast yet,” one of them dared to say.

  Hana glared at him. Her fury could burn a hole straight through his head.

  “I don’t care. Pack up camp and be ready to move out in thirty minutes. Today, we destroy my sister and her precious Society, and we put Emperor Gin on the throne.”

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Inside the Citadel, Sora commanded the ryuu particles to set her massive magnifying glass against the inside of the fortress wall. Sweat poured down her temples from the effort of floating and steering the crystal from Rose Palace. It had taken longer than she wanted, not only from being careful, but also because she’d decided it would be safest if she and the magnifying glass were invisible. Doing so drained nearly everything Sora had in her.

  But the commotion of gathering troops at the main gates roused Sora. She hurried over, pushing past squadrons who were still assembling, ignoring the surprised calls of apprentices who hadn’t known that she was back home. She stopped only when she found Broomstick.

  A moment later, Daemon and Fairy appeared, framed by the rising sun. An avalanche of relief roared through Sora when she saw her roommate. “You’re all right!”

  Then she noticed that Fairy and Daemon were holding hands, and a different kind of avalanche crashed down on her, one that made her sick to her stomach, even though she had no right to feel that way.

  Gods. Sora blinked as comprehension set in. It was jealousy.

  She looked at Daemon’s and Fairy’s fingers intertwined, and Sora realized that, in the back of her mind, she’d always assumed he was hers. She had taken their togetherness for granted. She’d mistaken her attachment to him as mere partnership.

  But now, seeing him with someone else, she understood. She’d loved him since the day he arrived at the Citadel like a wolf cub, with his unkempt tufts of hair and feral eyes, the way he crouched on all fours and snarled at the other tenderfoots. She had imagined him as a boy out of one of her mother’s Kichonan fables. Everyone else had wanted to tame him. Sora
had been the only one who wanted him to keep his wildness.

  Fairy cocked her head at Sora, as if to ask if everything was okay.

  Sora took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. What else could she do? Sora hadn’t tried to make a move on Daemon. Besides, the Society wouldn’t have allowed it. Geminas couldn’t get involved with each other like that.

  So she nodded. Yes, it was fine. Everything was fine.

  Besides, she couldn’t afford to waste time on her feelings right now. Glass Lady always said curiosity killed the cat, but sentimentality killed the taiga. Maybe this was what she meant.

  “I heard about your sister,” Daemon said. For once, he didn’t pick up on Sora’s emotion through their gemina bond. Or, more accurately, the fact that she wanted to shut off the spigot of her emotions. Maybe he was too wrapped up in Fairy to feel the subtle change in his and Sora’s connection. “I thought the reason you left Copper Bluff was to keep Fairy safe,” he continued. “But now I also know it was because of Hana.”

  Sora sighed and closed her eyes. It took a second before she opened them again and answered.

  “Yes. She’s alive. She’s on the wrong side, but she’s alive.”

  Daemon looked at his feet and shook his head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you found Hana. You must have a hundred different feelings about it.”

  “I shouldn’t. I don’t want to feel anything right now except the drive to stop Prince Gin.”

  “Taigas aren’t superhuman. We have emotions, just like regular people. But no matter what happens, I’m here for you. We’re here for you.” He looked to his right and left, at Fairy and Broomstick.

  Sora nodded, feeling at the same time his comforting reassurance through their bond. “I know.”

  Glass Lady ran up to them. “The ryuu are approaching. Please tell me everything is in place.”

  Sora blinked, confused for a second that the commander was talking to them, mere apprentices.

  “Spirit,” Glass Lady snapped. “Broomstick said you were preparing a magnifying glass of some sort. Where is it?”

  Sora shook herself out of her surprise. After all, she had come up with the plan, and it was a good one. Good enough, she hoped. “Yes, Commander. It’s right over there.” She pointed at the slab of Rose Palace propped a short distance away, against the inside of the Citadel’s walls.

  Glass Lady actually took a step back at its size. “That’s the weapon? The Ora imperial crest?”

  “Yes, Commander,” Sora said. “Do you like it?”

  A small smile actually crept onto Glass Lady’s face. “I do, Spirit. Very much.”

  Sora grinned at Daemon. See? She’d been right. The road to becoming legendary didn’t have to be without irreverence.

  Glass Lady grew serious again. “Everyone in your places. Let’s get to the top of the fortress walls.”

  From there, they looked down on the main gates. The ryuu were indeed nearly upon them. As they marched, their fire, bone, insect, and other magic was on full display. Glass Lady inhaled sharply as wasps swarmed above the ryuu in a noisy storm cloud, flames licked toward gates, and stones rolled up to the walls and began piling themselves to form steps.

  Sora frowned. Something was wrong. The realization shot through her gemina bond like an arrow.

  “What is it?” Daemon asked.

  “This isn’t all of the ryuu,” Sora said.

  “Maybe they’re going to attack other parts of the fortress,” Fairy said.

  Broomstick peered through a spyglass and shook his head. “No signs of approach from the other sides of the Citadel. And we haven’t heard alarms from the perimeter.”

  Where’s the other half of the army? Sora wondered. Were they so arrogant that they thought they could defeat an entire fortress full of taigas and decided to use only a fraction of their forces?

  “It’s better for us,” Daemon said. “After you blind them, there will be fewer for us to fight.”

