At this rate, I wasn’t getting out of there in one piece. I had to think. Find a weakness.

“How pathetic,” Xov said, clicking his tongue. “What would your mother Gao Pa say if she could see what you’ve become? Squandering the divine power she passed down to you.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but at his mention of Gao Pa, I swear I caught the sweet scent of jasmine. I recalled all the times I’d smelled a trace of that light fragrance during this quest. Had she been helping me all along?

Then I thought of my own mom, waiting for Matt to wake up in a sterile hospital room. I was doing this for my family, and in return, they gave me the strength and motivation to keep going. Did Xov have anyone to love and love him in return?

“I’ve squandered my power?” I said, standing.

With a patronizing twist of his mouth, Xov waited for me to catch my breath. He was mocking me.

“You’re the one who picked a fight with your brother’s grandson,” I said. “Was it just for your ego? Or did you actually care about the demon children he killed?”

Xov scoffed. “Why would I care about that mindless lot? They murdered their mother, and I would have been next.”

“And your one life was worth more than the lives of all the mortals they killed when you opened the door between realms?”

“Of course,” he said, as if I’d asked a ridiculous question.

It was obvious that the most important person to Xov was himself. If I could make Xov angry by wounding his pride, he might lower his guard enough for me to get an advantage.

“You must have been so humiliated when you were defeated by a half-mortal shaman,” I said, my hands tightening around the ax. Before, in the cave, I’d had to be careful about using it. But here, with nothing around us, I didn’t have to worry about destroying more trees or hurting anyone else.

Xov’s eyes narrowed, his pupils flickering red. “He was an unworthy rival—nothing but a trickster, like that useless goddess Nhia Ngao Zhua Pa.”

“Or he was better than you.” My words were joined by a bolt of lightning from the ax’s blade, arcing toward Xov in a dazzling white streak.

He blocked it, his spear absorbing most of the blow. But he grimaced, too, as sparks of white energy seared his hands and danced up his arms. His features blurred and flickered. After a moment, he re-formed, looking even angrier. His eyes began to burn like hot coals.

My satisfaction at being able to hurt him didn’t last long. He attacked, the sharp end of his spear moving so fast that it would have taken off my head if not for the spiritual energy guiding my reflexes. I dodged and nearly fell again.

“No wonder you want revenge,” I said as I jogged backward, avoiding another swift strike. “You’re the laughingstock of the gods.”

A low growl escaped Xov’s lips, and he lunged. I ducked awkwardly but managed to slam the butt of my ax into the back of his leg.

“Argh!” He fell to one knee. His form flickered again as he turned and sliced my shoulder with his spear.

Pain shot through me. I rolled, deflecting another blow with my ax before regaining my feet. Gasping, I clutched my throbbing shoulder and backed away as he advanced on me.

Flashes of lightning split the darkness, followed by the crack of thunder. It made concentrating on his next attack harder.

“But the Sky Father is your brother. Why would you try to kill his grandson?” I said through my teeth, breathing hard. “Maybe you had something to prove.” Compared to Ntuj, Xov would always be second best. His own son, Miv, had said it himself when we were in the Echo: Hard for a little brother to compete with the creator of all realms.

Xov roared as he thrust again with his spear, but I blocked it. Lightning leaped from the ax blade toward Xov’s head. He almost didn’t move in time. The ends of his hair crackled. The stench of burned hair made my nose wrinkle, but I’d nearly had him.

I spun the ax in my hand as smoothly as if I’d done it a thousand times before and aimed for the head of his spear. For a heartbeat, I thought I might have succeeded in unsettling him enough to get the upper hand. But then Xov twisted away, ramming his elbow into the back of my skull.

My vision went black with pain for a second. I stumbled, but somehow, I didn’t fall. Squinting through my watering eyes, I quickly turned to face him again, ax raised.

“I must admit I didn’t expect you to last even this long,” he said scornfully. His eyes glowed an even deeper red, his anger practically simmering through the air. He swung his spear around his shoulders and over his head with such incredible speed and agility that I couldn’t help but admire it. He was a terrible person, but the guy had skills.

He attacked again, faster now. It was all I could do to block before Xov spun away to stab from another direction. My foot slipped out from beneath me. With a gasp, I fell.

I hit the ground hard and barely got my ax up in time to prevent the spear from stabbing my chest. I panted, eyes wide. Electricity shot from the ax to the spear, but the thunder god was ready this time with his own lightning. The two powers collided between us with a thunderous crack that made my teeth ache and my hair stand on end. The air felt thick and charged.

Xov grinned, all teeth. On his thin face, it looked skeletal. I couldn’t believe I’d just been admiring his fighting skills.

