Six Crimson Cranes 0.5
Elizabeth Lim
PROLOGUE
Adah’s wife gave birth to a girl and he was given a choice to save his wife or his daughter. The legends say he took his newborn daughter out into the jungle to leave as a sacrifice to Angma, the Demon Witch, but the girl was so beautiful the witch didn’t take her. In reality, it was the older daughter he left as a sacrifice.
1. Channi is a little girl when her sister, Vanna, is born. She is told to stay outside until she is let in, but she goes inside anyway because of the rain. She wants to ask her mom for permission to eat a cake, but when she goes into her room, she has just given birth to Vanna. Channi holds her for a few moments before her mom starts bleeding and she is told to leave the room. Her father is upset that Vanna’s birth is killing his wife. He takes the baby with the intent to give her as a sacrifice to save his wife’s life. When he holds Vanna, he falls in love with her. He gives her to the nurse and carries Channi out of the house and into the jungle. On the way, they run into a large red snake, but Adah hits it away. He leaves Channi on a rock and tells her he will be back for her in the morning. The snake comes up to Channi and tells her to come with him. She says she cannot leave the rock because Adah will be back for her. He warns her not to look into Angma’s eyes. The witch comes to her as a tiger and it isn’t long before she tells Channi to look at her. She does and the snake bites her ankle. Her blood is now ruined for Angma and she puts a curse on Channi so that she will feel pain overtime she sees her face. She tells her she must bring her sister to her before she turns seventeen or the witch will come after both of them. The tiger leaves. The snake tells her he is king of the snakes. She will need to remember the name Hokzuh because he will come looking for her when she is older. The snake king dies. Channi falls asleep on the rock from the poison of the snake bite. When she wakes up, she goes home and crawls into bed with her mom who is surprised by her appearance even in the dark. She makes Channi promises to always take care of Vanna. Channi agrees and falls asleep. Her mom is dead when she wakes up in the morning.
2. Years later, Channi is in the jungle hunting a tiger. Her snake best friend, Ukar , tries to tell her not every tiger is Angma. She attacks the tiger and wrestles with it. She is scratched before letting it go because it is it Angma. Ukar warns her she will need more than strength to defeat the witch. Channi starts to head home because Vanna is being offered as a concubine to the highest bidder that day. She is sad that her sister is leaving. She asks Ukar is he will join her, but he refuses to witness such a disgraceful ceremony. Channi heads back to the house.
3. Channi makes eggs for breakfast and then starts making her mother’s cakes that Vanna requested for the occasion. Adah learned early on that Vanna would be his ticket to a comfortable life when a merchant gave her sugar because he was stunned by her beauty. He has invited only kings to make offers for Vanna. When Vanna comes into the kitchen to help, Channi tries to convince her to hold off the ceremony for a while or come up with some extraordinary task for her suitor to complete. Vanna says she doesn’t want to wait. She doesn’t want to be a child anymore and she wants to be able to give her family a better life. Channi understands how Vanna’s beauty is sometimes as much of a curse as her snake scales.
4. King Meguh makes an entrance by riding into town on an elephant calf. He discards it and leaves it for dead with its ivory stripped from its mouth. There isn’t anything Channi can do to save it, so she gives it some of her blood to put it out of its misery. Channi goes to her mother’s alter to pray for a favorable outcome for Vanna. Her father and Meguh are close by talking and she listens in. Meguh is determined to help win Vanna, but Adah argues that she should be his wife. He is very attached to his current wife who is said to be an incarnated goddess. She is the source of all his gold and he would not give her up for Vanna. Adah wishes him luck in being the chosen place winner. Channi tries to get a lizard off her mom’s statue, but it ends up falling over. Meguh asks about the sound and wonders if it the other daughter Adah is rumored to have that is unique. Adah confirms he has another daughter, but he keeps her hidden away. Channi goes to hide from Meguh.
5. Channi finds Adah tending to his white stallion. When he sees her, he scolds her for not wearing her mask in public. She puts it on and asks to attend Vanna’s binding ceremony. He tells her no because it isn’t safe for her. Vanna comes out to show them her dress and hair. She says she wants Vanna to come and their stepmother promises to bring Channi with her after Vanna and Adah leave. Channi smile so Vanna will believe it, but she knows she won’t be allowed to go. Adah forbids her from going into the village, but she knows her sister needs her.
