Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Conversations & Questions

Third POV

Alina and the general rode at a fast pace through the hills the countryside of Ravka had to offer. The Shu girl would have admired the view if not for the fact that she was aching, slightly traumatized, and worried for her demigod friend.

After a couple hours of riding she loudly asked the man holding the reins, "Can we stop, please?"

"Why?" he asked, slightly worried something was wrong with his Sun Summoner.

"My tailbone is killing me," she panted out.

The general steered the black horse to a fallen log and Alina quickly jumped off the animal and walked a couple of paces away and proceeded to expel the contents of her stomach. The Darkling tended to the horse until he was sure she was done. He walked over her calmly and as he approached, Alina backed away like a skittish mouse. He held out a black handkerchief. Alina looked at him in question and he answered, "For your face."

She lightly touched her cheek and when she pulled back, her fingertips were coated in red. She reached out and quickly snatched the fabric from his hand and began to wipe away the blood of the man who tried to kill her.

"What happened back there?" she asked urgently.

"Drüskelle. Elite members of the Fjerdan military trained to infiltrate deep behind our lines and kill or kidnap Grisha," the man informed before he was quickly corrected.

"I meant how you sliced one of them in half from a dozen paces," the girl clarified with an accusing tone.

The man realized what she meant. "Would you rather I'd used a sword?" he questioned, slightly amused.

Alina hesitated before answering, "I don't know. Sorry."

The Darkling stood still, staring at Alina as she got the last of the blood off her face. "It's fine. I'm also not the only one who killed that man yet you have no such hostility towards the other who shared in his murder. Where is your curious friend, this supposed Tidemaker?" he asked Alina in a patronizing tone as he turned to scan the area. It was vast and flat but there was no sign of the woman or the rather impossibly large hound she sat astride.

Alina chuckled, "She'll be here soon enough. She has a flair for the dramatics."

The general hummed before continuing on, "There is matter to everything. Even air. Or shadow. Too small to see. The Cut is something a Summoner can do, but it requires tremendous skill. Which is another reason I am curious about your friend. And I would only use it as a last resort. Like that ambush."

As he explained the science, he walked closer to Alina and stopped  only a few paces from her.

"Saints," Alina sighed out. "Is this my life now? Hunted wherever I go."

"You get used to it," the man in black replied nonchalantly.

Alina looked at him in disbelief, "How did they even know about me?"

"Your little light show in the Fold was visible from miles away. Whatever their original mission was, they must have diverted to find you. That's why I'm traveling with you," General Kirigan explained to the Shu girl.

"They're that scared of you? No offense but I'd rather travel with Percy," Alina commented.

"I think they're more scared of you. And you have that little trust in me that you would put your life in the hands of your Tidemaker friend?" asked the general.

Alina ignored the question and asked her own, "Why?"

The man didn't miss the avoidance of his question but that only made him more curious. But he knew this was not when he would get his answers. "What your power means to us. You may well be the first of your kind, but we've always had a name for you. For what we hope you can do. Enter the Fold. Destroy it from within. With proper training and some amplification, you could be the-" he was cut off. As he grew more passionate in his speech he walked closer to Alina until he was less than a pace away.