Her eyes went as wide as those of a frightened deer. “What do you mean?”

I softened my tone, taking her hand. “General Jianyun said the laurel seeds did not exist before. The tears of some immortals are said to contain part of their power. All those nights you wept in the forest … it was from your tears that the seeds sprouted.”

She shook her head violently. “No. Impossible.”

I did not want to be right, yet I could not ignore the facts. “The laurel is a part of you both. Wugang’s blood can harm the tree, yours can harvest its seeds.”

My voice shook over the words and their searing implication: for Wugang had not come at us out of pique, vengeance, or pride—but because my mother, the Moon Goddess, was at the heart of his plots, and he would stop at nothing to seize her.

“I have no magic. How could such a thing come from me?” She was so pale, like she was about to be sick.

“All immortals have magic which manifests in different ways,” Liwei explained. “This does not mean your power is evil, nothing starts out inherently so. You might not even be aware that it exists in you. Somehow, what power you inadvertently yielded the laurel has been tainted, likely through Wugang’s efforts.”

Wugang had not wanted to alert us to his true ambition. This was why he had taken our home, hunted us down, and tried to secure my father’s allegiance. He would never let us go … which was why I must end him.

My father slid an arm around my mother’s shoulders. “If Wugang captures you, he will be able to harvest all the seeds he wants. His army will be unstoppable, he will reign supreme over the earth and skies for eternity.” He turned to the dragons. “Will you stand with us, my friends?”

The Long Dragon did not reply at once. Was it conferring with its siblings? Its voice resonated in my mind, startling me—all of us—from the transfixed faces around.

We will aid you as far as we can, though we are constrained in what we can do. This power is far greater than ours. The Moon Goddess must be protected at all costs. The dragon fell silent as its amber eyes swung to me.

Evil must be struck at its roots. Cutting its branches will not suffice.