by Matt Larkin
He signaled several of his people around the back of the Hill Palace. Its courtyard had long served as a meeting place for Moon Scion councils. The palace was rectangular, with slanted eaves overhanging both the courtyard and the outside of the building.
Six of the Macan Gadungan followed Malin through the front door, Sunten among them. One look at the weretigers, and the door guards made no move to stop them. Rahu’s dog growled at him. It always did. Malin’s stare drove it back into a corner, tail between its legs. Dog without a master. Perhaps it was luckier than it knew.
Naresh would be dead soon, and Chandi would have to reevaluate everything. Just as Malin had done. Just as they were all forced to do because of Rahu’s mad war. Everyone was better off before he’d come.
The sliding doors to the inner courtyard already stood open, allowing servants to bring in food. Those who saw the weretigers scattered, clearing the way. The inner courtyard was lined with bamboo trees and decorated with a fishpond. Ketu and a handful of other Moon Scions sat cross-legged on straw mats, drinking tea.
Ketu nodded at Malin. The others started, and several rose. Hand on the hilt of his keris, Malin walked up to Ketu.
“Enough debate,” Ketu said. “I shall claim my brother’s throne as War King. None of you has the strength to challenge me, and I won’t be undermined behind my back. I wish I could trust any oaths you swore, but we all know oaths sworn under duress are subject to waning.”
One of the Moon Scions broke into a run, leaping onto the wall. Before he had taken three steps toward the roof, Malin reached him. A single swipe of his keris knife hamstrung the poor bastard. The man collapsed back into the courtyard. Malin motioned to his men, and they surrounded the others.
With one hand he grabbed the fallen man by the hair and dragged him to the fishpond. At first, the man flailed as Malin held him under. But his limbs soon lost their strength, and his spasms became less frequent, until the bubbles stopped and he lay still. No one spoke.
Malin sent the Macan Gadungan escorting the others out with a tilt of his head.
“Make sure no one finds the bodies,” Ketu said.
Malin met his gaze, not bowing. “You will remember what I’ve done for you.”
After a moment, he followed his people out into the rainforest. A family of nocturnal monkeys watched them escort the condemned. To their credit, the men didn’t try to flee. If they had, he’d have killed them right here. He would not risk his people to keep Ketu’s betrayal a secret. Perhaps two dozen Macan Gadungan were more than even six Moon Scions wanted to face.
The rainforest smelled vibrant at night, energized. The Macan Gadungan sensed a shift in the air. Everything they had known was about to change. It began with Rahu’s murder. Or before that even, when he discovered the secret of the Amrita, though he had told no one.
“Sunten will escort you across the island,” he told the Moon Scions. “You will not return until I send for you.”
“You’re letting us live?” Sangkuriang asked. “Why?”
“Because things are changing. One day I will call upon you. You will remember this moment.”
Malin stalked through Bukit, unnoticed by most of the night guards. He would help Ketu rise to power, as he’d promised Chandi. But the priest’s reign would be brief.
Malin twitched, part of him wishing he’d shifted, killed Ketu now. But doing so would have meant civil war. Not while the Solars remained a threat.
No one stopped Malin from entering the guard house, or descending through the tunnels beneath Bukit. Rats scurried away from him as he drew near Naresh’s cell. The cells stank of mold and human waste. At least Solars didn’t cage their criminals—Malin had to give them that.
Though the only light came from a lantern down the hall, Malin could see clearly. Naresh seemed to have adjusted to the gloom, too, for he rose as Malin approached. The man had been seated in Kebatinan meditation, as though communing with his god might help him now.
Malin had made damn sure they kept Naresh out of sunlight, moved him only at night. He’d never recharge that damn Brand.
Malin strummed his fingers over the cell bars. “Mighty Arun Guard, hiding in a hole. I’ve waited for this moment.”
“And now you have it at last.”
“You’re just a man, after all.” An arrogant man, alone in the dark without his vile powers. “What does she see in you?” Malin pressed his face against the bars.
“Chandi?” Naresh didn’t step closer.
