Page 104 of Reign of the Talon
The hollowness within me is slowly filled by something brighter, something hopeful, as Eunbi’s sobs quiet. As she still clings to me.
Like I used to when she was a baby, I lift her up. She is heavier now, but I am still able to tuck her into the bed. To pull the worn blankets up to her chin.
She wipes her running nose with the backs of her hands and blinks tiredly at me. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m sorry, Lili.”
Don’t be sorry. You did nothing wrong.
“Sang says you’re hurting.” Eunbi takes my hand in hers. “Is it better now?”
It is, I reply honestly.
She smiles, just a little bit. “Good,” she whispers, and then her eyes shift to something behind me. “Stairs,” Eunbi says in awe, and as I turn, I see that the stairs have appeared, come to take me to the next level. Around my neck, another key appears: this one smaller than the others, with a charm shaped like a tiny cherry blossom.
I swallow hard, a nervous sweat prickling on my palms.
Something, some intimately innate feeling perhaps sent by Gameunjang herself, tells me that I am getting closer.
Closer to reclaiming my body.
To defeating the Prophecy.
“Are you going to go?” Eunbi asks quietly.
I have to, I reply, smoothing away her curls.So I can get my body back. So I can leave this place and fix…everything.
She considers this, looking at the staircase, the stone steps leading upward into shadow. And then she looks at me, scouring my face intently, a little furrow between her brows. “You’re scared,” Eunbi whispers. “I’ve only ever seen you scared once before,” she adds, and I know she is thinking of—of—
C R A C K.
I flinch, and Eunbi nods, as if coming to a conclusion. “I’m coming with you,” she says firmly and scrambles out of the bed to stand by my side. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
Eunbi, I—My throat abruptly closes, and I shake my head, although I so desperately want to say yes.I cannot—I will not—put you in danger ever again.
She smiles, a little ironically. “I don’t think that matters anymore, Lili,” she whispers and grabs my hand. Looking up at me, Eunbi shakes her head. “Don’t cry,” she pleads. “I’m here now. And—and I don’t want to go back to Jeoseung just yet. So I’m not going to leave you until I know you’re okay. Please, let me help save you,” she says, and with a start, I remember the way she threw herself in front of me so long ago—the way she’d launched herself before me on the Gyeulcheon Mountains, taking the snowball Rui had meant for me with her small body, tumbling to the ground with a shriek.
“Don’t ever do that again,”I’d said then, heart pounding in alarm as I’d held her shoulders, scanning her for any injuries. Rui, competitive as only a Dokkaebi emperor can be, had a penchant for throwing snowballs at me with more force than even necessary.
Face caked in snow, Eunbi had stubbornly frowned.“Why not? Why can’t I save you?”
As if the memory also shines within her mind, Eunbi leads me to the staircase with a gentle tug. “Come on, Lili,” she whispers.
And we begin to climb.
Together.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
The Prophecy
I tumble onto jagged stone and unleash a shout of fury as the Yongwangguk Sea sprays my face.
“You,” I seethe, turning onto Haneul, who stands on the rocky shore, breathing hard. “Why,” I hiss, “did you do that?” My troops. Sonagi. I must be with them. And yet I am here, miles away from the Bonseyo Shadowshafts, miles away from the battle, the war.
As Haneul glares at me, I stalk across the rocks, scaleblades extending. “Take me back,” I snarl. “Take me backright now.”
“Take you back to die?” drawls Haneul, somehow looking extremely bored as I hold the blade to his throat. His confidence that I will not do it is enraging, and I wish—not for the first time—that I could shred the red thread of fate joining us into nothingness. “I’ll have to politely decline.”
Breathing hard, I step back. My hair whips in the salty, sea-tinged wind.
