Shadows and Stars- A Grishaverse Fanfiction (The DarklingxOC)

.6.

Months passed and I had settled into a routine: Wake up, tell myself I would leave in three days, go to combat training, go to the lakeside with the other Grisha, train with Aleksander, go to dinner, go back to my room, tell myself I would stay only three days longer, then go to bed. Occasionally, I would write letters before I drifted off into faerie-land for the night, but they became few and far between.

Over my stay, I turned from eighteen to nineteen. I never celebrated because it just marked the time. Another year gone. Another year away from my family. Time I could never get back. A life lost.

I shook my head, clearing the dark thoughts from my mind. It was night, and I was trying to write another letter. I had written about the past few months and my experiences with the Grisha. Wrapping up my letter, I contemplated what to put next. Should I just end it, or put in my feelings about not seeing them? If I was being completely honest, I didn't feel anything about being gone; it had been so long...

A loud blare of an alarm pulled me from my thoughts, sending me scrambling to my feet and stumbling into the cool hallway. A night breeze floated through, sending goosebumps across my golden skin. Almost everyone was in their night clothes, except for me, who was in my kefta from earlier. It swirled around me, the front clung to my body.

People raced towards their positions in case of an attack. I made my way to the rooftop, remembering where I had been assigned to go during a fight. A few others made their way towards the roof alongside me, and we looked out over the field in front of the palace gates. It looked like whoever was invading was going to try and knock down the front gates. There was no way they were going to succeed, as the gates were nearly impenetrable. I still couldn't help the fear that surged through me, though.

"It's the Sun Warriors!" a voice shouted, heavy with warning. "Be ready!"

The Sun Warriors. The nickname here for Alina and Nikolai's army. They were finally attacking, after months of waiting. And it looked like they were going all out. Soldiers lined up as far as the eye could see, which was saying a lot because I could see perfectly fine in the dark. We were screwed.

"Saints," I cursed to myself, mustering up courage.

"Ready positions!" someone else yelled. I summoned a bit of darkness, keeping the light away so it didn't reveal our numbers.

The night seemed perfectly still as if it were hung in anticipation like we were. No sound could be heard except for the breaths of my companions and the slight shuffle of feet. There were about thirty of us on the roof, all Etheralki with the exception of a few Fabrikators. The Corporalki were on the field, and the rest of the Fabrikators were inside of the Little Palace, running about readying defenses. The stillness of the air was nerve racking.

A hand on my shoulder gave me a start. "Shall we?" Aleksander asked, voice silky as always, despite the circumstance.

I nodded and he took my hand in his, welcoming the cool scent of vanilla and pine and what was beginning to feel like home. We raised our arms and shadows began to dance. Pure night formed a dome around the Little Palace, and I watched as it solidified. It would provide protection from the larger part of the forces, at least for a while.

"General!" a voice called. A younger boy, perhaps the age of sixteen, came running up to him. "They're in the palace!" he said, out of breath. "They brought down the tunnels."

Aleksander dropped my hand, which I realized that he'd still been holding. "How many?"

"Thirty. But it's the Sun Summoner and her inner circle," the boy said. My stomach dropped. Not them. Anyone but them. Aleksander's face changed as soon as the words left the runner's mouth.