SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 73

The next morning, I found myself lying on the ground still outside the village. My head was propped against her lap and she was looking down at me with her hands gently cupping my cheeks. I felt content somehow and she seemed to share my feelings as we gazed into each into other without speaking.

Then, as the blurriness in my mind faded, a strange, distant rumbling tugged away my attention. I turned my head to see where it was coming from, but she kept her hands firmly on my cheeks, making sure that my eyes remained on her.

"Kass, what's that sound?" I asked.

"Terr, you need to know something," she said earnestly. "I'm not your shyo mah."

"What?"

"I'm not."

"Of course you are. You've always been my shyo mah. All the times we were together on those ships, we-"

"Terr, it's always been you. Just you. You never needed a shyo mah. When you flew those ships, when you made things move through the air, none of it was me. You did it all yourself. Those silver eyes of yours, they're a symbol of your gift."

I searched for a reason to call her a liar, but the heartfelt look she gave me pleaded with me to accept what I had suspected all along. All the times I had spent in the ritual room, turning and moving the ether, it happened so effortlessly, so naturally, and yet, with so much power. The way the currents flowed at my slightest will, it could never have been the act of two people. Such a thing could only have been achieved by a single mind pressed with a single purpose.

It was me.

It was always me.

"If this is true, then how did you know?"

"Because Terr, I'm in your thoughts. I'm in your dreams."

I wondered if I was still asleep. When I reached up to touch her, she took my hand and pressed her lips against it.

"Are you the dragon?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, she placed my hand on my chest and lowered her lips next to my ear and whispered, "I'll be at the top of the hill behind the temple."

My eyes snapped open. Again, I was awake, lying on the ground in a cold sweat just outside the village. But this time I was alone. The golden ribbon was still tied to my hand. I sat up and looked around for any sign of her, only to realize that the rumbling I heard earlier was still there.

Turning in the direction of the sound, I watched in terror as a warship drifted close, overhead. Behind it, high above, was a fleet of ships blanketing the sky with wispy trails of the smoke and steam. They were western ships, and nestled amongst them, under their stalwart protection was the familiar hull of the flagship. The damaged ship had returned to enact its revenge.

I picked myself up, crawling at first, then staggering as I fought to keep my balance. The village erupted in a series of screams. People rushed into their homes or ran to hide themselves amongst the trees. Across the water, the capital's air raid alarm sounded.

Some ways away Auntie stood in a clearing. She was calling out to me, waving at me to come back to the village. I waved back at her then hesitantly shook my head. I then moved as fast and as far away from her as I could. There was no reason to seek safety. Not anymore. If the bomb could destroy a city as they said, then it didn't matter if we huddled in a shelter or stood out in the open. We would all perish just the same. The only thing we could do now was bear witness to the end.

Tired and out of breath I made the trek to the far end of the beach and then meandered amongst the trees until I came upon the abandoned temple. As I looked up at the hill -the same one that the broken building nestled against- I saw a faint silhouette of a person standing at the peak. Up the temple steps I went, losing my footing every few paces and falling to my hands and knees, only to find the courage to bear the pain and stand back up again.