Malin snarled. “You’re not worthy to speak her name, Solar.”
Naresh smirked, took a step closer. “Maybe she sees the sunlight in me.”
“You’ll never see the sun again. You’ll die alone on this island. No friends, no powers, no god, and no Sun Brand.”
“And she still won’t love you.”
“Her eyes will open with your death.”
Naresh stood and raised his fists before him. “Then come to me, animal.”
Malin licked his lips. He’d taste the man’s blood. Restraint. “Soon enough you will have all the combat you desire. While Kasusthali burns. You’ll die before the Lunars, Naresh. And the death of a Solar champion will unite our people behind Ketu.”
Naresh closed the distance between them, glared at him through the bars. “Even if you kill me, you think you can assault an underwater city?”
“The Ignis have betrayed you. Your city is under siege, Guardsman, if it hasn’t fallen already. Your dynasty is falling as we speak.”
“Speak? All I hear is an animal baying.”
Malin grabbed Naresh’s baju, yanked him into the bars. A satisfying grunt escaped the Guardsman as he fell. Malin left the Solar groaning on the ground.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
Ocean spray broke over the Queen of the South Sea’s prow, splashing Chandi. Her hair streamed behind her in the wind. The ship was as fast as Bendurana claimed. They would reach Bukit soon—but two days had already been lost. Still, she could fix this. She could still save him.
“Even if we get there, what will we do?” Landorundun asked. The other woman basked in the afternoon sunlight and sea air, the hint of a smile on her face warring with the concern in her voice. Landorundun claimed Surya had smiled on them to give them a sunny afternoon.
“I’ll go and get him. Then you’ll help us escape.”
Landorundun put a hand on her shoulder. “Time may be short, but you can’t go in there alone.”
“I have to.” Chandi kept her eyes on the horizon. Soon she would see the peaked roofs of Bukit. Home. “Our best chance is for me to sneak in. Any of you might compromise that.”
Landorundun sighed and dropped her hand, but moved to stand beside Chandi. “We want to help him, too. That’s why we came.”
Chandi glanced back at Ben at the helm. The man waved at them. She wouldn’t be surprised if he loved the adventure even more than the chance to place Naresh in his debt. “And you will help. We’ll have to escape in a hurry. We’ll need a fast ship ready to flee with Lunars chasing behind.”
“The Solar navy far outclasses the Lunar ships,” Landorundun said. “If we can get back to Solar waters, they won’t chase us.”
Perhaps. From what she had seen at Kasusthali, the Lunars intended to give the Solars a fight. Would they still be Solar waters on their return?
“Landorundun!” Both women spun at Ben’s shout. He hurriedly waved them over while shouting orders at his men. “Pirates!”
Chandi and Landorundun exchanged glances. Then they both ran toward the stern, dodging around the scurrying crew.
“What do they want?” Chandi called as she crested the poop deck.
“Palm sugar, spices, pearls, the usual.”
“Well, famous pirate hunter,” Landorundun said, “time to show us how it’s done.”
The captain grimaced. “We’re outnumbered and don’t have the element of surprise. And we can’t afford to lose time, right?” Their faces answered his question. “So we run.”
“Can we outrun them?” Chandi asked.
“Maybe,” Ben said as he moved back to his helmsman.
From the stern rail Chandi could see two ships trailing them, approaching fast as the moments stretched on. “They’re gaining on us.”
Ben gave frantic orders to the crew, but Chandi could see he knew they’d never make it. Ben shrugged. “Worry not, my dears, I have a plan. I always have a plan.”
“So what do we do?” Landorundun asked.
Ben flashed his famous grin. “Heroic victory in the last moment. What else?”
Chandi pulled her toyaks from her kemban.
The captain took the wheel and spun the ship hard. The Queen of the South Sea fell off from the wind and turned toward her pursuers. Chandi braced herself. Deep breaths.
The crew scrambled to trim the centerlines closer to the ship at their captain’s erratic move. Other sailors prepared their gandewas once again. The captain didn’t need to issue instructions. They waited as he brought the ship alongside the Lunar vessels.
