She found a sharp rock, shoved her pallet aside, and began scraping at the floor. It came off in sticky globs.

It might take a long time, but time was all Aki had. She would work on digging a hole, and then a tunnel, hiding the hole beneath her bed. And if no one came to liberate her, she’d burrow her own way out, one clay scraping after another.

“I am empress of Kichona,” she said as she dragged her rock over the ground again. “And I don’t plan on quitting until the day I die.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

At first glance, Naimo Ice Caves was a wonderland of pale ice deep in the pits of the southernmost island of the Kichona archipelago. Glaciers had carved majestic caves underground, like frosty, high-ceilinged ballrooms lit through natural skylights of translucent ice. A labyrinth of sparkling tunnels connected each cave to the next, the wind singing a gentle melody through its halls, the winter berries that grew in the icy crevices perfuming the chilly air with their honey sweetness.

But this beauty also guarded Zomuri’s most valuable possessions. Although the gods generally didn’t interact with people, Sora wasn’t sure that applied to those who stole something from under a god’s nose. Every step would have to be taken with care.

“I wish we actually knew what we were about to face,” Broomstick said.

“Me, too. But no matter what happens, we have to get that soul pearl. We have to reunite it with Prince Gin and kill him.”

Sora’s muscles seized up for a moment, a panic attack threatening to take over. But she gritted her teeth and kicked the anxiety away, shoving it into a box in her mind, where she’d also stashed the fear of what would happen if she failed today. There wasn’t time for contemplating defeat.

Instead, she and Broomstick peered into the maze of tunnels winding underground, and they gathered their supplies—compasses, flares, weapons, and explosives. Then they tied their horses and left them behind.

As if for luck, Sora touched the necklace at her throat. She would unfasten the pearl pendant and leave it as a decoy when she found and stole the Dragon Prince’s soul.

But that was later. Now, she called upon the ryuu particles to show her the path to follow to get to the Lake of Nightmares.

A faint trail lit up, descending into the caverns. Broomstick couldn’t see it, though, so she went first, and he followed with his compass.

“Mark each turn in the ice,” Sora said.

“Why?” Broomstick carved Luna’s triplicate whorls into the tunnel wall at their first bend.

“In case . . .”

“In case what?”