Forge and Fury - Shadow And Bone

Chapter 5

Inside the cottage it was cold and dark. They had been right to expect that, but what they hadn't anticipated was the mess. Books were strewn over almost every surface, some open, others slumped against the dead fireplace, as if thrown out of frustration. Broken glass and plates crunched under their feet as they crept inside, the only sound for miles. In the main room, Alina was nowhere to be found. Zoya walked closer to one of the books open on the table and began to try and read but it was too dim in the cottage to see the words written on the ancient, crinkled paper. Nikolai moved to open one of the curtains so that they would be able to navigate the room without cutting themselves on the sharp edges littering the table chairs and floor.

"This isn't Ravkan" Zoya says as light filters into the room, tracing the lines on the page.

"No, it's Kerch" Says Nikolai from over her shoulder, he moved away from the book and to the door they had been dreading opening since they stepped foot inside.

The door creaked open slowly and they both instantly knew something was wrong. It felt like darkness, like a cold that covered them and seemed to cut down further to the bone than the icy air outside. I smelt like blood.

They surged forward towards the figure laying on the bed. Zoya cursed at the sight. From what they could see in the limited light. Alina laid there, unconscious, Surrounded by a pool of darkness on the sheets that Nikolai could only assume to be blood. Her arms were black, from her fingertips until the rolled up sleeves of her shirt. She was painfully thin and was paler than the snow outside. They had to got her out of here.

"Zoya, get the horses and find a cloak," Nikolai says as he slides his arms ander her and lifts her easily. As he lifts her there's a glint of movement and the noise of metal on wood as something falls from Alina's limp hand, But Nikolai is already leaving the room as Zoya grabbed a cloak and shook it free of glass shards.

As a last thought, she grabbed a book off the table, to see if she could get something from it about Alinas state.

The horses were ready to leave as Zoya helped Nikolai onto his with Alina boxed in by his arms before wrapping the dark cloak around her shoulders and vaulting onto her own horse, speeding off after Nikolai. This was bad.

XxX

The pace never slowed, not when they arrived at the camp with the rest of the troops they brought with them, which were prepared to leave at a moment's notice as per their generals orders. Luckily they seemed to sense their urgency and follow immediately, once again following the king's brutal pace, No doubt questioning the new person on his horse when they stopped for new horses. Unbeknownst to the dying saint they were following.

The scenery around them was beautiful, a sparse pine forest with patches of white snow, marked by only animal tracks. The light and sounds had come back to the forest, though it had gotten no thinner. It was clear to the soldiers though, that this was not the time to be admiring the views. Zoya could tell, whenever she slipped back from Nikolai and into the rest of the troops that they were struggling to keep up, the horses were tiring and if they weren't careful, someone was going to get trampled.

"Nikolai!" Zoya finally called out to him, needing him to see reason "Nikolai, stop. We're three days away from the place, Alina won't make it that far, for saints sake." she pushed her own horse harder, riding up beside him.

He glanced at her and finally gave in after a moment of consideration, with a slight nod. Zoya called the troops behind them to a halt, so they wouldn't be trampled and called forward their best healer.

Nikolai had kept riding but at a slowed pace, but he only stopped when there were at least half a mile of trees between him and the troops. With Zoya and hopefully a healer in the middle.

He reigned his horse up in a clearing, and climbed down, his arms stiff from holding Alina.but he didn't let go of her. He wouldn't cause her any more damage. He'd already forgotten about her, so selfishly absorbed in his own worries of greedy ambassadors and first army funds that he forgot about Alina. She wouldn't have been in this state. It was his fault.

He'd laid Alina on the soft covering of snow, but kept her upper body in his arms, trying to hug warmth and life back into her pale limp form.

And that's how they found him, 5 mins later, trotting on horseback into the clearing.

The healer approached him nervously, not wanting to upset him by disturbing his protective stance over Alina, so she stood, clutching her bag, head down, waiting. Zoya finally got a good look at Alina's face. It was hard to recognize her. The only thing Zoys really recognized was the dirty white hair that surrounded her pale sunken face in a tangled mass. She wouldn't have even been recognizable as the thin girl who arrived at the palace so many years ago, just before everything that she had ever known fell apart before her eyes.

"Nikolai, you have to move away." Zoya said gently, giving him a tug of his sleeve, gently. But it becomes obvious that he's not all there, when he gives no response. "Nikolai?" she nudged him a little harder and he slowly stood up, setting Alina's head down gently on the snow.

The healer moves forward, slinging her bag off her shoulder. She took off her own cloak and balled it up, lifting Alina's head gently and placing the bundle of red under it.

Nikolai refused to leave, he just sat watching from a few meters away. He must have been freezing sitting in the snow, but he didn't care. He couldn't feel it, all of his focus was on Alina. And the darkness of her arm, the way it spread across her shoulder and refused to budge no matter what the healer did. But the other arm was worse. It was crusted with blood, which the healer gently washed away revealing slash after slash on Alina's wrist and forearm, all the way to her elbow.

If the healer thought anything of them, she kept it to herself and there was no judgement in her voice or eyes when she approached Zoya, when she had finished.

"General, she is malnourished and I have tried to heal her arms the best I can. I do not know what has caused the darkness in her right, but it does not appear to be causing any restrictions to movement or pain. As for her other arm, I have healed everything, but I have also bandaged it. There is no risk of anything opening up and there are no stitches to tear but-" She cut off, with a glance back at Alina. Zoya waited patiently for her to continue, whilst Nikolai just watched.

"There will be scarring, and in cases with.... This kind of injury, it is common for patients to feel... guilt." she finished.

"Thank you, please do not mention this to anyone. We are very grateful for your help, Miss..."

"Nikto. Rosan Nikto." Zoya nodded and turned back to Nikolai, seeing if he would respond.

"General Nazalensky?" it was the Rosan

"Yes?"

"I know it's not my place to ask, but is she Grisha?"

Zoya thought on this, was she? As far as Zoya knew Alina didn't have any powers, yet she looked as young as she did when she left the little palace for good all those years ago. But then again, Zoya hadn't heard from her since. Was it such a foolish thought that some of her summoning had returned.

"Maybe," She replied eventually, "we shall see."

Rosan didn't show any dissatisfaction to this strange answer, but thanked zoya and left, after bowing to a still unresponsive Nikolai