The men loosed as one, a hail of arrows falling on the nearest pirate ship. The Lunars returned fire a moment later. Chandi’s Moon Scion reflexes allowed her to dodge arrows, but she was helpless to aid those who fell on the deck below.
“Get closer!” she shouted at Bendurana.
“What are you talking about? We don’t want them boarding us.”
“I want to board them!”
“I’m not getting any closer.”
Chandi grabbed Landorundun’s arm. “Take me there.”
The Arun Guardswoman stared at her as though she had gone mad.
“Take me to the ship, Landorundun.”
In an instant the women stood on the Lunar ship. The Lunars shouted and gaped at them for a moment. And then Landorundun met the nearest charge with her keris. She cut down the attacking man and then she was gone. A man fell a dozen paces away, and then another behind her. Landorundun remained in one spot only long enough to kill a man and then was gone.
Chandi used the confusion to run up the mast, drawing her Gliding Blessing. She grabbed the lookout from the top of the mast and flung him to the sea below. She drew strength into her legs and leapt from the mast onto the rigging. The line ran at an angle down to the poop deck. With her toyaks hooked over the line, she slid down it.
One stick smashed the helmsman’s face as she landed in a roll. The captain and first mate tried to take her as she came up, but they weren’t nearly fast enough. Her left toyak smashed the first mate’s knee while she drove the captain back with her right.
The captain pulled a toyak of his own. He was fast. Moon Scion. But still not fast enough. He fell back under her assault. She wouldn’t relent. Not now. The captain screamed as her stick shattered his arm. The second stick silenced him.
She had just killed her own people. Her stomach heaved, but she fought on. The first mate was crawling away, calling for aid. Chandi slammed her fist into the back of his head and he fell senseless.
Chandi spotted the Arun Guardswoman on the deck below. “Landorundun!”
The Solar woman stood beside her in an instant, her eyes glowing with sunlight. A dozen Lunars were dead, maybe more. Until this moment, Chandi had never really understood the terror the Arun Guard invoked in Lunars. Even when she fought Naresh, she hadn’t understood.
And then they were back beside Bendurana. “The other ship is coming in! Can you two do that again?”
A yearning replaced the bile that filled her gut. The chance to do it again. None of these mere mortals could stand before her. She was the chosen of Chandra. His divine power ran through her veins. And she could do it again, destroy all that stood before her.
The Lunar ship roared like thunder.
Something ripped through the planks of the Queen of the South Sea like a spear from Chandra’s chariot. A piece of the splintered wood flew at her, tore open her cheek as she dove to the deck. Debris and water rained over the ship, splattering her.
When she pushed herself up the first thing she saw was a sailor with a piece of plank in his neck. Bile rose in her throat as she met his lifeless eyes. Blood and salt water ran down her face, filling her mouth and stinging against the gash on her cheek.
Landorundun had fallen nearby, a gouge in her thigh. “What on Surya’s backside was that?” she asked as Chandi helped her stand.
Bendurana staggered over. “They have a Tianxian Fire-Lance.” His voice shook, uncertain for the first time Chandi remembered hearing.
No matter what they had, she would rip them apart. She started to climb the rail to swim over to the Lunar ship.
And then Landorundun was there on the other ship’s poop deck. The captain and first mate were dead before they knew she was among them. Landorundun had returned even as the Lunars collapsed.
But more Lunars remained. Chandi reached for Landorundun’s hand. “We have to kill the rest of them.”
“I don’t have enough sunlight left to Stride.”
“Bloody moon, take me there!”
Ben pushed her aside. “Gandewas!”
The archers launched a volley at the pirates. But already the other vessel was turning, retreating. They had seen what had befallen the first vessel and their own captain. They couldn’t know Landorundun was drained.
Chandi forced her pulse to slow. Her grip on the rail splintered the wood. She was still drawing her Moon Blessings. She was Chandra’s heir.
“Captain, we’re having trouble sealing the hold,” one of the sailors called.
