Lee Geun-tae respects strength, and so he is disappointed that it is Su-won himself and not his right-hand general that comes to Chi'shin. They sip tea and dress up for a mock fight. (It is not a pretend war that Su-won fights, this war for the future of Kouka.)
Meanwhile, Hak and Kye-sook follow their instructions to go to the worst part of the Earth Tribe, a port town called Awa. Kye-sook is well-learned in the art of subterfuge and suggests they disguise themselves and scout out the town first. Hak agrees because he knows how to pick his battles. (Su-won says that Kye-sook's goals coincide with theirs and he will not act rashly. Never did Su-won say that Kye-sook is trustworthy.)
The smiles in the port town of Awa are false. Two more merchants enter the town with the masses. They ask questions, just two curious visitors, and take care not to cause trouble. A few days later the King's Advisor and the General of the Wind Tribe pay an visit to Lord Yan Kumji. The young king is very interested in learning more about his kingdom, Kye-sook says. He is here in His Majesty's stead, the king himself being occupied with matters in Chi'shin.
Of course, Yan Kumji says with an equally-faked smile. He tells them of Awa's imports and exports, how they could bring prosperity to the kingdom. They sit down to eat a lavish dinner and neither Hak nor Kye-sook eat. The gloves come off now: Kumji is lying and they know it. Kye-sook informs Kumji that he is under arrest for tax evasion. The punishment is a token one for that, but while he waits in prison they will convince his co-conspirators to testify against him. (Even Kye-sook has no sympathy for human traffickers.)
Kumji shakes off his shock and asks how they'll do that if they won't leave this room alive. He shouts, and scores of mercenaries storm into the banquet hall. Hak gave up his spear at the entrance, a show of goodwill. No need to be armed when among friends...but nor could the guards search them. Hak draws the sword hidden under his cloak.
(So much blood stains the carpets and tapestries.)
A storm sweeps Awa. Hak and Kye-sook discover a grudging respect for each other as they root out the drug lords and mob bosses of Awa: distrust each other as they may, they are good at what they do. A new governor is appointed and Hak and Kye-sook return to Chi'shin in time to hear of Geun-tae's victory in the mock-battle. The city is livelier than ever as a new craze sweeps the city for the turquoise stones their beloved general wore. Hak smirks to himself when Geun-tae greets him and expresses surprise at how Su-won is.
Su-won is weak, as the man who raised him was- nothing like his father and grandfather. Su-won is carefree and young and ignorant. These are undisputed facts among the nobility of Kouka, and Hak wants to laugh. This is the image Su-won has cultivated probably since birth. He knows the power of being underestimated. Hak has seen Su-won's true self only a handful of times, each instance like lightning: there and gone, dazzling and unforgettable. He's five steps or farther ahead of everyone else; his ambition is infinite. (He remembers cold eyes sometimes and it ignites a deep fear: the Su-won he knows does not exist, either.)
Leagues away, Yona and Yun travel north by back roads and detours, hoods hiding their faces. They cross paths with the herbalist, Kija, and the three share a meal. Yun explains that they are journeying north. The crops interest him, he says. The land grows harsher as you travel farther north...yet. Yet Kai is a mighty empire. What do they live off of? Isn't it possible that they have developed new strains of crops or a technique for coaxing a yield from the parched earth?
Kija agrees, fascinated. He asks if they will allow him to join them, if it does not impose on them. Yona smiles and says certainly! before Yun can respond. And so the duo becomes a trio.
(Kija's reason for joining them is not so selfless as curiosity. His grandmother has taken up a hobby of arranging a marriage for him.)
It does not take long for Kija to realize that Yona never removes the veil and bandages that cover more than half her body. He asks, once, if it is a contagious disease, and is relieved when Yona shakes her head. (He does not ask again. He understands secrets, having one of his own.) He takes shifts acting as lookout and gathers firewood and pitches the tent in turn with Yona and Yun. He gathers weeds and stows them in his bag and catches odd looks from Yun. (The truth: he's no herbalist.)
Yona shoots two hundred arrows every night after the sun has gone down. Kija and Yun fall asleep to the twanging rhythm. They meet bandits more than once; Yona protects Yun and Kija. She is stronger now (and it is not enough.) One of them gets in a lucky hit. Yun rushes from the bushes where he hides. Yona bites her tongue, her hand to muffle the shriek when Yun pulls the arrowhead from her right arm. It has pierced the boundary where flesh meets scale, and more importantly, it has pierced an artery. Yun shifts gear, fire in his eyes. They've no alcohol; he must sterilize a needle in fire. He orders Kija to help him- apply pressure there. Keep her arm high, above her heart.
Kija sees her snowy scales and the needlepoint claws and makes no comment. (He cannot forget his grandmother's cautionary tales sorcerers giving up their hearts to transform themselves into something not human.) Later, he approaches her again and this time he is blunt: is she a witch?
