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  Praise for Island of Exiles

  “I was consumed by the savage mysteries of Cameron’s harsh and haunting fantasy world. A story of love and loss as searing as the desert heat.”

  —Diana Peterfreund, author of For Darkness Shows the Stars

  “Harrowing and heartfelt. The intricately realized world of Island of Exiles crackles with harsh magic and gripping suspense.”

  —A.R. Kahler, author of The Runebinder Chronicles series

  “Island of Exiles is imaginative, bold, and as electrifying as a Shiara storm.”

  —Lori M. Lee, author of Gates of Thread and Stone and The Infinite

  “A beautifully wrought fantasy filled with magic, rebellion, and romance, plus a strong, butt-kicking heroine to root for!”

  —Lea Nolan, USA Today bestselling author of Conjure, Allure, and Illusion

  “Erica Cameron’s Island of Exiles is a remarkable achievement: a fantasy world so richly imagined, so finely detailed, and so strikingly original, even the most incredible elements feel totally real. The energy of the desosa will tingle along your skin as you race through this amazing book, and at journey’s end, you’ll long for the sequel so you can immerse yourself once more in the mysteries of Itagami!”

  —Joshua David Bellin, author of the Survival Colony series

  “Island of Exiles has everything I’ve been looking for in a fantasy—powerful characters, magical powers that make me itch with envy, and a spoken language that is as intrinsic to the story as it is beautiful.”

  —Amber Lough, author of The Fire Wish and The Blind Wish

  Also by Erica Cameron

  Island of Exiles (The Ryogan Chronicles, #1)

  Assassins: Discord (Assassins, #1)

  Assassins: Nemesis (Assassins, #2)

  Taken by Chance (Laguna Tides, #1)

  Loyalty and Lies (Laguna Tides, #2)

  Dealing with Devalo (Laguna Tides, #3)

  Sing Sweet Nightingale (The Dream War Saga, #1)

  Deadly Sweet Lies (The Dream War Saga #2)

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Cast of Characters

  ChapterOne

  ChapterTwo

  ChapterThree

  ChapterFour

  ChapterFive

  ChapterSix

  ChapterSeven

  ChapterEight

  ChapterNine

  ChapterTen

  ChapterEleven

  ChapterTwelve

  ChapterThirteen

  ChapterFourteen

  ChapterFifteen

  ChapterSixteen

  ChapterSeventeen

  ChapterEighteen

  ChapterNineteen

  ChapterTwenty

  Epilogue

  Glossary

  Sentence Translations

  Cities and Places

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  More from Entangled

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Erica Cameron. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

  Entangled Publishing, LLC

  2614 South Timberline Road

  Suite 109

  Fort Collins, CO 80525

  Entangled Teen is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

  Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

  Edited by Kate Brauning

  Cover design by Anna Croswell

  Interior design by Toni Kerr

  ISBN: 978-1-63375-828-5

  Ebook ISBN: 9-781-63375-829-2

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  First Edition December 2017

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For Liza Wiemer, who offered me hope when

  I needed it and who never lost faith.

  Cast of Characters

  Ahta – a Ryogan child living in the Mysora Mountains with eir mother Dai-Usho; ey/em

  Anda – Khya and Yorri’s blood-mother and a kaigo councilmember; rikinhisu mage; she/her

  Chio Heinansuto – Tsua’s husband, Varan’s brother, and one of the original twelve immortals; dyuniji mage; he/him

  Daitsa – former second-in-command of Tyrroh’s squad; dyuniji mage; deceased; she/her

  Dai-Usho – Ryogan woman who lives in the Mysora Mountains with her child Ahta; she/her

  Etaro – member of Tyrroh’s squad and currently platonically partnered with Rai; rikinhisu mage; ey/em

  Kazu – commander of the Ryogan ship that carries Tyrroh’s squad to Ryogo; he/him

  Khya – member of Tyrroh’s squad, Yorri’s older sister, and Tessen’s current partner; fykina mage; she/her