6. Channi starts sneaking her way through the edges of town to get to the chapel where the ceremony will take place so she can be there for her sister. On the way, a boy named Oshli that is is love with Vanna asks Channi to stop the ceremony. He blames Channi for not taking care of Vanna, but Channi doesn’t see a future for him and Vanna either. High Priest Dakuok starts the ceremony and makes the suitors promise to accept whatever choice Vanna makes without instigating any fights. Some are skeptical because they haven’t seen her yet. When Meguh says he has seen her and agrees to the terms, the others follow suit. Vanna is presented and she radiates a soft light in front of them.
7. The kings come to Vanna one by one to offer their gifts. Meguh presents her with two rare, venomous vipers that call out to Channi for help. Vanna asks one of the suitors to tell her a bit about himself and what he loves, but he just starts spouting off about his riches. She points that out and the next few suitors give her better answers. The last suitor is Emperor Hanriyu of Kiata. He explains that he has six sons and a baby daughter. He is looking for a wife and a queen and was interested in courting Vanna. Dakuok says that is not how things work in the ceremony. Hanriyu respectfully withdraws his entry seeing that Vanna will not be allowed to make the choice herself. He tells Vanna she can keep the carving of the crane (represents happiness) he brought her as a gift. The bidding starts and Meguh is about to win. Channi has been carving a spear with her pocket knife and Oshli tries to tell her to do it from afar. A voice cries out that there is another entry. The young Crown Prince Rongyo of Tai’yanan arrives and offers his kingdom.
8. After a bit of arguing back and forth, Meguh raises his offer to 100k golden riels. Prince Rongyo says he can offer Vanna marriage as well as meet Meguh’s offered price in one year when he is king. Vanna choses Rongyo, but the Dakuok declares they will solve the dispute with resolution by conflict. Meguh presents the dragon he will have fighting for him. Channi shouts out that she will fight for her sister.
9. Channi’s mask falls off and the crowd starts to attack her. She fights them off with her tiny knife the best she can, but they start to overwhelm her. The vipers call out for her to release them so they can help her. She is able to reach for a coconut and throws it at the pot and it shatters. The vipers come to Channi and the villagers back away. They offer to kill Maguh, but she tells them they have helped enough and sets them free. She clarifies that she is fighting for her sister. She is given a scythe and it is determined first blood wins. The dragon is release and the fight starts.
10. The fight begins and Channi does her best to fight it. The dragon is shocked that he does not take her out with one blow. In her mind, he says that she is a pretty good fighter for a girl. She is surprised that he can speak to her and he points out dragons are cousins to serpents. The dragon tries to take off, but Maguh’s men hold down his chains. Channi helps telling him that he shouldn’t run from a fight. She regrets it a few moments later realizing they are both monsters and he should be free. Back in the ground, the dragon attacks her. She dodges to the side and is able to use her paring knife to cut his knee and draw first blood.
11. The dragon is shot with a dart and dragged back into the cage. Channi says she has won the right for Vanna to chose. Vanna says she will choose Rongyo if Channi can come with her. Prince Rongyo agrees to this. Channi tells the nearby snakes to find Ukar and tell him she is leaving their island, Sundau. Channi remembers half a year prior when Vanna would sneak to Channi in the night to spend time together. Vanna told Channi how much she will miss her when she goes. Vanna says she will send for her even if Adah says Channi can’t go with her. Channi has always wanted to stay and be free in the jungle, but can’t say no to her sister.
12. Dakuok has sold Channi to Maguh. She cuts the priest across the face and knocks him out. As she is getting ready to take off with Ukar, Maguh and his men arrive. Channi is determined to get away, but the dragon is with him and unchained. She tries to convince the dragon they can help each other, but the dragon works with Maguh. Ukar creates a distraction and tells Channi to run. She does. Maguh calls the dragon by his name, Hokzuh, which is who the snake king told her to look for. She looks back and it gives the dragon the chance he needs to stop her.
