Page 43 of Reign of the Talon
C R A C K.
“With the Prophecy’s power over rain, it’s proven rather difficult to keep my fire burning as potently as it must. There has been little effect.” Rui shakes his head. “But that was when you didn’t want to be found. Perhaps now, it will be different.” I jolt in surprise as a ball of blue fire hovers over his open palm.
I had thought… I had thought that here, within this mindscape, both of us were rendered powerless. My scales and fangs, after all, are gone. My blood runs red. Yet somehow, Rui’s fire is still part of him. So is his strength, I realize belatedly. It is just that those Imugi traits are not a part ofme.
The knowledge is…comforting. Yet there is no time to dwell. Mind whirring, I sign so quickly that Rui shakes his head, looking baffled.
“I’m sorry, Lina, I—”
The fire, I say again.The fire, Rui. It works in here. And if it works in here—I gesture to the bars.You can burn me out from the inside.Even though the idea terrifies me.
Slowly, realization crosses Rui’s face. “How—”
I begin to pace, back and forth. I know so little of this world, this space within the mind. Rui unleashing the full extent of his fire from within here could be dangerous. It could have effects disastrous to the war. Finally, I settle on a decision.
Melt the bars, if you can, I tell him urgently.There is something beyond this cell. A staircase, at the end of this dungeon. I think I can find my way out. Back into my body. I don’t know how long it will take, but I-I believe I can do it.
Rui nods, the fire flaring brighter. Some light has come back into his exhausted eyes. “Lina,” he whispers, a rush of affection flaring down the red thread. It becomes visible, wavering between us in a blur of scarlet from Rui’s excitement. “Lina, you’re truly brilliant.” He takes a step closer to me, gazing down with soft eyes. His hand that does not burn with the Dokkaebi fire hovers, as if longing to cup my cheek in his palm…but he draws it away and turns to his task. “Stand back,” he says, and his voice is perhaps a bit guttural. “I don’t want to burn you.”
It’s not me he should be concerned about.That…thing…is going to pounce, I warn him, narrowing my eyes at the Dalgyal Gwisin.Once the bars are melted, it’s going to rush us.
“I hope it does,” Rui replies, the Dokkaebi fire blazing brighter. A familiar sharp smile curves his mouth. “Oh, I truly hope it does.”
I flatten myself against the opposite stone wall and draw the sword. With a flick of the wrist, the blue blade shoots forth. My feet are rooted to the ground in a familiar stance, my heart thumping in my ears.
A fight is coming. I suppose we will see if I’m ready for it.
Rui, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure I’m as far away as possible, summons a flame to his other hand as well. Turning back, his shoulders tense…and he begins to burn. The air grows cold, so cold that it is viciously hot as Rui guides the fire to the bars. The smell of melting metal fills my nose, and I watch as the bars begin to bubble and ripple, to soften, sweating underneath the fire. They begin to give, to seep downward, but Rui does not stop there, even when a gaping hole exists, enough for me to slip through.
No, Haneul Rui melts the whole damn thing to the ground.
Panting, he looks back at me. There is sadness in his eyes, but there is also triumph and hope in his gaze as I take a step forward, careful to avoid the puddles of melted iron.
The Dalgyal Gwisin’s maw gapes as it screams in hunger through chattering teeth. I had thought it would move with monstrous grace like the Imugi. I was wrong.
The creature drops to all fours, its limbs disjointed, its fingers splayed crookedly against the ground. Its bloated bare feet scrabble on the ground and its head cocks, greasy black hair falling to the side. A strange chitter, one that I haven’t heard before, rips from its throat.
Before it can lunge at us, Rui blasts it with another wave of roaring blue fire. The flames envelop it, swallow it whole, and my grip on the sword begins to relax. Surely it cannot survive this.
Panting hard, Rui banks his fire—only for my heart to suddenly stand still in my chest. As the flames dwindle, the Dalgyal Gwisin laughs, for somehow it’s unburned, unscathed. “Tricksy,tricksy,” it croons, cocking its head again. “But your fire won’t harm a hair on my head.”
And then it lunges.
My instincts kick in, and as the Dalgyal Gwisin leaps for me, I dive to the ground, rolling underneath its leaping body and launching back to my feet in time to shoot out of the cell before the thing has had time to recover. As I leap past the puddle of molten metal, I grab Rui’s hand, hauling him with me.
Together. We do this together.
And just like that… Just like that, we’re out of the cell, trembling violently as my feet meet the cold dungeon floor. Yet I have no time to savor my escape, for the Dalgyal Gwisin’s teeth are chattering, and it’s hauling itself back onto its four limbs from where it hit the wall. Shit. Breathing hard, I try to make sense of it. When I clawed at its arms, I drew blood with only my nails. Yet somehow Rui’s fire did nothing? How is that possible?
There is only one answer. It’s come to me. To my mind.
SoImust be the one to kill it.
Panting hard, I back away. The Dalgyal Gwisin’s hair swings back and forth as it edges closer to the cell’s opening.
Its maw widens, revealinganotherrow of teeth.
I have never grimaced so hard in my entire life.