  Lo’a – Osshi’s friend and the voice of a hanaeuu we’la maninaio caravan; she/her

  Miari – member of Tyrroh’s squad and currently partnered with Nairo and Wehli; ishiji mage; she/her

  Natani – member of Tyrroh’s squad; zoikyo mage; he/him

  Nairo – member of Tyrroh’s squad and currently partnered with Miari and Wehli; kasaiji mage; he/him

  Neeva – Tessen’s blood-mother and a kaigo councilmember; rusosa mage; she/her

  Ono – Khya and Yorri’s blood-father and a kaigo councilmember; oraku mage; he/him

  Osshi Shagakusa – Ryogan historian who sailed to Shiara looking for proof of the bobasu’s existence; he/him

  Rai – member of Tyrroh’s squad and currently platonically partnered with Etaro; kasaiji mage; she/her

  Ryzo – former second-in-command of Tyrroh’s squad who remained on Shiara; hishingu mage; he/him

  Sanii – Yorri’s sumai partner and the one who discovered the truth about Yorri; hyari and tusenkei mage; ey/em

  Suzu – a leader of Sagen sy Itagami and one of the original twelve immortals; sykina mage; she/her

  Tessen – a member of Tyrroh’s squad and Khya’s current partner; basaku mage; he/him

  Tsua – Chio’s wife and one of the original twelve immortals; rikinhisu mage; she/her

  Tyrroh – the leader of Khya’s squad; oraku mage; he/him

  Varan Heinansuto – leader of Sagen sy Itagami and one of the original twelve immortals; ishiji mage; he/him

  Wehli – member of Tyrroh’s squad and currently partnered with Miari and Nairo; ryacho mage; he/him

  Yorri – Khya’s brother, Sanii’s sumai partner, and a born immortal; kynacho mage; he/him

  Zonna – Chio and Tsua’s son and a born immortal; hishingu mage; he/him

  …and although few firsthand accounts of the discovery have survived, most of the earliest records, made a decade after the bobasu and their proselytes are believed to have been cast from Ryogo, are consistent. The conclusions drawn from these documents are that Varan Heinansuto did, in fact, exist, and that the brief time he held sway over Ryogo—and the Great War he instigated—was the darkest time in Ryogo since the schism itself…

  …then, on the fifth day of the ninth moon in the three-thousand two-hundred eleventh year after the schism, a great streak of fire burned across the sky and a wave taller than the Kaisubeh tower of Po’umi crashed over the southeastern shores. On that day, the Kaisubeh proved—as they had with the schism of the lands and the raising of the kemberu, the impassable mistveil that enshrouds the land on which Pratel and his army were imprisoned—that they hear and answer the prayers of their followers when that help is both needed and deserved. The black rock they hurled down from the heavens was spotted by a vessel far
out to sea, and large pieces were brought home.

  Despite the damage its arrival caused to the southern shores of Ryogo, and although it would take another five years for that discovery to be made, the Kaijuko stones proved to be our salvation. And the discovery came just in time to avert utter ruin.

  —Excerpts from The Banishment of the Bobasu: A History of The Great War, written by Osshi Shagakusa and published in 3738 A.S.

  Chapter

  One

  The ship rocks violently, wind and rain lashing the deck. Tessen and I grab the rope stretched along the center of the deck to keep from sliding to the edge and over. Straight into the dark, angry ocean.

  Lightning streaks across the sky, making the three red sails glow as if on fire. For an instant, the world is thrown into stark relief.

  The wave cresting several feet above the ship.

  The Ryogan crew fighting through wind and rain to keep us upright.

  The purple-black storm clouds obscuring almost the entire sky. Almost.

  It’s been impossibly long since this storm started chasing us. Maybe five days and nights of the twelve or so since we fled Shiara; it’s hard to tell without being able to see the sky. Our first sign of hope is what Tessen spotted through the small window of our room on the lower deck. It could save us, get us out of the gale winds and the drenching rain, but only if we can find Osshi or the ship’s commander before the storm cracks the vessel in half and drowns us all.

