Something halfway between triumph and terror sung in my veins. What had I done? The monk lifted a hand, a wave formed upslope… and didn’t move. He screamed out his frustration, clutching again at his side. “Tell me what you did to me!”

Finally, I found my words. “Only what you deserve. And you do not deserve death, not by my hand.” I grabbed a handful of Thrana’s fur and climbed atop her back. “Let’s go rewrite a sea serpent construct,” I said to her. “And defeat an army.”

Muscles gathered beneath me as she launched us back up the slope, leaving Ragan behind, the piece of her horn embedded in his body and carved with one simple command: Vu minyet kras.

You cannot kill.

53

Jovis

Gaelung Island

I clawed my way back to consciousness with mud filling my ears and the taste of blood on my lips. The sky was turning a murky gray. Memory came back in increments. I remembered first that Lin had sent me away, then the discovery that Ragan was treacherous, then the battle and my unwanted trip down the hill’s slopes. I smeared some of the mud from my ears and felt the back of my head. Wet and warm and aching fit to split my skull. I’d landed with my head on a log, rotting and water-logged from the rain. I was fortunate it hadn’t been a rock. Seemed like I’d been out long enough for the bleeding to stop and for the wound to begin closing.

Something felt wrong.

“Not the best start I’ve had to a day,” I croaked out. “How about you?”

No answer.

“Mephi?” I raised my voice, wondering if he hadn’t heard me. We’d both been sent down that slope, and he carried himself lower to the ground than I did. Tended to fair better in falls.

I pushed myself up, the world spinning around me. Did my quick healing work for headaches? I tried to remember the last time I’d had a headache.

All thoughts came crashing to a halt when I realized: I didn’t see Mephi anywhere. Panic flashed through me, my heart feeling like it was leaping into my mouth. I was on my feet, turning in circles before I could register that I was moving. I swept my gaze over bushes, grass, rocks, the bodies of fallen soldiers and constructs.

What could keep Mephi from my side?

Nothing, nothing.

He was there every morning when I woke up, his wet nose shoved in my ear, his whiskers tickling my cheeks. He liked to put his paws on my chest when he felt I slept too long, the weight of him making it difficult to breathe. He eyed every meal I ate, begged too many scraps off the ship’s crew and seemed to think anything not nailed down was his for the taking.

He was my friend.