Page 98 of Reign of the Talon
And the victory will taste so very, very sweet. Haneul’s defeat will only add another coating of sugar to this already delicious triumph. I imagine it, how his face will contort in agonized realization as my Imugi take to the skies, how he will undoubtedly cry—the poor, sensitive thing, realizing that he has failed in whatever he hoped to accomplish by fleeing here from Gyeulcheon. And the Prisoner within my head will give up on her quest, crushed by her defeat. It will be my happy ending and my purpose fulfilled.
Empress of All. Goddess of Wrath.
The Yeouiju.
I open my eyes, and my smile falls from my lips as I realize Eunwoo is nowhere in sight. Sonagi is hesitating beneath me. We are at a crossroads, two paths branching before us. “Eunwoo?” I demand.
His voice comes from the right tunnel, where the shadows grow even darker as we pass through it. Eunwoo’s voice comes from further up ahead. “The entrance to the palace is at the end of the tunnel,” he calls. “Over here.”
My lips stretch once more. “Wonderful.”
This particular tunnel is extraordinarily long. I cannot see the end through the shadows, even with my vision. I cannot see Eunwoo, either.
As we move, a peculiar sound comes from above us. It is almost the sound of shifting earth, low and gravelly. It grows within moments to a roar, and I raise my hand, bringing my forces to an abrupt halt as pebbles begin to rain down from overhead, soon followed by larger rocks that crash to the ground. Waves of dust and grime explode upward, and Iseul and I choke on it. My Imugi hiss in panic as they twist to avoid the rocks.
“GO BACK!”I shout in the Serpentine Tongue as I summon scales around my body for protection. The tunnels are caving in, and if we do not move quickly enough, we will be trapped—
I narrowly avoid the impact of a large chunk of stone and bite my tongue in outrage as Sonagi desperately dodges the plummeting debris.How? How is this happening?
We will regroup. Rethink—
“GO!”I shout hoarsely, and my Imugi turn around and slither faster, faster. The very walls of the tunnel are trembling, and I can barely see through the thick clouds of dust. The rumbling is all-encompassing, and my ears ring as it reaches its crescendo…as mere feet behind Sonagi and me, hundreds of hard, jagged stones crash onto the ground, stacking upon each other with booming, thunderouscracks. Shards of stone spray outward, one slicing a thin line across Iseul’s face. She’s pale with shock as the rockfall continues for what feels like centuries, but in reality can only be a few seconds.
I stare at the obstruction blocking our path toward the palace, chest heaving. It is silent now, yet my ears still ring, head pounding in pain. Small rocks skitter down from the towering wall of rock from which tendrils of smog swirl. Blinking dust out of my eyes, I slide from Sonagi to face my troops. I am covered in the thick, grimy powder from head to toe, and the others have not fared much better, only their eyes visible. Haneul’s are wide as I storm toward him and rip him off his mount.
“Did you plan this?” I growl, holding him around the throat, uncaring if I suffer the same pain as I sneer up at him and rip the gag from his mouth.
Haneul smirks, a razor-sharp tilt of his lips. “As much as I’m flattered that you think I would be able to singlehandedly orchestrate a cave-in such as this, no. I didn’t.”
Breathing hard, I release him and shove him away. The gods. It has to be.
“Clear the rocks.”Struggling to breathe past the dust and fury, I gesture impatiently to my Imugi, then to the obstruction, turning around to do so. “And do it quickly—”
“Shin Lina,” a voice says from behind me. It is a delicate, feminine voice. “We meet again.”
Slowly, I turn back around.
And there, past my Imugi, past the unconscious Chan and thin-lipped Haneul, past Iseul’s wide black eyes…
The moon goddess and her brother.
Dalnim, as pale as her moon, holds that silver gakgung, an arrow aimed straight at my heart. Haemosu, dressed in armor as golden and bright as his sun, radiates divinity and holds a gleaming sword in one hand.
And anarmyis at their backs, filling the extensive tunnel, men and women and Dokkaebi all aiming their weapons toward mine.
My Imugi hiss in surprise and fury. I join them, my scales unfolding along my skin, glittering in the low light. My finger trembles with rage as I lift it into the air, preparing to signal for war…
Haemosu tilts his head, following the gesture. “Oh, this isn’t even all of us,” the sun god says with a nasty grin, just as Jeon Eunwoo flies around the bend, where that second tunnel was…
…and just as he lands next to the gods, bringing with him a wave of soldiers who join ranks with the others. The color of their lamellar armor is unfamiliar to me. Not the brown of the Wyusan soldiers, or the dark green, scaled armor of the Gyeulcheon soldiers. The leather of their plates have been painted white. Realization strikes me like a violent wave.
These areBonseyo soldiers.
A snippet from a long-forgotten conversation comes to me.
“Can you throw your voice like a raven?”
“I can.”
