King (The Dragon King Chronicles #3)
Ellen Oh
1
Kira sat staring at the waves lapping on the sandy shore. She hadn’t moved since Taejo had been snatched by Fulang over two hours ago.
Behind her, her brothers and friends were busy trying to prepare for her new journey. They’d left her alone, knowing she needed time to think. She’d gone from anger to despair to anger again. She burned with it, a fiery volcano.
In her mind’s eye, she could still see the blue dragon’s great wings beating up a sandstorm as he lifted Taejo and Gom into the clouds and disappeared from view. She could still hear Taejo’s screams and Gom’s distressed cries.
It was all her fault. She should have killed the dragon in the shadow world when she’d had the chance. Why had compassion stayed her hand? If anything were to happen to Taejo, she would have broken her oath to her uncle and father. Kira closed her eyes in pain. She couldn’t bear the thought.
This is not your fault. This is fate.
Kira’s eyes flew open in surprise. It sounded like Brother Woojin’s voice. But he was three thousand li away. It would take him weeks of traveling to reach them.
“Sunim, I’m so sorry.” She spoke into the wind, as if it would carry her words north to him. “It was my job to protect the prince and I failed.”
You must have faith, my child.
Kira didn’t know if it was really him somehow communicating with her or if it was just her mind telling her what she wanted to hear.
She sighed. “Faith is nice, but not much help right now. What I need is a plan. But I don’t know what to do.”
Brother Woojin’s voice was silent. Instead, she heard the dragon again.
“Musado, if you want to see the princeling alive, then bring what you have stolen from me to Tiger’s Nest Temple on Jindo Island. You have ten days.”
Gritting her teeth, Kira had to fight the rage that rushed through her once again. So much of the anger was directed at herself for failing to recognize the meaning of her weird visions. It was all so clear now that it was too late. Now that she had to chase a blue dragon to an island that had already been invaded by the Yamato and seek a temple filled with cannibalistic monks who considered her their greatest enemy.
Her head hurt.
Someone came and knelt in the sand next to her. “Your brother sent me to tell you they are ready for you,” Jaewon said.
Kira rose to her feet, feeling stiff and tired. The afternoon sun had shone down brightly on her head and she was feeling the effects. Silently, Jaewon passed her a water bag. With a grateful look, she drank, feeling the slight headache start to give way.
They climbed up the dunes and over to the command center. Inside the large open tent, Kyoung, Kwan, and several military leaders were conferring. Her brother Kwan should not have even been there. Badly clawed by Fulang, Kwan was in no state to be standing for very long. She was about to tell him to rest when he spotted her.
“Kira, this is madness!” Kwan exclaimed. “You of all people are the one Daimyo Tomodoshi wants. He will use everything in his power to capture or kill you. And Jindo Island is swarming with Yamato!”
Her eldest brother seemed to notice her immediate aggravation. He grabbed Kwan by the shoulders and pushed him onto a short stool.
“Actually, Admiral Yi has figured out an ingenious way to get her to the island,” Kyoung said.
The admiral bowed and stared at Kira with piercing eyes under shaggy, graying eyebrows that even his helmet couldn’t cover up.
“Kang Kira, we may be in luck. For this is approximately the right time of year for the miraculous land bridge to appear between the islands of Modo and Jindo,” he said.
“Miraculous bridge? What is it?” Kira asked.
“It’s a well-kept secret that only the islanders know about. It occurs two to three times a year in the spring and summer. A land bridge that lasts for about an hour forms between the islands of Modo and Jindo.”
“Only an hour? What time of day does it occur?”
“That’s one of the problems. In the last five years, the first of the pathways has formed progressively later in the day,” he said. “Our navigator predicts that it will open in the next four days and will be at around sunset. But it is also the most dangerous time. When the tide returns, it comes in hard and fast and will sweep you deep into the ocean.”
“If it’s not dark enough, we also risk being seen on the road,” Kira said.
“That’s the other issue.”
“How is this helpful, then?” Kira asked sharply. “There’s a bridge that may or may not form, and if it does, it might be while it’s still bright out, in which case we’ll be visible to the Yamato patrols. And even if we cross it, we risk being drowned by the tide!”
“I know it sounds like madness,” the admiral said.
“There may be no choice,” Kyoung said. “The entire Jindo coastline is heavily patrolled by the Yamato.”