13. Channi wakes up chained to the wall below deck of the ship. She is able to get the chain out of the wall, but not off of her neck. Ukar says his father never would have told her to seek out a dragon because snakes don’t trust them. Channi isn’t sure. They get above deck and start taking out guards. Hokzuh tells her it is the queen she needs to worry about and she is the only one that can take off her collar. He gets the key from her and opens his cage. Hokzuh stays in his cage and points out that even if she kills all the guards and Maguh, she won’t have anywhere to go and doesn’t know how to sail a ship. He says he can help her once they get where they are going. Channi start to head towards Maguh, but the guards come out of the tent and Maguh grabs Ukar. She throws a dagger at him, but Hokzuh stops it from landing. The dragon knocks her out again.
14. When Channi wakes up, she is surprised they are land. She is given nice clothes and told to get dressed. As she does, she decides she can use her sash as a weapon to strangle the guard. She is blindfolded and lead to where she will meet the King and Queen. She tries to remember the way, but she is unfamiliar with the island. She is taken to the King’s dinning chambers where he sits next to Hokzuh.
15. Channi is presented as the spoils of Magih’s trip. She is whipped until the queen tells him to stop just before she is about to bleed. They have dinner. Chandini’s reluctant to eat at first, but Hokzuh tells her it isn’t poisoned. He pours wine down her back to keep the lashings from becoming infected. The Queen has glowing eyes and Channi sees everyone around her does as wel. Channi attacks, but is thrown to the side. Homzuh prevents her from attacking again and warns her not to attack the queen. Queen is Angma. Channi leaves the table refusing to eat with her.
16. Channi reaches out in her mind searching for Ukar, but she can’t find him. Hokzuh tells her to get rest because she is going to need it. The next day, Chandini’s brought before the queen. Channi tells her she knows that she is the demon witch. Angma admits she killed the island’s princess and took her place. She promises to give Channi back her human form and look just like her mother if she gives her Vanna. Channi refuses and Angma’a guards drag her out.
17. Channi is take. To the Bone Maker’s arena. The king and queen watch from a pavilion. The guard tells her the queen will hear her out if she ever wishes to yield. She says she never will. She is pushed out into the arena and introduced as the Serpent Queen. Maguh says she will fight to save her friend and holds up a basket holding Ukar. Shannon’s given a spear. A demon bear with horns and hooves joins her. She stabs it with her spear, but it only makes the demon angry. She climbs the gate to give herself a few minutes to think. She decides she will have to use her blood to kill it. She feels bad for this one finally heading Ukar’s warning that they aren’t all Angma’s. She puts blood in stones and throws them at the demon. She jumps on its back and asks it to work with her to get them both free. She says she will free him if he helps her. He says they cannot go after the Queen, but the king. They agree and are bound by a thread and their souls. She stabs it with her spear claiming her victory. The demon tells her to get on his back and she does. They fly towards Maguh and Channi through the spear into his heart. Angma screams for the guards to get her. Hokzuh comes for her.
18. The demon gets Channi to the menagerie before it disappears. Channi sneaks around careful not to wake the other animals to get to the pit of vipers. She puts a stick into the pit to allow them to free them. Ukar is in the aviary and she makes her way there. The captain of the guard holds him by the tail over a waiting hawk. Hokzuh is in his way. He drops Ukar and Channi attacks him. She ends up strangling him to death. She goes to rescue Ukar. She lets the birds bite her so they die when they have her blood. She finds Ukar behind the nest. The grabs him and rushes out of the aviary. She wraps him around her neck and tells him to rest. Hokzuh arrives and says she is clever for using the demon to escape. He puts her on his back and takes off into the sky.
19. The winds pick up and arrows are fired at Hokzuh, Ukar, and Channi as they try to escape. Angma is after them. Channi forces Hokzuh down towards the sea to the witches ship. She puts Ukar around Hokzuh’s neck before she jumps down to the ship. She fights off a guard and a sukiyaki (former witch). Channi finds Angma with the spear she used to kill Maguh. She refuses to yield to the witch. She is cut by the spear, but she ends up using the blunt end to stab Angma in the heart. The witch turns into a tiger with red eyes. The rest of the crew changes their focus from Hokzuh to Channi. Hokzuh swoops in and grabs Channi to get her out of there. Channi thins she was about to win, but the Hokzuh and Ukar try to tell her she was about to be killed.