  Tessen and I haul ourselves along the deck, scanning for Osshi and Taikan-yi Kazu. The rain is too thick. Without the flash of lightning, I can barely see the rope in my hands. Hopefully, Tessen’s vision isn’t as hobbled by the storm as mine.

  Someone is shouting; the words are lost in the wind, drowned in the crash of a wave slamming into the ship and washing over the deck.

  A hand grabs my elbow. The unexpected touch sends an unpleasant shock up my arm. I don’t dare shake it off, not without risking my balance.

  “Get below, Khya!” Osshi’s small eyes are wide, but his square jaw is set and determined. “You can do nothing here. Go!”

  “Look! There!” With the hand not gripping the rope, I point to the horizon, to the thin strip of bright blue. It’s almost invisible at this distance. His gaze follows my finger, squinting into the driving rain.

  “Thank the Kaisubeh.” He sags with relief, but the drop of his shoulders only lasts a heartbeat. We’ve still got to make it there. He pushes me toward the lower deck. “Go! I’ll tell Kazu if he doesn’t already know.”

  There’s little chance he knows. Taikan-yi Kazu, the commanding officer, is probably too busy steering the ship through the massive waves and making sure the storm doesn’t overturn us. I’ll be shocked if any of the crew have noticed the tiny strip of sky yet. Tessen only did because he’s a basaku, and his senses are far stronger and more discerning than anyone else’s.

  Tessen tugs on my wrist, pulling me toward the safety of the lower deck. And he’s right; there’s nothing else we can do here.

  I follow him, holding the rope tight. The rough fibers scratch my palms. I grip harder. That abrasion means I’m attached to the deck. Not even my magic will save me if I fall into the ocean.

  I can’t swim.

  Tessen reaches the door first. A flash of lightning illuminates the straining muscles under his soaked tunic. The wind must be holding it shut. It shouldn’t be this hard for him to open. Yanking myself closer, I wrap my left arm around the rough rope and grab the handle of the door with my right. For a breath, it doesn’t budge. Then the wind shifts. It’s enough for us to haul the door open and rush inside. A gust slams it closed behind us.

  The walls of the ship aren’t nearly thick enough to eliminate the howling wind or the waves crashing against the hull, but for a moment, the world sounds silent.

  Then Tessen’s pained, and poorly stifled, groans register.

  I check him for injuries; there aren’t any, but the trip obviously wiped him out. “You shouldn’t have come with me.”

  He grunts. Was that supposed to be a word? Maybe, but it looks like he might throw up again if he tries to repeat it.

  The rise and fall of the normal sea he handled fine, but the extreme dips and climbs of the storm-tossed waves coated his terra-cotta skin with a sheen of sickly sweat and seemed to turn his stomach upside down. Probably because he’s a basaku. He hasn’t been able to eat much since the storm started, he’s been achy for days, and it seems like the trip took all the energy he had left.

  I put my hand out, waiting for him to take it. I expect the rain to have chilled his skin, but his hand is cold even against my rain-cooled skin. Worryingly so. I urge him forward, trying to ignore the ominous creaks and groans that echo through the hull with each wave.

  How can any structure not reinforced by magic survive this assault?

  The ship tilts. I stumble and lose my hold on Tessen. My shoulder slams against the wall of the narrow hallway. From the thump and groan behind me, Tessen lost his footing, too.

  Bellows and blood. It’s not a long walk between this deck and our room one level below, but it takes us several minutes. We collect close to a dozen new bruises on the way. Tessen stops twice, heaving even though there’s nothing in his stomach left to lose. I stay with him, one hand pressed to his back and the other braced against the wall.

  “I know I promised…we’d steal a ship to get back—” He closes his mouth, breathing deeply through his nose. “Back to Shiara, but…we might have to steal a crew…too. I don’t think I’ll be much use…running the ship.”

  “You were fine before the storm.” I rub circles on his back, trying not to think about how true his worries are. Or how we would ever have survived this trip without Kazu’s crew. Or how we’ll do it when we make the trip back. Or how long it’ll be before that happens.