Yona doesn't understand, except that he means her scales. (Deformities they are no longer.) I was born this way, she replies. After that, she jumps about more freely and the three make better time. They come to Senri village, once part of Kouka but lost as the price of peace. Yona knows how to dance for one reason only: a proper princess can dance. (For a short time, she thought she would impress Hak.) For the first time in her life, she raises a sword. She dances for the sake of the iza, for the sake of that small chance it may help to fill those gaunt bellies that were common as flies.
The old man gives Yun a sack of the precious seed. Yona sees Fire Tribe soldiers at the border and the vanguard of a general from Sen Province, Li Hazara. Yona, Yun and Kija rush back to Saika. None of them have stepped foot in the Fire Tribe's capitol. They flock together, intimidated more than anyone will admit by the noise and confusion of the city. It turns out that merchants have grapevines of their own, and Yun hears a rumor that Rokka Fortress has fallen. The pride of the Fire Tribe, the peddler calls it. Shipments in and out of the city are blocked by Kai Empire soldiers camped in front of the gates of Saika.
Her decision is easy. Kyo-ga's forces are pinned. Su-jin, who they say has ordered a retreat and requested reinforcements, cannot return to Saika. Yona looks back at her newfound friends. Kija uses the bow better than her, but that means almost nothing. Yun is no fighter. They're weak...but she is not. She soars, bow in hand and sword at her hip and jumps onto the walls of Saika.
She lands atop the wall with every intention of flying into the middle of camp and kicking a tent into their cooking fire. Her goal is to spread confusion and panic, not kill. She spots something in the corner of her eye. Then she wrenches her mask off and almost cannot believe what her eyes see. Kan Su-jin's and Li Hazara's armies march together toward Kuuto.
She looks again. Few are injured; they have not seen battle. Ignorant though she is, not even a child could miss what Su-jin has done. She looks back to the Sen Province soldiers and again at the marching armies. Combined, they seem endless and she is only one person. She braces herself to jump. She is Kouka's princess still and she will not let this (her) land be plunged into chaos.
In the city, Yun is the first to realize Yona is missing. He alerts Kija. They search their usual haunts, the cheap inn, and comb the slums. Bit by bit, their shared suspicion grows: Yona has done something rash. Kija takes this in and makes a decision. Although he has not known the Princess for long, he is proud to call her a friend. He will protect her if she is in danger...and he is almost certain she is.
In the mountains and forests of Kouka live a number of hidden tribes, isolated from the rest of the world. Many cling to unique customs, the last vestiges of a time when Kouka did not exist...a time when magic was common, when spirits and demons walked the earth. The village of Rogai (in another world called the Village of the White Dragon) is one such clan. Kija's secret? He is among the last wizards in Kouka, taught the art by his grandmother...after all, love potions are not the only thing she can brew.
So he crushes and boils what Yun called weeds in a pot and chants in a forgotten language. The mirrored surface of the potion burns silver-blue. Figures flash by in the flames. Yun gives a shout when they see a wave of familiar red curls. There is Yona in the heart of the battle, sword in her left hand and claws fully expanded. Hairline cracks run up and down the butterfly mask. Kija better understands Yun's nickname rare beast.
The last drops of the scrying potion burn away. Now what? Yun asks.
Kija picks up his bow and quiver. I will fight. Because although he comes nowhere near her impossible strength, he is far from helpless. Because there are people important to him, and he will protect them with every fiber of his being.
Yun stares at him and sighs and thinks that he's found someone who matches Yona in- well, some might call it determination. Yun calls it stupidity. But he agrees: seeing Yona try to protect everyone, seeing her do everything humanly possible (and things not humanly possible) inspires him. He can almost believe that he, with his little skill and little knowledge, can make a difference. He remembers the words he said to her as they stood before a funeral pyre where a tiny body burned: let's erase this sight from the land of Fire.
Kija isn't skilled enough in wizardry to craft a tracking spell, so they ride double on a horse to the thick of the battle, Yun at the reins and Kija shooting arrow after potion-dipped arrow. (Poisons are the weapons of a coward. Sleeping potions, on the other hand, are merciful.)
Elsewhere, Kan Su-jin sits atop his warhorse and screams to the world that he is Hiryuu. He bears the blessings of the gods. They will take the castle that is rightfully his from the usurper.
Like lightning, a figure crashes down before him and silence falls. Blood drips from her sword and her claws and is spattered across her cheeks. Her hair is an inferno and her mask is half-shattered. Blessings of the gods? the unearthly figure echoes. Don't make me laugh.
She takes a step forward. Kan Su-jin can neither move forward nor retreat. One eye glistens in the ruddy light. Kan Su-jin, she says, you are despicable. She goes on to explain why: Her father trusted him. He is one of the Five Generals of Kouka and he should have protected his people- not let them starve while he built an army to overthrow the king. Someone once told her that she bore the Dragon Gods' blessings. She is glad that it was the burden belongs to her and not someone like Kan Su-jin.
