Prince Yanming coughed, a gurgling sound. I fell to my knees beside him. Words tumbled from my lips, terror seizing me that time was running out. “I’m sorry, I promised to keep you safe.”

“You did.” His tongue darted over his lips, so cracked and pale. His breathing came hoarser than before, each labored rattle a stab to my chest. “The dragons. I never asked you what they were like.”

Could he not see them? Had death begun to glaze his vision, sheathing it in night? We could not save him … yet perhaps we might bring him one last glimmer of joy.

I turned to the dragons and bowed low. “Please. The boy needs you.”

The dragons prowled closer, their great bodies blocking the red curve of the sun. Sand scattered over us as their tails lashed the air. Prince Yanming tugged his hand from mine with a sudden eagerness, stretching it out to them. His mouth opened, no words emerging—yet such yearning shone from his eyes as they lingered upon the magnificent creatures. The Pearl Dragon with its luminous scales of moonlight, the Long Dragon ablaze like flame, the dragon of deepest night, and the one as golden as the summer sun.

“Can you save him?” Despair choked Prince Yanxi’s voice as he fell to his knees in reverence.

This is beyond our power. Infinite sorrow thrummed in those words.

The Long Dragon bent its head to Prince Yanming’s brow gently, crimson scales against ashen skin. A shiver rippled through the boy’s body—of delight—I sensed. He pulled his other hand from his brother’s grip, wrapping his arms around the dragon’s neck without a trace of fear.

“You are real,” Prince Yanming whispered, pressing his cheek against the dragon’s jaw as the others drew closer, forming a circle around us. A tear slid from the corner of his eye, vanishing into the sand.

Do not be afraid, child, the Long Dragon said to him, yet in its mercy, allowed us to hear. We will watch over your spirit. You will have a place with us for as long as you wish, or become one with the sea whenever you choose to.

The dragons leaned toward the boy, their amber eyes aglow, their jaws parted in a gentle smile. An answering one spread across Prince Yanming’s face, so warm and beautiful that a wild hope bloomed in me. But then his eyelids sank shut, his arms falling limp by his sides. A wisp of breath slid from his lips, his aura winking out like a candle flame at the end of its wick. And there was nothing left but the stillness and this devouring pain in my heart.

Chapter 24

He was gone. Skin cold, limbs slack. His radiance extinguished like a lantern snuffed out. Prince Yanxi folded over his brother’s body, his shoulders heaving with grief.