Kage Takeda knelt in the dojo where his master had taught him for twenty years. The wooden floor still held the master's blood. A dishonorable trick had killed him three nights ago. An archer struck from the dark while the master bowed in peace. Kage wanted the killer's name. Without it, his sword had no direction and his revenge had no path. He had searched the city for anyone who saw the attack. Only one witness remained. She waited now in his garden, beside the still pond. Amira Khalida was a desert princess, far from her homeland of yellow sand and gold. She wore a gold headband, and black paint lined her eyes. She had been passing through when the arrow flew. She was the only soul who had watched the killer's face. "You saw him," Kage said. "Tell me what you saw." Amira did not answer at once. She looked past him, toward the trees. A sleek dragon rested there, its scales greenish-blue, crystal spikes rising along its back. The creature's eyes followed her. "The man rode that beast," she said. "A crystal-backed dragon. I will not forget it." "A face," Kage pressed. "I need a face." "It was dark." Amira's voice stayed calm. "But he dropped something when he fled." She reached into her sash and held out a small cloth bundle. Kage opened it. Inside sat a glowing purple mushroom, its cap bright with soft light. He knew the plant. It grew only in the eastern caves, where poison masters harvested it. The killer had used no honest blade. He had coated his arrow with its juice. "This is his craft," Kage said. "A poisoner. A coward who fights from shadows." "There is more," Amira said. "When he turned, I saw a mark on his neck. A red serpent, coiled." She drew the shape in the air with one finger. "I have seen that mark before. In the southern markets. The men who wear it serve one master. They call him by a name." Kage leaned forward. "Say it." Amira met his eyes. "They fear to speak it aloud. But I heard it whispered once. The Serpent of the Red Dunes. A warlord who hires killers and dragons both." Kage closed his hand around the mushroom. For three nights he had chased a ghost. Now he had a mark, a poison, and a name to follow. His master's killer served a warlord in the south. "Then I ride south," he said. He rose and bowed to Amira. "You have given me my first step." Amira did not move. "The Serpent killed my people's wells before he turned to blades. He starves lands and buys death." Her voice hardened. "You will not reach him alone. And I have my own debt to collect." Kage looked at her, then at the dragon among the trees. The hunt was no longer his alone.