Su-jin's face contorts in rage. He shouts kill her! It's too late: his army was disillusioned before the butterfly-masked spirit appeared. A soldier throws a spear at the would-be king and Su-jin falls.
It's like seeing Father fall all over again but Yona cannot regret her words or pity the man now fallen to the ground. She turns to soar elsewhere and freezes. Her blood is ice. Her body will not move, like the paralysis has taken her in spite of her power not having touched a soul today. There, a stone's throw away, is her father's murderer.
(Su-won was never the name she breathed with the innocent lust of a smitten twelve-year-old. All she feels in this moment is fury.)
Su-won saw her strike the ground and heard her words. He has a very good memory, knows it, and recognizes his cousin now. She turns and he knows she recognizes him too. (You never forget the face of the person who killed someone so dear to you.)
She moves so quickly he cannot react.
An earsplitting clash shatters the air around them. Hak stands between Su-won and Yona. The point of his spear grazes her heart. A deep breath will pierce skin. Her claws are curled around the blade, her human palm pressed against the flat in her effort to push the steel away. Both of them strain with exertion, locked in a standstill that neither can afford to give up.
Yona remembers a smile that lit up the room and feels her fragmented heart splinter anew. Walk away, Hak, she warns. I don't want to fight you.
To hell with that, Hak growls. He does not wonder how she knows his name, nor care at the second. Su-won's life takes priority.
Yona has never seen eyes so vicious. She wonders how this is the same boy she fell in love with. (Thought she was in love with, she corrects herself. She was a spoiled, naive girl concerned only with her tiny world.)
She flexes. He loses an inch. Horror dawns on him now: she has been holding back. It has been a very long time since he was outmatched for raw strength and had the circumstances been any other (had his dearest friend's life not been at stake) it would have been glorious.
They explode into action. Swipe and deflect- it's a deadly dance, and Yona has come a long way since the robbers who attacked Yun and Ik-su. That small skill is nothing next to the Thunder Beast of Kouka. Claws slice the air. The butt of his spear slams into her temple. Stars burst in her vision. Her mask is ruined, fallen away and forgotten. She growls (and there are fangs) and forces herself to stand.
Su-won remains rooted, unwilling or unable to flee. His other generals are elsewhere in this bloody battle and cannot help.
Hak hefts his spear to go for the killing blow. Whoever or whatever she is- she bleeds red.
Yona braces herself. She will not die here. Not yet.
Hak slashes. Yona opens the floodgate behind her eyes. It surrounds her, wreathing her in shadows and it's enough. (It takes every inch of willpower to keep the not-her from swallowing the hearts in front of her but if there's anything Yona has never lacked, it's willpower.) She rips the spear out of Hak's hands in that crucial distracted moment and shoves him away in the other direction. He crashes and rolls over the dirt, black spots in his eyes. Yona pins Su-won to the ground with her right foot. Seiryuu's blessing swirls around her. She remembers her father. She remembers his blood.
Su-won is calm. This, he thinks, is how it ends. Hak struggles to his feet. A growl tears from his throat. He is unarmed and too far away to reach Su-won in time.
Yona's voice is a whisper that carries in the dead silence. "Killing you won't bring him back." She lifts her foot and walks away to jump where they cannot follow.
Wait, Su-won says. (The Princess' nurse retired, so they say. Il's mistake was that he would not silence her permanently. Su-won remembers well the haunted look in her eyes when she spoke of an illusory dragon.) He gestures wide. We're losing. Can you do nothing more?
Su-won speaks truth, and Yona hates this. She looks across the battlefield. Her people are dying here, and that is more important than her grudge. (She remembers so many little children in those villages: Father had to go join the army.) She has never attempted to use her power on this scale. To incapacitate an army without taking their lives- that will take a fine control she doesn't know if she possesses. She thinks of Yun and Kija and Ik-su, of Tae-jun and all his men. They believe in her. She will believe in herself now.
(The retired nurse recounted how the princess toppled over when the illusion vanished, how for hours she could not move.)
Yona does not possess such fine control...but what she has is enough. Li Hazara's army falls, untouched by weapons. The Sky Tribe pushes onward with renewed vigor. The Fire Tribe fractures, half turned on itself and in the end Kouka stands victorious. Yona's not-self spins into nothing and she collapses. Darkness takes her. Hak shifts aside crimson curls to press his fingers to her neck. There is a pulse, and he is more relieved than he will say.
Bind her, Su-won says. They will take her back to Hiryuu Palace. If Hak is confused, if he is conflicted, he says nothing.
And so the battle ends. Su-won leads his army back to Kuuto. Though they won, the price was high. Yun throws his lot in with a contingent of Earth Tribe soldiers making their slow way back to their homeland. He tends to their wounded and Yona is not among them. Kija stays with him, digging graves for those fallen in battle. The labor is taxing on his back and his mind, and he counts the blessing that he knows none of the faces he buries.