She was paler, more wan than before—the price of carrying four daeva on her shoulders, with three more to come. But her hands did not shake as she stoppered two more of the vials, and she showed no hesitation as she drank them down. She tossed the bottles onto the sand behind her and stepped out into the waters, toward the bones.

She summoned the indar first. The blue bezoar broke in her hands, and the skeleton above us moved. It gained shape quickly enough—a hawklike beast with a gnarled beak and a loud cry that ripped through the air, the sound shrill. It had paws instead of talons and a bear’s body made of neither fur nor feathers but of something in between. It shook itself dry and then took to the skies, exploring for several minutes before it remembered its mistress. It landed on the sand before her and bowed its head in acquiescence, as had the other daeva before it.

The akvan came next, and it was every bit as grotesque as I remembered, with its protrusion of elephant tusks and its massive trunk. It trumpeted at the sun, no longer gutted and eviscerated. Its tail thumped at the ground behind it, kicking up sand and soil.

Their black hearts glittered in the air. The girl took them both and pressed them against her own heartsglass.

And screamed. She toppled to the ground, writhing. I ran toward her, but just as suddenly, the spasms ended as they had begun, and she pushed herself up with one hand, breathing hard. Even the daeva showed their concern, turning toward her with high, piping sounds of worry.

She raised her arm when I took a step toward her, concerned. “I’m all right,” she insisted. “All I need is a little rest, a chance to…catch my breath.”

“What is happening?”

“As…Dancing Wind once gave part of her heartsglass to bring back Blade that Soars…so do I give part of my heartsglass to bring back these daeva. It is like…knives…going through my soul.”

“You don’t need to do this,” I implored her. “There must be some other way.”

She laughed. “Did you think I would do this if there was?” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I will rest for a while and tell you more about the azi,” she said. “And then I will succeed. Or I will die trying. There is no middle ground.”