Juno’s head was a storm of thunder and icy rain. Sweat dampened the black fabric of the dress she clenched in her fists. She’d been a fool, projecting heroism into Baiyren because she wanted to see him standing in its brilliance. Fight for her? Of course he would; he already had. Three times by her count. He fought for her on Earth; he followed her to Higo – the last place in the universe he wanted to go, and he repeated the process one more time before rescuing her at the base of his father’s castle. Fighting for her wasn’t what she wanted. He had to fight for himself. Could he do that? After everything he’d been through, she wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. Damn her wandering mind; she knew she shouldn’t listen to it. He’d be fine. He would!
Taisho cleared his throat delicately. “Are you all right?” Concern tightened his youthful face, his dark eyes probing, his lips a thin line.
Juno stared into the horizon, thinking about what they faced. Mah-zhin. One destroyed Haven in minutes, and now there were two. Memories of the devastated church city flashed through her mind, events she barely remembered. She saw an elderly woman in a light cloak rushing past, groceries filling thin but strong arms. Beside her, a trio of monks was in the middle of a heated debate as they padded through a busy side street on their way to the basilica. They passed the elegant shop where a pretty, dark-haired girl baked sweet-smelling cakes. Did any of them survive? The thought sobered her.
“Is this thing armed?” she asked.
Taisho blinked at her. “Armed? This transport is for diplomatic envoys only. People–”
“People who need protecting.” Juno’s father was a diplomatic envoy, and the secret service never let him travel without placing armed agents all around him. Juno reached for Taisho and placed her hand over his, the control crystal pulsing beneath. His skin had taken an unhealthy pallor, and he shrank into himself as if she’d shattered his world. She squeezed, and his eyes met hers. “I’m not asking you to do anything. Just tell me where the weapons are and how to use them.”
“Four concussion missiles, one beam-cannon in the belly, a load of anti-aircraft countermeasures, and that’s it. We won’t even be able to scratch them.”
“I don’t want to scratch them,” Juno said, grinning. “I just want to piss them off.”
“You want to what? Are you out of your mind? Those things will kill us.”
Would they? She had the Heartstone; that had to count for something. Besides, Baiyren wouldn’t hurt her; he’d protect her no matter what. She stared into the mountains. A figure sliced across the summits, tall and lean with a globe of forest green light glowing around it. Zuishin flew in a tight arc, pausing at the peak to stare at Taisho’s transport before diving back into the clouds. From below, a phalanx of missiles rocketed upward and slammed into the shield in bursts of flaming fragments. Yohshin sailed up from below, accelerating through the wreckage like a golden god. Obsidian eyes searched, spotting something, pivoted, and reversed course.
The movement, so precise – so methodical – bothered Juno. Something about it, something she knew. What are you doing? What are you…? And then it hit her. A search grid! She’d seen Baiyren use them so many times, first marking his dig on a computer, then walking the actual site as soon as he arrived. The revelation warmed her body; it meant Baiyren’s consciousness still existed. Yohshin hadn’t stolen him from her. Determination filled her. Like a sailor in the middle of a ferocious storm, she set her course and held to it. The mah-zhin’s superior power didn’t matter; its speed didn’t matter. All Juno cared about was the man trapped inside. She felt the attraction when she first met him at Brown. It grew throughout the semester. Their first date in Peru confirmed it. He might not have known it was a date when it started, but he did by the end.
Sliding her hand to her chest, she clasped the Heartstone in her slick palm and concentrated. Kaidan? she thought. Are you out there? Her mind shifted. The mountains lurched, and her consciousness screamed south. Her thoughts didn’t travel far, a few hundred miles at most. The Rake wasn’t as forbidding here, the peaks more rounded, the valleys wider. A long gash drew Juno’s attention, a wound in the landscape, a scar on Higo’s surface. Righteous, Kaidan’s mah-kai, lay at the end in a tangled heap, its surviving arm cradling and protecting a dented helm. Her heart both leapt and faltered. Kaidan? she called again. He had to be alive. Everything depended on it. Kaidan! Your brother needs you.
Her heart thundered through the agonizing seconds. Be alive, she prayed. Please be alive. If what she read in the Royal Library was right, Kaidan was Baiyren’s only chance. Of course that would mean exchanging one brother for the other. Could she do that? Did she have any choice? She shook her head. One step at a time. She called again, and this time, after another excruciatingly long wait, a faint presence tickled the edge of her mind. Juno reached for it, drawing it out, the Heartstone’s power amplifying the source, healing it.
