Warm squares of light from the windows illuminated the yard as she approached Niam Tais’s house. When she burst inside, though, neither Niam Tais nor Argus appeared to be home. If they’d gone into town, it was possible she’d blown right past them on her bike.

Why would they leave all the lights on, though? Her skin prickled with unease as she left the empty house. The lunar rainbow shone overhead, startlingly close, silver rippling in the moonlight, almost like . . . scales?

Shaking her head, she wandered past the house, instinct guiding her feet. The glow of the lunar rainbow cast the trees in silver, as if all the woods had been dusted in the strange luminous shine as their clearing. Ahead, a familiar voice filtered through the night.

She rushed forward, scraping her palm against a sharp branch as she emerged into the clearing. At its center, Niam Tais sat hunched over Argus, who was sprawled on his back, his chest so still that she couldn’t be sure he was breathing. His eyes glowed white-hot, not a trick of the light this time. Her stomach made an alarmed lurch.

“Hlee.” Argus exhaled her name like a long-held breath.

Niam Tais looked up, her cheeks streaked with tears, as Hlee dropped down beside her. With a tremulous smile so unlike her usual confidence, she squeezed Hlee’s shoulder and backed away to give them space.

“What’s happening?” Hlee asked, her voice high with fear. Her hands flitted from his cheeks to his shoulders, uncertain how to comfort him.

“I was hoping you’d come,” he gasped, as if each word fought to pass his lips. “Niam Tais wanted me to leave the second we saw the emperor’s dragon, but I waited.”

“Argus, what are you talking about?” She bent low, finally settling her fingers in his hair so that his shallow breaths brushed her cheek.

“I chose to fall,” he said, hand sliding up to grip her wrist. He turned his face, pressing bloodless lips to the frantic flutter of her pulse. “To meet my mother, without any promise of returning home.”

At this, Hlee reared back a little, glancing over at Niam Tais. Niam Tais was staring up at the lunar rainbow, face bathed in silver. She chanted softly under her breath. When Hlee followed her gaze, the lunar rainbow had transformed into a massive sinuous thing, its slick body glimmering.

“But after meeting you, I thought it’d be okay to stay.” His voice faded into a hoarse whisper.

She swallowed thickly, her breaths coming fast and thin. She understood with sudden clarity that this was his only chance. If Argus didn’t leave now, then he would die well before the next lunar rainbow.

“You can’t stay,” she said, the words breaking inside her.