Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 21 ~

Final chapter before the beginning of the end!!

Let's get into it!

First Person - Y/n

The Eclipse Soldiers plunged into the shadow horde, cutting and thrusting, pushing the nichevo'ya back as the riflemen fired again and again. But despite their ferocity, they were only human, flesh and steel pitted against living shadow. One by one, the nichevo'ya began to pick them off.

"Make for the chapel!" Tamar shouted.

"We'll be trapped!" cried Sergei, running toward me.

"We're already trapped," Mal replied, slinging his rifle onto his back and grabbing my good arm. "Let's go, Y/n!"

"David!" I yelled. "The second bomb!"

He flung it toward the nichevo'ya. His aim was wild, but Zoya was there to help it along.

"Where do we go?" Sergei cried in panic.

"The chapel!"

We ran towards it as fast as we could and got a brief moment of relaxation before the building shook.

The chapel door blew to pieces. Tolya was thrown backward, and darkness flooded through.

The Darkling came in on a tide of shadow, held aloft by monsters who set his feet upon the chapel floor with infinite care.

"Fire!" Tamar shouted.

"Stand down, Y/n," said the Darkling. "Stand down, and I will spare them."

"I have seen how you have fought, Y/n," he continued, "Baghra was right when she said your powers were greater than what we could comprehend."

"Maybe you would have a chance, but they would not survive it," stated the Darkling, "You cannot win without losing them. Come to me now, and I will do none of them harm."

I took in the nightmare of the chapel. The nichevo'ya swarmed above us, crowding up against the inside of the dome. The eclipse soldiers' faces were determined, but their ranks had been badly thinned.

They needed a miracle from their Saint, one I couldn't perform.

"Hold," I said.

"Y/n," Tamar whispered, "we can still get you out."

"Hold," I repeated.

The eclipse soldiers lowered their rifles. Tamar brought her axes to her hips but kept her grip tight.

"What are your terms?" I asked.

"Give yourself up," said the Darkling. "And they all go free. They can climb down that rabbit hole and disappear forever."

"Free?" Sergei whispered.

"He's lying," said Mal. "It's what he does."

"I don't need to lie," said the Darkling. "Y/n wants to come with me."

"She doesn't want any part of you," Mal spat.

"No?" the Darkling asked. "I warned you that your otkazat'sya could never understand you, Y/n. I told you that they would only come to fear you and resent your power. Tell me I was wrong."

"You were wrong," I said immediately.

"You cannot lie to me."

"Y/n, what's happening," asked Mal and I realized that I had never actually told either him or Alina what happens.

"You have no idea what I can make possible, tracker."

"I've seen what you truly are," said the Darkling turning back to me, "and I've never turned away. I never will. Can the tracker say the same? Can the prince?"