Page 131 of A Forgery of Fate

“Hold on, Tru,” Elang whispered. “We’re almost there.”

Yes, we were close. I could almost look up and see Elang’s reflection in Nazayun’s pupil. Any moment now.

To send someone into Oblivion, I had to paint their final moment. And this was what I’d foreseen: Elang, invading the Dragon King’s line of sight, his gray and yellow eyes ablaze. My body trembled as it came true.

Now I only had my part to play.

For Ai’long,I thought, letting go of Elang’s horns.For Baba.

Throwing myself as far as I could, I leapt for the Dragon King. I kicked furiously, aiming for the highest whisker on his cheek, tilted just above his brow.

With a silent prayer to the gods, I oustretched my hand. Down I tumbled, past the storm of his white hair. My fingertips grazed down the rough hood of his lid, peeling past his lashes—for the fathomless black pupil below.

I wished I’d had enough time to paint the damned entirety of the Dragon King into Oblivion, but for now this would do.

A touch was all it took. The Touch of Entrapment.

His eye vanished, as if it had never existed. And Nazayun let out an anguished cry.

I didn’t wait for the aftermath. As fast as I could, I grabbed the Scroll and I hooked Elang by the arm. “Go.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

We fled the palace.

It was the most tumultuous, dizzying ride of my life. The halls flashed by in a wash of color. Spears sang past our ears as we left our enemies behind.

Past the gate, we sped through the seagrass. Queen Haidi was hunting us. Her barbs tore through the field, skinning past rocks and reefs alike.

Elang pulled me into a narrow cave, the ridges on his back tensing as Haidi combed the area for us. At his touch, my clothes matched the algae-covered rock. So, too, did his scales and long tail.

I reached for his hand, held it tight. The minutes crawled by, and instinctively we breathed at the same time so we wouldn’t make any extra sound. I watched as the magic took its toll on Elang. His yellow eye twitched, its vibrance turning dull and cloudy. The warmth was bleeding from his scales. I pressed my ear to his chest and listened for his heart. Faint and unsteady it beat. My own pulse spiked with worry.

“I think she’s gone,” Elang finally whispered. He rolled to his side so we faced each other. “Are you hurt?”

WasIhurt?

One of Haidi’s harpoons had found the sinewy human flesh between his scales, just above his chest. He was trying to hide it, but there was too much blood. It pooled between the seams of his fingers, drenching his white cloak.

I heal faster than full-blooded humans,Elang had told me,but I bleed like you, and I hurt like you.

Do you die like us too?I wished I’d asked. From the looks of it, the answer was yes. His scales were losing their luster, and even with the cloak on, he wasn’t getting much better.

“It’s nothing—”

“Stop talking.” I swept aside his healing cloak and gripped the bottom of the harpoon shaft, my knuckles turning red with Elang’s blood.

“One,” I said aloud. “Two.”

Three.With all my strength, I yanked out the harpoon. There came a grisly crunch that made my insides clench, and Elang’s chest heaved. I folded his cloak over him, rolling him onto his back. I swallowed hard. “Does it hurt very much?”

Elang attempted a grin. “Less, now that you’re here.”

Liar,I almost said, before I realized he wasn’t lying at all. “You never were good at flirting.”

“I never had a chance to practice. As Gaari, I thought it would make you uncomfortable. And after that, we were already married so it didn’t seem necessary.”

Again, that urge to slap him as much as kiss him. I settled for kissing him, twice.

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