"You will never find my son," said the monk, the broken fragments of his teeth bleeding freely. "You will never find him."

And Shinsei smiled as he died, uttering his last prophesy.

"Seven more shall come, though they are the last.

Five at first, though the others follow. Three have you met before, in their own time and fashion. One shall betray them, then you."

He died, laughing, knowing that Fu Leng would not rest until all who could be Shinsei's son were dead.

* * *

Mirumoto Daini's hatred only grew as his sister appeared at Fu Leng's side. She had not only shamed the Dragon by not dying, she had shamed them by joining the Dark One.

"Hitomi has joined me as my Empress. She sees the futility in warring upon me. Those who pledge themselves to my cause will live forever."

Even as the generals cut down those few men whose hearts were turned by darkness, Daini was cutting at his hair. His sister, his blood, had turned upon the empire. He readied his wakizashi.

"No, Daini. You are the last. You cannot die here." Shashakar looked down on him, its featureless red eyes almost sympathetic.

"Shashakar, I have no choice."

"Indeed, you do not." The Naga crushed a pearl, and both vanished. It would be nearly a thousand years before a Naga was seen again.

* * *

Even as she dodges through the trees, Shazaar Ashaqar fears the future. Above her, blotting out the sky, is the wounded and dying form of Kussatte Iru. Even as her people slayed it, its bitter blood and wild flailings cut the Naga down in hundreds. She had not spent so long pretending to be a huu-man to lose her people like this.

And now the Akasha calls her away from her huu-man friends, to the side of the Daini. Secretly, she almost hopes that somehow it was a false vision, but she knew.

The Daini's tail had shredded, and an arm is missing. Between rasps, he speaks as he lifts his ancient spear toward the Shazaar's hands.

"Our time ends. Those who do not fall today will soon be reclaimed by sleep...

"You cannot join us."

The words cripple her, and within the Akasha, she can hear the Balash laughing, mocking her for her kindness to the huu-mans.

"One huu-man has come to us. You are needed elsewhere. The Shashakar will see to the others.

"Go now. You are the Daini."

* * *

"Go huu-mans. This death is not yours."

A whiteness, and then a distant view of the oni crushing Shinomen beneath its massive form.

"Can I have my money back, Kisada-sama?"

The five turn on the newcomer, a tall, strong woman bearing the mon of the Wasp.

"Who are you, woman?" Kisada demands, holding his bloodied left hand close.

"You know me. All of you. We've met before, long ago.

"You know me."

She turns, and her arm extends, and a crow lands on the offered hand.

"You can't be Shinsei!" Kisada protests. "Shinsei is a man!"

"Shinsei swore Fu Leng would never find his son. The morning of his death, his wife birthed a daughter."

* * *

In the darkest days, at the end of the Porcelain Empire, the Thunders gather once more.

Kisada, haunted by his namesake and crippled by the Naga Balash and the blood of the fallen oni.

Agasha Dorai, haunted by dark dreams of a fallen Thunder.

Yasuki Sarosa, a fatalistic Crab who seeks honor or death to save him from his corruption.

Kitsuki Kaagiko, a magistrate turned against the Empire, with secrets that may soon consume her.

The Daini, Ashaqar, the last leader of her people and the inheritor of the Dragon Thunder.

Two more shall come.