“Most of the cargo’s lost,” another said.
Everything happened as though she watched it through one of the crystal panes the Solars used to cover windows. If she had gone to that other ship, she would never have come back. Her body might have returned, but her mind would have been gone. Just like her uncle.
She shook her head to clear it. Then looked to Bendurana. She grabbed him by one of his locks and pulled his head down. He yelped in her grasp. “Forget the damn cargo! Take me to Bukit now!”
Landorundun shoved her away from Bendurana, then looked at the captain. “How far?”
Ben shrugged and rubbed his scalp. “A phase or two, if we could patch the holes. Without that palm sugar we’ll be hard pressed to give them a reason to let us dock.”
Chandi forced herself to breathe, forced her fists to unclench. “Get us close enough so Landorundun can Sun Stride me over. Stay offshore and repair the ship.”
“I’ll have to recharge the Sun Brand,” Landorundun said.
“Do it.”
Landorundun sighed and glanced around. Then she knelt on the deck, pulled off her shirt, and lay on her stomach. Everyone stared for a moment before going back to bailing out the ship.
Chandi’s eyes traced the intricate sunburst tattoo radiating out from Landorundun’s back. Naresh would have a tattoo just like that between his shoulder blades, running down to his elbows and waist. She knew the sun recharged it, but she hadn’t realized they had to sunbathe to do so.
“Can we make it to Bukit?”
Ben was still staring at Landorundun’s back.
“Captain?”
“We’ll make it.”
She couldn’t hope to save Naresh without using her Blessings. She couldn’t use them again without risking lunacy. But it didn’t matter. She knew, then, she would do whatever it took. She had created this situation for him. And she would fix it no matter the cost.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
When Naresh opened his eyes, Malin had returned. Perhaps it had been a day, perhaps more. Without Surya’s light he couldn’t measure time well. How long the weretiger had stood there he couldn’t guess either, but Malin had a strange gleam in his eyes. Or perhaps that was only torchlight.
Malin unlocked the cell and stepped inside. “Rise, Guardsman. Tonight is your big performance.”
Naresh didn’t get up. “I’m busy. Make an appointment.”
The weretiger flashed his teeth. “Your fan
s are waiting,” he said as he stalked toward him.
Naresh leapt to his feet, fists up to defend himself. “Fans? Performance? Have you mistaken me for a musician? I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong Guardsman. You’ll have to let me go.”
“It’s not time for you and I to fight. Not yet. Your first opponents will be those who tried to challenge Ketu’s authority. The few who lived, anyway. If you can beat them, you get to live a little longer, too.”
“You want me to fight Moon Scions?”
The weretiger grabbed him by the arm, but he didn’t resist. “Moon Scions were too dangerous for Ketu to allow to live. These are just their followers.”
His captor dragged him down the stone hallway, the opposite direction from the way they had brought him in. The hall wound around several bends before opening into a small waiting chamber. The chamber stank of sweat and blood and urine. Malin paused at the grate door, waiting. Naresh forced himself not to look at the stains along the walls. Then the drums started.
The weretiger pushed open the door and stepped aside. Naresh stared him in the eyes before walking past.
The Lunar coliseum had a high domed ceiling. Moonlight falling through the skylights cast a strange pattern of light and dark on the sand floor. A high wall separated him from the catcalling spectators, perhaps twenty feet above him. Above their heads echoed the sound of a crank, then fire shot around in a ring above the seating.
The door closed behind him. This place—he had heard stories. The bloody arena of Bukit. Where the Lunars sent their prisoners to die in combat. The stories didn’t do it justice. This massive arena beneath the city seemed a twisted mockery of the great dome of the imperial palace in Kasusthali. He shuddered as the drum tempo increased. Another grate door opened and someone shoved a trio of Lunars out. Each bore a Lunar keris knife.
They edged closer to him, forming a ring. Naresh looked up into the stands. One section stood elevated. The flames behind the spectators made them hard to see, but it must be Ketu. “Am I to fight three armed men with my bare hands?”
