The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 76: Lord of the River

"She's going to die!" Yulus shouted.

He found himself at the door of the audience chamber without knowing how he'd gotten there. He streaked for the front entrance. Behind him, Nagi pumped her tail, propelling herself after him.

"Your Majesty! Wait! Calm down and let's think things through!"

"No! That mother's going to get herself killed! And it's like you said – if we don't end things now, my people are going to die anyway! There's no point in staying out of it if Lord Silurus is going to destroy my river anyway!"

They reached the gateway – and a blue-white wall that extended all the way from the riverbed to the surface of the river. Trapped inside the ice were the hazy forms of upside-down catfish, their mouths open in terror, and eels knotted up in a panicked clump. Captain Carpa's shocked eyes accused him.

Yulus placed both palms against the ice. At once, demonic coldness pierced his scales and raced up through his hands into his arms. It tried to freeze his blood.

"Melt!" he commanded.

Under his chin, his pearl glowed, dimly at first, then brighter and brighter as he forced his power into the ice. The wild boar demon was strong, but he was no match for a dragon. He was no match for Yulus, rightful lord of the river. Slowly, ever so slowly, the ice began to give way.

"Can we at least be strategic about this?" Nagi shouted into his ear. "Your Majesty! If you're going to melt your way to the surface, at least free the most important people on the way there!"

That was Nagi – practical even under the most dire circumstances. Yulus angled the flow of magical energy to the left, creating a tunnel that led towards Captain Carpa. Water flowed in after him and Nagi, lapping at and helping to melt the walls. The last sheet of ice between them and Captain Carpa thinned, and the carp spirit helped by wriggling and twisting until one of her spiked fins sliced through it. Between her and Yulus, they shattered it. Water gushed around her, and she fell into it with a gasp.

"Are you all right?" Yulus asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Prime Minister!" She snapped a salute. "Reporting for duty!"

Nagi sniffed. She'd never liked the captain much, Yulus knew. But she ordered, "Go downstream, get Captain Carpio and his guards, and tell them to cut our people out of the ice. Here."

She passed Captain Carpa half of a bronze fish token. Captain Carpio carried the other half. Fitting the pieces together let soldiers know that an order was authentic.

"Of course, Prime Minister." Captain Carpa swept an ingratiating bow. "I shall do so at once."

Down the river she swam, the very picture of a reliable soldier.

A bright yellow glow lit the ice, then dimmed, like an explosion. Yulus cast a vision on the ice wall next to them and sucked in a breath. A star sprite had just appeared above the frozen river. He was speaking to two humans – one of the baron's knights, and that traveling mage who'd once barged into his water court.

Hope and excitement surged in Yulus. "Is Heaven getting involved? Do we have Heaven on our side?" Maybe Lord Silurus' time had come after all!

Nagi (figuratively) doused him with ice water. "If Heaven is involved, we need to be even more careful. Who knows which faction is here?"

Unfortunately, she was correct. Yulus debated with himself. He could stay down here and, if necessary, plead later that he was so busy being a benevolent ruler and rescuing his vassals that he completely missed the drama above him.