Am I dead?
Kaidan? Oh thank God. Juno gulped in air. You’re not dead. Her mind touched the armor and found it functional. You need to get it airborne. You have to go to the Ridderroque.
Don’t know… what I can do, Kaidan gasped. So weak. Dying, I think. Everything’s broken. Lost. Too. Much. Blood. He coughed, a wet gurgling sound. I betrayed my family, and now God is punishing me.
Juno’s optimism sagged. Dying? It couldn’t be; she needed him alive. The mah-zhin steal souls, Kaidan. Zuishin took Miko, and Yohshin’s trying to take Baiyren. Once Yohshin has him, it will turn on Zuishin and destroy it. You’ll lose everything you love. Don’t you understand? God abandoned you a long time ago.
We follow his example. Kaidan’s bitter laugh turned into another round of wet coughing. My father did the same thing; he abandoned his wife to my mother. I wanted to think I was different, but I’m not. I’m the same; I walked out on my family for Miko without giving them a chance to explain. And then there’s Baiyren. He ran too. He’s still running.
He’s not running any more. He’s fighting for what’s important to him. Juno pressed her hand to her heart. That’s what I’m doing. It’s what you should do too. I don’t know if we can still free Miko, but Baiyren still has a chance. Help him, Kaidan. End the cycle; save your brother.
Righteous shuddered at her words. Slowly, the mah-kai started to move – a curling of spine, a shifting of weight from tattered legs to scorched feet. A silvery glow shimmered around the ruined form as Righteous staggered upright and smashed its good fist into the rocks. Chunks of wall tumbled down from above, while below the earth split. Kaidan’s voice echoed through the chamber – an anguished cry, a desperate howling.
The sound tore at Juno’s heart. She tried to call out, but the Heartstone severed the connection. Power coursed through it, the heat uncomfortable against her skin. She yanked it from her chest, pulled it out of her shirt, and let go, sucking on her thumb. The faint smell of burned flesh filled her nose, but she refused to look at the potential wound. What was a burn next to the loss of soul and self? Ignoring the pain, she kept her thoughts focused on Righteous. The mah-kai teetered on the edge of a great pit. Kaidan swiveled the helm in her direction, nodded, and then dropped into the abyss.
Good luck, Kaidan, she said, pulling her thoughts back to her body. She blinked, and found herself staring at Taisho. Concern twisted his features.
“Are you all right?” the monk asked again.
Juno ignored the question. She couldn’t really answer it. All right was a relative term, and she hadn’t been okay since Baiyren left Sahqui-Mittama. At least now, she had help. Drawing a deep breath, she nodded to Taisho and straightened her shoulders. “We have to go. I used the Heartstone; the mah-zhin will know where we are.” A glance at the western mountains showed Yohshin abandoning its search and racing through a cluster of mushrooming clouds. Light slashed within where a forest green ball flitted in and out of the shredding vapor.
Taisho studied her before nodding. His hand slipped to a control crystal, and the transport leaped ahead. “I need a heading, and it’d better be close. We can’t outrun one mah-zhin let alone two.” He stabbed a finger at a blinking yellow gem. “That controls all onboard weapons. When you touch it, the targeting scope and firing console will drop down.” A sad, apologetic expression lined his face. “You’re in the gunner’s seat. The controls default to you; I never changed them. Didn’t really see the need; no one’s ever attacked a diplomatic ship before.”
“And let’s hope they still don’t.” Juno gauged the distance to the Ridderroque. “How far to the lagoon?” She pointed to the wide moat surrounding the mountain. “We’ve seen what Yohshin can do with rock. We might have more luck with water.”
“A minute ago, you wanted to know what we had for weapons, and now you’re saying we might not need them? Something’s changed. Mind telling me what that is?”
Juno bit her lip and shook her head. “Maybe something, maybe not. We’ll know in a minute.” She lowered her hand to the weapon controls. “Be ready for anything.”
Taisho grunted but didn’t reply. Instead, he sent the transport into a steep dive and headed north. The Ridderroque speared the sky, dividing the heavens in two. Below, azure water rippled placidly in a nearly perfect ring. Its beauty stole Juno’s breath. She’d never seen anything like it. If she stared long enough, if Taisho inverted their flight, she could almost picture it as a watery halo.