  He rests his head against the wall. “And with our luck…there’d be nothing but storms.”

  “With our luck, it would be—will be—exactly like that.” I move my hand to Tessen’s arm, pushing all of those thoughts away as much as I can. We have other problems to face first. “Let’s get you sitting before I have to drag you the rest of the way.”

  Tessen pushes himself off the wall. Our rooms are spread throughout this level, the andofume in one, Osshi and Tyrroh in the next, and Miari, Wehli, Nairo, and Natani sharing a third. I haven’t seen anyone but Osshi since the storm started. I should check on them, especially since we have to pass the other rooms to reach the one Tessen and I have been sharing with Rai, Etaro, and Sanii. No. Later. Once we’re dry and the ship stops trying to kill us.

  “Please tell me they’re taking us toward the end of this,” Rai says with a groan as soon as Tessen and I enter. Though her stomach isn’t faring as badly as Tessen’s, she’s not exactly enjoying this new way of traveling.

  “We pointed them to it, but they’ll only be able to head that way if the wind lets them.” I hover over Tessen as he eases himself down to the floor, mostly to make sure he doesn’t collapse, then I sit against the wall next to him.

  It’s warmer in here, the enclosed space containing everyone’s body heat, but I’m soaking wet and the air is so much colder than I’m used to. I shiver; Tessen does, too. When Rai notices, she shakes her head. “No. Can’t. Don’t have the energy for fire. Change before you both catch a chill and die.”

  “We won’t die from a chill.” But she’s right. I should’ve dried off better before I sat down.

  “I might.” Tessen lifts one of his arms as though thinking about taking off his sopping wet tunic, then drops his hand back to his lap. “Dying would probably hurt less than this.”

  “No one is dying. There’s been enough of that already.” Sanii unpacks clothing from our bags and holds out the pieces of cloth. Etaro—who hasn’t seemed affected by the storm at all—uses eir magic to float them across the room and make them hover just slightly out of my reach. I strip Tessen and myself out of our soaked clothes and get us both into the dry
ones.

  The ship rolls again. Tessen’s head smacks against the wall. I fall forward, my hands landing on Tessen’s chest. Sanii almost tumbles off the low table ey’d been sitting on. Etaro and Rai slide a few feet before they can brace themselves.

  “I hate that.” Sanii moans when the ship rights itself once more.

  “Oh really?” Sarcasm practically bleeds from Rai’s voice. “I’m sure the Miriseh will call the whole plan off, then.”

  “We don’t know this has anything to do with the Miriseh,” Etaro says.

  Rai glares, but it’s Sanii who says, “We don’t know it doesn’t, either.”

  It’s an argument we’ve already beaten to death, especially since the storm hit, but they keep coming back to it. I can’t blame them. If talking about whether the Miriseh could create a storm and send it after us would give us an answer, I’d bludgeon the conversation again, too.

  But we can’t know for sure. We didn’t know the truth when we were on the same island—in the same city, even—as the immortal leaders we spent our lives serving. How can we possibly know anything more now that hundreds of miles separate us from them?

  Tessen’s hand lands on my knee, flopped there without any of his usual grace. I bite back a smile at his pitiful expression and move in front of him, placing his upturned hands on my thighs and applying pressure to the points below his wrist. Our healer Zonna eased Tessen’s agony until Kazu’s crew started collecting injuries more life-threatening than an upset stomach. Pressure point relief is a poor substitute for magic, but it’ll have to be enough. I’m no hishingu. My wards may be able to keep someone from getting hurt, but it can’t do a thing to help anyone who’s already in pain.

  “We were supposed to see land today.” Sanii’s looking out the small window, eir narrow face tense as ey peers into darkness broken only by lightning. Most of us have to duck or bend to look out the window; ey’s so short it’s at a perfect height for em. “Or yesterday, if it’s past midnight.”

  “Who can tell?” Etaro stares at the small black stones dancing in midair above eir palm, some of the few we took off Imaku, the barren, black island that was once my brother’s prison.