  Sora kept shaking her head, though. “I worry what the other half is doing. If—”

  Hana rode forward. Sora froze. She couldn’t remember what she was going to say. All she could focus on was her sister and the seething hatred in her eyes, so intense, it felt as if they burned a hole straight through Sora’s heart.

  She had to look away.

  “Commander,” Hana said, raising her voice and sounding ever Virtuoso. “We have come home to mourn Empress Aki’s death, and to usher in the reign of Emperor Gin. We bring with us the gift of new magic to the Society. Open the gates, and let your returned warriors in.”

  Glass Lady nodded subtly at Sora to set her plan in motion.

  “What is your name, child?” Glass Lady said to Hana.

  Hana scoffed. “I am no child. I am Virtuoso, and I am second in command of this army.”

  “Well, child,” Glass Lady said, her voice oozing the same venomous disdain as Hana’s, “I may be old-fashioned, but I think current etiquette still dictates that it is rude to try to force one’s way into another’s home.” She gestured at the stone staircase the ryuu were building with their magic, and the flames that had begun to heat the iron of the gates orange. “You claim to come here respectfully,” Glass Lady continued, “and yet you begin from a position of utter disrespect. Therefore, we must treat you in kind.”

  She waved her hand, and taigas appeared from their hiding places just below the top of the fortress walls. Others waited on the foot- and handholds below them, ready to pounce on the ryuu once Sora blinded them.

  She focused the emerald particles around her. Make the crystal invisible. Bring it to me.

  With Sora keeping the wall invisible, the ryuu wouldn’t know what was blinding them. They wouldn’t be able to shoot it down. The only one who could understand—who could see invisible things—was Hana.

  Sora’s entire body trembled with the effort of moving the crystal. She’d forgotten how much energy she’d already used to cut the wall from the palace and transport it here. There wasn’t much in her reserves.

  Daemon noticed. He placed his hands on Sora’s shoulders, the heat of his touch steadying her. It was like when the Imperial Guard had bandaged her wounds while she was working on cutting the crystal from the palace walls, except tenfold, because this was Daemon.

  Sora’s hold on the magic strengthened, and the slab of crystal rose faster from the ground where she’d left it, soaring through the air toward them.

  Hana sneered at Glass Lady, her attention, at least for now, on the commander. “Your old-fashioned view of the world is exactly why I’ll replace you as leader of the Society once Emperor Gin wears the crown,” Hana said. “Now I’m going to ask you one more time to let us in.”

  The commander glanced at Sora.

  The slab of Rose Palace hovered just below the top of the fortress walls, where Hana couldn’t see it.

  Now! Sora ordered.

  The crystal shot up into the sky, directly in front of the sun. Sora rotated it from side to side.

  The light blasted down upon the ryuu, not in a beam of pink, but rather in a brilliant, intense spectrum, everything from red to violet, as the light filtered through the prism of the Ora tiger crest. It was beautiful and painfully glaring, all at once.

  The ryuu shrieked as they were blinded. Some shielded their eyes. Others clawed at them, as if they could rip away the brightness of the light.

  “Attack!” Glass Lady shouted.

  Taigas swarmed over the fortress walls, climbing up and over like an army of fire ants. They rained down on the ryuu below, throwing stars and darts tipped in genka. The goal was not to kill them—most of the ryuu were taigas who had recently been hypnotized by Prince Gin—but to blind them, knock them out, and then imprison them until the Society could figure out how to undo the Dragon Prince’s spell. Sora kept turning the magnifying glass in the sky, varying the rays of sunlight unpredictably, so that any direction a ryuu looked for their emerald dust, they’d immediately be confronted with more o
f the blinding light. But her trick with the magnifying glass would handicap the ryuu for only a minute, maybe less, before they figured out a way to avoid looking at it. The taigas needed to incapacitate the ryuu quickly.

  Hana roared, her anger audible even through the chaos of the fight.

  The stone stairs her ryuu had been building were only six stories high, still four stories from the top of the fortress walls. But four floors wasn’t impossible for a ryuu to jump.

  “Watch out for Virtuoso!” Sora said.

  Hana shielded her eyes from the flashing light above and sprinted up the stones. She pushed off the last one and leaped up.

  Others began to follow her lead. Beetle—Sora’s friend—kept his gaze to the earth, where cicadas, centipedes, and thousands of other antennaed things crawled out of the dirt. They climbed on top of each other and created a moving platform to carry him and a few others up. At the same time, the fire ryuu doubled her efforts on the gates, their lower bars red-hot, while another ryuu who could work with metal coaxed it to bend. Another minute or two, and they would have a hole large enough to let themselves through.

  Hana landed on the top of the fortress wall. Sora glanced over, and her stomach curdled at the way her sister’s face twisted, her eyes narrowed, and that cute button nose now scrunched, nostrils flared in anger. Sora’s spell on the magnifying glass almost slipped.

  Taiga officers began to shout new commands to the different squadrons.

  “Stay up on the wall and continue shooting any ryuu you can with genka darts!”

  “Drop down to the ground and draw your weapons!”

  “Remember—if they can’t see, they can only fight like we can, and we outnumber them. Go!”

  Grasshopper spells were cast. Taigas jumped down from the ten-story fortress walls, into the melee below. They drew swords and sickles and chains, also dipped with genka.

  Some taigas and ryuu would die. The Society would try to spare as many as they could, but stopping Prince Gin’s army was the priority.

  In the meantime, Beetle, Firebrand, and other ryuu were making progress on the wall.