His shoulders slumped and then heaved. For a moment, I thought he was crying. And then he lifted his head. The monk was… laughing. “Do you think I want to live among the chattel of the Empire like I’m one of them? Are you so arrogant as to think you can cajole anyone over to your side? You sound like the monks when they first began teaching me: ‘Oh, Ragan, you have so much potential.’ But –” He lifted a finger. “– praise is cheap and empty. It can turn quickly to bitterness and scorn. I want more than words. I want obedience.” Lozhi cowered behind his legs.

Ragan dug around in the pouch at his belt, pulled out a cloud juniper berry and crushed it between his teeth. He lifted his free hand and the rain above him stopped, swirled around his torso, coalescing into larger sheets of water. He spread these out, forming a barrier between me and the palace gates.

“If you won’t leave these mortals behind, if you insist on protecting them, then we will always be at odds. We will always be enemies.”

51

Jovis

Gaelung Island

Something large and furry slammed into me before the sea serpent’s teeth could close around my head. I went tumbling down the hill, snapping brush in my path. If I lived through this, I was never going to climb a hill again. I kept my grip tight around my staff as I fell, as the world around me whirled and shook. When I finally came to a stop, I couldn’t get my feet under me. The sky spun, rain falling into my eyes. And then a dark shape blotted out my view of the clouds. A wet nose touched mine, whiskers tickling my cheeks.

“Jovis, are you hurt?” Mephi snuffled my face, then my torso and hands. One of his horns snagged on the side of my jacket. How could he even tell it was me? I lay there, feeling like I was made of mud, twigs and loose bits of gravel.

A warm bath. I would murder everyone on the switchbacks for just one more chance at a warm bath and a hot meal.

Which meant I still wanted to live.

Which meant I probably should get up.

I groaned and heaved myself to my feet. Everything always hurt more once I got up. My knees throbbed; my shoulders ached. At least my head wasn’t currently being chomped in the jaws of a giant sea serpent. Mephi had let Ragan’s ossalen go in favor of saving my life. Ragan was on the loose again, wreaking who knew what sort of havoc on the battlefield.

I felt around in the dark. “Shit, where’s the path? It’s too steep a climb to the plateau.”

Mephi took one of my hands gently between his teeth. “Over here,” he said, tugging.