20. Hokzuh lands on an island and Channi pulls arrows out of him. She drags him to the sea sohe can heal in it. He explains that Angma started out as a regular witch, but she has been in possession of half of his pearl for the last hundred years (he spend a lot of time sleeping after he was born) and he has been searching for it for 17 years. Angma can use the pearl to take over other people’s bodies. She had planned to take over Vanna’s body before, but now she really needs to since Channi destroyed her previous body and she is stuck in Tiger form. Hokzuh says he will need a few days to rest/heal before they can leave, but they can visit …, the nine eyed witch, in the morning. Channi has a reoccurring dream that she lived a normal life and Vanna was never born. Angma comes to her dream at the end and says that only she can lift Channi’s curse. Channi says she doesn’t care and will never give up her sister. She wakes up in terror when Angma tries to kill her.
21. Channi and Ukar go into the jungle to collect supplies. Ukar tries to convince Channi to leave Hokzuh behind. Ukar tells her the story of the dragon that was turned into a mountain because he betrayed the gods. The snakes hate him because they used to have wings to fly and swim. The snakes of Sundau (the first island) were sacred. The first ruler of the sky dragons came to the serpent and asked to borrow their wings and when they are given back, they will be able to fly anywhere. Instead of creating a gift for Hunyar, he constructs an army of demons to destroy Hunyar. The snakes would be granted access to all worlds only after the wings were returned and they never were. Channi is skeptical, but Ukar insists the legends are rooted in truth. Channi says she has to trust Kakzuh will help her save her sister like he has said.
22. Hokzuh isn’t healing as fast as Channi expected and she wonders if it is because he is half demon. She makes a healing balm and sets his broken wing while he sleeps. Channi members bringing Vanna into the jungle as a little girl and introducing her to the snakes. As they move through the jungle to find the witch they lived in the island, Hokzuh tells Channi about himself. He is the son of the dragon king of the sky. His pearl was taken early that he doesn’t know what it looks like. He found the demon half because of Angma’s power. He stayed around feigning to he under her control so he could figure out how to get it back. When he makes a comment about her sister just being a spoiled, regular girl, Channing and Ukar realize his dragon half of the pearl is Vanna’s heart and he can’t see it because that is part of his curse. Channi realizes that is why Angma wants her so badly and that she will not be able to save both her sister and Hokzuh.
23. They arrive in the fishing village Yapon. Hokzuh says Channi doesn’t need to wear her mask. When they come into the village, the villagers throw a net at them and call out that they are demons. The witch, Malkry, comes down into the village. She tells the villagers to leave them alone. Hokzuh says they need a boat and he needs to be healed. Malkry agrees to help Channi in exchange for Maguh’s chain he was wearing when Channi killed him. Malkry calls her Angma’s daughter and Channi is offended. She reminds Channi that one daughter must fall for the other to rise. Angma has been using them knowing Channi and Hokzuh would fight in the end. Vanna will turn 17 the next day and if Angma combines the pearl halves, she will have all of its power. People will always come after the pearl. Vanna will need both halves to keep Hokzuh at bay, but it will be a curse to anyone that possesses it except Hokzuh. Channi says the pearl chose Vanna because she is strong, but Malkry isn’t sure the pearl chose Vanna. She gives Channi motion for Hokzuh and shoves her out the door.
24. Malkry warns her that the … will be after them and her crocodiles won’t be able to hold them off very long. Channi rushes out to Hokzuh and Ukar and to the boat Malkry has provided for them. They fight off the … as they get out into the sea. Channi holds up her hands covered in her own boood and they leave them alone as they get further out to sea. Hokzuh insists Channi take a drink of the medicine Malkry gave her. She does and then helps him take the rest.
