Page 75 of Her Radiant Curse

Hokzuh is waiting for me in Nakri’s fishing boat. I jump in and immediately pick up an oar.

“There she is!” the suiyaks call to one another. They gather in the sky, massing like a cloud of white birds.

Hokzuh and I row as fast as we can, leading the fight away from the village. I don’t slow down, not even when my muscles start burning and the wind stings my eyes. We’re offshore, nearly at sea, when the suiyaks descend upon us. By now they know about my blood. They ignore the gash I score upon my leg and grab me by the arms, lifting me off the boat.

Ukar is at my defense immediately. He sinks his fangs into the closest suiyak while I go at their necks, but they grab my wrists, twisting until I howl with pain. My spear drops from my grasp, and I have nothing. Nothing to protect me, as the suiyaks lift me higher and higher, out of Ukar’s reach with my feet kicking at the wind.

I bite and scratch, drawing blood black as tar. Still they fly. I rip out clumps of white hair. Still they fly. Damn it, without my spear I cannot rip out their pale throats.

Thankfully, I’m not alone.

Below, Hokzuh and Ukar are surrounded. “Go for their heads!” I yell to them. “That’s the only way to kill them.”

The dragon gets to work. He shoots up, decapitating the monsters with his bare claws. Heads fly, bursting like rotting fruits, their black juices dripping—and the suiyaks surrounding me start to flitter away out of fear. They spread their arms, white hair flaring like wings.

That’s when I seize my chance. I bite down on my lip until I taste blood, and spit at the closest suiyak. Her cheek sizzles, leaking mist as she shrieks in outrage. Or at least, she tries to shriek. I bash her skull with my own, as hard as I can. I’m not sure how it happens, but there’s a rush of black scales and spikes, and next thing I know, I’m falling.

Hokzuh catches me neatly in his arms. He brings me down to the boat, where my spear has landed.

We’re of the same mind. I slather my weapon with blood. “Here. Be careful.”

With a nod, he launches high into the air. His left wing is still broken, but with his right, he cuts a deadly arc through the sky, guiding my spear expertly through a frenzied swarm of suiyaks. Left, right, left, right, he strikes a dozen of them, and their bodies arch back. One by one, their white hair fizzles into the sea foam.

The remaining suiyaks hiss.

“Come at me,” I goad. I raise my bloodied palms. “Come!”

They don’t dare. They hover several feet away, and as one they speak: “This is your victory today, but there is still tomorrow.

“We will see you soon,” the suiyaks promise. “Let us go, sisters. She has been warned. Mother Angma will take care of the rest.”

Then they are gone, and Hokzuh lands back in the boat with a thud. His muscles go slack with exhaustion, and I have to pull his injured wing out of the water before it drags us off course.

“Never a dull moment with you,” he says, stretching out his legs. “You’re a special girl, Channari Jin’aiti. Never met anyone like you.”

I could say the same of you, I almost say. But instead, I reply, “Careful of Ukar.” I kick his ankle away from my best friend, who’s curled up in the bow. Biting always makes him sleepy. “He needs his rest.”

“So do you.”

I do. I’m tired, and my arms burn as I row, but every second is precious. I don’t even look back until the island of Yappang has vanished beyond the curve of the earth.

Finally, setting my oar across my lap, I turn to the dragon. “Thanks for flying after the suiyaks. Your wing must’ve hurt.”

“Couldn’t let you and the snake become lunch.” Hokzuh tosses my spear back. “You got the medicine from Nakri?”

“Yes.”

“You should take the first sip. You’ll need it if you’re going to face Angma again.”

“It’s for your injured wing.”

“Don’t argue with me, Serpent Queen.”

At the nickname, I glare, but I uncork the stopper to Nakri’s vial and drink. I was expecting the medicine to taste like fish, but it’s pleasantly sour, like a kumquat a few days shy of ripeness.

I lick my lips. “Done. You drink the rest.”

I hold out the vial, and the dragon pinches his claws around it. He hesitates. “Will you help me?”

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