“We’ll never make it; they’re closing too fast.” Taisho’s voice shattered the image and pulled Juno back. She blinked and, as her vision cleared, she saw Taisho staring into the windshield, his face tight. He’d opened a rear-facing view, and kept glancing at it as he flew. Within the frame, Yohshin roared through the gorge they’d left minutes before. Silver light flashed around its body, and several huge boulders broke from the earth. Up they hurtled, flying in a slow arc, gaining momentum, closing on Zuishin like cannon fire. A nimbus of forest green erupted around Zuishin in response. Huge roots exploded from either side of the steep valley walls. Thick and sinuous, they knitted together as they moved from one side to the other to form a protective wall. Yohshin ignored the barrier, vaulting over it as boulders pummeled it from below, chasing Zuishin without gaining.
Taisho expanded the view, pulling back to show more of the landscape. “Zuishin’s heading right for us.” He frowned. “I don’t understand. It’s faster than we are. A better move would be to head straight for the Ridderroque and cut us off before we reach the gap.” He pointed to a spot on the near shore. “Why isn’t it doing that?”
Juno leaned in closer, taking in the geography. “How long before it catches us?”
“Provided it doesn’t start shooting – which it could easily do by now – it’ll intercept us well before we reach the holy mountain.” To his credit, Taisho kept his voice calm. His shoulders didn’t droop, and he didn’t throw any accusations at her.
Juno wasn’t as calm. So fast. How can something so huge move like that? Her heart thundered in her ears and her stomach lurched like a runaway rail car. Again, her hands found the stone and, holding her breath, she cast her mind into it. Her world whirled, spinning sickeningly into a deep vortex before darkness overwhelmed her. She heard nothing, saw nothing but bright silvery light and a towering obsidian shadow. Peering closer, she could barely make out the outline of an enormous man lifting what looked like his arm. He pointed in Yohshin’s direction.
Juno followed the gesture across the plains, dimly aware that the man had disappeared. Thought seemed to follow vision. She felt wind against her cheek. Gradually, light returned. The Ridderroque loomed in the distance, impossibly tall, and needle-thin. Its height made it seem slimmer than it was. Baiyren had said it easily measured seventy-five miles in diameter. Sheer and beautiful, it drew her eyes. She blinked and wrenched her gaze back to the Rake.
Closer, the two mah-zhin flew about each other in a wild twisting dance, their contrails knitting together. Yohshin’s silver shield loomed before her, hot, sizzling, and ominously solid. Her heart thudded. She lacked physical form, but she still feared the impact. The experience felt so real, and she knew if she were soaring through the physical world, she would crash into the glowing light and know true darkness.
But she didn’t crash. Incredibly, she slid through the glowing wall as easily as climbing into bathwater. Silver light flashed around her – blacks and copper blinking as if in reply. Some invisible defense seemed to lower, and Juno formed words in her head, thrust them away, and directed them into Yohshin’s breastplate.
Baiyren? Are you there? It’s me. Juno.
You shouldn’t be here, a voice said. It wasn’t Baiyren’s; it was deeper, as deep as a bottomless gorge. I know why you’ve come. But it’s already too late. Your prince has agreed to help me defeat Zuishin.
Juno’s heart sank. And then what? Her voice was surprisingly strong. Anger filled it, her feelings for Baiyren surprising her, bringing courage. Once you finish this, you’ll let him go?
A long pause followed. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
You’re making a big mistake, Yohshin. You’ve chosen someone with nothing to lose. I’m the only thing Baiyren cares about, and I’m telling him to fight! Juno looped her finger through the chain around her neck and lifted the Heartstone. Ignore your servant, she said to the pendant. And let me speak to Baiyren.
Yohshin came for her in a wave of psychic fury. The force should have hit her and either imprisoned her or turned her aside. Instead, she passed through like wind in the rushes. Beyond, a familiar, featherlight touch tickled her mind. Juno? Baiyren’s voice said. Is that you?
Hope surged inside her. She tried to reply, but Yohshin was there to stop her words from reaching him. That shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it did. The mah-zhin wouldn’t simply give in. It had too much to lose. Maybe if she got close enough, he’d sense her presence. People communicated without words all the time. Why should this be any different?
Juno fought on, one inch at a time, not caring how many seconds passed or what happened in the physical world. Baiyren was all that mattered; he was her spark in the darkness, her star in the void. She clawed her way forward, fell back, and then pushed on again, never tiring, never giving up. At her back, Yohshin threatened, tall and unstoppable. She didn’t dare turn, didn’t dare look back to see how close it was.