25. Channi ends up falling asleep and wakes up to Hokzuh flying while pulling the boat. When he joins them back in the boat, Channi realizes the bead he wears aroundbhis neck on a chain is a magic item. He doesn’t answer her questions about it but gives her a dagger. He comes back to talk to her and asks if she wants to travel with him once this whole ordeal with Angma is over. She feels a bit guilty about it, but likes the idea. She knows she wouldn’t fit into Vanna’s life once she is a queen. She holds her mask and he tells her not to elwesr it anymore. She shouldn’t care if other people think she is a monster. She wants a normal life but realizes she will never have it. He says she isn’t a monster to him. She tosses the mask into the sea and laughs. He laughs with her. Hokzuh picks her and Ukar up and flies into the air.
26. As they draw nearer to the island where Vanna is, Channi and Ukar argue about telling Hokzuh about his pearl. Hokzuh starts to descend towards the island when Channi stops him by saying she knows where his pearl is. She tells them the truth and he is upset she didn’t tell him sooner. She admits she was afraid he would kill her sister. She asks that he wait for Vanna to live out her short, human life before taking the pearl back. Hokzuh lands on the island in a rush and tells Channi she is in her own before taking off. She doesn’t regret telling him the truth thinking it will make it easier for her to fight him.
27. Channi tries to make her way through the crowd to get to Vanna, but the guards won’t let her through. Oshli is there and pulls her through. He puts an orange scarf over her head and gets her to Vanna’s palanquin. Vanna is excited that Channi has arrived for her birthday and wedding. Channi tries to warn her about Angma, but Vanna won’t hear it. Now that she is of age, the pearl gives her the ability to command others. She sends Channi away to bathe for the special occasion. Channi cannot resist the order and goes.
28. Oshli takes Channi to bathe. She remembers how he used to be her friend before he fell in love with Vanna and started throwing rocks at Channi with the other kids. He gives her some privacy to bathe and he tells her Vanna needs protection. He tried to warn her, but Vanna thinks he was trying to stop her wedding and sent him away until she calls for him. He gives Channi a spear and says he will find his own way to the ceremony. Channi arrives and is confronted by Adah and her stepmother. She is no longer afraid of her father. When he scolds her for not wearing a mask and tries to send her away, she accuses him of allowing Dakou to sell her to Maguh. She leaves them behind in the rain with her stepmother calling out to her.
29. Channi goes to the temple. A priestess tries to stop her, but her body crumbles away to nothing; another victim of Angma. She gets to Vanna and tells her Angma is there to kill her. Vanna doesn’t believe her until the attack starts. The prince tries to find off the monsters, but isn’t very skilled. Chani’s preferred weapon is not arrows, so she puts her own blood on the before firing them. Channi tells Vanna to call for Oshli. She does and Oshli comes to her while using a bow and arrow against the creatures. Angma tells Channi everyone will leave her. She says she could be another to Channi and stay with her always. Channi is disgusted by the thought. Hokzuh arrives and plucks Channi, Vanna, and Oshli from the attack. He sets them down in the garden and promises to take Vanna somewhere safe. He takes off. Ukar points out that Angma is coming for them. Channing tells Hokzuh to get Vanna out of there. He takes off, but it isnmt long before the monsters catch up and he falls without Vanna in sight.
30. Ukar points out that Hokzuh isn’t falling, but diving. Channi wonders what he is doing. Adah comes out of nowhere and tackles Channi blaming her for what has happened. She fight him off and isn’t going to apologize for being the monster they made him. Channi pulls Hokzuh out of the water. He let go of. Anna to protect his moon stone. She asks what it really is, but he doesnmt have time to answer before the tiger appears.
31. Channi chases the tiger and catches her. When the tiger stops for a drink of water, Channi starts to hold its head under the water. The tiger tries to tell Channi that she is really Vanna and tells her the secret ingredient to their mother’s cake. The guards arrive and Channi tells them to leave the tiger alone. Vanna tells her that Angma switched their bodies. Vanna tells her she can live as a tiger, but cannot live without Channi. Channi says she is meant to fight Angma and promises they will have their normal lives. Vanna says Angma is going to rally the demons and return home to the crooked tree. Channi asks Vanna to come with her. When Vanna hesitates, Channi asks her about Oshli. Vanna admits she didn’t really want to be a queen, but was too afraid to run away. She admits she and Oshli are in love, but he could not be a shaman if he chose her. Channi promises they can go find Oshli and he will choose her.
