White and black, light and dark, ying and yang. The concept of perfect balance in two opposites created to fit perfectly together.
That's not how real life works at all, though. Alina Starkov may have been the sun summoner: young, inexperienced, na...
Nothing seemed to have changed. There wasn't any sudden wind, water, fire, blooming flowers or fainting people. If I had been foolish enough, I would have wished for the ability to summon the sun or even the shadows, but I knew the probability was ridiculously slim.
No, nothing happened and I was feeling the budding disappointment constrict my throat. However, as I made to turn around and go back home, my mother in tow, I heard an odd hissing sound comming from behind the healer.
Both of the testers and I turned to look at what it was.
It was the peculiar liquid that I had formerly noticed on the table besides the other curiostities displayed.
Before, the liquid had been an inky black with a thick, gleaming texture, but now it was coloured as wine red as the keftas of the testers and a white steam was rising from its surface, spilling from the edge of the chalice the liquid resided in.
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"What is that liquid?" I quietly asked.
The other children and adults seemed surprised by the sight in front of them.
No child had shown the reaction that I had to the inflicted pain.
Most had been otkazat'sya and those that were Grisha were mostly squallers and infernis. There had also been two heartrenders, three healers, four durasts (they made the bud flower and changed the form of the coin) and three tidemakers, but I digress.
The heartrender quickly put a cristalline cover over the chalice and the people came closer to get a better look at the mesmerizing chemical.
"Well, it was the extract of black thorn berries. There's no way of knowing what it is now." The healer tensely said, but then his eyes widened as the female tester dropped to the ground.
He was frantically searching the room, the people backing away and whispering.
It was all so sudden.
"Is there any of the materialki?! ANYONE! Please!... please"
The heartrender was not moving, she was not moving.
I didn't know I was trembling, I didn't realise tears were running down my face or that I had already understood the rude woman was dead- I was numb as the people around me screamed, children cried, pointing fingers at the woman or running away.
Madraya gripped me harshly by the arm and hauled me to her side to shield me from the others. She dragged me away, wrapping me partially in her cloak- I didn't see a thing. I didn't feel anything. I was deaf.
At some point, I can vaguely rememder that we were joined by Dimitri and the young Grisha, that we were travelling to Os Alta by carriage, though the hours didn't touch me from Ryevost to the little palace.
I would later not even remember the name of the first person I had killed, nor her face and I would never ask. Instead I'd obsess over the chemical. I'd find out that it was most likely hydrogen cyanide that had prevented cellular respiration and killed the heartrender in a minute, because of the high dosage. I'd rationalise that her death was not my fault, I didn't intend it and they should have known and sufficiently prepared for the dangerous substances used to find my order.
It was later that evening when I should see the black General, a man some Grisha had never even seen once in their stay at the little palace. However little favourable the circumstances were.
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"Where is miss Melnyk? You are both meant to present the new arrivals to the king at the end of the week, Dimitri" A young male heartrender harshly demanded in a way that cut through the silence in my mind.
Dimitri looked lost. "She's dead." He said tonelessly, like he hadn't yet come to terms with this new development.
"Dead? How did that happen?"
"Incident with the testing. She got poisoned... As a healer I couldn't do anything, there was no wound to heal."
Both men stayed quite for a moment.
"The General shall be informed this instant" The heartrender tersely proclaimed and then quickly walked away.
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Authors note: Next chapter's going to be the first encounter with Aleksander. Fair forewarning, though: The story will not abide to canon of series or books and the relationship will be slow burn, as I see an additional character changing the plot of the story and a fast moving love relationship not in character with either the Darkling or my oc (Also, whats's the use of writing a fanfiction if it's just a reguriation of the original?). Hope you enjoy and that you didn't get too surprised by the chapter- Rest be assured, the event is crucial for character development, you'll see.
