Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 14 ~

There will be a LOT in this chapter. If there are any questions, please comment and I will answer them asap. I'm saying this because this is like one of the most critical chapter and you understand how I've changed the Shadow and Bone plotline to fit in Y/n. 

SO...

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

The next morning wasn't as bad nor embarrassing as I'd expected. Zoya was already in the domed hall when I entered. She sat by herself at the end of the Summoners' table, eating her breakfast in silence, and I made sure to ignore her.

Every step of my walk down to the lake was painful since I was walking towards the heated confines of Baghra's hut and not away. But when I climbed the steps to her door, I heard raised voices.

I hesitated and then knocked softly. The voices quieted abruptly, and after a moment, I pushed the door open and peeked inside. The Darkling was standing by Baghra's tile oven, his face furious.

"Sorry," I said, and began to back out the door.

But Baghra just snapped, "In, girl. Don't let the heat out."

When I entered and shut the door, the Darkling gave me a small bow.

"How are you, Y/n?"

"I'm fine," I managed.

"She's fine!" hooted Baghra. "She's fine! She cannot light a hallway, but she's fine."

"Seriously, Baghra?" I asked trying to seem civilized in front of the Darkling. "I'm trying."

"Sure trying, you're focusing more on your shadows than your light. You can't summon a spec of light but you can run your tongue."

I just glared at her even more, and was surprised when the Darkling said, "Leave her be."

Baghra's eyes narrowed, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

The Darkling sighed and ran his hands through his dark hair in exasperation. When he looked at me, there was a rueful smile on his lips, and his hair was going every which way.

"Baghra has her own way of doing things," he said.

"Don't patronize me, boy!"

Her voice cracked out like a whip. To my amazement, I saw the Darkling stand up straighter and then scowl as if he'd caught himself.

"Don't chide me, old woman," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

Angry energy crackled through the room. I was thinking about running out the door and leaving them to finish whatever argument I'd interrupted when Baghra's voice lashed out again.

"The boy thinks to get you an amplifier," she said. "What do you think of that, girl?"

It was so strange to hear the Darkling called "boy" that it took me a moment to understand her meaning. But when I did, hope and relief rushed through me. An amplifier! Why hadn't I thought of it before? Why hadn't they thought of it before?

Baghra and the Darkling were able to help me call my power because they were living amplifiers, so why not an amplifier of my own like Ivan's bear claws or the seal tooth I'd seen hanging around Marie's neck?

"I think it's a good idea," I said looking at the Darkling rather than Baghra, who made a disgusted sound. "What, you don't approve of this either?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, then what do you approve of?"

"You putting the same effort into mastering darkness into mastering light."