“It will be only for one night,” I reassured her. “It will shorten your life, yes, but only imperceptibly.”

“And this is why my ancestors followed the Sukais,” she said, more than a little awe in her voice. I wondered if Iloh would have shown me more respect if I’d demonstrated my power to him. He was an opportunist, and Phalue might still soften to me. If I could save Gaelung and defeat the constructs, there was a chance everyone would fall in line. I could save the Empire.

Urame and Thrana accompanied me to the gates, the rain soaking into my slippers as soon as I stepped foot from beneath the palace’s roof. The guards watched from the walls; perhaps some of them had donated their shards. I felt the absence of Jovis then – always a familiar presence at my side or at my back. I hoped he’d at least found a place out of the storm.

I didn’t trust him. But I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.

I faced the construct toward the construct encampment and placed the engraving tool in his pocket. “Walk east until you reach the construct camp,” I said.

We watched until his back faded into the night and the storm, our hopes written into sixteen shards.

41

Nisong

Gaelung Island

She gave command of the sea serpent to Coral. Even with all of Leaf’s shards pressed into its body, it was not Leaf. But the beast could talk and follow complex orders. It burrowed into the mud of the jungle, its scaly body winding around the trunks of trees.

“How long am I to stay here after the battle begins?” Coral asked, her hand on the creature’s nose. Rain trickled down from above, the sky growing darker. On days like these, it was nearly impossible to tell exactly when the sun had set. It might still be edging its way toward the horizon.

“With luck, you won’t need to emerge at all,” Nisong said. “I’ll linger on the edges of the battle. If things get desperate, I’ll send a gull construct for you. But until then, stay hidden.”

“And if you do call for us?” the sea serpent asked. Its voice was deep and cold, the words enunciated as though by an orator. Nisong had never heard a sea serpent speak, though she’d heard stories that they could. When she’d been young, she’d doubted them. She didn’t now.

“Storm the palace. Kill everyone from the opposing side who stands in your way. Follow Coral’s lead.”

Coral could sit astride the beast easily and speak into his ear. She’d be safe here, away from the battle. And if Nisong needed the sea serpent, Coral would be safest with him. It was the best she could do. She should have taken more precautions with Shell, Frond, Leaf and Grass. But she’d needed them.