32. The soldiers do not shoot the tiger as they emerge from the garden. They can tell the tiger is different. Vanna tells them to allow them pass and a guard tells them where to find the prince. Oshli appears and immediately knows it is Vanna. He uses what magic he has to start her healing. Rongyo finds them, but won’t go anywhere near her. Rongyo offers a ship to go after Angma. Channi offers “her dragon” to pull them to get there faster. Channi insists Oshli come with them. The Queen forbids him from going back to their island when she forbid him from going to the selection in the first place. Vanna promises to leave if they give them a ship. She admits her love for Oshli. The Queen is glad to give them a ship to be rid of them. Rongyo insists on being the one to set things right for their people since he is the one who brought this misfortune on them. They sea the sky turn orange and know Angma is already gathering demons. The Queen tells Rongyo only to escort and come right back. Channi cuts Hokzuh’s stone from his neck and tells him to come with her if he wants it back.
33. Channi and Hokzuh go to the kitchen and uses what is around to make breakfast. He is surprised she likes to cook. She asks him about the moonstone. He tells her it is a talisman that keeps him from transforming into a demon at night. Maguh put him in a cell with his own men and took away the moon stone. Hokzuh killed them all. Maguh made him fight in the arena and become his champion. She reiterates the deal for Vanna to hold both halves of the pearl until she dies a natural death and help Channi defeat Angma. He makes the promise in his true name: Kromalon. She thanks him for coming back as they share an intimate moment. The sky lights up with fire.
34. Channi checks in on Vanna and Oshli. He tells her to stay with her sister while he goes to row. Channi lays down next to the tiger who complains about being hungry. Channi remembers the tiger body is sustained by consuming human lives. Channi tells her a story of a god that saved the humans. She remembers when Vanna used to share her lessons with her so she would also learn to read and write. The two of them have shared everything, good and bad.
35. Once they reach the island, they send Rongyo back home with his ship and crew. Vanna thanks him. They make their way to the village and sees it has been torn up. Vanna asks Channi to stay close because the smell of the poison in her blood dampens her appetite. They go to their home. Channi and Oshli go inside to find children hiding. They run to her. Oshli says she has become a hero on the island since she fought Hokzuh. She shows them where she stashed the extra cakes. The children tell her the villagers are all asleep and the demons destroyed the town. Channi explains they are going after Angma and the children will have to stay there. When she goes out to rejoin Vanna and Hokzuh, they are getting along well while talking about Channi.
36. Channi and her friends start out in the dark using only Vanna’s glow for light. The sisters know their way to the crooked tree by instinct. Channi rides on Vanna's tiger back. Demons under Angma's control attack them, and Channi fights them off. Hokzuh and Oshli take over demon fighting when the suiyaks try to carry Vanna off into the sky. Vanna ends up killing them. Hokzuh clears a path through the demons. Channi has the snakes form a protective ring around Vanna and Oshli. Channi tells them she has to go on alone. She tells Hokzuh she wants to sail with him when this is all over. He kisses her before taking off. Ukar arrives and insists on going with Channi.
37. Angma (in Vanna’s body) and Channi meet at the crooked tree. They fight, but Channi is at a disadvantage because she doesn’t want to destroy Vanna’s body. Angma tells her the story of how her daughter was sick. She found the demon half of the pearl and wished her daughter would be well upon it. She ate the pearl and her daughter got well. However, Angma’s hunger for human was so strong she ended up eating her daughter. She Channi has spent so much of her life focused on her, that it is like she raised Channi herself. Angma points out that she didn’t do anything to harm Channi’s mother. She says that having both halves of the pearl would be a curse on Vanna. Channi keeps her distracted as Vanna approaches. When she arrives, she has brought Oshli, Hokzuh, and the demons that are no longer under Angma’s thrall. They fight off the suiyaks. Vanna tells Channi to get away, but Channi is held in place by Angma’s darkness. Ukar bights the witch in the ankle giving Channi the chance to get away. Vanna attacks Angma and they start to go back to their own bodies. Once the transformation is complete, Channi attacks Angma with her spear. Angma breaks the spear and Channi uses the two broken pieces to stab her. The pearl comes out and Channi grabs it. Angma says her last wish of the pearl is for Hokzuh’s moon stone. She points out Hokzuh and Channi runs towards him. He dives and Channi sees Vanna’s light go dark.
