Page 77 of Reign of the Talon
Scowling, the sun god strides over to Kang from across the throne room and reaches behind Kang’s head to break the muzzle. The metal pieces fall to the floor, and Kang slowly rubs his jaw, meeting Haemosu’s furious gaze.
“Where is your emperor?” he demands. “Where has he gone?”
“I cannot find him,” Kang explains as calmly as he is capable of, clutching his staff tightly. “Wherever he is, he isn’t in this palace.” Has his emperor run? Kang would not put it past Rui. “Your missive was too clear in its purpose,” Kang adds quietly, looking to Dalnim, who is rubbing her temples in frustration. “He knew what you planned to do. With all due respect, it’s as he has told you before: Rui refuses to kill Shin Lina. He will not put her in danger. I could have told you he would not willingly sacrifice himself.”
“Damnation,” curses Haemosu, beginning to pace. “Any idea of where he’s gone?”
“No,” Kang admits, a bitter taste on his tongue. “Only that he will likely have positioned himself where you cannot reach him.”
The sun god bares his teeth…
It is at that moment that a corridor of shadow emerges in the throne room, and a panicked foot soldier tumbles out, eyes wide with fear. Kang recognizes her as one of the remaining Dokkaebi stationed in Sanyeongto to retrieve victims.
He does not recognize the creature that tumbles out with her. A…winged boy, who looks exceptionally pleased with himself as he shoots past the gods and Dokkaebi toward the doors in a burst of speed and disappears, leaving the doors swinging.
“Right,” Haemosu says after a long silence. “What thefuck?”
Dalnim is staring at the soldier. “Explain yourself,” she demands, silver eyes blazing.
“I had no choice,” pants the female Dokkaebi. “He grabbed me, took me up into the sky, and then h-he dropped me…I opened my portal, and h-he followed me here, grabbed me…”
Kang’s eyes widen, and he exchanges alarmed glances with the gods.
But by then, it is too late.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Iseul
Iseul tears herself from Seojin’s embrace, eyes wide as something heavy lands behind her. “Oh,shit,” she breathes. A pale boy with dark hair and even darker wings meets her gaze, and her stomach plummets as he takes a step closer. Seojin’s sharp inhale cuts through the panicked cries of fleeing healers, and Iseul knows that somehow, this has something to do with Shin Lina.
The boy’s eyes have purple shadows beneath them, as if he hasn’t slept for a very long while. “It is time to leave,” he says, and there is a firmness in his tone that is almost menacing.
Outside of the sickbay doors, there sounds the sudden, hurried flurry of footsteps. A rescue, Iseul realizes as the boy impatiently reaches out a hand toward her. This is a “rescue,” orchestrated by Lina’s forces, although how the boy got in—and intends to getout—of Gyeulcheon is a mystery to her.
Jae, clinging to her, whimpers.
“I am getting impatient,” the boy whispers, and it is more of a panicked hiss than anything. Iseul swallows hard. She must make her decision fast. To go, or to stay? To return to Shin Lina and help her raze down villages, orphan children, and generally spread terror? Or to stay here, with Seojin’s soft smiles and healing hands?
What adilemma.
Impatiently, the winged boy takes a step toward her, eyes on the chain binding her to the human boy. He unsheathes his dagger, clearly preparing to sever the chain—
Iseul, holding Jae close to her, brings up her knee and kicks the boy in the face.
“Unggh!”he howls, rearing back, hand on his nose which is at a funny angle and bleeding profusely. His eyes squeezed shut, he drops the knife, a glint of sharp metal falling through the air before clattering on the sickbay’s cold floor. With a smug little smile, Iseul admires her handiwork.
It’s never too late to turn over a new leaf. And here, with Seojin, she’d rather like to try.
“Ireallyhate birds,” she says, almost conversationally. “I’ve never quite seen a bird like you, though. What is it? Are you an overgrown crow?”
“Iseul,” warns Seojin at her back. The boy is wiping blood from his face.
She turns to roll her eyes at him. This, here, is her victory. “Oh, he’s not going to—”
Seojin’s eyes snap to a point past her shoulder. “ISEUL!” he warns in a very different tone as she whirls on her heels just in time for the boy to launch himself at her with a growl of desperation. It rattles her for a moment, just how verydeepthat desperation seems to go.
“You have to come with me! Ineedto earn her trust…”
