Kai refused to lose anyone else. He had watched his tah’s death and wouldn’t do the same for Rasia. Kai was not letting her die today.
Rasia’s breath whispered thready and weak after the last seizure. He needed to hurry before the next one hit.
Kai rushed to the windship steer and turned the ship around. He didn’t care if Rasia was going to be angry about it, she could be angry at him alive.
He sailed the windship at full speed, toward a dark horizon crowned by stars. Kai hadn’t been aware when the sun had set. The only passing of time he’d experienced was that of one dying breath to the next.
The Lake of Yestermorrow showed Kai many things. Kenji wasn’t the first vision the Lake of Yestermorrow had used to tempt him down its dark depths. The lake also gave Kai the truth of his magic, but it had been so unbelievable, so impossible, Kai had dismissed it.
But if Rasia were going to live, he needed to believe in that dream. He needed to believe it was true.
Breath control was important for controlling magic. Physical resilience was important for enduring it. But to consciously use it—to summon rain, or breathe fire, or grow orchards—you simply must want it.
Magic had always come easily to Nico, someone who had never hesitated to fight for her goals. Kai, on the other hand, had never been sure he wanted magic in the first place. It had done nothing but complicate and ruin his life. Nor had Kai ever allowed himself to reach for his wants, not before the Forging, not before Rasia.
No more time for thinking. His body could endure—would endure. It had no choice not to.
Kai sucked in the deepest breath he could muster and wanted that horizon line like he’d never wanted anything in his entire fucking life. He wanted with a singular focus and fire. He wanted so powerfully the world bent to his will.
A suction of wind popped his eardrums.
Kai blinked and the mountaintop loomed overhead, filling his vision. Kai slammed down the steer, and the windship skidded to a stop. He scooped Rasia into his arms, wrapped her in his cloak, and hauled her down the stairs.
Kai slid to his knees cradling Rasia in his arms.
“Nico-ji, save her.”