38. Channi arrives but Hokzuh already has the pearl. Oshli is trying to heal her. Channi tries to give her the demon half of the pearl, but she rejects it saying it is cold. Channi goes after Hokzuh. She speaks his true name and reminds him he made an oath not to hurt her sister. The snakes bite him and the venom takes him to the ground. Channi takes the dragon half of the pearl.
39. Channi brings both halves of the pearl to Vanna. The dragon pearl refuses to go into Vanna. Channi tries to press the two pearls together, but they repel each other. Vanna asks Channi to take her to the sea so she can put her feet in. Channi carries her and Channi rests her back against a tree. Vanna tells Channi how she likes butterflies because there is a story that a set of lovers were turned into them to find each other again. Vanna closes her eyes and Channi shakes her trying to keep her with her. Channi’s scales turn white like the snakes when they lose someone they love. Vanna dies and Channi swears she will never forget her face.
40. Channi is furious and wants to destroy the pearls. They hum around her. The tries to hit them with a stick, but hits the thread that holds them together. She finds Hokzuh still in his demon form. She scolds him saying he owes her a piece of his soul for betraying her. She claims his pearl and the two halves are united into one broken pearl. Hokzuh asks for her forgiveness. She offers the pearl to him so he can bring back her sister. Hokzuh tries to take it, but he cannot. She tells him the pearl won’t have him. She banished him and says he will be until she dies. He is dragged under the sea. Channi goes to the pearl. She doesn’t want it. She asks it to bring back her sister. The pearl comes at her and her face is on fire.
41. Channing wakes up to Oshli above her. He calls her Vanna. Channi is shocked when she speaks and has Vanna’s voice. Channi tuns to a steam and sees Vanna’s face in her reflection. She radiates silver light. She realizes the pearl granted both of her wishes. Ukar arrives and recognizes her. He tells her she will be able to handle this new curse. Ukar looks different and Channi realizes he is the serpent king. He tells her everything the serpent king had told her everything to lead up to Channi being united with the pearl. Channi decides they will go back to Adah’s house.
42. Adah returns and tries to kick the snakes away. Channi tells him to stop. He asks for her to greet him, but she stays where she is. Adah admits he was mean to Channi because he felt bad about being responsible for her curse. Adah says they are leaving and he came back for her. Channi refuses to leave. Adah is upset because new suitors are waiting for her. She says she won’t see any of them. He gives her the 100 days to mourn her sister as she asked. Channi feels odd that she finally knows what it is like for her father to love her. She tells him they will stay and for him not to speak to her if suitors ever again. Channi uses the pearls magic to make her face into white scales to visit Vanna. She tells Vanna everything. Oshli shows up and says he knows she is Channi. He has been trying to see her, but the house is surrounded by a spell that makes him forget why he is there. Channi shows him where the grave is so he can visit. Butterflies swirl around him. He has two lanterns; one for each sister. She said she will wait for her so they can be reunited. Channi takes the broken spear from under her bed. She asks Vanna for permission to end her misery. Channi cuts her face, but the pearl heals her quickly, but leaves a scar.
43. Stories of the scar and the changed light fly around the islands. Suitors come and some even try to steal her away. Channi sends them all away. Adah says she must marry. She says she will marry one one that can make her smile. She plans to marry king Hanriyu and go to Kiata. She plans to cast a spell so no one will remember her or Vanna. Ukar asks that she allow the snakes to remember her.
EPILOGUE
One year later. Channi studied for an entire year. Hanriyu returns and they became friends. She smiles at him. He has told her about his sons, but he never told her his daughter’s names. He tells her about Shiori. He admits his heart is with his dead wife. She admits she wants a family, not a lover. She says she doesn’t want to be known by her name and takes the new title “her radiance.” Oshli apologizes for being cruel to her. The spell to forget her and her sister spreads over the island. Channi is tired and returns to her cabin. She takes the wooden bowl Vanna had used to cover the glow so she could sleep. She looks forward to the meeting her new step-children.