He bore down on his staff. I groaned, the strength of the ax’s blade the only thing keeping me alive. If it were any other weapon, the metal would have shattered by now, and the spear would have found my heart. Unfortunately, I was still pinned, and I couldn’t see a way to escape.

“You might have Shee Yee’s weapon, little girl, and maybe even a fraction of his skill in battle. But you don’t have his experience or his strength. You’re just a child playing at being a hero.”

I gritted my teeth, fighting against the sour taste of fear at the back of my throat. I’d tried my best, but it hadn’t been enough. Not against an ancient god, even one whose powers were limited by his prison.

“If you kill me now, you’ll never be free,” I managed to grunt. “The gods will make sure Shee Yee is never reincarnated again. They won’t make the same mistake twice.”

His grin transformed into a snarl as he realized I spoke the truth. Then he abruptly flipped his spear and smashed the metal rod into the handle of my ax. The weapon flew from my hands, skidding several feet away. I started to scramble backward, but he quickly pressed the butt of his spear against my throat to keep me pinned.

“Give me your oath that you will lift the final two curses and release the seals. Otherwise, I will destroy your friends.”

My friends… While I was stuck here, Zhong was still at the gates, fighting the bridge spirit.

And Miv…I didn’t know what he was doing, but he was no longer my friend. He had betrayed me. Pain shot through my shoulder again.

Then I remembered something Xov had said. My fool son should have brought you to me long ago.

So why hadn’t he?

You’re not Shee Yee, Miv had told me back at the Tree of Souls. You’re Pahua Moua.

Had Miv known all along that I would be no match for Xov? No shaman warrior, just a dreamy girl. Had the quest been an elaborate trick to get me to retrieve the ax and release his father?

It didn’t make sense. Miv had been by my side for ages, always giving me confidence when I most needed it.

Also, he hadn’t taken me to Xov. He’d been carried away by demons. Maybe Miv understood what Xov didn’t—that I wasn’t Shee Yee.

And I didn’t have to be in order to be the hero my brother needed.

Unleashing the bridge spirit had been my own fault. If I hadn’t done that, Xov never would have found me. Miv had kept his identity a secret from me all these years, but he hadn’t betrayed me. Not really.

I might have been lying to myself to make me feel better. I might have been grasping at any straw of hope I could find. But it was better than holding on to all my anger and sadness until it twisted me up inside and made me as bitter and evil as the bridge spirit.

Shivering, I pressed my arms against my sides and felt something through the pocket of my dress. Slipping my hand inside, I closed my fingers around the plum pit. All the pain from the memory of the last time I’d seen my dad flickered through me.

I still didn’t know why he left us. I only knew that I hadn’t been enough.

But I’d been enough for Matt, who’d never once complained about being stuck with me. And I was enough for my mom. I’d even been enough for Miv. Xov’s son was supposed to have betrayed me, and instead (I hoped) he had seen and appreciated me for who I really was. He loved me. And that had been enough to make him stay.

Cag had called the plum stone a memento. I don’t think he’d meant for me to carry it around forever, though. That wasn’t moving on. But he’d given me the chance to let it go.

“Destroy my friends?” I said to Xov. “Not in this lifetime!” I flung the pit at his face.

He caught it with one hand, his lips twisting into a sneer. And then he froze, his eyes going blank as whatever magic was inside the pit drew him into its depths. Maybe the pit was forcing him to relive his worst memory, the way the plum had for me. Maybe that meant he was suffering his defeat and imprisonment at a half mortal’s hands all over again, or some other terrible moment from a long life spent in his older brother’s shadow. Whatever the case, it only lasted a couple of seconds before he wrestled back control of his mind.

It was just enough time for me, though.

I rolled away and retrieved the ax. I wrapped both hands around the handle. Then I sat up and swung as hard as I could.

The weapon glowed so bright that I had to close my eyes and trust the ax to find its target. The blade bit into Xov’s spear, and the silver staff snapped in half.

“Nooooo!” Xov bellowed. With a crack of thunder, the spear vanished. Xov’s body began to dissolve as well. His edges melted away like an ice cube’s on a hot sidewalk. “This isn’t over!”

The nasty smells of ozone and burned metal were suddenly replaced by the teasing scent of jasmine. A sweet wind swept around me, scattering the last of Xov’s form. The sound of thunder retreated, like a dissipating storm.

I felt a pressure at my wrist. When I looked down, the tattered remnants of Zhong’s talisman had been repaired. This time, silver threads were interwoven with the red ones.

Then my vision went black, and I faded into nothingness.