Was she closing on Baiyren? She didn’t know, couldn’t know. This strange otherworld made no sense to her. A minute ago, Baiyren seemed close. Now much less so. If she could just reach him, talk to him. She’d give him a reason to fight. To live. Unfortunately, reaching him was out of the question. Yohshin blocked her at every turn. Baiyren might as well have been on the other side of thick glass. She needed find a way around or through, but how? Yohshin controlled this space, controlled Baiyren. She considered the Heartstone, but the presence within seemed both reluctant and distracted.
Distracted? In the physical world, her palm connected with her forehead, and she was vaguely aware of the confused look Taisho threw her way. She wanted to laugh, might have even, if the situation wasn’t so dire. Instead, she repeated the words that formed her strategy: confusion, distraction. Those were what she needed. Rousing her body, she willed her hand to the blinking yellow light Taisho had pointed out a moment earlier. A console dropped from above and covered her face. She didn’t need it. The Heartstone channeled her thoughts into the crystal, merging with it, commanding it.
The first missile launched in a roar of smoke and fire, the second rocketing a heartbeat behind. Taisho shouted something, but with her mind focused on Baiyren, Juno couldn’t make out the words. A flash lit the skies, and turbulence rocked the transport. Taisho worked the controls to keep the little ship airborne, ultimately deciding to drop below the blast radius and race for the Ridderroque before the inevitable counterattack began. But Yohshin didn’t strike back, not at first. Taisho wouldn’t know why; he’d assumed they either dazed or damaged the mah-zhin. Or that his god had saved them.
Juno knew better.
Inside her head, inside the strange psychic world, she felt the barrier between her mind and Baiyren shatter. The blast didn’t damage the armor, but it did what Juno needed it to do. Distracted, unable to keep its concentration, Yohshin lost control long enough for Juno to throw her thoughts into the abyss. Baiyren! she called, the name thundering through the emptiness, desperation adding force, emotion amplifying sound. Baiyren, can you hear me? I’ve come to get you out! The light ahead dimmed and cooled. A chill ran through Juno that had nothing to do with temperature. Baiyren? she called again, her voice uncertain now, brittle. What’s wrong?
Go home, Juno. You can’t help me. The mah-zhin are fighting to control Higo. I can’t leave until I stop them. I haven’t been much of a prince, but I can at least do this for my people. They need me, Juno. I don’t have anyone else.
You have me. Juno scrubbed away what tears she could and fought down the rest.
I know; I’ll always know. But as much as I want you beside me, I need you to go before you get hurt. Use the Heartstone, open a Portal to Earth and don’t look back. Knowing you’re safe will make this easier.
And then he was gone.
The emptiness left Juno dazed. She couldn’t go. She wouldn’t; she wasn’t done here. Head spinning, she tried to think, tried to form some plan that would…what? Stop a god? Who was she kidding? She might as well stop the Earth from turning. She probably should open a Portal and…
Thinking of a Portal stirred a wild hope. Baiyren’s idea was a good one, better than he intended. She knew what to do now, knew how to escape and buy Kaidan the time he needed. Pulse raging, she directed her thoughts into the Heartstone. Power surged from her, her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring into a flying vortex.
Taisho, pale and sweating, cursed and tried to swerve.
Juno put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He looked at her, and she nodded ahead. “You need to trust me, Taisho. We’re going in.”
“That’s a Portal. Did you…? How did you…?”
Juno held up a hand. “Straight ahead, Taisho. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
“If you say so.” Though the words suggested acceptance, the monk’s tone held more than a little skepticism. That was fine with Juno. He’d see soon enough. Bracing herself, she waited for the transport to enter the yawning Portal. Light bent and swirled and, just as quickly, they were through. A tall white obelisk reared up to their right, a long building with a copper roof adjacent. Far down a wide rectangular stretch of grass, a familiar dome surveyed the city below. Juno stared at the cityscape, aware how little it now felt like home. “Unidentified objects closing from the northeast,” Taisho said from her side. “They’re hailing us, but I don’t understand the language.”
“Ignore them,” Juno replied, turning away. Again, she closed her fist around the Heartstone, and a new Portal opened. This time, Taisho didn’t hesitate. He drove through. Rippling water filled their view, a great shadow spreading across it. Before Taisho could tell Juno to brace herself, the transport slammed into the watery surface and submerged.