Page 28 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

Koji surveyed them all once again, and Raiden had to suppress his sigh, his fists clenching and unclenching. They didn’t have time for this. Kordelia was somewhere up above, in the castle. She was so close, he could feel their bond reigniting in the back of his mind. The slightest vibration of power.

“Miss Cadell has been taken to a final dinner, to make her choice before Barron leaves tomorrow. She’s on the second floor, in the west wing, above the kitchens.” Koji twirled the coin again, his attention wholly fixed on Aryn as he brushed his thumb across the unique rune.

“What choice?” Raiden’s heart quickened.

“Either join Barron, or be drained of her power.” Koji’s stare narrowed on the pouch attached to Aryn’s hips.

“Drained?” Aerion echoed, his face paling. “What could drain someone’s power?”

“It’s not possible.” Skylar shook her head. Leto frowned as one of his sailors signed throughout the whole conversation. His eyes flared at the final part and he stumbled back.

“Many things are possible. Many believed Galen would never return. Yet, here you are, just as I believed.” Koji shrugged his bony shoulders. “What else is in there?”

He reached for Aryn but he stepped back. “What? No.”

“You shouldn’t have those coins. Where did you get them?” Koji raised the coin towards Aryn, suspicion lining every wrinkle in his face.

Raiden stilled as an unfamiliar pulse of power broke through his barrier down below. The winds rushed up, coalescing around them, tearing their hearing from their ears. It roared and bellowed, and Raiden recoiled as his grip on his power vanished.

“They’re mine!” Aryn shouted over the currents. His eyes blazed as Koji’s arm wavered in the force of the wind, the coin matching the burn of his irises, churning like melted gold. With a small jerk of shock, Koji pocketed the coin.

“Rai!” Aerion cried. “I can’t control it!” His hands shook as he tried to force the cyclone down but it pushed back harder, like an invisible beast.

“This way!” Koji shuffled to a set of stone steps, leading them past a creepy mirror-lined staircase, casting haunted shadows between reflections. They filed into a barracks, coated in a layer of dust, dirt, and blood. It was pitiful compared to their training room back home. The weapons blunt and sparse, the targets small and tired.

Skylar gasped at the ceiling. Raiden growled at the depictions of Galenite slaughter, and the empire’s victory over them, standing atop mounds of bodies, including mothers and children. Holy Haizea. A canvas of death, of Barron’s single focal point of conquest, by any means necessary.

“I leave you here,” Koji announced. “The castle has been mostly abandoned, you should be able to get through undetected.”

“Have you seen Sam? Is he here too?” Aryn’s plea cracked the tension, and Raiden grimaced as Aerion stepped closer to Aryn, pity lining his face.

Koji shook his head. “Mr Rommier departed long ago. Shipped to an outpost on the far side of the island as part of Barron’s new training regime. Hence the quiet castle. Barron is moving everyone to his new beacon, the last of them are travelling tomorrow.”

The hope on Aryn’s face shattered, and Aerion placed his palm on Aryn’s shoulder, his fingers squeezing. Raiden nodded to Skylar, who began instructing Leto’s crew, her signing quick and swift as they planned their attack.

“Miss Cadell was a good friend to me. I hope you grant her justice.” Koji glanced to Raiden, who nodded with surprise in return, though it irked him to hear to her referred as Cadell. Erick deserved a world of pain for what he did, and Raiden would be all too glad to gift it to him with a fucking bow.

“I will. You can count on that.”

“Where will you go?” Aryn asked as Koji turned to leave. He glanced back, studying Aryn once more, curiosity and intrigue oozing from him.

“East.” Koji slipped through a separate door and disappeared into the night without another word.

As they ascended a grand marble staircase, Raiden’s heart thundered with every step . . . but the weight on his chest lifted as the thread in his void ignited with a small ember of life.

12

Kora

Rice stuck to the roof of Kora’s mouth as she shovelled in spoonful after spoonful. The spices of the chicken barely graced her taste buds before she choked it down. Each piece of food caused Barron’s grin to stretch wider, his teeth near damn dazzling her.

“Before I make my choice . . .” Kora swished her water, using it to clear her mouth as her stomach uncomfortably filled. Every bite was a sharp cold stone, scraping her organs, filling where her essence once resided. “I have conditions.”

Rashi barked a sharp laugh. “Conditions? Are we really entertaining this?”

Barron waved his hand once, his gaze never leaving Kora’s as Rashi quietened, shrinking in her seat. “We are not entertaining anything.” He leaned forward, sliding his fingers together to rest his chin upon. “I would love to hear your conditions, Kora.”

Theron wheezed again, his head rolling forward and smacking the table as he faded from consciousness. Bile squelched beneath his forehead as his breathing shallowed. Ivar’s quick intake of breath brushed Kora’s ears. Agatha blanched at the sound, her cheeks paling. Tugging on the band of magic pinning her, those white eyes continued to rake her surroundings.