James's knuckles were white around the arena railing. Three days. He had three days before Tega turned his sister into another broken toy."You'll die, James." Emily gripped his arm, her nails digging through his sleeve. "Please. I'll go with him. I'll survive it."He pulled free. "No."The word hung between them like a blade. Around them, Dragon Nation's capital buzzed with whispers. Everyone knew what happened to girls Tega wanted. Everyone had seen the ones who came back wrong, or didn't come back at all."Your father's looking for you." Old Chen shuffled past, not meeting their eyes. No one met their eyes anymore. Fear had a smell in Dragon Nation, and it reeked of Lucas's rule.James turned toward the market square where his father would be closing up their vegetable stall. Twenty years ago, people said Lucas and his wife Vivian had saved Dragon Nation alongside a man named Davis, some legendary warrior. Now those same people locked their doors when Lucas's guards walked past."J

James's father carried him through Dragon Nation's backstreets, away from the arena, away from the crowd's cheers for Tega's brutality. Each step jolted broken ribs. James bit his tongue to keep from screaming.They reached home. His father laid him on the bed as gently as possible. Blood soaked through the sheets immediately."Stay awake," his father said, but his voice shook. He didn't believe his own words.James tried to speak. Blood filled his mouth instead.His father ran. James heard him pounding on neighbors' doors, begging for help. No one answered. Of course they didn't. Helping a man who'd challenged Lucas's son was suicide.James stared at the ceiling. His vision was narrowing, edges going dark. Lungs wouldn't fill properly. Something sharp ground in his chest with each breath.This was dying. It felt lonely.The door burst open. His father dragged in Old Wei, the weapon seller."I don't heal people," Wei said."Please."Wei looked at James. Her good eye saw everything. "H

James stared at the message until the words blurred. Emily read over his shoulder."How?" Emily asked. "You just imprisoned her hours ago. The Nine Nether God Prison is supposed to be inescapable.""Supposed to be." James crumpled the paper. The runner flinched at the violence in the gesture. "Take me there. Now."They rode through Dragon Nation's capital as dawn broke. People were still celebrating in the streets, tearing down Lucas's propaganda, burning his effigies. They cheered when they saw James. He barely noticed.The Nine Nether God Prison sat at the city's edge, built into a cliff face. Ancient seals covered the entrance, designed to contain even Dragon Lord cultivators. As they approached, James saw bodies. Guards torn apart, scattered like broken dolls.Marcus met them at the entrance. He'd arrived ahead of them, already examining the carnage."Ten guards," Marcus said without preamble. "All dead within minutes of her imprisonment. Whatever killed them was fast and strong."

The eastern wilderness had no roads. James guided his horse through dense forest, following tracks that grew fainter with each mile. Vivian knew he was pursuing her. She was covering her trail deliberately, making him work for every clue. By nightfall, James had traveled thirty miles. His horse was exhausted. So was he, though the Dragon Soul kept his body functioning past normal limits. He made camp in a hollow between two massive trees, building no fire that might give away his position. Sleep wouldn't come. James lay staring at the canopy, sorting through two lifetimes of memories. His own childhood, poor but happy. Davis's youth, training to become Dragon Nation's protector. The moment of integration had blended them imperfectly. Sometimes James couldn't remember if a memory belonged to him or Davis. Marcus's death played on repeat. The spear punching through the old soldier's chest. His final smile. His apology to a ghost. James's fists clenched. Vivian would answer for that.

James rode for six days straight, stopping only when his horse collapsed from exhaustion. He bought another in a border town, paying with coins he'd taken from Lucas's treasury before leaving Dragon Nation. The vendor asked no questions. Smart people didn't question men with blood on their clothes and murder in their eyes.The western provinces were everything Dragon Nation wasn't. No walls. No guards. No laws worth mentioning. Towns appeared and disappeared based on whoever had the most weapons that week. James passed three burning villages in as many days. Nobody stopped to help. Nobody cared.On the seventh day, he found the first clue.A trader in a settlement called Rust Hollow mentioned a family named Chen who'd arrived twenty years ago. Father, mother, three children. Kept to themselves. Paid their taxes. Never caused trouble."Where?" James asked.The trader squinted at him. "Information costs."James put gold on the counter. The trader's eyes widened. That was three months' e