But—
I’m a paper crane, Shiori, not a real one. If something happens, you can fold me back to life again.
Not without my magic,I wanted to reply, but I nodded to avoid frightening her. I let my satchel fall to my hip, its presence strangely comforting as I embarked up the mountain.
It wasn’t a hard climb, though the ashes made the trek slippery. Often I kicked against objects too brittle to be stones, too hollow to be branches. I prayed they weren’t bones.
I was halfway to the summit when the ground shook, and I stumbled against a rock pillar.
Emuri’en’s strands!Kiki gasped.That wasn’t the Dragon King, was it?
Just a quake.I braced myself until the tremor passed.Ithink.
Kiki beat her wings faster, narrowly evading a spurt of lava from one of the rocks.All this fire is going to scorch my tail! What was I thinking, coming with you? Hurry up, Shiori. I don’t want to stay here a minute longer than we have to.
It wasn’t hard to find the nettles. Their leaves, silvery green with dark red veins, were spiked, and their thorns were as sharp as teeth. They grew in clumps scattered around the summit of Mount Rayuna, their thick stems glowing with demonfire and swaying to gales of blistering wind. That they could survive in such conditions, let alone thrive, reminded me that these were no ordinary nettles.
I approached the first bush with caution. From afar, the nettles looked no brighter than the molten streams sizzling down the mountainside. But the closer I drew, the more intensely the starstroke glowed. A wash of heat prickled my face, and I used my bowl as a shield. Even then, my eyes watered.
Your brothers said you don’t have to go through with this,Kiki reminded me.I can tell them if you—
It’s not so bad,I lied, mustering a smile.Just like slicing a thousand onions.
In spite of my bad joke and brave words, I bristled with fear. I could feel my heart jumping in my chest, a sharp pain throbbing so hard it hurt to breathe.
It was the tiny fragment of Seryu’s pearl, glinting under my collar for the first time—a warning not to go any farther.
It’s repelled by the starstroke,I realized.
Can it help us?Kiki asked, sneaking into my thoughts.
No, I couldn’t access its magic while I was cursed, but I didn’t need to. If being near starstroke mademytiny pearl ache, I grinned just thinking of what it would do to Raikama.
Wrapping my satchel’s strap around my hand, I reached for my dagger and hacked at the nettles.
The blade might as well have been cutting at stone. Not a nettle fell. Not even a leaf.
Frustrated and out of breath, I staggered back. Even with the strap covering my skin, my hand hurt as if pricked by a thousand fiery needles. I balled my fist, trying to keep in the rising pain.
Kiki circled me frantically.Shiori, Shiori! Are you hurt?
No.I sucked in a breath, unwrapping my hand as I approached the bush of starstroke again.I think I have to pull them out by hand.
By hand? No, Shiori, that’ll—
I wasn’t listening to Kiki’s warning.Fear is just a game,I repeated to myself, over and over.You win by playing.
I yanked the nearest stalk.
A scream boiled inside me, nearly surging out of my lungs. I bit down on my tongue, throttling up the sound inside me. My vision swam, and as blood gushed through my teeth, all I could see was six lifeless swans on the beach.
When I finally caught my breath, my face was wet with tears. I’d hurt myself plenty of times working in Mrs. Dainan’s kitchen, but the pain of touching starstroke was like nothing I had ever felt before. The jagged leaves cut into my skin like knives, and the thorns—the thorns were like stabs of fire.
But it worked. Thin silvery roots, like spiderwebs, burst from the earth. I threw the plant, roots and all, into my satchel.
The burning eased as soon as I let go of the starstroke. I clenched my fist, then opened it, looking at my palm, raw with scorch marks.
Enough, Shiori,Kiki pleaded.You’ll die if you keep thisup.
