Epilogue

IN THE HUMAN CAPITAL OF KARI

E mperor Gaulu’s hands shook as he struggled to open the thick lock on the safe he had vowed to never touch again.

It was in a large, ornate armoire hidden behind another locked door within. The entire thing was camouflaged by ornately carved wood but reinforced with metal should anyone try to break into it.

He had had it made twenty-five years ago and then promptly made the man who crafted it disappear .

The emperor had never wanted anyone to know what was inside it and what exactly it meant, but he had never been strong enough to destroy it either, just in case he might need it again.

And it seemed like now, finally, he might.

A sudden whoosh of air alerted him to the opening of his office door, and he swung around, heart racing, to see who had entered.

His son, Syaoran, marched inside imperiously, his nose in the air and a complaint sure to follow. Emperor Gaulu knew that he was too self-centered to even notice what his father was doing, but still, he hastily threw the closet door shut and the key scattered across the floor.

Syaoran stopped in his tracks and looked down at the key with a bored expression.

“What?” Emperor Gaulu snapped. “What do you want?”

But his son’s attention was still on the key and then, to the emperor’s chagrin, it turned to the closet.

“What are you doing?” his son asked disdainfully.

“None of your damn business!”

Syaoran jumped, his eyes widening dramatically.

The shouting was probably uncalled for, but could his idiot of an offspring not understand when it was not the time to interrupt over whatever inane shit he chose for the day.

Syaoran swallowed and straightened, clearly deciding that no matter his father’s mood, his own issues were more important.

“I was just in the garden, Father, and the shrubberies have grown beyond the windowsills on the lower level. It is unacceptable and I would like permission to fire the gardeners once and for all. They have been told time and again–”

“Yes, yes, fine! Do as you like.”

He beamed.

“Excellent because there is also–”

“I said do as you like, child, just leave me be!”

He nodded and hastily retreated from the room, looking far too pleased with himself.

Hands still shaking from nearly being caught, Emperor Gaulu went to the door after his son and locked it from the inside. In his own palace, he never normally needed to do anything of the sort. No one but his son was brash enough to march around as he pleased, but he could not breathe easily until he did.

Finally, he stooped to pick the key up from the floor, returned to the large cabinet and pulled the door open again.

He opened the unlocked hidden door and went to the safe once more. This time, he turned the key firmly and the lock popped open.

Trembling, he reached inside and carefully extracted the ancient tomb.

It looked exactly as he remembered it.

A chill ran through the emperor. The last time he had played with this book, the world had changed. The nocs had been created and his people thrown into a twenty-five-year war. He had lost his city and his palace to the nocs, and they had fled here.

But he had also, in a twisted way, been granted what he had been seeking the most—undying loyalty and a crown that had never been challenged since.

He ran his hands over the engraved cover, feeling the worn leather.

Two small jewels were inlayed into the front, one golden, one white, both iridescent. The reason for the book’s power and proof that it had been sent down from the holy couple themselves.

The sun god Taiyo and the moon goddess Tsuki had given this book as a gift to humans millennia ago with the belief that it would be used to create balance and harmony.

For some time, it had. Back when the temples ruled, during the golden period, only the most trustworthy had been given access to this book. The priests and priestesses had believed it was too powerful for regular people to get their hands on. But Emperor Gaulu wasn’t a regular person. He was the ruler of the largest kingdom.

He had a right to use this book as he pleased. He deserved it.

Especially if what his informants had said was true.

If Sun, the very noc killer himself, knew what Emperor Gaulu had done, he would not forgive the emperor and he would not rest until justice had been restored.

And if Sun did truly work with nocs now...

He took a shuddering breath and opened the book, flipping to the very spell he had been desperate to use since this whole mess had begun years ago.

To have complete control over all who lived or died, he would need both stones.

When Sun arrived with his noc entourage, it would be an easy feat to take them both. His soldiers would follow his orders without question.

After all, no sane human would believe the man with the monsters over their own leader…

At least that was his idea…

I watched anxiously, hoping that the emperor would do nothing else in his bid for power, wishing that he had never taken our book to use for his own selfish reasons.

For twenty-five years, my wife had grown weaker and weaker, losing more and more power as her people turned their backs on her.

I wanted to free her from her torment and more than that, I wanted her back, but I could do no more than I already had.

By giving Sun my sunstone to use alongside my wife’s moonstone, I had interfered as much as a god in such precarious times could.

Now it was up to them, Sun, Hadi, Kiar, Bracken, and Clem to reunite us before it was too late.